Carbonara Mia

I worked up this variant tonight after work. The artichoke hearts give the rich but subtle dairy and pork flavors a bit of a lift without being jarring. Also, their gentle color fits in well with the general mellow tenor of the dish. Tristan and I both tucked into it hungrily.

serves 2 as a main course or 4 as an appetizer
 
3 oz pancetta, chopped coarsely
1/2 medium onion, chopped - about 1/2 cup
1 Tb white flour
1 cup milk (I use 2%) in a Pyrex cup
2 Tb cream (optional)
1 tsp concentrated tomato paste (optional)
8 oz spaghetti
1 14oz can Cento water pack artichoke hearts "8 - 10 count" (i.e., small ones), drained and quartered
2 Tb chopped Italian parsley
dash Louisiana-style hot sauce
freshly ground black pepper
grated pecorino Romano cheese

Put the pancetta in a large skillet over med-low heat, stirring occasionally. When most of the fat has been tried out - ten or fifteen minutes - add the onion. Cook slowly, stirring often, reducing heat if necessary, until onion is soft and translucent - about another ten or fifteen minutes. Do not brown.

While the pancetta and onion are cooking, put water on the burner in anticipation of boiling the spaghetti. Heat the milk (and cream, if using) in the microwave on high for 1 minute. Set aside.

When the onion and pancetta are almost done, stir in the flour. Continue to cook without browning for another five minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the hot milk and the tomato paste. Return to stove over low flame. Sauce will begin to thicken slightly as it comes to a bare simmer.

Put the pasta into the boiling water. While it is cooking, stir the artichoke hearts into the sauce in the skillet to warm. Cook the pasta al dente. When you drain it, reserve 2 cups of the cooking water. Remove the sauce from heat. Stir in the cooked spaghetti, the hot sauce, pepper to taste, and enough pasta water to give the spaghetti a nice sheen. Add the water in small increments - 1/4 cup at a time. You will probably need to use more of the water than you think.

Serve the pasta on warm plates with a sprinkle of cheese and parsley. Accompany with a soft white wine, such as a Pinot Grigio.

Leek and Maine Potato Soup

serves 4

Steph grew the most beautiful, perfectly textured potatoes in the garden this year. This recipe, that I made tonight using stuff we had in the fridge, totally shows off their subtle, deep, comforting flavors.

• 4 cups chicken or turkey stock, preferably homemade
• 1 -2 cups cold water
• 3 small, fresh, best-quality local Kennebec potatoes, peeled and cut into evenly sized dice
• 1 large leek
• 1/2 cup fresh fennel bulb, white portion, chopped
• 1 slice bacon
• 2 tsp white flour
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 2 Tb minced mild fresh herbs, for garnish (parsley, dill, chives, and/or chervil)

Put the potatoes, stock, and water into a large saucepan and bring to a simmer, covered.

Cut the bacon crosswise into 5mm strips (scissors work well for this) and begin to try out over low heat in a medium saucepan, until it begins to brown.

While the bacon starts to cook, remove the root and dark green portion of the leek. Cut down into the light green portion, spread the layers, and rinse out any grit. Chop the leek finely by cutting into eighths lengthwise and then into 5mm crosswise slices.

Stir the leek and fennel into the bacon and its fat. Cover and sweat over low heat until soft and translucent, stirring occasionally - about 10 min. Do not brown.

Stir the flour into the leek / fennel / bacon mixture. Cook uncovered over low heat, stirring occasionally, for a couple of minutes. Pour several ladlefuls of the hot stock into the leeks and stir, scraping all the vegetables from the corners of the pan. Pour the resulting mixture back into the large saucepan with the potatoes and the rest of the stock. Add the wine. Cover and simmer over very low heat until potatoes are very soft and flavors have melded - about 20 more minutes.

Optionally use a stick blender to make the soup into a very thin puree. (I like doing this because I like the resulting texture and I think it brings out the flavors. Other people don't like the homogenization and want to see and taste the individual pieces of stuff. Whatever.)

Stir a couple ladlefuls of the soup into the cream. (Doing it this way discourages curdling.) Add the thinned cream back to the main body of soup. Taste carefully and add salt as needed. Warm over lowest heat. Do not boil.

