Bear Cuisine

Fettuccine Alfredo

Fettuccine Alfredo is a dish I tend to avoid when I am eating out. Mostly because the versions of it I have tried are gluey and gloppy.It's like eating a bowl of wallpaper paste with tough noodles. But the other evening Kay said plaintively, "You know, you've never made Fettuccine Alfredo for me." I took note and shortly after that found Lynne Rossetto Kaspar's recipe for The True Fettuccine Alfredo in The Splendid Table's How To Eat Supper. Her recipes are virtually foolproof and so I tried it. The dish is astonishingly simple and when I tasted it, my response was "Oh my God." Trite and overused as this phrase has become, I really did say it. And I meant it. It was that good.

Rossetto Kaspar's note on the dish's origin is fun. "Interestingly, as pure Italian as this may seem, it isn't a dish of long tradition. Roman restaurateur Alfredo De Lelio created it in the 1920's. As the story goes he first made the pasta for movie stars Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks. It might even be true. One way or the other, this was Alfredo's dish, a theatrical version of the homey favorite of pasta merely tossed with cheese."

THE TRUE FETTUCCINI ALFREDO

(serves 3 to 4 as a main course)

1. 5 quarts salted water in a 6-quart pot
2. 1 pound imported fettuccine
3. 6 tablespoons butter
4. 1 cup heavy whipping cream
5.  1 1/2 to 2 cups fresh-grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
6. Salt and freshly-ground black pepper.

Bring the pot of salted water to a boil, drop in the pasta and boil it stirring often, for 7 minutes, or until the pasta is slightly under-cooked. Immediately drain it in a colander.

As soon as the pasta goes into the water, put the butter in a straight-sided 12-inch saute pan and place it over medium heat. Melt the butter, taking care not to let it color. Set the pan aside until the pasta is done.

Once the pasta is draining, reheat the butter over medium-high heat. Turn the pasta and the cream into the saute pan, and toss to thoroughly coat the noodles. Continue to toss the pasta for 2 to 3 minutes, so the cream can permeate the pasta. There should be very little cream in the bottom of the pan.

Finally toss in the cheese, starting with 1 1/2 cups and adding more to taste. Toss for 20 seconds. Season the pasta to taste with salt and fresh-ground black pepper. Immediately turn it into a serving bowl and serve it hot.

 

Black Bean Orecchiette with Spicy Pork and Broccoli

Italian pasta with Chinese spice is a winning combination in the hands of Ming Tsai. Not only is this tasty, but it is a one-pot meal which kids love.

Black Bean Orecchiette with Spicy Pork and Broccoli

(serves 4)

1. 1 large head broccoli
2. Kosher Salt
3. 8 ounces orecchiette
4. 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
5. 1 tablespoon minced garlic
6. 2 tablespoons fermented black beans
7. 1 tablespoon minced ginger
8. 1 medium red onion, cut into 1/4 inch dice
9. 1 cup dry white wine
10. 1 pound ground pork
11. Freshly ground black pepper
12. 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes for garnish

Separate the broccoli into florets. Cut off their long stems and square the stems so they resemble elongated blocks. Alternatively, peel the stems. Cut the stems into 1/4-inch pieces.

Fill a large bowl with water and add ice cubes. Bring abundant salted water to a boil in a stockpot or other tall wide pot. Add the broccoli and blanch for 30 seconds, retrieve the broccoli with a large strainer and transfer it in the strainer to the ice water. When the broccoli is cold, lift the strainer and drain the broccoli, Transfer the broccoli to a plate.

Return the water in the pot to a boil. Add more ice cubes to the bowl if needed. Add the pasta to the pot and cook until al dente, about 10 minutes. Retrieve the pasta with the strainer and transfer the pasta to the bowl. Reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid. When the pasta is cold, lift the strainer and drain the pasta.

Dry the pot and heat over medium heat. Add the olive oil to the pot and swirl to coat the bottom. When the oil is hot, add the garlic, black beans, ginger and onions and saute, stirring, until the onions are soft, about 2 minutes. Add the wine, deglaze the pan and simmer until the liquid is reduced by half, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add the pork and saute, breaking up the meat, until just cooked through, 6 to 8 minutes.

Add the pasta and broccoli to the black bean mixture and toss well. If the mixture seems dry, add the reserved cooking liquid. Season again with salt and pepper. Transfer to a large serving bowl or platter, garnish with the chile pepper flakes, drizzle with olive oil and serve.

 

Chicken Paprikash

This dish has Hungarian roots and there are probably as many variations in recipes as there are cooks who make it. I've combined recipes from Amada Hesser's The Essential New York Times Cookbook and Molly O'Neill's One Big Table. The result was remarkably tasty.

CHICKEN PAPRIKASH

 

Chicken Paprikash

(serves 4)

1. One 3-pound chicken, cut into serving pieces
2. Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3. 3 tablespoons olive oil
4. 1 cup thinly sliced onions
5. 1 tablespoon finely minced garlic
6. 1/4 cup paprika (you can use sweet or a hot smoked paprika)
7. 1/2 to 1 cup chicken broth
8. 1 cup sour cream
9. 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper to taste. Heat the oil in a large heavy skillet. Add the chicken pieces skin side down and cook over medium-high heat until browned, 5 to 10 minutes. Turn the pieces and continue cooking until browned on the second side.

