Spaghetti with Pancetta, Mushrooms and Basil

The May 2011 issue of Bon Appetit included a feature article on cooking restaurant-quality pasta dishes, plus several recipes.  The article included several good tips and techniques, including the observation that while home recipes often specify one making the sauce, cooking the pasta separately then serving the sauce atop the pasta, in restaurants the pasta is often cooked until nearly done, then added to the pan or skillet with the sauce along with a bit of extra liquid to finish cooking.  This results in the pasta absorbing some of the flavors from the sauce, and in it being more evenly coated with the sauce.

I decided to try out the article's suggestions, and after studying the sample recipes to get a sense how the cooking techniques were put into action, I tossed together a recipe of my own featuring pancetta, mushrooms and garden-fresh basil. 

I should note that the pancetta I used was La Quercia brand.  La Quercia, based in Norwalk, Iowa, produces a selection of Italian-style dry-cured artisan meats.  The company has gotten a lot of favorable reviews in the food press, including exceptional reviews in Bon Appetit, Cook's Illustrated, Fine Cooking, The New York Times and even Vogue.  In the Des Moines area, La Quercia meats can be found, among other places, in the better Hy-Vee and Dahls supermarkets.  The brand is also available in Whole Foods stores and many premium markets. The pancetta was certainly excellent in this dish.

In fact, the entire dish was excellent.  The rich taste of the pancetta, the earthy flavor of the mushrooms and the savory cheese and fresh basil provided the sauce with tons of flavor.  As promised in the Bon Appetit article, the cooking method resulted in some of this flavor being absorbed into the pasta, as opposed to the pasta simply being topped with flavorful sauce.   This made for a wonderfully satisfying meal. 

I should note that the picture above was taken before I remembered to sprinkle the pasta with the basil and grated cheese.  It would have been great even without those final touches, but adding them pushed it to another level of flavor excellence.

That article turned out to have a lot of great advice, and unless you're already cooking pasta dishes on par with those offered at the better Italian restaurants, I'd strongly recommend tracking down a copy of that issue of Bon Appetit, or at very least the article on pages 136-143. 

Spaghetti with Pancetta, Mushrooms and Basil

yield = 4 servings

2              tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3              ounces pancetta, chopped
1/2           teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/2           teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper
1              medium onion, grated
8              ounces crimini mushrooms, sliced
3              teaspoons minced garlic
1              can (28 ounces) whole tomatoes, pureed
2              teaspoons table salt
12            ounces spaghetti
1/4           cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese
1              tablespoon butter, chilled
1/4           cup fresh basil, chopped

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat until shimmering.  Add pancetta and cook, stirring often, until crisp and lightly browned.   Add red pepper flakes and black pepper, stir for 10 seconds, then add onion.  Cook, stirring often, until the onion is starting to soften, about 5 minutes.  Add mushrooms and cook until they release their liquid and release in size. 

When the excess mushroom liquid has cooked off, add garlic and cook for 30 seconds, then stir in the the pureed tomato puree.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer.

While the sauce simmers, add table salt and 4 quarts of water to a large pan or stock pot.  Bring to a boil and add the spaghetti.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until 2 minutes prior to the pasta being done, or al dente, per package instructions.  Drain the pasta, reserving 1/2 cup of the cooking water. 

Add drained past to the skillet and toss with tongs to coat.  Add the reserved cooking water and cook until the pasta is al dente (about 2 minutes).  Remove from heat.  Add butter and 1/2 of the Pecorino and toss until the cheese melts.   Serve, sprinkling individual servings with basil and the remaining cheese.

Indian-Spiced Cauliflower Saute

This is a simple, quick and really delicious vegetarian dish that I served as a side (along with rice and naan) with Chicken Tikka Masala, but it's tasty and hearty to serve two as a main course.  Juli and I both think it is one of the best vegetarian dishes I've made yet.  I'll definitely be making this one again in the future.

