Gourmet Meals in Crappy Little Kitchens (26 page)

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 cups small diced Pancetta about 12 ounces

1 cup minced yellow onion

½ cup minced carrot

½ cup minced celery

3 tablespoons minced garlic

1 pound ground veal

1 pound ground pork

½ cup dry red wine

2 fresh bay leaves, or substitute 1 dried

28 ounces beef stock or broth

15 ounces tomato puree, canned

1 cup whole milk

1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme

Sea salt, to taste

Black pepper, to taste

Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, as needed

1
Place your 12-quart stockpot over medium-high heat and add the olive oil. Add the pancetta and sauté until it begins to brown, about 6 minutes. Add the onion, carrot, celery, and garlic, sautéing for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the veal and pork, breaking up the meat with the back of a fork. Sauté until brown and cooked through. This should take another 10 minutes.

2
Pour in the wine and add the bay leaves. Simmer for about 10 minutes until the liquid is slightly reduced. Stir in the stock and tomato puree.

3
Reduceheat to medium-low and simmer, stirring often, until sauce thickens, about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Stir in the whole milk, and season with the fresh thyme, salt, and pepper. Serve warm with Parmesan cheese grated over the top.

Power-Play Portuguese Sauce

Yields 4 cups

This is the recipe to help you realize the power of sauce. A very simple formula with such modest ingredients, yet the result is far too commanding for simple pasta. Add two dozen well scrubbed little neck clams after the tomatoes in step 2 and have a port-of-call gourmet experience like no other Crappy Little Kitchen has ever seen!

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 yellow onion, small dice

8 ounces ground chorizo sausage

8 ounces ground pork

30 ounces crushed tomatoes, canned

1 cup dry white wine

½ teaspoon red pepper flakes

¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro (save pinch for garnish)

Sea salt, to taste

Black pepper, to taste

1
Heat your 12-inch sauté pan over medium-high heat and add the olive oil. Add the onion and allow it to soften. Stir until it's translucent. Add the chorizo and ground pork browning the meat well; this should take about 10 minutes.

2
Stir in the tomatoes and reduce the heat to medium. Allow the tomatoes to cook down for about 5 minutes, and then add the white wine, red pepper flakes, and chopped cilantro. Reduce this mixture slowly for 10 to 15 minutes.

3
Taste your sauce at this point and season to taste with salt and pepper. Garnish with the extra cilantro.

Pico de Gallo Salsa

Yields 2 cups

This basic salsa recipe is excellent served with tortilla chips, as a garnish for Fried Green Tomatoes (p. 38), or topping the Chili Rellenos (p. 134).

2 large ripe tomatoes, medium dice

1 red onion, medium dice

½ teaspoon minced garlic

1 small jalapeno pepper, seeded, minced

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

3 tablespoons fresh lime juice

Sea salt, to taste

Black pepper, to taste

1
In a medium bowl, combine the tomato, onion, garlic, jalapeno, cilantro, and lime juice. Toss gently to combine evenly, and season to taste with salt and pepper.

2
Wrap tightly and refrigerate until ready to serve from a margarita glass in the center of a giant platter of nachos.

Sausage and Peppers Sauce

Yields 4 cups

This recipe is delicious tossed together with light egg pasta. If you want to make the sandwich version of sausage and peppers, omit the cream from the sauce, leave the sausage links whole, place them in toasted sub rolls, and slather the sauced peppers over the top.

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 red bell peppers

2 green bell peppers

1 pound sweet Italian sausage

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 cup sliced yellow onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

¼ cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano

Sea salt, to taste

Black pepper, to taste

1
Preheat your oven to 500°. Place the bell peppers on a sheet tray, and drizzle olive oil over them. Roast them in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until they begin to blacken and blister all over. Remove them with your tongs, and place them in a mixing bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and let them rest as they steam and cool.

2
While waiting for the peppers to cool, heat your 12-inch sauté pan over medium-high heat. Place the sausage links into the hot pan. Sear the links on all sides until very brown, and then remove them to cool on your cutting board.

3
Put the butter, onion, and garlic in the same pan. Reduce the heat to medium.

Allow the onion and garlic to cook until the onions are golden brown. Add the cream and oregano. Turn the heat down to medium low, and allow the sauce to reduce.

4
Now that the peppers are cool, pull off their tops and dump out the seeds and juice. Use your hands to peel off their charred skins, and then slice them into thick strips. Cut the sausage links into ¼-inch thick discs and add the sausage and peppers to the sauce.

