Artichoke Lamb Stew

This takes a little prep, but I think it's worth it. This was a bit unusual as dishes go, but I think the result was awesome.

Ingredients

• 3 large artichokes (prep instructions below)
• 1 lb ground lamb
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 carrot, chopped (rounds)
• about 1/2 lb cannellini beans (or similar), soaked
• 1.5 tbsp flour
• 2tbsp lemon juice
• oil / fat of your choice (we used leftover bacon fat, but olive oil would work fine)
• rosemary, thyme, basil (we kind of eye-balled it - maybe 1 tsp / .5 tsp / 1 tsp, respectively)

Okay, the artichokes. Pull off the outer layer of roughed-up leaves. Wash the artichokes. Cut off the top inch or so of the artichoke to expose the leaves. As you do all of this, every time you remove a leaf or anything, rub the cut / damaged area with lemon juice. With a paring knife, peel the outer portion of the stem (but leave it attached. Or, if it came detached at some point, just peel it) and, again, coat in lemon juice.

Pop the artichokes in a steamer for 25-45 minutes, until the outer leaves come off pretty easily. Remove and let cool. Then begin removing the leaves. You can eat the ends of the leaves as you go or just save them for later. We saved all the leaves for an up-coming stock we're going to make. Anyway, when you get all the bigger leaves off (the top 5 layers or so) you can usually pull out all the center layers in one go. Then you're left with the heart (and the choke). Scrape out the choke using a spoon. Now chop the heart and the stems into 8 pieces (or so, I don't know - bite sized). ARTICHOKES DONE. If you didn't understand a step, go google it or something.

In a heavy-bottomed soup pot, add the lamb and some oil/fat. Break up the lamb a LITTLE, but not into tiny bits - it's nice to have larger pieces of lamb kicking around. Brown the lamb pretty well. Then add the onion and carrot. Cook until the onion is getting soft. Then add the flour and continue to cook for another minute. Finally, add everything else. Fill with water JUST to cover. Bring to a boil (scraping up the bottom of the pot as you go), then reduce to a simmer. Cover and let simmer for about an hour. Season to taste with salt and additional lemon juice.

Thoughts: The game-y-ness of the lamb was wonderfully balanced by the acidity of the lemon. It was a really nice, hearty winter soup. The artichokes had great flavor the FIRST day, but after sitting in the fridge the flavor diffused a bit so it wasn't as distinct the second day. Since the hearts were already cooked, next time I might not boil them for an hour with everything else, but instead pop them in with about 5 minutes left in the cooking process. If I had stew meat available (rather than ground) I think that would be better, but this was still really good.

Disaster Index: 1/10

Not Quite Pasta Carbonara

Perhaps more accurately called "Pasta Not Quite Carbonara." This was actually an attempt to use up stuff in the fridge / pantry before we go out of town (and eventually move), but it was the perfect thing after a hard day of painting. OH GOD THE PAINT FUMES.

Ingredients

• 4oz bacon, cubed
• garlic. Like, a lot. Maybe 2tbsp.
• Olive oil
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2c of that sandy parmesan stuff
• black pepper
• 14oz canned diced tomatoes
• 1lb pasta

Make the pasta. While that's cooking, cook the bacon and garlic in a pan of olive oil. When the bacon is cooked, add the tomatoes and simmer for a while until it thickens a bit. Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, mix the egg, parmesan, and pepper and whisk thoroughly.

When the pasta is done, mix it with the tomato / bacon mixture until thoroughly coated. Do this over a low flame so that it's REALLY hot. Take the pasta off the heat completely, stir a couple more times, then pour in the egg and cheese mixture and stir constantly. The heat from the pasta cooks the eggs without curdling them (ideally - worked for us, but we've curdled them in the past). Then serve.

Thoughts: This was really good. The tomato really added, actually, although I know we're heathens for doing it this way. It could be the paint fumes talking, but I would definitely do it this way in the future.

Disaster Index: 1/10

Arugula Spinach Ravioli

Probably pretty good for you.
Ingredients

• Pasta Dough
• 2c white flour
• ~1-2tbsp olive oil
• pinch of salt
• 3 eggs
• Filling
• ~6oz arugula
• 10oz frozen spinach
• 1/2c ricotta cheese
• 1/2c mozzarella cheese
• 2tbsp butter
• 4 cloves garlic
• lemon juice or white wine - something acidic
• 3/4tsp salt
• 3/4tsp black pepper

In a bowl, combine the dough ingredients. and stir to combine.  Turn the dough out onto a well floured surface and, using a little extra flour as you go, knead out the dough until it's fully mixed and has a smooth texture - about 8 minutes.  Wrap the dough in plastic and set it aside for an hour to rest.

