Father Kitchen's Profile
Restaurant rating not taking
I wrote a review for the Meadowlark Restaurant in Kettering, Ohio. The site repeatedly refused to take the review. I'd get a message saying that I had to rate it and write a comment. The four star rating (out of five) that I tried to give it wouldn't "take," and the attempts to submit the review got no place. I gave up after five tries.
Does learning how to cook something "ruin" you for ordering it in a restaurant?
Most pastas, especially filled ones.
Carrabba's Fettucine Alfredo Recipe
I know this is an old thread, but i stumbled on it after having a so-so Fettucini Alfredo at the Olive Garden and trying to research the recipe. It exists in two main versions: without cream (seemingly the original) and with cream. It is interesting that in a dish this simple every ingredient makes a difference. By all accounts, this dish must be made with home-made fettucini. Since eggs are a big ingredient in the pasta, the eggs themselves will affect the flavor of the dish. Also, the classic dish uses a lot of butter. Salted or unsalted? Sweet-cream butter or fermented-cream butter? Most of our butter in the U.S. is sweet-cream butter, but a lot of the salted butter I have eaten has a slightly off flavor. So I opt for unsalted. Even the salt affects the flavor. Sea salt is preferable (common table salt often gives off a metallic smell in the boiling water). Of course the cheese can make a huge difference. And if you follow the tradition that uses cream in this dish (most modern versions do), how much do you reduce it in preparing the sauce? In any case, how much water from the pasta pot do you add to the sauce to loosen it and help it coat the noodles? But having said all that, I have to find a Carrabba's and see if it is really as good as stuff made at home with good, fresh ingredients. Thanks for the lead.
Does pasta dough really need to rest? Jamie Oliver is indicating no.
Yesterday, while looking for the Muppets recording of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" at Half Price Books, I wandered over to the cookbook section and came upon "The Complete Books of Pasta and Noodles" by the editors of Cook's Illustrated Magazine. I did a quick check of their instructions for making pasta. The basic formula is 3 large eggs to two cups of unbleached all-purpose flour. Not cake flour or bread flour, but bleached is okay. No oil or salt. Water added if the dough is a bit dry. They work it in a processor. As soon as it reaches ball stage, they take it out and knead it for a couple of minutes and let it rest at least fifteen minutes and up to two hours. Given the level of testing in their test kitchens, this procedure can be considered reliable.
There are lots of good pasta recipes in the book. And if you like chicken noodle soup, an interesting recipe for chicken broth in a hurry--from scratch in about one hour. It's worth looking for in a library or consulting in a used book store.
Does pasta dough really need to rest? Jamie Oliver is indicating no.
There are a string of Jamie Oliver videos, and pasta is handled variously in them. In one, he rolls out the pasta for noodles using a wine bottle. In others, instructors in his kitchen make pasta mixing the dough by hand. Even the ingredients vary: egg and flour only, egg yolk and flour, and egg with flour and a little olive oil and salt. So there is more than one way to do it. Do you have to let the dough rest? Clearly not if mixed only lightly with a food processor. Is it a good idea to let it rest regardless? Probably so. Just as you don't have to autolyse bread dough dough, but you get a much better loaf of bread if you do.
A Curmudgeon and his Ravioli
I lived in Rome for 17 years and took good agnolotti, as ravioli was called locally, for granted. In the U.S., I've had good ravioli only a couple of times: once around 1980 in an Italian restaurant in North Boston, and once in Seattle in the mid nineties. The latest debacle involved ravioli so large you had to cut them in four pieces to eat them, with a good three cheese filling and tough pasta (tough--not al dente) swimming in a mushroom broth with portobello and shitake mushrooms that were buried under so much (good) bacon that everything else was overwhelmed by salt and smoke. I longed for simple porcini ravioli tossed in butter flavored with sage and maybe a bit of speck. I loved stuffed pasta all'uova--whether in a clear broth or in a light sauce. Is it possible to find a dish that simple in American restaurants? Or do I always have to make it myself?
Do you really like that green bean casserole?
Wow, there are sure a lot of replies already. I never liked it until I had Coll's version, which has a bit of sherry stirred in. All the flavors came together.
Does pasta dough really need to rest? Jamie Oliver is indicating no.
Another obvious consideration is hydration of the flour. If dough is mixed immediately and then rolled out, full hydration and the enzyme driven changes that hydration sets in motion cannot take place. A rest should improve the dough from that view point also.
Does pasta dough really need to rest? Jamie Oliver is indicating no.
Going over these posts and the different instructions for food-processor dough, a thought came to me from making bread with a food processor that may shed some light on this subject. It takes only 45 seconds to "knead" bread dough in a food processor. So taking pasta dough to a ball stage in a food processor may develop the gluten significantly. Jamie Oliver's instructions tell us to stop short of the ball stage--the egg & flour mixture looks rather like couscous. This is dumped on a working surface and pressed and kneaded only enough to combine it into a homogenous mass. I would think that such a dough would require less resting than one in which the gluten is fully developed.
