Archive for August, 2007

This meal wasn’t a typical one; I put some ingredients together into some interesting ways.

Appetizer: Salad of Favorites

I combined my love for so-called prosciutto di parma, Hanover tomato, and buffalo mozzarella cheese, and provided flavor with EVOO and authentic, long-aged balsamic vinegar. The only gesture of perfection left would have been single leaves of baby basil placed on top.

Special Asparagus Soup

• 1 large sweet onion
• 5 cloves garlic
• EVOO
• salt, pepper
• one bunch asparagus
• one small carton, heavy cream
• one quart chicken stock
• white wine
• one-half head broccoli-cauliflower hybrid vegetable
• lemon juice

I cooked the onion and garlic in EVOO, until slight color came to the sweet onions. I added the green cauliflower, and stirred. Minutes later, I added the chopped stalks of asparagus, tips reserved. Once everything had been coated in the fat, I added the wine, then the chicken stock, and simmered the concoction for some 10 minutes.

Then, I removed the stock to a blender, and in 2 batches, pureéed the soup. Added back to the pot, I re-heated the mixture, mounting it with cream and the tips of asparagus, back up to a light simmer. The soup was then finally served, and garnished with fresh lemon juice.

Dinner was served alongside Zingerman’s Paesano bread.

I recently made a three-course Italian dinner featuring chicken and Cavanna fresh pasta.

Salad

The salad was simple, with a quick lemon vinaigrette. The punch of the acid played nicely against the sweeter tomato sauce. The fresh, ripe Hanover tomato was a good foil by itself, against crisp Romaine lettuce.

Tomato Sauce

I made a tomato sauce to dress the pasta, and coat the chicken.

The tomato sauce was made my first sauteeing red onion and garlic in EVOO, with salt and pepper. Next, I added this to whole Italian canned tomatoes in the food processor. Whizzshed it up, after adding a touch of honey. Then added it back to the pan. Next, I added about 1 Tbsp. of white wine and 2 tsp. of tomato paste. It thickened while the chicken was in the oven.

Pasta

Cavanna Pasta makes a nice sausage tortellini. I boiled this in salted water, and dressed it in the tomato sauce before eating. This benefitted from the thickened sauce, after adding the wine and paste. The sauce used on the chicken “thickened” on its own in the oven.

Baked Chicken

The chicken breasts were pounded thin, and salted/peppered. To each I added roasted red pepper, fresh mozzarella cheese, dried thyme, and a piece of parma ham. Next, I rolled it up, and held it in place with toothpicks. I added these two stuffed and rolled breasts into an oven pan, after coating the bottom with EVOO. The tomato sauce topped the chicken before hitting the 400 degree oven for 18 minutes.

The presentation would have benefitted from a sprinkling of shredded basil leaves. The plate was too “red.”

In this photo, you can see the chicken’s stuffing:

In all, it was a delicious meal.

Earlier this month I celebrated my birthday at One North Belmont, a French restaurant in Richmond, Virginia.

My earlier visit here almost 2 years ago was interesting: I had promise for this place. Some things, like their foie gras appetizer (with cherry gastrique) was sublime. Their lobster entrée, however, was undercooked. The soup was delicious, and presentation was very refined.

This time around, the restaurant was empty (on a Monday night). We were the only customers. Service was good, but not as formal as the first time around. The foie gras appetizer was ordered again, but this time, the sublime quality was all gone. The flavors weren’t as magical, and the toast it was served on was dry and crumbled. It was day (or 2-day) old and disappointing.

The salad of beets was curiously presented, and looked quite interesting.

Only one type of beet was presented; I think the dish could have been enhanced with more dressing, some bolder flavors, and a variety of beets.

Beets came along for the ride in my steak entrée. I mean, if I had beet salad, why continue the tradition in the next dish? Please… I had beets. Give me something else. The sauce, topping, and flavors with the beef tournado was fine; the steak ultimately was a tad disappointing.

We skipped desserts. The coffee was good.

After eating here the first time, I had just experienced Daniel in New York. I had tasted a little bit of Daniel here in Richmond. But now, I am not so sure. For me, 1 North Belmont has dropped a few notches. There is creativity and some fine ingredients afoot, but for the prices, I can’t still recommend it.

I like fresh pasta. But I don’t often make it at home, because I don’t have the right tools.

(For those of you that know me, yes, I have a pasta rolling machine, but the clamp is broken and I can no longer clamp it down, which makes using it… fruitless.)

(And yes, I asked for a pasta attachment for my Kitchen Aid mixer, but received the wrong one as a gift; what I got instead was the extruder, not the roller. This makes rolling pasta a one-person process, instead of needing a pasta-making buddy.)

So, with the desire to eat my pasta fresca, Gianni Cavanna came into town, and opened up a fresh pasta store. Perhaps you have heard of it? I’ve spoken of them many a time here on the blog. Simply put, they make a great product and sell it at a very decent price.

So—why are they struggling to survive? A recent article in the Times-Dispatch told of their plight: bleeding money, not likely to stay open past their 3-year anniversary. “Not enough customers,” was Gianni’s excuse, alongside some bad purchasing decisions at the shop’s opening: buying best equipment and outfitting the store with nice furniture.

Here’s one simple fact: they sell the best tiramisu dessert I have ever had. And trust me, the Messy Chef has eaten his share of tiramisu. So this my plea to you, the reader:

Please patronize Cavanna if you haven’t. He sells prosciutto, homemade pastas (both noodles and filled varieties), and one damn-good tiramisù dessert.

2272 John Rolfe Parkway
John Rolfe Commons
Richmond, VA 23233
phone: 804.360.9868

I caught a piece on Food Network this morning from Nigella Feasts. She was making hot cocoa. There are so many ways to make this. And I’m always willing to try a new twist; even in the summer.

Her recipe used several ingredients, none of which, I have combined quite like hers.

• Honey
• Light brown sugar
• Cinnamon Stick
• Whole milk
• 1/2 Valrhona bar
• Vanilla Extract
• Splash of Rum

She wisked it all up, removed the cinnamon, and that was that. I will try something like this (and even, combined, when cooled, with ice in the blender, might be good), but I’d have a few suggestions if you enjoy this treat often.

First, combine the light brown sugar, with 3 cinnamon sticks, and 1-2 spent vanilla beans, in a plastic container. Shake/mix the container once a week. I’d do this to flavor my sugar, so I don’t have to add sticks/vanilla each time.

Second, I’ve used whole milk, but half-and-half is even richer. You decide.

Third, some call for layers of chocolate flavor. I typically try some powered cocoa with the chocolate bar.

Fourth, some prefer a more “mocha” flavor. This is cocoa with the addition of coffee. To get this, you have a variety of sources, from powered espresso, to regular coffee, to Kahlúa. You could change Nigella’s recipe with a nip of the coffee liqueur instead of rum; or even, make cinnamon coffee and add some of that.

I long to taste the thick, rich hot cocoa they served in the chocolate shop in the hit-movie, Chocolat. That’s why I’ve tried the thicker, richer half-and-half.

I hope this post encourages you to experiment with your own Ultimate Hot-Chocolate recipes.