Now start a big pot of water boiling.  While that heats, (in a separate pot) combine the butter and garlic in a pot and cook until fragrant - about a minute.  Add the greens (thawed completely in the microwave) and the acidic liquid (white wine / lemon juice) and cover to wilt everything down.  After it's all hot, put everything in a fine mesh strainer and press out any excess liquid - there will be quite a lot.  Then put the greens on a cutting board and chop finely.  Mix with the rest of the filling ingredients in a big bowl.
Now, roll out the dough to an appropriate thinness.  We used a pasta roller we inherited and put the past through on successively smaller gauge pasta sizes.  Eventually, we put the pasta sheet on a (lightly oiled) ravioli press.  We then added the filling, topped with another sheet of pasta, and pressed out the ravioli.  Now, if you don't have all this fancy equipment, you can theoretically do it by hand... you can figure it out.  This pasta dough is actually fairly forgiving.

Anyway, when you've pressed out the ravioli, you drop them in the boiling water (keeping the pot covered after you get them in).  Cook for about 3-6 minutes, depending on the thickness of the ravioli in question.  Then toss with whatever sauce you made (I made a kind of white wine / sage sauce that was OK) and serve.

Thoughts: The pasta dough we used here was nigh perfect.  We've had trouble with pasta doughs being too dry in the past, or too brittle, too glutenous, etc.  but this one was very malleable, incredibly stretchy, and very VERY forgiving.  If I were interested in making pasta in the future, this is the recipe I would use.  As far as the ravioli goes, I think it would have been better with goat cheese filling (the original recipe MAY have called for goat cheese).  Next time, Claire and I have decided, we will put the filling in a food processor rather than using a cutting board (weird).  And a higher cheese to other stuff ratio would also be good.  Also it took us a while to get the pasta thickness right.  But I'm going to go ahead and give this recipe a 1 because it was our first ever time making ravioli with this press we registered for AND it went so well once we figured out what we were doing.  Very rewarding.

Disaster Index: 1/10

Pasta al Cavolfiore

This is a favorite from Claire's childhood. She felt that this was almost as good as what her father makes. This was our take on someone else's take of a Moosewood Cookbook recipe. Anyway.

Ingredients

• 1 cauliflower, cut into florets
  
• olive oil
  
• 1tsp dry basil
  
• 3-4 cloves garlic, chopped or crushed (we got chopped from a jar)
  
• 1 bay leaf
  
• red pepper flakes
  
• optional ~3 hot italian sausages
  
• 1c cheddar plus 1c parmesan cheese
  
• 1 28oz can tomato sauce/puree
  
• vermouth or dry cooking wine
  
• 1lb pasta (we used rotini)
  

If you're using them, chop the sausage and cook in a pan over medium heat until caramelized and cooked through, then set aside. In the same pot, add the cauliflower, olive oil, basil, garlic, bay leaf (or leaves), and red pepper flakes. Add some dry cooking wine and a little water and cover to cook until tender. When it's tender, add the tomato sauce. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 15 minutes (while you cook the pasta). After about 10 minutes, re-add the sausages. When it's done, drain the pasta. When the sauce is finished, take it off the heat and stir in the cheese and the pasta.

Thoughts: This is almost absurdly good. The sausage was a good addition, but unnecessary, but no, good... The cauliflower was perfectly tender. Red pepper flakes are good in just about anything, so it worked well here.

Disaster Index: 1/10

Fettuccine with Fava Beans and Basil

Deceptively complex.

Ingredients

• 3c dry fava beans, soaked, or 3c fresh, shelled*
  
• 1lb fettuccine
  
• 2c basil, chopped
  
• 2 cloves garlic
  
• salt
  
• pepper
  
• parmesan
  
• juice of 1/2 a lemon
  

After you soak the dry beans, cook them until they're tender. We did this with the shells on. Afterward, fish out the beans and run under some cold water. Then shell them all. Ugh. Take 2/3 of the beans and pulse in a kitchenaid with 1c basil, some salt, the garlic, and enough olive oil to make it work. Don't puree the stuff, just chop until it's pretty small. Meanwhile, cook the pasta in the same water that you used to cook the fava beans. When that's done, reserve a cup of water and drain the pasta. Now you assemble. In the pot, combine the whole favas, the blended favas, and some of the pasta/fava cooking water. Add the lemon juice and parmesan and stir together. Then add the pasta and toss together.

