Pappardelle with Wild Mushrooms and Nutty Candy

Pistachio-Almond Brittle... appetizer? Dessert?

Pappardelle with Wild Mushrooms

It's earthy, it's comforting and it's light. Just what the proverbial doc ordered in the days leading up to Christmas. Especially here as we start Christmas Eve with a traditional Midwestern menu (and the Feast of the Seven Cheeses - what can I say - the Midwesterners don't do a lot of fish) for 40 people (lots of food and 4 generations under my roof - does it get any better?). Christmas Day continues to be an all Italian affair with as much food as the night before but for only 6 people.

It's a simple dish to enjoy between the two holidays, elegant for company and a balm for two grad students who just finished their finals. I found this in my mother's recipe file. Not sure where it is from but I love going through her files and picturing her talking to herself as she eyes the ingredients.
Recipe says this serve 8. Only as a first serving. I used more pasta and it served 5.

Ingredients
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup diced shallots
2 garlic cloves, minced
12 ounces mixed mushrooms
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon salt - divided
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper - divided
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1-1/2 cups 1% milk
1/2 cup chicken or vegetable broth
1-1/2 cups shredded fontina cheese
12 ounces pappardelle (wide ribbon pasta) - I used 16 ounces
Chopped fresh parsley

1. Cook pasta according to package directions. Heat oil in large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions, shallots and garlic to pan and saute about 3 minutes (till tender - I add the garlic the last minute). Add mushrooms, saute 5 minutes until mushrooms soften. Add white wine, Italian seasoning, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper; cook 2 minutes until liquid evaporates. (I lowered the temp a bit.) Set aside.

2. Melt butter in large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add flour to pan; cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add milk and broth, stirring with a whisk until smooth. Bring to a boil. Cook 2 minutes or until it thickens - whisking. Remove from heat. Add cheese, remaining salt and pepper; stir until smooth. Stir into mushroom mixture; keep warm.

3. Place 1 cup of pasta in shallow bowl and top with mushroom mixture. Garnish with chopped parsley. Serve. Savor.

I don't have a huge sweet tooth (what I love about Italian cookies - is that they are not terribly cloying). But I saw this pistachio-almond candy in a long-ago Tastes of Italia and couldn't get it out of my head. I think when you see this - you won't be able to get it out of your head. And it's easy!

Almond Pistachio Candy

Ingredients
1 cup chopped almonds
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup honey
4 tablespoons fresh orange juice
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup shelled unsalted pistachios, chopped

Toast almonds in a large, dry skillet until just starting to brown. Remove and cool.

Spray a baking sheet and set aside.

In a medium sauce pan combine sugar, orange juice, honey and almond extract. Cook over low heat until sugar dissolves. Add nuts and cook for 8-10 minutes. You want a lovely golden color.

Poor mixture onto prepared baking sheet and smooth with a spatula until 1/4 inch thick. Chill. When completely cooled, break into pieces. Store in an airtight container. Makes about 2 cups of brittle.

We can't keep Luce out of the tree. He was born in the woods and was happy to see the woods brought indoors. He makes it to the top, sleeps in it and wreaks havoc making merry. We anticipate an ornament-less tree come Christmas. And we smile. I wish you lots of smiles, the merriest Christmas, sparkle in the dark days and a New Year brimming with new possibilities, joys and love. I am grateful to be part of this extraordinary food blogging community and thank you for your support in 2012.

Peace, comfort and joy,
Claudia

Linguine and Thyme-Scented Mushrooms - Nigella Lawson

Something happens when you don't watch much TV - you remain clueless about people and things that the world is well versed in. I had heard of Nigella Lawson. I had gathered she was some sort of seductive cook? That she was famous for wrapping her lips around spoons for photographs.

What did I know? I have been amazed since I joined this group of dedicated bloggers working their way through Gourmet's Fifty Women Game-Changers in Food. I have been sequestered in my corner of the Italian cooking world and have paid little mind to new chefs, new faces and current "stars" in the cooking sphere.

