Breaking That Thang In!!!

After four years of waiting, I finally got my Kitchenaid Mixer and the simple fact of the matter is that I've been waiting this long and now I don't know what the Hell do I do with it first.  Well, I am a Pasta making kind of guy and the kneading part always takes a toll (after some many years of turning wrenches, the hands have taken some abuse) so that's as good a place as any to start.

Chicken Garlic and Parmesan Ravioli
An Interesting Cream Sauce
Family Style Meats an Pasta

I realize the names of the foods above aren't what you would normally see on a menu, but yesterday was about playing in the kitchen, drinking a beer or two while Gina napped on the couch, and having one Hell of a meal later, and this is how it began.  (Please note that I am using a lot of weight measures.  Flour can be fickle and you can fit all kinds of different weights into a cup, depending on how its packed.)

Chicken Garlic and Parmesan Ravioli
Just one of the many things Fresh Pasta can be used for.  If you have never made fresh pasta, you're missing out on a taste and textural dream.  The stuff in the boxes at the store has its place and I still have it in my pantry to use when I'm pressed for time but it's ingredients are for making production pasta, not great tasting pasta.  I will say right up front: Fresh pasta is a pain in the ass....and so freakin' worth it,

Homemade Pasta
250 grams Semolina (Durham) Wheat Flour / about 2-2 1/2 cups plus a little extra held out
50 grams Bread Flour (about 1/2 cup)
An extra cup of each flours, sifted together for dusting
1/4 water
1/4 cup Olive Oil
1 Egg

1/2 tsp Sea Salt

Sift together dry ingredients, whisk together wet ingredients and combine, mixing well.  At this point, I put mine in the Mixer Max with the dough hook, set it to low, and let it do its thing, adding enough Semolina until it began to pull away from the sides of the bowl and let in knead for about 5-10 minutes.  This is also the exact recipe I used with my food processor. In that case, pulse on low and add enough Semolina until it forms a ball.  At this point, however, you have to knead by hand for a few minutes to get the gluten working properly.  Dust with flour, wrap in cling wrap, and let stand in the fridge for about 30 minutes.

 If you have a pasta machine, set it to the widest setting, break off about 1/4 of the pasta ball, coat well with flour mixture and begin running through the machine.  Run it a few times, dust again with flour, fold in half and run it again.  Repeat this several times until it is a smooth and even consistency.  If you don't have a pasta machine, complete the above steps using a rolling pin and finishing with a sheet about 1/16" thick.

Ravioli Filling
1 Large chicken breast
3 cups water
4 Whole garlic cloves
1/2 cup chopped white onion
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
1 teaspoon flour mixture from above
Salt and Pepper to taste

This could not be easier.  In a large saucepan, add chicken, water, garlic, onions, salt and pepper and boil until the chicken is tender and just starting to fall apart.  Cut chicken into large chunks, strain out garlic and onions (keeping the stock) and put in a food processor.  Boil down remaining stock until about 1/4 cup remains, whisk in flour until it thickens, add cream and Parmesan and whisk until well combined.  Start pulsing the food processor while adding just enough of the cream sauce to make a very finely chopped and somewhat thick filling.  It should form a ball when handled but not be creamy or runny.  If the mixture is a little loose, add more grated Parmesan.

Place about 1 tbsp balls of filling on pasta sheets about 1/2" apart, wet the sheet in between filling balls with water or an egg wash to help the cover sheet stick.  Add cover sheet, work out as much air as possible, cut to separate, and crimp edges with a fork.  Ba Da Boom.  Homemade Ravioli.

An Interesting Cream Sauce
There was some leftover sauce from the chicken-whizzing process.  It was rich and heavily flavored, so I decided to expand it a bit and make an Alfredo out of it...of a sense.

2 cloves Garlic, finely chopped
1/4 Onion, finely chopped
2 tbsp Organic Butter
2 tsp. AP flour
1 cup Heavy Cream
1 cup fresh grated Parmesan
Leftover sauce from above
1 tsp fresh lemon juice

Saute garlic and onion in the butter until the edges just turn brown.  Some folks fuss about the taste of burnt garlic but when it's done right its fantastic.  Whisk in flour and let cook for about 30 seconds, turn heat up and add cream until the sauce thickens.  When thick, add Parm until everything is melted and combined, add leftover sauce, and whisk in the lemon juice.  Depending on my mood, I might use a stick blender to eliminate the chinks of onions and garlic but for a more rustic texture and a great appearance, I leave them whole.

Family Style Meats and Pasta

Our story begins with the Birthdays of Myself and Gina, My Lovely Girlfriend.  I was coming back in from a sales trip on my birthday and I don't really make that big a deal out of it, but on her birthday, I like to try to do something.  Times being what they are, we decided against going out and I decided to cook.  Big Surprise, right?

I ask what she would like, she has no idea, so I leave for the store with the goal of doing something a little different and then I saw the thick cut Pork Chops in the rack.  Done.  I also bought some chicken breast but only because it was on sale.  I get home and find out that Gina really wanted steak but hesitated to call me when I was at the store.  I will make a long story quite short:  By the time it was all said and done, I had more food to cook than we were going to eat in 3 days.  As always, when confronted with such a situation, we call some friends of ours to come for cocktails and food.  It usually works out well because I have the food and Tina brings the Chocolate Vodka.

When the Grill Smoke cleared, there was Grilled Steak, Lime Pork Chops (another day for this recipe.  I'm not ready to give it out yet!), and Lemon Pepper Chicken Thighs.  Sliced, served Family Style on a platter with the Raviolis, some Linguine made from the leftover pasta trimmings, and crusty Italian bread, fresh from a toasting on the grill. As a bit of a side note, I don't give a rat's fuzzy butt if people think you can't serve red meat with Alfredo or Cream Sauces.  There isn't a meat group on this Planet that can't use a little Cream Sauce.  Just look at the platter and you tell me...Does anything about that look wrong?

Party Well, Eat Better
Rob