Thoughts: VERY filling. One problem is that after we shelled and blended the beans, we discovered that they were still just too toothsome, so we had to return them to a pot and add water and cook until the favas were done. Meh. Otherwise, this is really delicious. Next time... we'll probably cook the beans for longer initially. Or maybe use fresh beans if we have them. I don't know. Quite good, though.

Disaster Index: 1/10

Pasta with MGC pesto

What does MGC stand for? WAIT AND SEE.

Ingredients

• 1 lb pasta (we used ziti)
• 1/2 lb collards (the C), stems removed, leaves chiffonaded and then washed
• 1/2 lb mustard greens (the MG), stems removed, leaves torn and then washed
• the juice and zest of 1/2 of a small lemon
• 3 tbsp parmesan cheese
• 2 cloves garlic
  
• 1 tbsp dried basil flakes
  
• 2 Laughing Cow triangles (alternatively, 2 oz. of creamy cheese)
• salt
• pepper
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• water, until the texture is right
• 1 small tomato, chopped
  

In a large saucepan, add the collards and a few tablespoons of water. Cover the pot and put over medium/high heat. Cook until the collards have wilted, about 5 minutes.
Once the collards have wilted, add the mustard greens. Add more water, if necessary. Cover again and cook until the MG have cooked down. This shouldn't take long - keep an eye on it.
Once they've cooked down, add the garlic, salt, basil flakes, and pepper. Mix until incorporated.
Heat a pot of water for the pasta. When it's boiling, cook the pasta.
Remove the MG&C from the stove and put in a blender. To the blender, add olive oil and lemon juice/zest. Blend until thoroughly blended. Add more oil and/or water if the mixture gets too thick. Add the cheeses. Blend some more.
The pasta should be cooked by now. Drain it and return the pasta to the pot.
Add the MG&C pesto to the pasta. Stir until the pasta is thoroughly coated.
Add chopped tomatoes on top.
Devour.

Thoughts: OH MY GOD. SHUT UP. THIS IS AWESOME. But seriously, I was expecting the pesto to taste like any other pesto (we've made pesto with things like kale and swiss chard etc...), but it does not. It has this really interesting, savory flavor. We really lucked out. The greens paired really well with both the chopped tomato and the lemon. And this was hella easy. To be honest, I like this version of pesto better than traditional pesto. I would eat this all day. Sweet fancy Moses.

Disaster Index: Can I give a -1? 1/10 I guess

Tomato and Cannellini Panade

Based on a recipe from the kitchn blog. Very similar to ribollita.

Ingredients

• 1 onion, diced
  
• 2tbsp minced garlic
  
• 28oz can of diced tomatoes in juice
  
• 1c chicken broth (or vegetable)
  
• 1tbsp brown sugar
  
• 1 bay leaf
  
• pinch of anise
  
• 1tsp oregano
  
• 1tsp thyme
  
• 3-5 slices of good, crusty bread, cubed
  
• 16oz can cannellini beans, rinsed
  
• 1/2c parmesan
  
• salt and pepper to taste
  

Saute the onion in olive oil (with a pinch of salt) until translucent. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant - 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes & juices, and the broth along with the brown sugar, bay leaf, and anise. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer for 10 minutes. Fish out the bay leaf and add the bread and beans. Stir for about 5 minutes, until the bread is mushy. Add a little more broth (1/4 to 1/2c) if needed, and stir some more. The goal is to get something only a LITTLE soupy - the bread soaks up most of the soup, so it's more of a stew. After you've adjusted this to taste, stir in the cheese and see if it doesn't need more salt or some pepper. Serve!

Thoughts: pretty great, but Claire and I agree that it could use some sort of greens. Maybe some frozen spinach? It would be a cinch to toss 5-10oz of frozen chopped spinach. On the plus side, it's a simple recipe and it's easy to adapt to be veg friendly. It's really quite good - I think I prefer it to ribollita texturally, even if they're pretty similar. It's kind of comfort-food. I would definitely make this again, just maybe with some modifications.

Disaster Index: 2/10 - with spinach I'd say a 1/10.

