Peas and Carrots Pasta

You'd think after three years of marriage I would know to trust Matt & his taste. He's always printing out recipes he thinks we should try & often I question his choice. More likely than not though, I end up liking the recipe once we make it. This was one of those circumstances. Matt said he wanted to try this carrot pasta & I just had a hard time imagining it would be any good. I was so wrong.

I didn't really look at the fact that the carrots are roasted with garlic until they are caramelized. Mixed with heavy cream & cheese they turn into a rich flavorful sauce. I decided to add a little red pepper flakes to the dish because I thought a some heat would be good against the sweetness of the carrots & peas. Both Matt & I agreed that spice really added a lot.

Despite the fact this is made with heavy cream & cheese it still felt like a light meal, plus its full of veggies!

Peas & Carrots Pasta
(adapted from The Cooking Photographer)

8 oz carrots (about 3), peeled & cut into 1-inch pieces
3 garlic cloves, peeled
1 T fresh thyme leaves, chopped
1 T olive oil
salt & pepper
6 oz pasta
1/3 c heavy cream
3 T grated Parmesan
1/8 - 1/4 t crushed red pepper flakes
3/4 c frozen peas, thawed

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Place the carrots, garlic & thyme in a small roasting pan. Drizzle with the olive oil & stir to coat. Season with salt & pepper then stir again. Roast in the oven for 45 - 50 minutes brown & caramelized.

Cook pasta according to directions.

While the pasta is cooking, put the roasted carrots & garlic into a food processor or blender. Add the cream, parmesan & red pepper. Blend until smooth.

When the pasta is cooked set aside 1/3 - 1/2 cup off the cooking water. Drain the pasta & return to the hot pan. Stir in the blended carrot sauce and the peas. Add some of the reserved cooking water if the sauce is too thick. Serve with more grated Parmesan.

Serves 2

If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://agoodappetite.blogspot.com OR at http://agoodappetite.com then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at katbaro AT yahoo DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author unless otherwise noted.
© 2007-2010 Kathy Lewinski

Ad Hoc Grilled Cheese and Simple Tomato Soup

We're cooking our way through Thomas Keller's Ad Hoc at Home...

Two Ad Hoc recipes in one week! What am I crazy? No, not really, as this was a pretty simple recipe. I mean, how hard can you really make grilled cheese? This one did require making your own brioche but making bread isn't really that hard, just time consuming.

I must admit I didn't use the Ad Hoc brioche recipe, instead I went with the one in Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. I'm afraid I put a little too much dough in the pan so it got huge while baking & I had a hard time getting it to cook through.

It was still pretty darn tasty, in that heavy, eggy, buttery, rich brioche way. (& I have lots left over to make the Ad Hoc Banana Brea Pudding!)

From there all you need is some good gruyere, about 1 1/2 oz per sandwich, & unsalted butter. Slice the bread & cheese thinly, the book calls for the bread to be 1/4 inch but I had a hard time slicing that thin & not having it fall apart.

Melt a tablespoon or two of the butter in a skillet over medium heat until it just starts to brown. Assemble the sandwiches & put them in the skillet. Brown on one side & then flip to brown the other. Put the sandwiches on a baking sheet & spread a teaspoon more butter on the top of each. Bake in a 350 F oven until the cheese is melted. Cut off the crusts & enjoy a rich buttery treat.

I served it with a tomato soup that I threw together pretty quickly with what I had in the pantry. I used the tomatoes I canned last summer & it had a much fresher taste than store-bought soup.

Simple Tomato Soup

2 cans tomatoes (I used whole because that is what I have but you can use diced or crushed, whatever)
1/4 t garlic powder
1/2 t dried minced onion
1 t dried basil
1 T balsamic vinegar
1 t sugar
1/4 c heavy cream
salt & pepper

Put the tomatoes including juices in a medium saucepan. Crush with a spoon. Stir in the garlic, onion, basil, vinegar & sugar. Bring to a simmer & let cook for about 15 minutes. Purée either in a blender or with an immersion blender. Return to the pot & stir in the cream. Add salt & pepper to taste. Heat without boiling & serve.

2 small servings

So a question for you all. The book says they serve this grilled cheese sandwich at the Ad Hoc restaurant. If you went to one of Thomas Keller's restaurants would you order a grilled cheese sandwich?

If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://agoodappetite.blogspot.com OR at http://agoodappetite.com then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at katbaro AT yahoo DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author unless otherwise noted.
© 2007-2010 Kathy Lewinski

Ad Hoc Brined Pork Tenderloin

We're cooking our way through Thomas Keller's Ad Hoc at Home...

This tenderloin has to be the simplest of the recipes in the book we've tried so far though it does require some advance planning. Actually you need to plan two weeks ahead of time to make this in order to cure the lemons, not that curing the lemons was hard or anything. You just slice the lemon thin & let it sit in an airtight container covered in a salt & sugar mixture for two weeks in the fridge. You need to make sure the lemons are completely covered so they won't get moldy.

The lemons get quite soft & have a salty flavor but to tell you the truth next time I make this pork recipe I'll just use thin slices of fresh lemon. The brine makes the pork salty enough & I think it's the tart lemon flavor was the important part.

Ok, so you've cured your lemons & now two weeks later you are ready to make your pork. First you must brine it for 4 hours. The book says do not brine it any longer as it will get too salty (believe this do not let your pork brine too long!). To be completely honest I have to tell you we only brined ours between 3 - 3 1/2 hours.