Indian-Spiced Cauliflower Saute

yield = 4 side-dish portions, or 2 main-dish portions

3                tablespoons vegetable oil
1 1/2          teaspoon ground coriander
1 1/2          teaspoon ground cumin
1                teaspoon turmeric powder
1/4             teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper
1/4             teaspoon table salt
1/8             teaspoon cayenne pepper
1                large head cauliflower, cut into florets
                    (approximately 2 lbs of florets)
1/2             fresh lemon, seeded
                  chopped fresh cilantro for garnish

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  When the oil is shimmering, stir in the coriander, cumin, turmeric, pepper, salt and cayenne.  Cook until fragrant and the oil has taken on a yellow-orange color (about 45 seconds).

Add the cauliflower and let it cook without stirring until it starts to brown, about 3 minutes.  Stir to lightly brown on most or all sides (about 10 minutes total), adding 1/4 cup of water if necessary to prevent the spiced oil from burning (be careful of hot oil splatterning when adding the water).  Transfer to a serving platter, squeeze the half-lemon to drizzle cauliflower with the juice, sprinkle with cilantro and serve. 

A Day Off from Cooking

I love cooking, but there are days when I just don't feel like it.  Yesterday was one of those days.   It was my birthday, and even though it would have been a beautiful day for grilling, I just felt like taking it easy.  So, with that in mind, Juli and I went out for lunch and picked up some pizzas to warm up for dinner.   The lunch was great.  The pizza, sadly, was not so great.

For lunch we went to Kwong Tung Restaurant on Ingersoll Avenue in Des Moines.  As Chinese restaurants go, Kwong Tung is generally pretty average.  Their lunch specials offer a generous amount of food for around $5.00 (give or take a bit depending on what you order), but there's nothing particularly memorable or unique about their daily offerings.   Sundays are quite another matter, though.  They offer dim sum every Sunday from 10 am to 2 pm, and their dim sum is worth writing about. 

For those unfamiliar with the tradition, dim sum is a Chinese meal consisting of small portions of various sorts of food, typically served up in steamer baskets or on small plates.  In China, it is usually associated with drinking tea, but I don't recall anyone - including the Asian customers - drinking tea at Kwong Tung yesterday, unless you count iced tea. 

Dim sum restaurant fare typically offers several dozen dishes from which the customers choose.  Some are familiar Chinese restaurant fare, often served as appetizers (pot stickers, crab rangoon, fried wontons, egg rolls, spring rolls and barbecued pork, or char sui).  Other dishes typically include numerous types of dumplings, or gao, usually steamed but sometimes fried, and baked or steamed buns and rolls filled with meat, vegetables or bean paste.  As far as the dumplings, sui mai is one of the standards served at Kwong Tung.  These tasty steamed dumplings are filled with chicken, pork or shrimp.  Cha siu baau - fluffy buns filled with barbecued pork - are among the standard sorts of buns.  Fried squid, spare ribs, steamed meatballs, taro dumplings and chicken feet (fung zao) are some of the other standard dim sum dishes served at Kwong Tung. 

Dim sum also typically includes a few sweet dishes, and Kwong Tung follows this tradition by offering standard dim sum dishes such as egg tarts (pastries filled with egg custard) and sesame balls (jin deui). The latter are among Juli's favorites.  These balls of dough filled with red bean paste are rolled in sesame seeds then deep fried to make a chewy, tasty snack.  KwongTung's dim sum also includes a variety of noodle dishes, characterized by ample portions of soft- or crisp-fried noodles, vegetables (most prominently baby bok choy and mushrooms) and chunks of chicken, beef, pork or shrimp. 

At Kwong Tung, one orders Dim Sum by selecting what one wants, and how many servings, on a half-sheet of paper that lists the various dishes and their prices.   We ordered two helpings of crab rangoon, fried crescent dumplings and pan-fried potstickers, plus sar har (egg noodles) with beef, pan-fried noodles with shrimp and one order each of sesame balls and pork egg rolls.  Every single one of these dishes was excellent.  The fried crescent dumplings - little crescents of rice flour dough filled with spiced meat - and the potstickers are particular favorites of ours. 

As usual, we ordered a bit more than we could finish, because the leftovers are one of  the great things about going to Kwong Tung's dim sum, but we could have been more than stuffed even if we'd entirely skipped the noodle dishes.  All of that came to about $30, including tip, which isn't bad considering how much food we got.  Considering how good it was, that price is a bargain!

