Sign up for Dinner Meet!

It's time to sign up for another Dinner Meet! The next Dinner Meet will be hosted by Mike B. in the Mountain View/Sunnyvale area. Proposed menu as follows:

• Roasted sweet potato rounds with garlic oil and fried sage
• Turkey chili
• Cranberry and vanilla bean sorbet

Does this sound good to you? It does to me! Sign up by Thursday evening, and I'll be sending out spot confirmations by Friday. Cooking will commence at 6pm on Sunday, 11/1. As always, we'll be splitting the grocery costs amongst participants, minus the Head Chef.

Tiramisu

This is one of those dishes that gets better with age. The ladyfingers require some time to soak in all the wonderful goodness of the cream and liquor. Sure, it's good when you've left it refrigerating overnight, but it's even better if it's been refrigerating for two days. Give it a try - you won't be disappointed!

Ingredients:

5 egg yolks

1 cup sugar

8 oz. mascarpone cheese

1 cup heavy whipping cream

2 (12 oz) packages of lady fingers

1 cup coffee liquor

1/2 cup chocolate chips

Method:

1. Start boiling water for double boiler.

2. Put chocolate chips in food processor and pulse until chocolate becomes bits. Do not chop until chocolate is powdered.

3. Combine egg yolks and sugar in top of double boiler over boiling water. Reduce heat to low and cook until mixture reaches 160°, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and transfer to mixing bowl.

4. Whip yolks until thick and lemon-colored. Add mascarpone and beat until combined.

5. In separate bowl, whip cream to stiff peaks. Gently fold into yolk mixture and refrigerate.

6. Dip lady fingers in liquor and line bottom of large glass bowl. Spoon cream filling over lady fingers. Sprinkle chocolate bits over cream. Repeat until out of ingredients.

7. Optional garnishes to consider: cocoa powder, chocolate curls, whipped cream rosettes. Refrigerate overnight and serve chilled.

Bolognese Sauce

Looking for a hearty, meaty pasta sauce that's loads better than something you get out of a jar? Check out this recipe for some meaty goodness. I love the aroma of the red wine that's added to the sauce - yum!

Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 carrot, peeled and chopped

1 stick of celery, chopped

2 oz. streaky bacon, diced

12 oz. lean minced beef

14 oz. can of chopped tomatoes

2 tsp dried oregano

1/2 cup red wine

2 tbsp tomato puree

Salt and pepper, to taste

Method:

1. Heat the oil in a large skillet. Add the onions and cook for 3 minutes.

2. Add the garlic, carrot, celery, and bacon. Saute for 3-4 minutes or until just beginning to brown.

3. Add the beef and cook over high heat for another 3 minutes or until all of the meat is browned.

4. Stir in the tomatoes, oregano, and red wine. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and heave to simmer for about 45 minutes.

5. Stir in the tomato puree and season with salt and pepper.

Pesto Sauce

Looking for a pesto sauce that isn't too salty, basil-y, garlicky, and other sorts of "y"-ness? This is your recipe. All of the ingredients came together in delightful blend of PESTO. Be sure to coat the HOT pasta with this pesto as soon as it's ready so that the pesto isn't so raw.

Ingredients:

2 bunches fresh basil

2 tbsp garlic, minced

1/3 cup roasted nuts (almond, walnut, pine)

1 cup olive oil

1/4 cup grated fresh Parmesan

Salt and pepper, to taste

Method:

1. Blanch the basil in boiling water for 20 seconds, then strain and plunge into ice water to stop the leaves from cooking. (It also helps to retain the bright green color.)

2. Wring out all the excess water from the basil and remove the heavy stems.

3. Put all the ingredients into a blender and puree until smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

4. Toss the pesto sauce with hot pasta immediately and serve.

Puttanesca Sauce

I think this was my favorite sauce of the night. Tomato-based, zesty, and hearty - I can see why a bowl of pasta with puttanesca sauce hits the spot on a cold night. Yeah, the list of ingredients seems a bit off-putting (anchovies?! olives?!), but they really came together in this delicious sauce that will have your taste buds reminiscing for the next week. (Mine still are!)

