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Recipes in Rotation: Sugo Sciue Sciue

March 12th, 2013 No comments

Rnr logoRecipes in Rotation is a series that allows me to highlight recipes that have made their way into “the book.” This book is the binder that contains recipes we make on a regular basis — at least monthly and in some cases, every two weeks. I keep them in this special binder for quick and easy access without sorting through a bunch of other recipes to speed things up when I need to get dinner on the table.

Today’s recipe is a Sugo Sciue Sciue

This is one of our typical “go to” pasta sauces for building a filling, comforting and tasty dinner is just about 30 minutes. For us, it also yields plenty of leftover for later in the week. I like this sauce both for its speed of assembly and also for the way the meat breaks up into small pieces and mingles so nicely with the pasta.

As the name implies, this is a quick ragu, not one that is designed to cook for hours and hours. This gives is a slightly fresher taste, especially if using who, fresh tomatoes instead of canned tomatoes or tomato sauce. I like my pasta sauce smooth, so tomato sauce is my base of choice, perhaps with a small addition of Italian Tomato paste.

Suga Sciue Sciue - PaD 3/11/07

Sugo Sciue Sciue

(See this recipe on Bakespace.com)

Ingredients

2 Tbls olive oil
1 large onion, peeled and chopped
3 cloves garlic
1 lb ground turkey
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley or 1 Tbls dried
8-10 fresh basil leaves or 1tsp dried
2 14oz cans tomato sauce, or 28oz chopped fresh tomatoes 
Salt and Pepper
1/4 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
Pinch cayenne pepper
1 lb pasta of your choice
Grated Pecorino or Parmesan cheese for the table 

Instructions

Heat olive oil in large, tall-sided pot or skillet
Add chopped onion and garlic and cook slowly over low heat until soft
Add meat and sauté over high heat. Break up any large lumps
Add parsley and basil
Cook until meat is no longer pink
Add tomatoes, salt and pepper, red pepper flakes and cayenne pepper
Cook over medium-low heat until sauce comes together and thickens, approximately 30 minutes. There is no need to cook this for hours.
Cook pasta as directed, drain — reserving a bit of the pasta water
Add drained pasta to the sauce and cook for 1-2 minutes longer. Add a bit of pasta water if the sauce is too thick
Serve while warm with Pecorino or Parmesan Cheese for topping 

Serves 4-6

Adapted from Cucina Rustica by Viana La Place and Evan Kleiman

More pasta recipes:

Previously in Recipes in Rotation:

Categories: Cooking, Food, Recipe, Recipes in Rotation Tags:

Books on Hold: Salty Snacks: Make Your Own Chips, Crisps, Crackers, Pretzels, Dips, and Other Savory Bites

March 7th, 2013 No comments

Books on Hold is a blog series dedicated to books I have seen in passing and requested from my local library. See more in the series at the end of this blog post. — Douglas

Salty Snacks: Make Your Own Chips, Crisps, Crackers, Pretzels, Dips, and Other Savory Bites

From Amazon.com…

“This collection of 75 recipes for savory puffs, chips, crackers, breads, nuts, veggies and meats puts a fresh, crunchy spin on homemade snacks.

Are you ready to take your love of salty snacks to the next level?

This collection of seventy-five recipes for veggie chips, cheese straws, toasted nuts, pita chips, herb crackers, savory cookies, and snack mixes puts a fresh, crunchy spin on homemade nibbles.
So broaden your horizons beyond microwave popcorn and bagged chips to include inventive snacks like Roasted Chickpeas with Sumac, Coconut Crisps with Basil and Chiles, Salami Chips with Grainy Mustard Dip, Stilton and Walnut Pinwheels, and more.
Indeed, with all the excess sodium and hidden preservatives in prepackaged foods, it’s smart as well as delicious to make your own savory bites from scratch. Nutritious offerings like Parsnip and Carrot Chips, gluten-free recipes like Cumin Lentil Crackers, and the option to customize the amount of added salt (or alternative spices and sprinklings) will appeal to snackers of every stripe. Perfect for cocktail parties, after-school snack time, or anytime you need a nosh, this collection’s easy techniques and exotic flavors are sure to delight anyone with a “salty tooth.”