Stretching/Rolling Fresh Pasta By Hand?
Here's another clip. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_jf9A1tVu8&feature=related
Stretching/Rolling Fresh Pasta By Hand?
I stumbled upon another YouTube clip that is helpful. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0-PCpJqbRs. Actually, there are a number of them in Italian under "sfoglia di pasta." I note that the size of the mattarello varies and some cooks are very fast and others not so fast. There are also minor differences in technique.
Stretching/Rolling Fresh Pasta By Hand?
The friend who sent me that awesome YouTube link sent me the following from the Whistle Stop Cafe:http://whistlestopcooking.blogspot.com/2010/07/kitchen-department-at-lowes.html It's on making your own Italian rolling pin. They're cooking their way through Marcella Hazan.
Thanksgiving soup?
I think the soup you choose would depend on the balance of flavors at the meal. For example, a squash soup might be too much like your sweet potato dish, so that something else would be called for. And it would make a difference if you are serving a bowl of soup or a cup. A wild rice and celery soup in broth, for example, might be nice. I think a creamy cauliflower soup would be good. If you push your meal in the direction of a southwestern theme, you might even think it terms of a bisque-type soup with pureed, roasted bell peppers in it. Spinach bisque is also another winner. My favorite soup cook book is James Peterson's "Splendid Soups." He has a recipe for Mulligatawny Soup flavored with almond milk that surely would please. Or even simply a puree of mixed vegetables. (I would favor purees for a Thanksgiving meal, in any case.) Then, of course, there is the classic Potato and Leek Soup that is one of the simplest and greatest soups of all.
Stretching/Rolling Fresh Pasta By Hand?
I also love tossing the pasta with bread crumbs fried in a bit of olive oil. Garlic is optional.
Stretching/Rolling Fresh Pasta By Hand?
I'm hoping to do a retreat day on the connection between spirituality and food sometime in the spring. Probably it will involve soup and pasta. One of my favorite soups is a soffritto of onions, carrots, celery, and ginger. After it sweats, add clear chicken broth to simmer. Meanwhile, cook in boiling water until barely al dente some fresh tagliatelle or tagiolini. Add them to the simmering broth. Throw in a handful of torn basil leaves. Serve immediately.
Stretching/Rolling Fresh Pasta By Hand?
I found I could order a beechwood Italian-style rolling pin from Amazon for about eight dollars. It is only about 20 inches long, but for smaller batches it should do. Every authority I've consulted says that the stretching that take place in the hand rolling affects the quality of the final dough. Whether it is enough to justify the extra labor involved is a subjective decision. I think if I were to slather on a lot of sauce, the way Americans do, any flavor difference would be minimized. Still, I hope to try and find out.
Stretching/Rolling Fresh Pasta By Hand?
That dowel is precisely what I want to do. But I just unexpectedly inherited two parishes. I've been in academic work and one-on-one pastoral work for the last forty years, so this is a whole new ball game for me. Medard's is just up the street. I will get that pin made, and I am glad to know it worked for you. Keep up the good cooking. It is a gift of live and it support life--not just keeping people alive, but it brings them fully alive.
Stretching/Rolling Fresh Pasta By Hand?
This is a marvelous discussion. Clearly, the hand rolling involves gentle stretching, but written descriptions baffled me until I saw some of the videos, though I haven't had a chance to try my hand at it yet. (For one thing, I need to make a long pin.) A friend who had been recently in Italy sent me a link. Fortunately, I speak Italian. The dialogue doesn't really cover technical questions, so even if you don't understand Italian you don't lose much. Just watch the hands. And then be astounded when she unfurls the dough from the pin.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gLuLzA_tBE&NR=1&feature=fvwp.
Lahey's No Knead Bread - Pot Help?
I've used all kind of pots, too. But my favorite is a ten-inch, unglazed Italian terra cotta flower pot--the stout kind known as a bulb pan in the trade--together with the corresponding size "saucer."
Confusion about Egg Pasta
I add water, too, if the dough is too dry. In fact, one set of directions I read said you could substitute a quantity of water for the eggs to make egg free pasta. My guess is that the resulting dough would be rather chewy. The addition of salt may simply be for flavor--which is the reason the cooking water is salted. From a molecular viewpoint, I might guess that it helps to keep the dough tender. Salt is a protease inhibitor, so it might slow down gluten formation. But salt is hygroscopic, which might not be an advantage in dried pasta. Because Tuscan bread lacks salt, it stales almost as fast as it cools. (I got to like the stuff during my one summer in Tuscany--my confrere here to this day can't stand it.) But the reason salt was left out of bread in Tuscany was that it was a heavily taxed commodity in the Papal States, and it was costly in any case. When I was in Italy in the eighties and into the early nineties, it was still a state monopoly. So cooks may have left it out of the pasta dough because it wasn't strictly necessary and would be added to the cooking water, in any case.