Ingredients:

1/3 cup olive oil

2 tbsp garlic, minced

6 anchovy fillets

1 1/2 tsp dried oregano

1 tbsp capers, minced

1/4 cup black olives, sliced

1/4 cup green olives, sliced

2 tsp red pepper flakes

2 cans whole peeled tomatoes, crushed by hand

1/4 cup white wine

1 cup fresh basil, torn or chopped

1/2 cup Italian parsley, chopped (remove stems first - it's bitter)

Method:

1. Heat a skillet over high heat and add the olive oil, garlic, anchovy fillets, oregano, capers, black olives, green olives, and red pepper flakes. As the anchovy melts and the bubbles begin to subside, add the tomatoes and wine.

**Note: If the garlic starts to brown, immediately add the tomatoes and wine.

2. Let the mixture cook over medium heat until it reaches a nice tomato sauce consistency. Season the sauce with a little pepper, and add the herbs to heat through. Add salt to taste. (Probably won't need this.)

3. Toss with pasta thoroughly. Heat through, and garnish with grated Parmesan.

Fresh Pasta

The pasta was delicious! It also didn't take as much effort as I thought. (Perhaps I'm only saying that cuz I wasn't the responsible party in charge of making pasta - Bhumi and Nelly were.) It was especially easy due to Trang's pasta roller/cutter attachment that she purchased for her KitchenAid stand mixer. All we had to do was roll out the dough with a rolling pin, and then run it through the stand mixer attachment a couple of times to get it to the desired thinness. Then we ran it through the cutter attachment to create fettuccine noodles. These fresh noodles cook a lot faster than the store bought ones, so you'll want to keep an eye on them as they're boiling away on the stove. You won't be sorry you tried this though - fresh pasta is far superior than that store bought stuff. I guarantee it! :) The below recipe serves six.

Ingredients:

1 lb white flour

2 tsp salt

4 eggs, beaten

2 tbsp olive oil

Method:

1. Sift the flour into a large bowl and stir in the salt.

2. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and add the eggs and 2 tbsp of oil. Using a wooden spoon, stir in the eggs, gradually drawing in the flour. After a few minutes, the dough will be too stiff to use a spoon, and you will need to use your fingers.

3. Once all the flour has been incorporated, turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes until smooth and elastic. If you find the dough to be too wet, add a little more flour and continue to knead. Cover with cling film and leave to rest for at least 15 minutes.

4. The basic dough is now ready. Roll out the pasta thinly and create the pasta shapes required.

** For us, we used Trang's handy KitchenAid stand mixer's pasta roller and cutter set. This made the process much, much, MUCH easier. Totally worth a buy if you like fresh pasta, and you have a stand mixer.

Bruschetta

What's one of the best combinations in the world? Tomato and basil. Love that stuff. Especially love it in the form of a caprese salad with fresh mozzarella, balsamic vinegar, and fine olive oil... But that's another recipe altogether. Tonight, we made bruschetta. Rather, Trang made bruschetta the night before, and we simply toasted bread and spooned her prepared mixture onto the baguette slices. Deliciousness. Give it a try and you'll see how simple it is. I think having it sit overnight really allows the flavors to mingle and develop into something addictively good. Yum!

Ingredients:

2 tomatoes, cubed

½ cup fresh basil, julienned

4 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

2 tbsp olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced

Salt, to taste

Ground black pepper, to taste

Method:

1. In a medium bowl, mix oil, garlic, and basil, to help infuse the oil with the garlic and basil flavors. Set aside while preparing tomatoes or other dishes.

2. Mix in tomatoes, Parmesan cheese, seasoning salt, and ground black pepper. Cover and chill in the refrigerator 8 hours, or overnight, before serving.

3. Serve mixture on top of toasted French baguette slices.

**If time constrained, all ingredients can be mixed in all at once before chilling.