Stir in herbs and black pepper to taste. Serve immediately in hot soup plates with good bread and a salad.

Creamy Loves Crunchy!

sophisticated chicken fingers ...

slightly fussy to make, but totally fabulous ...

we ate this so fast there was nothing left for a photo :)

serves 2 - 4


for the risotto (the creamy):

1 cup Arborio rice
1 Tb olive oil 
fresh chicken stock (see below), simmering
1/4 cub dry white wine
3oz. unsalted butter, at room temperature
coarse sea salt (e.g., Maldon)

 for the chicken fingers (the crunchy):
1 large chicken breast (or 2 small), bone in
1 cup stone ground corn meal
3 Tb olive oil

 for the marinade:
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
1 Tb chopped fresh Italian parsley
1 clove garlic, sliced thinly
scant 1/4 cup olive oil
pinch salt
generous pinch freshly ground black pepper

for the stock:
bone from chicken breast
4 cups cold water
1 stalk celery, coarsely chopped
1 medium onion, coarsley chopped
1 bay leaf
1 clove garlic, smashed
1 stalk fresh Italian parsley

for the veg:
garden haricots verts or other very fresh local green beans
water


Remove the skin and fat from the chicken breasts and discard. Bone the chicken breasts.Pound the breast meat between two sheets of wax paper to an even 3/8" thick. Slice into strips 1" wide. Set aside.

Put the bone in a large saucepan with the cold water. Bring to a simmer. Skim off any gray foam. Add the vegetables (under "for the stock"). Bring back to a bare simmer and cover askew. Simmer on very lowest heat for at least one hour. Do NOT add any other ingredients - salt, pepper, etc. This stock should be beautifully flavored but very gentle, pale, and subtle.

In a tightly covered container, shake all the marinade ingredients. Add the chicken pieces and shake again. Allow to marinate, refrigerated, for 1 - 4 hours.

********** time goes by ********************************


Strain the stock and discard the vegetables. Keep at a bare simmer.

Place the green beans in a covered skillet with 1/2 cup cold water and set aside.

Remove the chicken pieces from the marinade and place on paper towels. Blot fairly dry. Set aside. Discard marinade (germs).

Put the dinner plates in a 170 degree oven to heat.

Heat the oil from the risotto ingredients in a heavy-bottomed sauce pan over medium heat. Add the rice and stir to coat all the grains. Cook for 3 - 5 minutes or until fragrant and translucent. Add 2 ladles full of the hot stock and stir. Reduce to a bare simmer. Add another ladle of stock each time the liquid is absorbed. In other words, do the basic risotto thing.

When rice is starting to swell and outer kernel is soft while interior is still crunchy (probably 10 - 15 minutes into a 20 - 30 minute total cook time), start cooking the chicken:

Pre-heat a large (12 - 14"), heavy non-stick skillet over a high flame. While it is heating, toss the chicken pieces in the cornmeal. Add the olive oil to the pan. It should be very hot - almost smoking. Lay the chicken pieces carefully in the pan. Cook 4 - 5 minutes per side, or until firm and dark golden brown.

While the chicken is cooking, place the skillet with the beans over high heat and cook until still bright green - 5 - 8 minutes. Don't forget to keep checking the risotto and adding stock if needed.

When everything is miraculously done at the same moment ;), add a ladle of stock and the butter to the risotto and stir. It is key that the risotto be very loose and creamy, not thick and sludgy. If it looks too  wet and runny, it is exactly right. Otherwise you end up with wodgy instead of creamy.

Serve on the warmed plates. Season with the sea salt and grind some pepper over all.

NOTE: Do not gussy up the beans with butter or other mud. (There is butter in the rice.) Do not put cheese or other adulterations in the risotto. The essence of this plate is texture, color, and subtle chickeny flavors.


Serve with a sturdy white wine, such as a St. Innocent Pinot Gris from Oregon (purchased at Rayr in Rockport), or light red like the Chermette Beaujolais I bought at Rosemont's Yarmouth store recently.

Eat each crunchy bite of chicken with a bit of the saucy, evocative risotto. Heaven.