Lawson was born to a wealthy and influential family (her father was a Chancellor in Margaret Thatcher's cabinet and her mother was an heiress, a socialite and renown beauty). The family moved a lot during Lawson's teen years and Lawson got into trouble at many of her schools.

"I was difficult, disruptive, good at school work but rude, I suspect and high-strung, she noted.

She did go on to graduate from Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford with a degree in medieval and modern languages. There were many curves and detours to the career she has now. I won't list it all but you can find her biography here. Today, she is noted for her cookbooks How to Eat and How to be a Domestic Goddess (among her many) as well as her TV Series Nigella Bites. Compared to Delia Smith, Lawson's cookbooks were noted for being accessible, chatty and a bit cheeky - a definite change from the more matronly approach favored by the current British cooking icon!

I seem to be back with the mushrooms. This is the 3rd time in a row that I've chosen a mushroom recipe from the Gourmet Game-Changers! I am either in an earthy phase or a spore phase. At least I don't dream about them. Apparently, that is bad news.

I was interested in this dish because - more so than ever - my days call for ease and this had it. And it was noted that it could be dressed up for dinner with protein additions (shrimp, tofu, chicken) and except for the pasta - nothing else needed to be cooked! The mushrooms cook in the marinade. As another Gourmet Game Changer notes often, "How easy is that?"

I used it as a side dish because I have been known to eat my weight in pasta when it is the main deal. More so now that I am writing about the North Pole. I come down to dinner cold and in need of carbohydrates as if I spent hours on the ice (I wouldn't last five minutes - or maybe I would last if pasta was promised at the end of the day!)

Linguine with Lemon, Garlic and Thyme Mushrooms - serves 6 as a side dish in a nomrla home and 4 in mine
(I changed amounts, find the original recipe here.)
16 ounces chestnut mushrooms - thinly sliced (I used a mix)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon Maldon salt (I used sea salt)
1 garlic clove minced (I used more)
zest and juice of 1 lemon
4 sprigs of fresh thyme leaves (I used more)
3/4 pound linguine
3/4 cup fresh, minced Italian parsley
2-3 tablespoons freshly-grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (I always use more)
freshly ground pepper - to taste

Combine first 6 ingredients. (I whisked the lemon juice into the olive oil first). I did this in the morning to allow the mushrooms to marinate and "cook." Lawson does this as she puts the water for the pasta on - do it as you choose. Cook the pasta according to package instructions. Drain saving 1/4 cup of the pasta water. Toss with the mushrooms mixture adding pasta water if it seems dry. Add the parsley and toss again. Add - or serve separately - the cheese and ground pepper. Serve.

You may of course skip the cheese and go vegan (but please not that I would never, ever skip a chance to play with Parmigiano-Reggiano. It is part of my DNA).

Please check out what the other bloggers are doing for Week 44 of Female Chef Gourmet Game Changers. And if you want to join in the fun, e-mail Mary at  One Perfect Bite. Mary started this delectable journey. 

Val - More Than Burnt Toast, Joanne - Eats Well With Others, Taryn - Have Kitchen Will Feed

Susan - The Spice Garden, Heather - girlichef,

Miranda - Mangoes and Chutney, Jeanette - Healthy Living, 

Mary - One Perfect Bite, Kathleen - Bake Away with Me

Sue - The View from Great Island, Barbara - Movable Feasts

Kathleen - Gonna Want Seconds, 

Linda A - There and Back Again, 

Mireya - My Healthy Eating Habits, Veronica - My Catholic Kitchen

Annie - Most Lovely Things, Alyce - More Time at the Table; Amrita- Beetle's Kitchen Escapades
Jill - Saucy Cooks, Sarah - Everything in the Kitchen Sink

Chilled Zucchini Soup with Mint

I'm a soup-slut. There - I confessed it. I proclaim everlasting adoration for tortellini in brodo but if a new soup winks at me, I have a dalliance. I will waltz with vichysoisse. Tango with Tuscan bean soup - and then search for any soup at 3 a.m. when all is still except my stomach. And this week I found a new love - cold zucchini soup with mint. Not only is it delicate, creamy (without too much cream) and elegant - it is a workhorse. It uses zucchini clubs. You know those precious two inch zucchini that begged to stay in the garden for one more day? Only to transform over night into a club large enough to down a T-Rex? Yes, you can use those in this soup.