Thanks for the input. By the way, I find making egg pasta so easy, I wonder why making it isn't more common. When you see how little it costs compared to the stuff in the markets and how much flavorful it is, it seems a no-brainer not to make it. And much of the time you spend preparing the pasta you save in the cooking,
Confusion about Egg Pasta
Actually, it works out very simply. The typical American large egg weighs 57 grams net or pretty exactly two ounces. So if you use two eggs, you would have four ounces of eggs and would need six ounces of flour. Michael Ruhluman gives this proportion in his book "Ratios." You can weigh the flour. But if you measure it by scoop and scrape method, one cup will give you 5 ounces or maybe a tad more. Another 1/4 cup will give you slightly more than an ounce. So if I am not weighing the flour, I'll mix in a cup and add a few tablespoons more by feel. Of course, if your flour has absorbed moisture from a humid atmosphere, the results may be slightly different. I applaud anyone who can eyeball it. The proportion by weight simply gives a starting point. My question has simply been about what the addition of salt, water, and oil does for the dough. I note that the CiaoChow link Todao sent also includes black pepper in the dough mix. Also the chef whirs the mixture in a processor until it forms a ball. Some other authorities tell you not to take it that far as it will give you a tough dough. (It would develop the gluten more.) So there is another variable. All of them seem to work. I'm just curious about the why. I got into this when I taught our cook to make pasta using a food processor and a machine to roll it. She had seen her mother make pasta by hand. Her mother added salt to the mix. The pasta machine directions say explicitly "do not add salt." And Marcella Hazan's recipe is salt free. So the obvious question is why or why not?
ISO ideas for Pescatarian Thanksgiving main dish
When I was a novice, and our community did not eat meat, our Thanksgiving and Christmas entree was baked halibut that was deboned and the cavity filled with stuffing and the whole thing baked in a pastry crust like beef Wellington. On a smaller scale, you could wrap fish in phyllo dough. A favorite festive way of cooking fish, however, is en papillote or in foil packets. What you put in with the fish depends on your whims. But some onions or garlic or shallots and leeks, maybe some olive oil, and your favorite herbs and perhaps tomatoes might be one place to start. It always brings a sense of festive gift unwrapping to the table.
Confusion about Egg Pasta
It is just as easy to hold back a little flour and add it if necessary. Actually, I have added water to pasta when I didn't have a scale and had to estimate the weight based on volume. So I don't object to adding water. I'm just puzzled that a recipe would call for it in the first place when a 2/3 ratio by weight of egg to flour normally makes a perfectly good egg pasta.
Confusion about Egg Pasta
Todao, thanks for the great link. But for me the issue wasn't whether there are recipes that contain ingredients other than eggs and flour, but what purpose the additions serve. Alton Brown's recipe, on the fresh pasta recipe thread, adds both water and oil besides salt. But the egg is already something like 85% water and high in fat, so what is gained? Wouldn't it be just as easy to adjust the egg to flour ratio? As for salt, its value as a protease inhibitor may justify using it. But the instructions that came with my pasta machine say specifically not to add salt (as does Hazan). So I am not trying to figure out whether or not one can use these ingredients; I'm trying to understand why. Maybe, as with bread making, there is more than one way to go about it.
Confusion about Egg Pasta
Thanks. I guess this is a non issue for most people. I'll try it using Mary Ann Esposito's recipe, which is the same as yours. Up to now I've used just egg and flour--as per Marcella Hazan and one of Jamie Oliver's YouTube clips. But one of the other clips adds oil to it.
Confusion about Egg Pasta
Egg noodle and pasta recipes range from simple ones that use just eggs and flour to recipes that add water, salt, oil, or semolina flour. Just read the recipes of Oliver, Hazan, Esposito, Caggiano, and others. And, of course, Chinese pulled noodles add an alkaline agent. I get very good noodles with just eggs and all-purpose flour. Do these other ingredients serve a practical purpose? Perhaps the salt would inhibit gluten formation--since salt is a protease inhibitor. But it would also make the noodles hygroscopic. And oil, which may help with elasticity might also shorten the shelf life of dried noodles. Does anyone have any practical insights into all this?
What Food Thing Are You Currently Craving--Like Right Now!
Home made egg pasta. Noodle soup. But most of all, cannelloni with a bechamel, fontina, and parmesan topping.
AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO HATES TURMERIC?
I'm not wild about it either, but now and then a dish comes along that it makes a difference in. I feel the same way about anchovies, but the addition of an anchovy to a pork stew works magic. And even saffron turned out to be an acquired taste for me. Oddly, I have friends who can't stand cinnamon. And it turns out that a percentage of people taste it differently. For them it is an aggressive metallic flavor. I love cinnamon, but not with beef--contrary to the recipes (many Greek) that speak of its affinity for beef. So my attitude is that, with so many good things around, don't feel guilty if something comes along that you genuinely don't like.
