Homemade Pasta

My sister gave me a pasta machine for Christmas and I couldn't wait to try it. I knew I wanted to save it for an evening where I'd have time to devote to it and have a special meal, so things kept coming up and I didn't get to use it until late February. This was well worth the wait and yielded the most perfect pasta. This recipe is a combination of tips from a couple food blogs I regularly follow - Annie's Eats and Life's Ambrosia. The whole process took a very enjoyable hour and a half.

If you don't have a pasta maker, you could still achieve similar results by using a rolling pin and hand cutting, so no excuses!

Homemade Pasta with Sun Dried Tomatoes, Olives, Parmesan and Pine nuts

1 cup all purpose flour, plus extra for dusting
1 cup semolina flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 eggs
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic
8 sun dried tomatoes packed in oil
1/3 cup pitted olives, diced
1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted
1 cup shredded parmesan
Salt and pepper to taste

To make pasta, combine flour and salt. Make a well in the middle and add eggs. Thoroughly combine, then turn out on a floured surface and knead about 8 minutes, until it's nice and elastic. Divide into 4 balls and cover with a damp cloth. Let set for about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, prep the pasta toppings. Mince the garlic and slice the sun dried tomatoes and olive. Shred parmesan and set all ingredients aside.

Once dough has set for 20 minutes, lightly flour one ball and pass it through the pasta maker several times until you reach desired thickness, adding extra flour as needed to avoid sticking. Set aside for at least 10 minutes and continue with the 3 remaining balls.

Now, pass the stretched dough through the cutter for the desired shape. Lay out to dry out a bit, or hang on a pasta dryer if you have one (I don't and it worked out fine).

While pasta is drying out, bring a large pot of salted water to boil. In a large nonstick skillet, warm olive oil. Add garlic and saute 30 seconds. Add sun dried tomatoes and cook about 2 minutes. Stir in olives. Keep warm. Cook the pasta about 4-6 minutes in salted water until desired consistency is reached. Drain and reserve 1/2 cup pasta water. Toss in olive oil, tomato and olive mixture and add pasta water as needed for moisture. Add 3/4 cup parmesan and pine nuts and toss to combine.

Serve with additional parmesan for serving and enjoy!

Italian Grapefruit Cocktail (or mocktail)

Following up on my Grapefruit, Beet and Salad recipe, with the additional Rio Star grapefruit we had on hand, I decided to make this Italian Lemonade recipe from Giada de Laurentiis, but with a twist. We enjoyed the first half of the batch with Italian sparkling water at our picnic, and the second batch we enjoyed with Champagne the next day at brunch!

Italian Grapefruit Cocktail

2 cups water
2 cups sugar
1 bunch basil
3 Rio Star grapefruit
1 bottle Italian sparkling water OR 1 bottle Chamapgne


First, make your basil simple syrup. Combine the water and sugar in a medium sauce pan and simmer until sugar evaporates. Stir in basil and simmer 5 minutes. Strain out the basil leaves and place in refrigerator to chill.

Next, juice the grapefruit so you have about 2 cups. If you're smart, you'll juice a few extra for more tomorrow (I did!)

To assemble the drinks, pour 1 part basil simple syrup, 2 parts grapefruit juice and 2 parts Italian sparkling water or champagne in a fun glass and stir to combine. Taste and add additional simple syrup to match your preference, but this ratio was perfect for me. enjoy!

*I wrote this post on my own free time and not for work. Full disclosure, TexaSweet Citrus is a client of mine, but I love Rio Star Grapefruit and wanted to post this anyway. Enjoy!

Grapefruit, Beet and Burrata Salad

Rarely do I have inspiration come from so many places to meet for one delicious dish. Let me explain: One of the food clients I represent is TexaSweet Citrus, and as part of a program we were doing right here in Austin to promote Rio Star Grapefruit, we hosted a dinner at FINO with several bloggers and area food media to enjoy a dinner with some juicy, red grapefruit. At the dinner, one of the dishes was a salad with red grapefruit, beets and burrata. I've been hearing a lot about burrata in the past few months but hadn't tried it yet. It was such a unique, luscious texture and flavor that I was determined to use it myself. I recalled Jodi of Tasty Touring mentioning they sell it here in town at Antonelli's Cheese Shop, so I went there to pick some up.