Sausage and Swiss Chard Lasagna

Ingredients

• 1 lb Italian sausage (casings removed), chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced or chopped or whatever
• 1 can tomatoes (14.5 oz) - we used "fire roasted," which worked really well
• 2 tsp dried basil
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1.5 tsp salt
• 10-12 lasagna noodles
• 1 16-oz package of shredded mozzarella cheese
  
• 1 container ricotta cheese (1.75 cups)
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 tbsp dried parsley
• 2 eggs
• 1-2 ozs chevre cheese (we used herb & garlic chevre)
• 1/4 fresh basil, shredded
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 1 (large) bunch swiss chard, bottom inch of stalks removed
  
• 1 yellow summer squash
• 6 oz frozen spinach

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Brown the sausage over medium-low heat until it's pretty cooked through. Add the garlic, tomatoes, dried basil, dried oregano, and 1.5 tsp salt. Simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes. You can add some water to it if it gets too thick. Remove from heat.
Boil some pasta water in a large pot and cook the lasagna noodles in batches.
In the meantime, saute the onions over medium-high heat until almost translucent.
While you're sauteing the onions, prepare the Swiss chard. This is how you do it:
remove the stalks from the leaves and chop the stalks into smallish pieces. Chiffonade the leaves.
When the onions are almost translucent, add the stalks of the Swiss chard. Cover and cook for around 8 minutes, or until the stalks are tender, stirring occasionally. When tender, remove the onion/chard mix from the heat and set aside.
Take the chard leaves and add them to a smallish pot with the 6 oz. of frozen spinach (which you need to thaw ahead of time. Do it now if you haven't yet.). Cook the chard leaves and spinach, covered, over low heat. Add a few tablespoons of water to facilitate wilting. Cook for 5 minutes, or until wilted. Remove from heat and mix with the onion/chard mixture.
In a large bowl, mix ricotta, mozzarella, eggs, fresh basil, dried parsley, Parmesan, and some salt. Mix thoroughly. When the onion/chard/spinach mixture has cooled a little, add it into the cheese mixture and mix thoroughly.
Wash the summer squash and chop off the ends. Slice length-wise into sheets and grill until softened.
Now assemble the lasagna:
Coat the bottom of a glass lasagna with olive oil.
Put as many noodles as you'd like on the bottom. Put a layer of tomato/sausage mix on the noodles. Then add a layer of yellow squash. Then add a layer of the cheese/vegetable mixture. Then more noodles, then more tomato sauce, then more squash, then more cheese/vegetables, and then a final layer of noodles. On top of that we drizzled some olive oil and then the chevre.
Put in the oven and cook for 30-40 minutes.

Thoughts: Delicious. We based this loosely on a recipe we found online, and then added all sorts of stuff (swiss chard, spinach, yellow squash, chevre, onions, fresh basil). The flavor was fantastic. Maybe it was the sausage, maybe it was the swiss chard, maybe it was the yellow squash, but either way, it was fantastic. We didn't have as much tomato sauce as I would have liked, so we didn't get to put a layer of tomato sauce on top of the whole concoction. So next time I would have added another can of tomatos or something. I don't know. Fantastic.

Disaster Index:1/10

Tiramisu

Pick me up.
Ingredients

• 3 large eggs, separated
  
• 3/4c granulated sugar
  
• big pinch of salt
  
• 3/4lb mascarpone cheese
  
• 20 lady-fingers
  
• a pot of espresso or similarly strong coffee - we used about 4-8oz
  
• 3oz semisweet chocolate, grated coarsely
  
• ~1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa
  
• 1 bread pan
  

Separate the eggs so you have three egg whites in one big metal bowl and two egg yolks in another large-ish bowl. You can do whatever you want with the third yolk - we don't need it*. Add the sugar to the yolks and beat until they turn pale and creamy. Now, with a clean, dry whisk, beat the egg whites with the pinch of salt until they form stiff peaks. THIS TAKES SOME ARM MUSCLE. Seriously. Throw the mascarpone in with the yolks and beat together. Now FOLD the whites in with the yolk mixture.

Now is the assembly. Just put 1/3 of the egg mixture into the bottom of the bread pan and spread evenly with a spatula. Put 1/2 the grated chocolate over it. Now, dip the lady fingers one at a time in the coffee and lay them out across the mixture until you've more or less covered the layer. In our bread pan, this takes 10 lady fingers (hence 20 in the ingredients) but depending on the size of pan, you could be looking at more or fewer. Feel free to spoon a little extra coffee over the lady fingers if you think they could use to soak up more, but be careful - if you dip them too long, they start to crumble in your hands right away. Better to play it safe, I would say, and just spoon a little extra on afterward.