I found it in a May 2005 issue of Bon Appetit. From those days when the May magazine would be devoted to a region - and that month was devoted to Rome, Florence and Venice. Of course I saved it.

Cold Zucchini Soup with Mint - 8 servings  (four servings in my house)

1 tablespoon butter

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

4-5 chopped leeks

8 cups chopped, trimmed zucchini (about 1 zucchini club)

6 cups vegetable broth

1/3 cup whipping cream (the 2nd time I used evaporated skim milk and it was delicious)

1-1/2 tablespoon minced fresh mint (I used more) plus mint leaves for garnish (I used zucchini flowers)

 Chilled Zucchini Soup Preparation

Melt butter with oil in heavy pot over medium-high heat.

Add leeks and saute until soft (not browned) - about five minutes.

Add zucchini and saute until softened (another 5 minutes or so).

Add 5 cups vegetable soup and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until zucchini is very tender - about 20 minutes.

Working in batches, puree soup in blender until smooth (I cooled to soup and used an immersion blender). 

When pureed, return soup to same pot and mix in cream and mint.

Cover and chill in refrigerator at least 3 hours or overnight. 

If too thick, add some extra broth.

This was perfect. The small amount of cream added luxury. Really - you just want sip it wearing your Armani suit. The zucchini club was enchanted - transformed from something unwieldy to sweet lusciousness. Try it - have a dalliance with this zucchini soup. Make it your last summer fling.

Pasta with morels

There's nothing like cooking a dish in April and posting it in July - after the season has passed. But such a rich, earthy dish that is ripe for substitutions shouldn't be left high and dry. It makes me feel secretive and I worry the dish will feel under-appreciated.
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Minnesotans prize their morels. We have friends who are brothers and each know 'secret' trees that erupt with morels in the spring. And neither will tell anyone where they are. They won't even tell each other.

If you're lucky to get a hold of these earthy morsels, don't wash them. Just shake them and wipe them with a paper towel. They do have a small amount of toxins in them so they must be cooked. This is not a salad mushroom.

To find them at the St. Paul Farmer's Market you must be at the market at 7 a.m. on a Saturday. (I love the Market but am very attached to my bedroom at 7 a.m. on a Saturday.) By 7:10 a.m., they're gone. I had secured some morels but not enough for the dish. I filled in with shiitake, oyster and crimini mushrooms. You can make this with a mixture of any of your favorite mushrooms. And soak some dried porcini and add them into the mix. This dish can never be earthy enough.

• Pasta with Morels Ingredients - generously serves 4
  2 tablespoons Earth Balance butter
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 large shallot, minced
• 16 ounces favorite mushrooms (I had 8 ounces of morels and 8 ounces of "other")
• 1/2 cup half-and-half
• 3/4 cup chopped Italian parsley leaves
• 12 ounces tagliatelle or fettuccine (the sauce adheres nicely to the wide noodles; although curly noodles - a rigatoni would also help the sauce and mushrooms to cling to it)

Coarsely chop your mushrooms. Heat your butter and oil. Add your shallot and saute till soft (about 1-2 minutes).

Add mushrooms and saute till softened - about 8 minutes. Add 1/2 cup of the chopped parsley. If pan is dry, add a few more drops of olive oil.

Add your half and half and simmer together 4-5 minutes. The half-and-half will reduce a bit and become thickened.

While mushrooms are cooking, cook pasta according to package directions. This is heavenly-good with fresh pasta. Reserve 1/4 cup of pasta cooking liquid in case the pasta is not coated with sauce.

Combine pasta with mushroom sauce. Add the remaining Italian parlsey. If pasta is too dry, add a wee bit of the reserved pasta water. Breathe in the heady aroma. Some wanted freshly-grated Parmesan. Mushrooms and cheese. Wonders from fungus.

I complied. I hope all had a magical summer weekend and to my American friends, Happy Belated Fourth. I hope your holiday was celebratory.