Another embarrassing confession, I can probably count on one hand the number of times I've had beets, and I've never prepared them myself. This salad made me realize that they are, in fact, delicious! I asked Teddy from Fun With Your Food about how to prepare them, and she said simply peeling and cubing them like you would squash, tossing with olive oil and salt and pepper and roasting a while would yield delicious flavor. Thanks Teddy - you were right!

Finally, while flipping through the March issue of Food and Wine, I came across a recipe for Spinach Salad with Citrus and Roasted Beets. Um, perfect! So, I tweaked this recipe by using fresh spinach instead of steamed and added in a healthy dose of burrata. This salad was delightful, I hope you'll try it!

Grapefruit, Beet and Burrata Salad

4 small beets
4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 red onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 Rio Star grapefruit
6 ounces fresh spinach or spring mix
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
4 ounces burrata cheese, torn in pieces

Preheat oven to 350. Peel beets and cut into 1-inch dice. Place on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle salt and pepper; toss to combine. Roast about an hour to an hour and 10 minutes until they are tender.

Meanwhile, combine sliced red onion and red wine vinegar in a bowl and let sit for about an hour.

Slice the top and bottom off of the grapefruit, then stand on one end and cut off the remaining peel with a knife from top to bottom. Next, use your knife to cut along the section and pop out. Continue until all the sections have been cut out. Here's a link with better instructions and photos: http://texasweet.com/About-Texas-Citrus/Quick-Sectioning-Tips

Combine the spinach with sectioned grapefruit and roasted beets. Reserve 3 tablespoons of the red wine vinegar from the onions and whisk with remaining olive oil, dijon mustard and salt and pepper to taste. Toss with salad. Toss in burrata pieces with your fingers and enjoy!

Salad and a sandwich picnic with a view at Mt. Bonnell

Trace Restaurant Review

Lindsay and I were recently invited to eat at Trace Restaurant located in downtown Austin in the newly opened W hotel. They had just hosted a blogger event and graciously offered us a $100 gift certificate to come back even though we couldn't made it. The ambiance was quiet and sophisticated, but with a very comfortable feel. High-backed velvet booths lined the walls and warm light shone from the corners of the ceiling on to the white chairs in the middle of the room. It was a quiet evening with only six other tables eating with us, and even though the music was soft, it was just loud enough to prevent us from eavesdropping on our neighbors.

Food:

We started off with a wild mushroom and polenta appetizer, which featured a farm-fresh poached egg. The egg was perfectly cooked and the creamy yolk really enhanced the polenta, but somehow the mushrooms fell a little short. We both liked it, but felt that the mushroom flavor was nothing out of the ordinary.

From there Lindsay ordered the crispy snapper while I had the rabbit pot pie. The snapper was decent, but best part about the dish was the pistachio pesto it was resting in. Despite the pesto, we both agreed that the rabbit pot pie was the better choice. The crust on top was moist and doughy with a beautifully glazed golden brown color. The filling was not creamy at all, but a delicious mix of garden greens and rabbit that wasn't dominated by too many carrots or celery.

With our meal we ordered two sides: crushed potatoes with garlic, and fried olives. Neither side impressed us, and we both felt that with an appetizer our sides weren't really necessary. The potatoes were good, but a little plain. I think I was expecting them to be a little creamier and more seasoned like a nice hearty mashed potato, but instead it was simply crushed potato with garlic. Lindsay and I had different thoughts about the olives. I thought that the green olive flavor was a little too strong and I simply couldn't eat more than two or three, but Lindsay felt that there was a little too much breading, and so couldn't bring herself to eat that much fried food. Between us we left three or four in the bowl.

We finished with a bourbon and chocolate pecan pie topped with vanilla ice cream with a chocolate swirl in the middle. To call it a pie would be unfair, it was more like a collection of glazed pecan halves bathing in a small chocolate puddle. Delicious.

Drinks:

I was intrigued by the cocktail menu, and managed to fit in two drinks: the tamarind margarita, and the peppercorn martini. Despite the fact that I couldn't find the tamarind flavor, I thought it was an excellently prepared margarita, so no fault there. Likewise I felt the peppercorn martini was dominated by the flavor of the basil leaf floating in it, but I still enjoyed the spicy aftertaste of pepper. We both loved the martini, so much so that Lindsay nearly didn't give it back after I let her taste it!

Critiques:

We both felt a little constrained for choices, especially when it came to picking an appetizer for two. The menu is divided into three sections: "shared", "small plates" and "large plates". Of the three shared options, only one was a small enough to be eaten by two, and of the small plates, 4/8 were either a soup or a salad. There were only five large plates, although two more specials were offered just before we ordered.