Pork Brine
(from Ad Hoc at Home)

3 T honey
6 bay leaves
2 fresh rosemary springs
1/4 oz fresh thyme sprigs
1 oz fresh flat leaf parsley sprigs
6 cloves garlic, crushed with the skin left on
1 T black peppercorns
1/2 c kosher salt
4 c water
1 pork tenderloin, silverskin removed)

Bring all the ingredients to boil. Stir & boil for 1 minute, until the salt is dissolved. Cool completely before adding the pork. (If you want to cool your brine quickly put the pot in a large bowl of ice & it'll do the trick.) Put the pork tenderloin & brine in a bowl just big enough to hold them. Let sit in the fridge for 4 hours.

Enough to brine one tenderloin.

Ok, your pork has sat in its briny goodness for 4 hours now its time to cook!

Brined Pork Tenderloin
(from Ad Hoc at Home)

1 T canola oil
salt & pepper
1 T unsalted butter
1 garlic clove, crushed
3 fresh thyme sprigs
1 fresh rosemary sprig
4 - 5 slices cured lemon slices
sea salt

Remove the pork from the brine, rinse it & pat it dry. Let the pork sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Heat the olive oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Salt & pepper the pork. Put the pork in the hot skillet & cook until golden brown on all sides, about 6 minutes. Add the butter, garlic, thyme, rosemary & lemon slices. Cook for another two minutes basting the herbs, lemon & garlic with the juices in the pan.

Move the pork to a roasting pan with a rack set in it. Lay the lemon slices across the top of the pork, overlapping them a little. Top with the thyme, rosemary & garlic. Roast for 20 minutes, until the pork registers 135-140 on & instant read thermometer.

Here the recipes tells you to sprinkle the pork with sea sat. We didn't & believe me it did not need more salt.

Let the pork sit for 15 minutes before slicing to serve.

4 servings

So, how was it? It was amazing! This pork was so tender it just melted in your mouth. Plus you can really taste the flavors from the brine & cooking. All the flavors blend together really well without any of them overpowering the other. It was also wonderful the next day sliced thin for cold sandwiches. We will be using this method to cook pork tenderloin again.

If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://agoodappetite.blogspot.com OR at http://agoodappetite.com then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at katbaro AT yahoo DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author unless otherwise noted.
© 2007-2010 Kathy Lewinski

Weekly Menu 3/8 - 3/13/10

I went to a birthday party at one of our favorite local restaurants, Corner Table, this weekend. All the wonderful food had a Southern flair with brisket, ribs, pulled pork sandwiches & parsnip spoonbread with red eye gravy. The hit of the party had to be that bright red jar of Kool-aid picked eggs.

I'd heard of Koolickles, pickles made wit Kool-aid but never Kool-aid pickled eggs. The color is just out of the world.

I was actually surprised how everyone was so daring & willing to try these. As for the taste. It was like a pickle with real sweet side to it. The richness of the egg yolk was a good counterpoint to the sweetness. I liked the way they tasted at first but the fruity sweetness actually started to be too much towards the end of the egg. It was certainly interesting to try but I don't think I'll be searching them out again.

On to Menu Planning Monday...

Kind of a comfort food menu this week.

Rosted Carrot Pasta

Chorizo, Potato & Kale Soup

Sausage & Spinach Lasagna

Ad Hoc Grilled Cheese Sandwich & Tomato Soup

Italian Meatloaf

If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://agoodappetite.blogspot.com OR at http://agoodappetite.com then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at katbaro AT yahoo DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author unless otherwise noted.
© 2007-2010 Kathy Lewinski

Chai-Brined Chicken

We are big fans of brining. It's such an easy way to keep meats like chicken, turkey & pork, that often go dry when cooked, really moist. The right brine can also bring a lot of flavor to the meat.

When I was making the brine for the Molasses-Brined Pork Chops earlier this week I noticed a recipe for a Chai Brine. I had a chicken to roast thawing in the fridge & thought this would be a nice change of pace. Plus ever since we got back from India we've really been into drinking chai so why not cook more with it too.

I wish you could send smells through the computer because this chicken smelled amazing! And the taste was just as wonderful. Often when we roast a chicken all the flavor stays on the skin but the meat is still pretty bland. That is not a problem when prepared like this, the spicy/sweetness of the brine penetrates the whole bird. If like us you are trying to watch what you eat a little bit you know how bad that skin is for you so its awful nice to have the meat taste so good you don't miss the crispy skin (well, not too much anyway).

Chai-Brined Chicken
(from Mastering the Grill: The Owner's Manual for Outdoor Cooking)

1 c fruit juice (we used peat nectar but apple, pineapple or other juices would be great)
1 c chai concentrate
1 1/2 T kosher salt
1/2 t freshly ground pepper

Put all the ingredients into a resealable bag. Close the bag & shake to dissolve the salt. Add the chicken. Seal the bag removing as much air as possible. Rub the brine into the meat a little. Put into a bowl that just fits the chicken. Let sit in the fridge for 2 - 8 hours, flipping once, the longer it sits the more flavor the chicken will absorb. Remove the chicken from the brine, discard brine & cook chicken.

Makes 2 cups brine

We brined a whole chicken but you could brine chicken pieces with or without the bones. This was great as a roast chicken but I think would be equally good done on the barbecue or sautéed in a skillet.

Just a note about the cookbook, Mastering the Grill: The Owner's Manual for Outdoor Cooking, we got this brine recipe from. It is one of out favorite cookbooks & a lot of the recipes are good for more than just grilling. I noticed today it is bargained priced on Amazon for $6.20 & I just wanted to highly recommend it to you all. For the price it is hard to pass up.

If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://agoodappetite.blogspot.com OR at http://agoodappetite.com then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at katbaro AT yahoo DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author unless otherwise noted.
© 2007-2010 Kathy Lewinski