After that layer, put 1/2 of what remains of the egg mixture (1/3 of the original amount if you're keeping track of the math here) and spread that evenly across. Add the remaining grated chocolate, another layer of lady fingers, and then the remainder of the egg mixture. Now sprinkle the cocoa powder evenly across the top (I recommend using a fine mesh sieve - put the cocoa in it and then tap the side to release the cocoa pretty evenly - it's just like sifting flour).

Chill for minimum 4 hours before serving. Serves 6.

*I'd consider adding it anyway

Thoughts: This was an amalgam of two recipes, actually - one we found online and one we found in a cookbook kicking around here. The flavor was FANTASTIC, but I'm afraid the texture was a little softer than I had expected. I think that one thing that would help is if the lady-fingers were a little spongier and a little less brittle. When they soaked up the liquid, they were just falling apart. Second of all, the custard (if I may call it that even though it is not, strictly speaking, a custard) was also softer than we had anticipated. This could be related to the egg whites. I think in the future, it would be advisable to use some cream of tartar in the preparation of the egg whites to get some stiffer peaks. This might help thicken up the custard. Second of all, I could use more mascarpone to egg ratio - that, too, might thicken it a little. Also, I would add a bit less sugar to the custard. I thought it bordered on too sweet. I would use just 1/2 cup next time. Personal preference, I guess. Finally, we could kick up the espresso flavor (if we wanted) with a little instant espresso powder. I would go easy on it, but it could potentially improve the flavors. Just an idea. Maybe if I used the espresso powder I would use full sugar just to even it out?

In the end, though, this was delicious and REALLY easy, except for whipping the egg whites. I would DEFINITELY make this again.

Disaster Index: 1/10

Smoky Cabbage and Raisin Risotto

Do NOT let the title of this dish throw you off. If I tried, I could have come up with something that sounded more appetizing. I think the recipe that we based this dish off called it "Smoky Radicchio Risotto 'Michu'" or something. Whatever "michu" is. But let's just call it what it is: Smoky Cabbage and Raisin Risotto. You know what else it is? Delicious.

Ingredients
Use the standard risotto base for this: arborio rice, onion, garlic, chicken stock, boiling water, salt, pepper, basil. We're just going to be adding some extra ingredients:

• 1 cup golden raisins
• 2 cups thinly sliced red cabbage
• 2/3 cup dry white wine (FIXED, SEAN)
• 1/2 cup chopped smoked Gouda

Cover the raisins with hot water and let soak for 15 minutes or so. They need to be plump before you add them to the risotto.
Do the whole risotto song and dance - cook the chopped onion in some olive oil and garlic until the onion is translucent. Add rice and stir, making sure to coat the rice with all the oil and garlic you possibly can. Do this until the rice gets a little toasty. Add the wine to deglaze the pot. Then add the chicken stock, raisins, and cabbage and stir well. Keep adding water about a cup at a time.
When rice is pretty near done, stir in the Gouda. Make sure to season the risotto with salt and pepper. We also chiffonaded some basil and added that.

Thoughts: This was fantastic. I cannot stress that enough. Was the color weird? Yes, because it turned sort of a light purple. Was that a little off-putting at first? Yes. But don't pay attention to the color. The taste is so fantastic. The cabbage doesn't add a very strong flavor, but it's hella good for you. Golden raisin + smoked Gouda = fantastic flavor combination. I think we're actually going to put more raisins in next time. I was a little skeptical that this dish would work out, but it did and it was amazing. I highly recommend this for adventuresome foodies.

Disaster Index: 1/10

Pasta with Sausage and Mushrooms in Cheese Sauce

Ingredients

• ~1lb smallish pasta, like rigatoni or radiatori
  
• 2 hot Italian sausage links, chopped into 1/2" slices
  
• 2-3c cremini mushrooms, quartered
  
• olive oil, cooking wine, salt, pepper
  
• about 1c half-and-half
  
• 2oz chevre cheese
  
• 10-20 kale leaves, steamed, or a roasted red pepper, seeded and chopped
  

Set the pasta cooking. In a separate pot, cook the sausage in some olive oil until it gets some caramelization. Add the mushrooms and continue to cook, stirring occasionally. Once they are fairly well cooked, add a splash of cooking wine and scrape the bottom of the pot to get the well-caramelized bits of sausage up. Set aside.

In the mean time, blend together the cooked kale or pepper, the half-and-half, and the chevre. Don't add all the half-and-half at once - slowly add it until the thickness looks right (and it blends). In the case of the kale, we had to return the mixture to the stove, cook for a while, and then return to the blender. Kale can be kind of tough.