Overall we enjoyed many of the dishes, but were nonplussed by a few. The drinks were all well put together, and might make a promising happy hour or brunch. The ticket for the whole meal came out to be $150 for 4 drinks, 1 appetizer, 2 main courses, and 2 sides. A little on the pricey side, but we weren't holding back, and we left quite full.

Lemon Parmesan Swordfish Steaks

Ok, so swordfish wasn't officially on my list of new ingredients to try for the blog, but I HAVE been meaning to attempt it. Luckily, this recipe was simple and ROCKED and I couldn't wait to share it. We enjoyed it with a simple Greek salad to utilize the lemon juice and the parmesan that I already had out and was grating :)

Since this was a Sunday meal, I prepared the Pioneer Woman's easy Olive Focaccia bread to go with it. It takes a few hours, but it has easy ingredients and takes little effort - give it a try!

Lemon Parmesan Swordfish Steaks

1 pound swordfish steak
Kosher salt
Crushed black pepper
2 tablespoons butter (divided)
2 teaspoons shredded parmesan
2 teaspoons lemon zest

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Season swordfish with salt and pepper liberally on both sides (especially the pepper!). Heat a cast iron skillet (or other oven-safe pan) on medium high heat and melt 1 tablespoon butter. Cook swordfish about 4 minutes, then flip and place in oven, cooking for another 9 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine remaining 1 tablespoon butter with parmesan and lemon zest. Spread over swordfish and enjoy!

Simple Greek Salad

6 ounces spring greens
1/2 cup artichoke hearts, cooked and cooled
1/2 cup sliced olives, assorted
2 tablespoons lemon juice
3 tablespoons shredded parmesan
Salt and pepper to taste
Balsamic vinaigrette

Two-for-One Sweet Potato Chili

I love chili, and while I have a few favorite recipes, it can be fun to mix things up. While perusing through the January 2011 issue of EatingWell, I came across their Sweet Potato & Black Bean Chili and thought it would be a delicious and healthy way to satisfy my chili craving. Luke and I enjoyed it for lunch on a Saturday, and I had the idea to combine it with scrambled eggs on Sunday for a healthy spin on huevos rancheros. Yum!

Sweet Potato & Black Bean Chili
From EatingWell Magazine, Jan/Feb 2011

1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium-large sweet potato, peeled and diced
1 large onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons chili powder
4 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground chipotle chile
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups water
2 15-ounce cans black beans, rinsed (I used only one can)
1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes
4 teaspoons lime juice
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add sweet potato and onion and cook, stirring often, until the onion is beginning to soften, about 4 minutes. Add garlic, chili powder, cumin, chipotle and salt and cook, stirring constantly, for 30 seconds. Add water and bring to a simmer. Cover, reduce heat to maintain a gentle simmer and cook until the sweet potato is tender, 10 to 12 minutes.

Add beans, tomatoes and lime juice; increase heat to high and return to a simmer, stirring often. Reduce heat and simmer until slightly reduced, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in cilantro.

Sweet Potato Chili Scrambled Eggs

4 eggs
1 tablespoon milk
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon butter
1 1/2 cups sweet potato & black bean chili (recipe above) - warmed up
1/3 cup shredded cheese (I used 2% mozzarella)
1/2 tortilla chips, crushed

Whisk eggs and milk together until thoroughly combined and season with salt and pepper. Heat a large skillet on medium heat and melt butter. Poor in egg mixture and mix around with a spatula until nearly done - about 2 minutes. Add chili mixture and stir to combine, about 30 seconds. Top with cheese and stir. Serve with tortilla chips (or in a tortilla wrap if you have them on hand). Enjoy!

New Year, New Ingredients

Sometimes even the most adventurous cooks and eaters can fall into a food rut, and while I don't consider myself amongst the most adventurous, I do lament that I have several "safe eating" patterns that I've fallen into in 2010.

With that in mind, I want to make a list of ingredients that I rarely, or never use, but would like to. Here are a few to get me started:

• Eggplant
• Tofu
• Mussels
• Tarragon
• Fennel
• Leafy greens (kale, mustard greens, etc.)

What ingredients do you shy away from? What would you like to see me experiment with in 2011? What are your New Years resolutions?

Happy New Year!

-Apron