We had to do a bit of shopping, so I decided to drop by the Gateway Market on Woodland Avenue in Des Moines.  Gateway Market features organic produce, fine cheeses, excellent meat, imported pastas and a wide range of hard-to find spices, condiments, snacks and imported food items, plus an excellent cafe.  Although it is a bit pricey, Gateway Market has become one of our go-to places to shop for various odds and ends.   During previous visits, their store-made, ready-to-cook pizzas had caught my eye.  They looked delicious, and I decided my birthday was a good time to try them out.   We bought two 10-inch pizzas - one pepperoni and one margherita (soft mozzarella, tomato slices and fresh basil) at $7.49 each.

I have generally been quite pleased by my Gateway Market purchases, so I was surprised to find the pizzas pretty disappointing.  I didn't think they were terrible (though Juli really disliked the margherita one), but they weren't particularly good, either.   They struck me as the sort of pizza you get by being more concerned about healthy and organic ingredients than with flavor.  Honestly, I'd have been just as happy warming up a couple frozen Tombstone pizzas, so given the price, I didn't find Gateway Market's pizzas a very good deal at all, and I doubt we'll be buying any more of them any time soon. 

Chicken Tikka Masala - A Great, Big Batch

Juli and I like our leftovers.   We work long hours, and most workdays we eat leftovers for lunch.  Sometimes we eat leftovers for dinner, too.   We've both gotten compliments (and occasional words of envy) over the things we bring for our meals at work, which isn't surprising.  After all, who wouldn't prefer home-cooked lamb stews, Thai chicken soup, smoked ribs or a fragrant shrimp curry with rice and naan over a Hot Pocket or packet of Lipton Soup?   I will admit, I find these sorts of responses quite gratifying, but mostly I'm just glad to provide Juli and myself with some great meals to warm up at work.

Most of the recipes we cook are designed to serve four, which ends up giving us a couple batches of leftovers, but occasionally I like to make a really big batch of something, so I'll have lots of servings of leftovers.   We often finish off our leftovers a day or two after first preparing a dish, but it's also nice to look for something tasty in the freezer and spot a serving of that excellent beef and bean soup or spaghetti with meat sauce or pork vindaloo from a couple weeks earlier. 

Today's featured recipe is from one of those times I wanted to make a lot of leftovers, but it would serve just as well if you simply wanted to feed a lot of people something tasty and slightly exotic and just plain good.

Chicken Tikka Masala has become something of a "standard" Indian dish, even though it isn't traditionally Indian.  It was first cooked in an Indian restaurant in Great Britain and became such a big hit that it has not only become a restaurant staple, spawning countless variations, but is now also cooked in India.  You can find recipes everywhere for it, and I've tried several.  They've ranged from weak to acceptable to quite good, but I haven't yet found "the" Chicken Tikka Masala recipe that will become my standard.  I keep looking, though.

A version at My Gourmet Connection caught my eye some time back.  Looking it over, I realized that it could easily be doubled to serve a bunch of people... or to make lots of leftovers.   I made a few adjustments to the recipe as printed, starting with doubling some of the ingredients and then switching some of the ratios of the ingredients to get the exact mix of flavors and the specific texture I wanted.  I also decided to use some fresh hot peppers in place of some of the cayenne called for in the original recipe.  The recipe below reflects the changes I made, adjusted to reflect some things I'll do differently next time. 

The result was quite good.   Not perfect, mind you.  I still haven't found my "perfect" version of Chicken Tikka Masala.  But this was nonetheless quite good.  It will provide me with a good place to start from as I tinker around and try to perfect the recipe, but in the meantime it is quick and easy and good and makes enough for a bunch of hungry people. 

I was quite happy with the mix of seasonings and the overall flavor of the dish.   I was somewhat less pleased with the texture.  The gravy wasn't as smooth as I'd have liked   The culprit there was the chicken.  I think I used a bit too much yogurt in the marinade, which caused two problems.  First, the chicken didn't chunk up quite the way I'd have liked.    My preference is that the cooked pieces of chicken be firm enough that they cut easily into neat cubes, as one might get with a piece of properly-roasted tandoori chicken. 