5
Toss everything together and season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve warm.

Latin Salsa Verde

Yields 3 cups

This delicious Mexican green salsa is tangy, yet mild with tons of flavor.

A great match for steak, fish, or chicken—think of it as the Mexican counterpart to ketchup. It's the perfect condiment to add dimension to almost any dish.

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 pound tomatillos

½ cup roughly chopped yellow onion

1 small jalapeno

2 garlic cloves

1 cup chicken stock

Sea salt, to taste

Black pepper, to taste

1
To easily remove their papery outer skins, put the tomatillos into a large bowl and cover them with warm water for about 10 minutes. Peel off the skins, and wash and dry the tomatillos.

2
Place your 12-inch sauté pan over medium heat and add the olive oil. When it begins to smoke, add the tomatilloes, onion, jalapeno, and garlic. Once the tomatillos begin to brown on one side, use your tongs to turn them over to brown on the other side. Wait one minute and add the chicken stock. Allow this to come to a simmer and bubble away for about 10 minutes.

3
Take the pan off the heat and allow it to cool for several minutes. Once it has cooled down, pour half of the mixture into your blender and gently pulse until smooth. Pour it into an airtight container, and repeat with the remaining tomatillo mixture.

4
Season to taste with salt and pepper. It's best served warm as a garnish for Not-So-Basic Black Bean Soup (p. 69) or as an additional sauce with Mushroom Tamales (p. 138).

Swanky Strawberry Salsa

Yields 2½cups

Fruit salsas have become somewhat of a trend on contemporary menus these days, so feel free to add any fruit that you feel is salsa worthy. I love the bright color of strawberry salsa, but go ahead and try mango, pineapple, kiwi, or whatever you love that's in season. White flakey fish, like trout or Kona really benefit from a fresh salsa, as does green summer salads and the spicy Not-for-Chickens Chicken Soup (p. 62).

1 pound fresh strawberries, medium dice

½ red onion, medium dice

1 Serrano pepper, seeded and minced

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

½ teaspoon sugar

Sea salt, to taste

Black pepper, to taste

1
In a medium bowl, combine the strawberries, onion, Serrano pepper, parsley, lime juice, and sugar. Toss gently to combine evenly, and season to taste with salt and pepper.

2
Wrap tightly and refrigerate until chilled and ready to serve.

Booming Basil Pesto

Yield 1 cup

Pesto comes from the Italian word pestato, which means pounded. The ingredients for pesto are traditionally “pounded” together with a mortar and pestle. Today, we can mix the basil, pine nuts, and garlic effortlessly with a blender, while stirring the cheese in at the end for an ideal consistency.

1 cup firmly packed basil leaves

1 clove garlic

1 tablespoon pine nuts

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Sea salt, to taste

Black pepper, to taste

1
In your blender, combine the basil, garlic, and pine nuts. Pulse a few times to make a basil paste. While blending on low (be ready, it may splash a bit), drizzle in your olive oil, and puree until smooth.

2
Stir in (do not blend or your pesto will be gummy) the parmesan cheese, and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Desserts to
Die For

What sets your Crappy Little Kitchen apart from
all the others, is the gourmet chef—you. When it comes to being a true chef, you must try to master all aspects of cooking, including preparing dessert. If you can make magnificent shrimp bisque or earth-shattering goat cheese soufflés you want your dessert to wow your guests as well.

Strategically chosen for easy completion in your Crappy Little Kitchen, these dessert recipes stand out in taste as well as ease of preparation.

Dessert can involve producing a complicated pastry or simply serving fresh berries with cream. Sometimes it may include baking, and other times you won't have to turn on the stove. Desserts might consist of sugar and cinnamon or a savory cheese. As with all gourmet recipes, seasonal ingredients are integral to successful dessert making. In the CLK this is especially important because of the simplicity of my desserts. Strategically chosen for easy completion in your Crappy Little Kitchen, these dessert recipes stand out in taste as well as ease of preparation.

You'll learn how to present the desserts in an eye-pleasing fashion, but feel free to experiment. Try creating different dessert shapes (cut the cake slices into diamonds, for example), unique presentations (lean the lady fingers up against the mousse rather than stacking them on top), and using a variety of colors (fruits and berries come in a wide array of colors to choose from) until you find a style that suits and pleases you.

Buttermilk Panna Cotta

Serves 4

Light and creamy, this recipe represents a definitive gourmet summer dessert. It cooks in one pot and then chills in the fridge. You never have to turn on your crappy oven!

½ cup whole milk

2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin

½ cup sugar

1 tablespoon lemon juice