* Discovered via Baking Bites

Previously in Books on Hold:

Categories: Books, Bread, Cooking, DIY, Food, Recipe Tags:

No #KitchenParty this Week (March 7) Due to SXSW. Back next week March 14 @ 8pm EST

March 6th, 2013 No comments

Sorry folks, but no show this week as Babette is off enjoying the splendor that is the Austin, Texas food scene during the South by Southwest (SXSW) Conference.

We’ll be back next week, Thursday with the folk from Chameleon Cold Brew Coffee. We’ll be trying out their coffees during the show and finding out what it is all about.

You can watch past episodes of #KitchenParty at http:/youtube.com/bakespacetv

See you next week!

Categories: Announcement, Cooking, Event, Food, KitchenParty, Video Tags:

Books on Hold: Pancake: A Global History

March 6th, 2013 No comments

Books on Hold is a blog series dedicated to books I have seen in passing and requested from my local library. See more in the series at the end of this blog post. — Douglas

Pancake: A Global History

From Amazon.com…

“Round, thin, and made of starchy batter cooked on a flat surface, it is a food that goes by many names: flapjack, crêpe, and okonomiyaki, to name just a few. The pancake is a treasured food the world over, and now Ken Albala unearths the surprisingly rich history of pancakes and their sizzling goodness.

Pancake traverses over centuries and civilizations to examine the culinary and cultural importance of pancakes in human history. From the Russian blini to the Ethiopian injera, Albala reveals how pancakes have been a perennial source of sustenance from Greek and Roman eras to the Middle Ages through to the present day. He explores how the pancake has gained symbolic currency in diverse societies as a comfort food, a portable victual for travelers, a celebratory dish, and a breakfast meal. The book also features a number of historic and modern recipes—tracing the first official pancake recipe to a sixteenth-century Dutch cook—and is accompanied by a rich selection of illustrations.

Pancake is a witty and erudite history of a well-known favorite and will ensure that the pancake will never be flattened under the shadow of better known foods.”

Previously in Books on Hold:

Categories: Books, Cooking, Food, History Tags:

Recipes in Rotation: Fluffy Pancakes

March 5th, 2013 No comments

Rnr logoRecipes in Rotation is a series that allows me to highlight recipes that have made their way into “the book.” This book is the binder that contains recipes we make on a regular basis — at least monthly and in some cases, every two weeks. I keep them in this special binder for quick and easy access without sorting through a bunch of other recipes to speed things up when I need to get dinner on the table.

Today’s recipe is a Fluffy Pancakes

I have never been much of a pancake fan before, but lately I have been having cravings for them. I like my pancakes light and fluffy, so I went looking for a recipe with just those qualities. After looking at quite a few recipes, I developed my own recipe which combined a little of each. The secret of fluffy is to have enough leavening to make the pancakes pop. The “double-acting” baking powder used here develops fluffiness when mixed the the wet ingredients and agin when the pancakes are cooked.

This photo is an example of a fresh batch just off the cast iron griddle that always sits atop our stove — perfect for just such a meal. If you have a hankering for pancakes, this recipe works very well. It only makes about 6 average-sized pancakes, but the recipes is easily doubled or tripled if you want to make a larger batch. I do add a bit more milk than the recipe calls for, just to make them a little bit lighter. 

Fluffy Pancakes

(See this recipe on Bakespace.com)

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoon sugar
2 tsps baking powder
1/2 tsp slat
1 egg
1 cup milk
Splash orange juice
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup butter, melted 

Instructions

Heat griddle or pan to medium

Melt butter in microwave but do not brown. Set aside to cool a bit.
In small bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
Combine egg, milk, orange juice, vanilla and cooled butter in small bowl.Quickly whisk together with fork.
Stir wet ingredients into dry — mixing just enough to moisten. Do not over beat or they will be less fluffy. 