In contrast, this chicken was coated in a bit too much marinade, and as a result, it steamed or boiled as much as it roasted, so it didn't have as firm a texture as I'd have liked.  It shredded when cut, rather than slicing into neat chunks, and it fell apart more when it was mixed into the gravy.   This didn't impact the flavor at all, but it did give the dish a texture and a mouth-feel different than I'd prefer.  I also minced the ginger in the marinade rather than grating it, and in retrospect it's pretty obvious that grated ginger would have made for a smoother marinade, which would translate into a smoother gravy.  The instructions below reflect these changes from how I prepared the dish.

Some people prefer Chicken Tikka Masala to have more of a red color to the gravy and less in the way of tomato chunks.  If you'd prefer that, you could simply add some tomato paste, but that risks throwing off the overall flavor of the dish by boosting the tomato element.  A better option would probably be to puree the diced tomatoes before adding them to the gravy.  One could also add a few drops of red food coloring to the marinade, which will dye the chicken pieces red on the outside.  That's what many Indian recipes do when preparing Tandoori chicken, which is then chopped into chunks and added to the gravy.

In any case, this still made for a very nice meal when served up with basmati rice, naan and Indian-Spiced Cauliflower (I'll present that recipe another day), and it did indeed make for a lot of tasty leftovers that froze and warmed up quite nicely.   While I am not done tinkering with this recipe, I was pleased with the results of my first try, and I expect you would also find it to your liking.

Chicken Tikka Masala

yield = 10-12 generous servings

Yogurt Marinade
2                   cups plain nonfat yogurt
4                   tablespoons freshly-squeezed lemon juice
2                   tabespoons minced garlic
2                   tablespoons peeled, grated fresh ginger
3                   teaspoons ground cumin
2                   teaspoons ground cinnamon
2                   teaspoons ground coriander
1                   teaspoon ground cardamom
1                   teaspoon cayenne pepper

Chicken Tikka Masala
5                   pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs,
                        trimmed of any excess fat
3                   tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2                cup sliced almonds
1                   large white onion, finely chopped
2                   serrano chilis, seeded and chopped
2                   tablespoons fresh, peeled and grated ginger
1                   tablespoon minced garlic
1                   tablespoon ground cumin
2                   teaspoons ground cardamom
2                   teaspoons ground cinnamon
2                   teaspoons ground coriander
1                   teaspoon table salt
3/4                teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper
1/2                teaspoon ground cloves
1                   can (28 ounces) diced tomatoes
2                   teaspoons sugar
1 1/3             cup heavy cream
                     chopped fresh cilantro as garnish

Combine the marinade ingredients in a large bowl.  Poke the chicken thighs on all sides with a fork, to allow the marinade to better penetrate, then add the chicken thighs to the marinade.  Turn and stir to coat the chicken pieces on all sides.  Cover and refrigerate for 4 hours or more (preferably overnight).

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Line two or more baking sheets with foil and coat with nonstick cooking spray.  Remove the chicken pieces from the marinade, shaking off excess marinade, and arrange them on the baking sheets, leaving at least 1/2 inch of space between the individual chicken pieces.  

Roast until the chicken thighs are cooked through, turning once (10-12 minutes).  When the chicken is cooked through, remove the baking sheets from the oven and set them aside to cool.

While the chicken roasts, heat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat.  Add the sliced almonds and cook, stirring constantly, until they are golden-brown (about 2 minutes).  Remove the almonds from the pan and increase heat to medium high. 

Add the onion and serrano chilis and cook until the onion starts to brown (about 6 minutes).  Add the ginger and garlic and cook until fragrant (about 30 seconds), then stir in the cumin, cardamom, cinnamon, coriander, salt, pepper and cloves.  Cook until the spices are fragrant (about 1 minute).

Stir in the tomatoes and sugar.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the tomato pieces are starting to break down and make a thick sauce (8-10 minutes).   While the tomato mixture simmers, chop the chicken thighs into bite-size pieces.

Stir in the cream, then add and stir in the chicken chunks and cook until heated through (1-2 minutes).  Transfer to a serving bowl, top with the toasted almonds and cilantro and serve with naan and basmati rice.