Once the pasta is cooked, drain it (thought not necessarily all the way - the starchy pasta water helps the sauce stick). Combine all the parts of the recipe together and stir to coat. Season as needed.

Thoughts: This was great, both times we did it. It would be really easy to modify the recipe by using frozen spinach, which is easier to come by, or you could just use tomato. It was really easy to make (especially with both of us working on it). I would continue to talk about the virtues and flexibility of this recipe, but I can't think of anything else, and I'm watching the Oscars right now. It's kinda tough to concentrate.

Disaster Index: 1/10

Pizza Popovers

I can't think of a better name for this.
Ingredients

• 1 recipe pizza dough
  
• 1 recipe pizza sauce
  
  
  
  • 14oz tomatoes, canned
    
  • 1/3c basil, chopped
    
  • 3 cloves garlic
    
  • 1 onion, chopped
    
  • 1/2lb ground beef
    
  • olive oil, marsala, salt, pepper, beef bouillon
    
  
  
• cheese (mozzarella, chevre, or smoked gouda?)
  
• 1 egg yolk mixed with 1tbsp water
  

Prepare a recipe of pizza dough (2.5c flour, 2.25tsp yeast, 2tsp salt, 2tsp sugar, ~2/3c water) and set it to rise. In the mean time, prepare a recipe of pizza sauce. I pretty much cooked the onion along with the ground beef. The ground beef was more or less frozen when I started, so I had to periodically remove the thawed parts from a huge chunk of ground beef. Probably it would be better to thaw the meat completely next time. Anyway, when it was more or less cooked, I added all the other ingredients and set it to simmer for a while, covered. After a little while, I added some beef bouillon to improve the flavor, and some marsala.

Once the pizza dough is ready, remove 2" balls of dough and roll them into wide discs, one at a time. Depress the disc into a muffin tin. Put some sauce in the cup, and then add a large amount of cheese. Pinch the dough shut at the top. Repeat until the dough is used up. Brush with the egg wash. Bake at 375 for 15-25 minutes, until golden brown on top.

Thoughts: These are delicious. The original recipe, which we did not follow at all, called for canned and premade everything, but I think that I liked this version. The pizza dough also contained about 2tbsp of rosemary, which I think really improved the flavor. We agree that this was delicious.

Disaster Index: 1/10

Sausage Risotto

For this dish, just use a standard risotto base. I've listed it below.

Ingredients

• 1 cup arborio rice
• 1 chopped onion
• 3 Italian sausages, sliced
• 1-1.5 cup chicken stock
• 1/2 cup marsala wine
• 1/2 cup chopped parsley
• salt, pepper, olive oil
• Lots of hot water
  

Add onion and garlic to a pot with some olive oil. Add a little salt and pepper and sautee over medium-low heat until the onions are tender. Add the rice and stir it around, letting the oil coat the rice well. Let that cook for a few minutes over medium-high heat, stirring often to prevent the rice from sticking too much. This develops a richer flavor. Now add the marsala wine and stir well to deglaze the pot. Add the chicken stock and stir well.

As the stock cooks off, continue adding more (preferably boiling) water, a cup or so at a time, and then stir that in and let it cook off at a boil. Adding the water while it's boiling develops the starch in the rice. Between you and me, I can't really tell a difference when the rice is made with or without boiling water, but that's the way you're supposed to do it.

When the rice is cooked, add the parsley and stir. Cook to the desired consistency, and serve.

Thoughts: We've made this a few times, and it works really well. Afterward I discovered that it is close to a traditional recipe. Huh. In the future, I might try adding mushrooms to the recipe. I think they might go well.

Disaster Index: 1/10

Panettone

A first attempt at an Italian Christmas bread. Still not as good as my father's. This recipe has weird measurements because it's scaled down...

Ingredients

• 1 28oz tomato can, cleaned and empty.
  
• 4/3c flour
  
• 1/3c raisins (preferably a mixture of dark and light)
  
• 1.5tsp yeast
  
• 1/6c lukewarm water plus a little
  
• 1/3 stick of butter
  
• 1 egg
  
• a little less than 2tbsp sugar (1/9c, to be exact)
  
• 1/3tsp salt
  
• 1/3tsp vanilla (YOU figure out how to measure this)
  
• 1/2tsp anise seed
  
• zest of one orange
  

Combine everything in a bowl. Stir together with a spatula and add a little flour until the consistency is a really sticky dough (still a little wet). Force it into the WELL GREASED tomato can and set to rise for about 1.5 hours. Bake at 375 for 30-40 minutes. Take it out and let it sit for 5 or 10 minutes, then invert the can to turn it out. Usually served in wedges, but I like just the round slices you get by doing it cross-wise.