When griddle or pan is hot. (Drops of water on pan skitter about energetically)
Spoon 1/4 cup batter onto hot griddle or pan for each pancake
Cook on each side until golden and fluffy. 

Serves 4

More pancake recipes:

  

Previously in Recipes in Rotation:

Categories: Cooking, Food, Recipe, Recipes in Rotation Tags:

New Food: Fried Radicchio with Chicken Breast – Leftover Mashup

March 5th, 2013 No comments

If you subscribe to my Pinterest page, my @douglaswelch Twitter account or my Google+ feed, you know that I am always finding recipes I want to try. This series, New Food, will highlight some of those finds as we make them for the first time in our own kitchen. Then, I’ll report back to you on the results — for better or worse! — Douglas

Fried Radicchio with Chicken Breast – Leftover Mashup

New Food; Fried radicchio with chicken breast

New Food: Radicchio Risotto - 06New Food: Radicchio Risotto - 03New Food: Radicchio Risotto - 02New Food: Radicchio Risotto - 01

Today’s recipe is a bit of a mashup from last week. We cook at home a lot, so there are always significant leftovers to be put to use. For today’s lunch, I poked around in the fridge and came up with this leftover mashup.

First you take some of the friend radicchio from last week’s Radicchio Risotto. Then, fry or grill some boneless chicken breast. We had some left over from our chicken, mashed potato, veg dinner a few nights ago. Heat these up together, add a bit more spice, or different spices as you desire. I added some more salt and black pepper (which I love) to balance the relative sweetness of the radicchio. You could also add in some balsamic vinegar. I don’t use this when making the radicchio for the risotto, as I think the vinegar would overpower the risotto. In this mashup, though, I think it would bring a nice kick to the flavors.

Fried Radicchio with Chicken Breast – Leftover Mashup

Ingredients

1 head radiccchio
1 Tblsp Olive Oil
1/2 cup white wine
Salt
Pepper
*Balsamic vinegar (optional)

Mozzarella or Parmesan Cheese

Pre-cooked fried, baked or grilled chicken bread (1-4 depending on how many people you are serving) 

Instructions

Chop radicchio into strands. Heat 1Tbls olive oil in skillet
Add salt and pepper to taste
Toss with tongs until wilted
Add 1/2 cup white wine
Cook until wine is absorbed an evaporated.
Add 1 tdsp balsamic vinegar, if desired

Slice or chop cooked chicken breast and add to radicchio to reheats

Plat up and top with mozzarella or parmesan cheese, if desired

Want more food content? – Join me each Thursday for #KitchenParty live at 8pm EST/5pm PST.

 

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Previously on New Food:

Categories: Cooking, Food, New Food Tags:

Books on Hold: Breakfast for Dinner: Recipes for Frittata Florentine, Huevos Rancheros, Sunny-Side-Up Burgers, and More!

March 3rd, 2013 No comments

Books on Hold is a blog series dedicated to books I have seen in passing and requested from my local library. See more in the series at the end of this blog post. — Douglas

Breakfast for Dinner: Recipes for Frittata Florentine, Huevos Rancheros, Sunny-Side-Up Burgers, and More! 

From Amazon.com…

“Inside Breakfast for Dinner you’ll find more than 100 classic breakfast recipes made with a twist. Enjoy hearty “brinner” dishes like Bacon Fried Rice, Breakfast Ravioli, Pizza over Easy, and Cornmeal Pancakes with Beer-Braised Short Ribs, plus such sweet treats as Sunrise Margaritas and Maple Bacon Cupcakes—to name just a few. This cookbook is a breakfast lover’s dream come true.

* Discovered via The Boastful Baker

Previously in Books on Hold:

Categories: Baking, Books, Cooking, Food, Shared Items Tags:

Videos from Douglas E. Welch – February 2013

March 1st, 2013 No comments

Here is a playlist of all the videos I produced in February 2013.

You can find all my past videos on my YouTube Channel. If you enjoy a video, please click the Like button or Subscribe to the YouTube Channel. Doing that directly effects how many other people see my videos.

 
Point at each video thumbnail for more information and scroll through the available videos using the < > arrows in the lower right corner.
 

