Winter to Spring Victoria Food Culture 2 Cooking Pasta with Don Genova · Friday March 18, 2011 by colin newell
Tackled a fresh pasta dinner for the first time in a long time – We have had an Atlas manual pasta maker for years and have only used it once.
Let’s see if this 2011 attempt explains why!
Pasta
In a food processor add:
1.5 cups all purpose flour
2 eggs
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cooking oil
Have 5 tablespoons of water handy (on the side) do not add any yet.
Pulse mix above ingredients for around 30s until the mix becomes
finely crumbled – touch the mixture and squeeze a small amount between your fingers
and if it all sticks together, it is ready.
Dump mixture out and form into ball.
Wrap in plastic and set aside at room temperature for 1/2 hour.
Cut into 4 pieces and roll out through Atlas (or similar) pasta maker starting at setting number 1 – fold and alternately roll 4 times at setting #1 and then 1 pass each from setting 2 through 8.
Cut the sheets of pasta to around 10 inch lengths.
Attach your pasta cutter (the Atlas comes with a Fettucini and spaghetti dual cutter)
And cut your pasta. We have a pasta tree dryer but you can fashion a broom stick or simply dry the pasta 5 to 10 minutes.
This pasta cooks quickly! 3 minutes in boiling water (salted) – stir frequently.
In the next chapter – we make a sauce!
Winter to Spring Victoria Food Culture 1 Cooking with Don Genova · Thursday March 10, 2011 by colin newell
As much as Victoria B.C. Canada is near the nerve center for coffee culture in North America (with nothing to be ashamed of from a Worldwide perspective…) local culinary culture is something that is fairly new – at least for the amateur like me.
And with the arrival of Cook Culture on Blanshard between Yates and Johnson, culinary learning has taken an uptick. And I am not saying that culinary learning is not available elsewhere in Victoria – because it is – but it either not well publicized (like some of the UVic programs) or it’s a professional caliber that is really more suited to the career cooking professional – the chef. Camosun is one place where you can take some serious chef training or community based cooking classes – all great.
What Cook Culture offers are single evening workshops more suited to the rest of us – slightly older folks like me (and my much younger wife) who are already pretty food smart who want to learn some more tricks or hone our existing skills.
Photo right – Mill Bay’s Don Genova was the affable and engaging host of Pasta 101 at Cook Culture in Victoria.
Cook Culture delivers in cupfuls.
Our first class (tonight) was Pasta 101 with food journalist Don Genova – in a fun, informal and intimately small group of 12 in a large and brightly lit gourmet professional kitchen.
Here’s what we did. We all got a chance to participate in the creation of a basic egg pasta dough. Don’s pacing was good and informative – we were all into it – and everyone has a chance to ask as many questions as they want, to participate to whatever degree they are comfortable or to just sit back and observe. Tonight just about everyone jumped in.
Our first dish after the basic sheets of pasta were produced was Tortelli di Zuca – a broadly interpreted recipe that features pumpkin or squash, olive oil, crushed amaretti cookies, a bit of nutmeg and cinnamon, beaten egg – under a sauce of butter and sage leaves. And topped with Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.
It’s brilliant and simple.
Second up, our group created some mighty fine looking spaghetti that Don turned into a quick Spaghetti with proscuitto ham, lemon zest, chopped parsley and the ever present Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.
Thirdly, a Fettucini with a duo of pesto and turkey ragu.
The fresh pesto was whipped up with fresh garlic, basil, olive oil, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and walnuts. Who needs pine nuts in a pesto? Walnuts are cheaper.
With some leftover time, Don expedited a pasta based dessert using (correct me if I am wrong Don…) some vermicelli pasta in something called Hazelnut Noddle pudding (with some Genova variations) and drizzled with a fresh Crème anglaise. Yummy.
Everyone had fun. Don Genova is the kind of food teacher that talks to his students, not down to them – in a lively and friendly environment. I can totally imagine spending some more time at Cook Culture (with Don and some of the other great chef’s and teachers.)
Homage to Julia Child Hot and Sour Sole · Monday February 28, 2011 by colin newell
My wife and I have been reading Julia Child My Life in France – a truly wonderful book suggested to us by CoffeeCrew.com writer/editor David Reimer of Vancouver.
The following is something of a “rap” on one of her classic Sole recipes. Enjoy.
Hot and Sour Sole
Take 2 Sole fillets – seasoned with salt and pepper.
Dredge fillets in white flour shaking off the excess.
Meanwhile, heat non-stick pan with olive oil to hot but not smoking.
Pan fry sole fillets 5 minutes a side – remove from pan.
Using same pan, reduce pan temp. to medium low.
Add a bit of extra olive oil if necessary.
1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions (Julia said use shallots – did not have any)
Saute for about 1 minute.
Add 1 minced garlic clove – saute for 1 minute.
Add 1/2 teaspoon of red chili flakes (to taste – this is the mild setting!)
Plump 1.5 tablespoons of golden raisins in Sherry (we used Harvey’s Bristol Cream)
Back to the pan: add the raisin / sherry mixture to pan.
Stir until it reduced briefly (about 1 minute)
Add 1/2 cup of grapefruit juice (Julia said Orange juice…)
Stirring gently until liquid is reduced by 1/3 (approx) 5 minutes or so.
Add 3 tablespoons GOOD Extra Virgin Olive Oil and
1 Tablespoon of white balsamic vinegar
Whisk the liquid gently until it is thickens (about 3 minutes)
Serve with white rice and your choice of steamed veg.
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Andrea's Dirty Rice with Chicken - Cooking Cajun · Sunday February 13, 2011 by colin newell
1 cups rice cooked
1 Pound chicken breast boneless fillet (pan fried with salt and pepper)
1 Yellow pepper chunky chopped
1 Red pepper chunky chopped
1 standard yellow onion chunky chopped
1 Anaheim pepper chunky chopped
Saute above vegetables in pan that was used for chicken
Saute/sweat vegetables for 10 minutes
5 minutes into sweat, add
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3 tablespoons parsley flakes
3 tablespoons creole seasoning *
1 teaspoon chili flakes
Stir into vegetable saute – and add 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons Chilpotle sauce concentrate OR favorite hot sauce.
Chop up cooked chicken into bite size pieces and add to vegetable mix.
Add rice in thirds.
Add 1/2 cup of chicken stock.
Serve with sleeves of Irish Beer – this is a hot and spicy dish.
Creole seasoning recipe we use:
2 1/2 tablespoons paprika
2 tablespoons salt (optional)
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon dried leaf oregano
1 tablespoon dried leaf thyme