Thoughts: Claire was skeptical but she really liked it. I didn't have candied citron (which is normally an ingredient) and I used only dark raisins. Also could have used some anise extract. Generally it was quite good. It comes out KIND OF like Swedish limpa bread, but much lighter. We're probably going to try this recipe again eventually, but not until I finish the panettone my father made for me when I was last in Janesville.

Disaster Index: 2/10 - getting there. Worth repeating.

Asparagus Lasagna

Most of the directions are in the "ingredients". I've given them in the order they were prepared. I've made this twice so far, and this was the most successful version. I do all of the ingredients in one pot, incidentally. This works out to be about a half-batch, but I make it in a deep bread 9x5" bread pan.

Ingredients

• 1/2 of a largish vidalia onion or 1 medium onion, sauteed with olive oil until translucent
  
• 3c asparagus, (I'm guessing - bunched up they were about 2-2.5 inches diameter) steamed about 5 minutes until just tender
  
• 1 small zucchini or 1/2 of a large, sliced thin and sauteed in olive oil until tender
  
• 4 whole wheat lasagna noodles (yeah, only 4) cooked until al dente
  
• 14oz tomatoes, cooked with a spoonful of garlic and pesto (to taste). Cook down until reduced about 10-20% and a little thicker.
  
• 8oz ricotta cheese
  
• .25lb mozzarella (total ballpark), cut into thin slices
  
• salt and pepper to taste in just about every step of this
  
• Optional basil leaves
  

Preheat the oven to 350. Stir together the onions and the ricotta until well mixed. Put a layer of sauce at the bottom of the 9x5" bread pan. Thin layer. Add a layer of noodles (because of the size of the noodles, it does not take 2 full noodles to cover, so cut accordingly). Add a layer of ricotta/onions (about half the mixture). Add the asparagus, then another layer of sauce. Add another layer of noodles on top, then layer the zucchini across that. Top with the remaining ricotta, and any sauce that you might have left (once I didn't have any left, once I did - doesn't make much difference). If you are using basil leaves, place them evenly across the top at this point, and then cover the whole thing with slices of mozzarella. Bake at 350 for about 25 minutes.

Thoughts: This is a delicious lasagna. It's also like my 3rd time ever making lasagna. I have to say, one of the most important things about this recipe is that you cook down the tomato sauce a bit. Otherwise it will be too liquidy and not as good to eat. Otherwise, this is super good. You could PROBABLY expand the recipe for use in a normal 9x11 sized pan (or however big) but the number of layers really necessitates steep sides, and if you make it in a bread pan then it's just enough for up to 3 people, or for 1 person with a few days' leftovers.

Disaster Index: 1/10

Corn Risotto

Ingredients

• 2 ears corn
• olive oil
• 1 small yellow onion, diced
• 5 strips turkey bacon
• 3/4 cups Arborio rice
• 3 cups chicken stock (or veg stock, if you must)
  
• additional water, as needed
• salt
• pepper
• parsley
  

Using a sharp knife, slice the kernels of corn off of the cob. You should have about 1 cup of corn.
Heat oil in a large saucepan. Add the onion and saute until soft and fragrant (about 8 minutes). Add the bacon and saute for another 5 minutes. Add the rice, and stir with wooden spoon to mix with the onions. Start adding the stock, about 1/2 cup at a time, adding more when the rice has absorbed the stock. Do this for like, 15 minutes, until the rice starts to get tender. Add the corn and stir. Add enough stock such that the rice is tender but not mushy.
Stir in parsley, salt, and pepper. Eat.

Thoughts: This was pretty easy to make and it was super delicious. The corn and bacon make the texture sort of chewy, which is pretty delightful. This is super tasty. That's all I have to say.