Scatter the onions and garlic around the chicken pieces. Sprinkle with paprika and stir. Add the chicken broth, cover and let simmer until the chicken is done. Remove the chicken to a warm serving dish.

Blend the sour cream and flour and stir it into the sauce. Simmer, stirring for about 1 minute. Pour the sauce over the chicken.

I chose to serve this over spaetzle, a German pasta dumpling that is absolutely delicious. I first tasted these when one of my professors in graduate school made them. I fell in love--with the dumplings, not the professor-- and ever since have had a spaetzle-maker as part of my batterie de cuisine.

Spaetzle Maker

Spaetzle

(6 servings)

1. 3 large eggs, beaten
2. 1 cup whole milk
3. 1/4 teaspoons salt
4. 2 cups all-purpose flour
5. 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, and salt

Place the flour in a large bowl and form a well in the center; pour in the egg mixture and stir with a  whisk until a smooth batter is formed.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Put the spaetzle-maker over the pot and place the batter in the spaetzle-maker. Move the container holding the batter back and forth over the pot of boilng water and cook the dumplings until they rise to the surface, about a minute. Make only as many as you can in 30 seconds so that they will cook evenly. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the dumplings to a platter and set aside. Continue until all the batter is cooked.

(You can use them at this point, as I did, as the base on which to serve the chicken. Or you can take the next step and serve them as a side dish to accompany a pot roast or some other similar dish. )

Place one tablespoon of butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add half the dumplings and cook,stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to a platter and repeat with the remaining butter and dumplings. Serve immediately.

However you serve them, everyone will enjoy these feather-lite, pillowy bits of goodness.

Asian Spaghetti

The other day I was looking in the freezer and the pantry as I was trying to decide what to cook for dinner.The freezer offered up a pound of hamburger and ground pork while the pantry revealed a package of spaghetti just waiting to be cooked. I remembered that Ming Tsai's latest cookbook, One-Pot Meals had a recipe that would use all three of these ingredients. Even though the kid wasn't around I know that this would have pleased her; she might even have asked for seconds.

The soy sauce adds a mysterious dimension to the sauce and gives it great depth of flavor. Ming says that this will feed four. I would say that it would satisfy six hungry people.

Asian Spaghetti

1. 1 pound spaghetti
2. Kosher salt
3. 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for coating the pasta
4. 2 large onions, cut into 1/4-inch dice
5. 2 tablespoons minced garlic
6. 1 pound ground beef
7. 1 pound ground pork
8. freshly ground black pepper
9. One 32-ounce dan roma tomatoes with their liquid
10. 1/4 cup soy sauce
11. 2 tablespoons tomato paste
12. 1/2 cup loosely packed Thai basil

 

Fill a large bowl with water and add ice cubes. In a large pot, cook the pasta in abundant boiling salted water until al dente, about 11 minutes, drain, and ad to the bowl. When the pasta is cold, drain, coat lightly with oil, and set aside.

Heat the pot over medium-high heat. Add the 1 tablespoon oil and when hot, add the onions and garlic. Saute, stirring, until the onions are translucent, about 2 minutes. Add the beef and the pork, season with salt and pepper, and saute, stirring to break up the meat, until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes with their liquid, the soy sauce, tomato paste, and basil and bring to a simmer. Adjust the seasoning, if necessary, and simmer until the liquid is reduced by a quarter about 25 minutes. Add the reserved pasta to the pot and stir gently. transfer to a platter and serve.

Herbed Linguine with Prosciutto

Here's another winning recipe from Christine Hickman. This one features prosciutto, the other star ingredient from Parma.

 CHRISTINE HICKMAN

HERBED LINGUINE with PROSCIUTTO

1. 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
   
2. 1/4 cup red onion, finely chopped
   
3. Pinch of salt
   
4. 1 1/2 cups light cream or Half and Half
   
5. 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
   
6. 3 ounces prosciutto, thinly sliced
   
7. 10 large fresh basil leaves
   
8. 1/4 cup fresh parsley leaves
   
9. 6 fresh mint leaves
   
10. 1 pound linguine or fresh egg fettuccine 
    
11. 3/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, or to taste
    
12. Freshly ground black pepper

Heat the olive oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add the onion and salt. Saute about 5 minutes until the onions soften and are transparent. Ad the light cream and the grated lemon zest. Cook one minute and remove from heat.

Cut the prosciutto into thin strips and separate all the pieces as you set them aside. Combine the basil, parsley and mint and chop finely. Set aside.

Cook the linguine or fresh egg fettuccine in rapidly boiling salted water. Just before the pasta is done, briefly return the saute pan to medium heat and warm the sauce. When the pasta is al dente, drain and add it to the saute pan along with the herbs and the Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Toss the pasta until the cheese melts and a light sauce forms. Add the prosciutto, season with freshly ground black pepper to taste and toss briefly.

Serve immediately in warm pasta bowls with more Parmigiano-Reggiano at the table.

This is sooo delicious. I had to make myself stop eating it so that I could eat the courses which were to follow. A simple, perfect supper all on its own with, of course, a glass of wine.