Categories: Careers, Cooking, Food, Garden, New Food, Technology, Video Tags:

Video: #KitchenParty Live: Austin Food Scene with Addie Broyles, Food Editor, Austin-American Statesman – Recorded Version

February 28th, 2013 No comments

addie broyles

Who’s going to SXSW? Or perhaps you’re headed to Austin for some BBQ!  If so, you don’t want to miss our next episode of KitchenParty.

This week we’ll be chatting with one of our favorite Austin food writers Addie Broyles, Food Editor of the Austin-American Statesman and member of the Austin Food Blogger Alliance.

SHOW AIRS LIVE – THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28th @ 8PM EST / 5PM PST

BY COURTESY OF THE HISTORY PRESS

Addie will be joining us live as we chat about where to eat during SXSW, the new cookbook the Alliance has published and what it’s like writing for the Austin-American Statesman. We may also pull out some old photos of the KitchenParty team at the last SXSW event if you tweet us a request… let’s just say it involved two prestigious food editors, several tiny cowboy hands and a giant steer involved.

Join us live this thursday! Watch the show here or go RSVP on ourgoogle+ account or youtube pages.

Follow Addie on twitter: @broylesa

Visit Addie’s website:  http://www.austin360.com/relishaustin
Pre-order your copy of the Austin Food Blogger Alliance Cookbook

HOW TO WATCH THE SHOW: At 8pm Eastern / 5 pm Pacific on Thursday, February 28th,  join us here and click on the video that will be added to this page about 20 minutes before the show starts. Follow the conversation on twitter by using #kitchenparty or head over toYoutube.com/bakespacetv page.

NEVER MISS A SHOW: If you don’t want to miss an episode, subscribe to our google+ account or youtube pages.

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Books on Hold: Nigellissima: Easy Italian-Inspired Recipes by Nigella Lawson

February 27th, 2013 No comments

Books on Hold is a blog series dedicated to books I have seen in passing and requested from my local library. See more in the series at the end of this blog post. — Douglas

Nigellissima: Easy Italian-Inspired Recipes by Nigella Lawson

From Amazon.com…

“Nigellissima, like the Italian cooking from which it takes its inspiration, is a celebration of food that is fresh, delicious, and unpretentious. Here Nigella Lawson serves up 120 straightforward and mouthwatering recipes that are quick and easy yet elevate weeknight meals into no-fuss feasts. 

“It was when I was sixteen or seventeen that I decided to be Italian. Not that it was a conscious decision . . . No: I simply felt drawn to Italy,” writes Nigella. And so it was that before she was a Food Network star and bestselling cookbook author, Nigella found her way to Florence, where she learned to cook like an Italian. Indeed, Italian cooking is trademark Nigella: light on touch but robust with flavor.

With beautiful color photographs to inspire, Nigellissima has all the hallmarks of traditional Italian fare in its faithfulness to the freshest ingredients and simplest methods. From pasta and meat to fish, vegetables, and, of course, dolci, this cook’s tour has something for every mood, season, and occasion: Curly-Edged Pasta with Lamb Ragu is the perfect salve for a winter’s night, while tangy and light Spaghettini with Lemon and Garlic Breadcrumbs takes just minutes to prepare. Meatzza, the favorite at Nigella’s table, is a meatball mixture pressed into a pan and finished with traditional Margherita ingredients—or whatever you may have on hand. And the versatile Baby Eggplant with Oregano and Red Onion works beautifully as a starter or side or as dinner sprinkled with ricotta salata or crumbled feta. Here, too, are Green Beans with Pistachio Pesto, Roast Butternut with Sage and Pine Nuts, and fluffy Mascarpone Mash, Nigella’s twist on mashed potatoes. Never an afterthought, Nigella’s low-maintenance “sweet things” include Instant Chocolate-Orange Mousse; light, doughnut-like Sambuca Kisses; and One-Step No-Churn Coffee Ice Cream, to name just a few.”

Previously in Books on Hold:

Categories: Books, Cooking, Food Tags:
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