Disaster Index: 1/10

Portobello Pizza

Ingredients

• 2 large portobello mushrooms, de-stemmed and de-gilled
• olive oil
• goat cheese
• pesto
• salt
• pepper
• garlic powder
• tomatoes (grape or normal ones)
  

Heat griddle to high heat. Brush the tops and bottoms of the mushrooms with olive oil.
When the griddle is hot, place the mushroom bottom-side down on the griddle and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Grill for 2-3 minutes.
Flip the mushrooms, sprinkle with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Grill for 2-3 minutes.
After 2-3 has passed, fill the mushroom caps with pesto. Then dot with goat cheese. Cover the mushrooms with the lid of a soup pot (one that will cover the mushrooms completely without squishing them). The original recipe calls for these to be cooked on a grill, and to melt the cheese by covering the top of the grill. If you have a grill, you can do this, but if you're doing it on a griddle, then covering the mushrooms with a lid is as close as you're going to get. Just make sure the lid isn't plastic or anything.
Once the cheese has melted to your satisfaction, remove the mushrooms from the griddle.
Slice the tomatoes into appropriate slices and put them on the mushrooms.
Eat.

Thoughts: This was pretty delicious and pretty easy. It is not in the least bit healthy for you, despite the mushrooms and tomatoes. At least we're using olive oil, which has the right kind of fat. The kind of fat in goat cheese is NOT the right kind. You could probably substitute goat cheese for something like mozzarella, which would be WAY healthier. It would probably be pretty good too. Also you could lighten up on the pesto, which is like, 115 calories per 1/8th cup. So think about that. Overall, pretty delicious though.

Disaster Index: 2/10

Tomato Vodka Cream Sauce

Ingredients

• 28oz diced tomatoes, canned
  
• 2 medium yellow onions, chopped
  
• 2-3 cloves of garlic (we used jarred)
  
• 1/4c vodka
  
• 1c half and half
  
• 1tbsp butter, and some olive oil
  
• salt and pepper to taste
  

This is actually quite simple to make. Melt the butter in a few tbsp olive oil. Add the onions and garlic and sauté until the onions are translucent. Throw in the tomatoes and cook uncovered until most of the liquid cooks off. Depending on the surface area of your pot (and the heat of your burner) this could take anywhere from about 8 to 25 minutes. Add the half and half and the vodka and stir well. Again, let this cook about 2-4 minutes until it's thickened. Be careful - it will continue to thicken once you take it off the heat. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Now you can either serve as is or (like us) you can throw it in a blender on a low setting until it's relatively smooth. Serve over pasta.

Thoughts: Delicious. Just great. Seriously. Maybe could use some red pepper flakes? Maybe not.

Disaster Index: 1/10

Spinach Matzo Meal Gnocchi

Don't try this at home. Seriously, don't.

Ingredients

• 3 russet potatoes, peeled and chopped into smaller pieces
  
• 2 eggs
  
• matzo meal "cake flour" (finely ground matzo meal) (a lot of it - 2-4 cups?)
  
• 10oz frozen spinach, mostly thawed
  
• salt, pepper
  
• a little oil for frying
  

Boil the potatoes in water until tender. Drain with a slotted spoon and place in a cuisinart. Add spinach, salt, and pepper. Pulse a few times. Add eggs and pulse again. Now, slowly add matzo meal flour until the mixture forms a dough, which it probably won't ever do. Boiling these gnocchi doesn't work (we tried it). Instead, heat up some oil in a pan or on a griddle. Form dough into little gnocchigli and fry lightly until browned. Serve with herb cream sauce.

Thoughts: these won't adhere in the middle because of something having to do with matzo meal. I don't really understand it. Boiling them was a horrible mistake. Frying them worked pretty well, but they still weren't really very good. I don't think we're ever going to try this again. And doesn't pasta KIND OF defeat the spirit of Passover, anyway?

Disaster Index: 8/10

Basic Tomato Sauce

For serving with stuffed pasta shells.
Ingredients

• ~35oz San Marzano tomatoes
  
• 1 large or 2 medium yellow onions, chopped
  
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed
  
• 1/2c fresh basil, chopped
  
• 1tbsp dried parsley
  
• olive oil, salt, pepper
  

Just sauté the onions in some olive oil. When they're translucent, add the garlic. Let it cook for 30 more seconds, and then add everything else. Let it simmer for five to ten minutes, stirring occasionally. If you used whole tomatoes (as I did), break them down a little with the edge of your spoon. Season to taste with salt and pepper. If you want a smooth tomato sauce, put it in the blender.

Thoughts: You could add any number of other seasonings or ingredients. This is pretty much what it sounds like: basic. I used San Marzano because I discovered my local grocery has 35oz cans of San Marzano tomatoes for ~$1.50. So.

Disaster Index: 2/10 - Something of a workhorse, but it's nothing special.