Grilled Lemon Chicken Breasts

In case anyone hasn't noticed yet, I really love grilling.  On nice days and evenings from spring through fall, if I'm cooking, more often than not it will probably be on my grill.  Sometimes I prepare a whole meal on the grill, other times I just grill part of the meal.  This time around it was the latter.  I'd already decided to make up the season's first batch of our Basil, Feta and Tomato Pasta Salad. 

Now I just needed to make something to go with it... and preferably something grilled.

I ended up soaking some chicken breasts in an easy marinade and then tossing them on the grill.   I tend to make a lot of thick sauces for grilled meat and poultry, often including Asian seasonings, but for this meal I went with something lighter.   I decided to feature lemon flavor, and to back it up with some garlic and seasonings. 

Those decisions made, the rest came together easily.   Olive oil, lemon juice and lemon zest would form the backbone of the marinade.   I decided to toss in some fresh oregano from our garden, and the other ingredients - garlic, pepper, salt and red pepper flakes - were obvious choices.

These chicken breasts were quite tasty.  They were perfectly cooked, and had a bold lemon flavor that was nicely supported by the other ingredients.  They were also pretty quick - I started by marinating the chicken, then got the grill ready, and by the time the grill was hot and ready for cooking, the chicken had marinated long enough for the flavors to really set in - and easy.   For a recipe I tossed together with minimal thought, they turned out great.  Better yet, the sliced-up, leftover chicken breast paired nicely with the pasta salad for lunches the next day. 

Grilled Lemon Chicken Breasts

yield = 3 servings

2                 tablespoons olive oil
1                 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
1                 tablespoon freshly-squeezed lemon juice
                   grated zest of one lemon
2                 teaspoons minced garlic
1/2              teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper
1/4              teaspoon table salt
1/4              teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
3                 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves,
                       trimmed of excess fat

Add olive oil, oregano, lemon juice, lemon zest, garlic, pepper, salt and red pepper flakes to a large zipper-lock bag.  Add the chicken breasts.  Seal the bag and shake/turn to coat the chicken with the other ingredients.  Refrigerate and allow the chicken to marinate for at least 30 minutes.

Prepare grill for medium-high, direct heat.   Remove the chicken from the zipper-lock bag; discard bag and marinade.  Grill the chicken breasts until cooked through (about 5 minutes per side).   Serve.

The Garden is Coming Along Nicely

Last weekend I gave it a much-needed weeding.   The pictures below reflect the garden post-weeding.

Here's our broccoli plants, with the grape vine in the background.   That thing's really spreading out, and it looks like we'll be getting a lot of grapes.

And here are our tomato plants - one cherry tomato, one grape tomato - and our completely out-of-control raspberry patch.   Some of the raspberries are starting to show a bit of red now, so it won't be long before we've got a lot of fresh raspberries.  I've already got plans for those.

Jeffrey and Juli's Basil, Feta and Tomato Pasta Salad

This is a great salad for summer time, especially when home-grown tomatoes are ripe.  It would be a great dish to bring to a potluck- the recipe makes a lot and the ingredients are fairly inexpensive.  If you grow your own tomatoes and basil, as we do, really the only expense is for the feta cheese and a pound of pasta.

Now, our tomatoes are nowhere close to the eating stage.  They're still pretty little yellow flowers at the moment!  But we couldn't wait for our homegrown tomatoes to make this tasty side dish.

Jeffrey took my original recipe and greatly improved it by adding some heat from crushed red pepper flakes, garlic, and black pepper.  We'll be serving this pasta salad a lot! 

Jeffrey and Juli's Basil, Feta and Tomato Pasta Salad

yield - 6-8 servings

4                 quarts water
1                 teaspoon table salt
1                 pound medium shell pasta (or campanelle,
                     farfalle or other shapes, to preference)
1                 pint grape or cherry tomatoes, quartered
8                 ounces feta cheese, diced
1/2              cup chopped fresh basil
1/4              cup extra-virgin olive oil
2                 teaspoons minced garlic
1/2              teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/2              teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper


Add water and salt to a large pot.  Bring water to a boil, add pasta and cook per directions until al dente.  Drain pasta and add to a large bowl.

Add tomatoes, feta cheese, basil, olive oil, garlic and black pepper to the bowl with the pasta.  Toss to thoroughly mix.  Serve as is, or refrigerate and serve cold.