Agnolotti Uovo Con Tartufi

Agnolotti uovo is just a fancy pants way of saying, "egg ravioli" with truffle.  I just think it sounds much sexier when said in Italian.  Beyond its' alluring name which rolls off the tongue, this pasta dish is delicious, simple and very, very sexy.  I found myself inventing the culinary strategy while driving in stop and go traffic the other day.  My mind took a little detour as I envisioned the flavors.  I began to taste the slightly nutty browned butter, sweet caramelized shallots and earthy white truffle oil pooling with the warm, rich egg yolks.  I imagined the resulting sauce to be extraordinarily rich and complex.  I am strongly attracted to ingredient emphasized applications such this.  The success of this dish is largely owed to the quality of the basic staples from which it's comprised. Yes, I know, there's white truffle oil in it.  Rest assured, this is the single exotic ingredient on a very short list.  Otherwise, we're talking eggs, butter, shallots, flour... basics.

Once through the traffic, I hurried home and opened a carton of free range eggs given to me by a friend.  They were all lovely shades of cream and brown.  I began to crack them in earnest, separating the yolks carefully so as not to lose one.  One by one, my family wandered in to the kitchen and began to ask what I was up to.  I was in a haze of concentration, only able to mumble single word answers.  As usual my children were particularly insistent and would not vacate until I told them what was on the menu.  Without looking up, I quickly uttered the words, "agnolotti uovo con tartufi".  They both stared at me.  My youngest son proclaimed with hands on hips, "Well, I'm not eating that tartufi-whatever!"  I dismissed him with a wave of my hand.  As with every new dish I introduce, my children are more than happy to baptize me by fire.  Over time they have proven to be my toughest critics.  Needless to say, I made the cut.  I'm happy to report that I survived to compete a second day in what I now consider to be my own private "Kitchen Stadium".  Please find my recipe below.  I hope you enjoy!

Agnolotti Uovo Con Tartufi

For The Pasta
2 Cups Flour
3 large, fresh eggs

For the Filling
12 large, fresh egg yolks

For the Sauce
1 stick (80z.) good quality salted butter
1/4 cup thinly sliced shallots 
1 teaspoon white truffle oil
sea salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste

Roll the pasta sheets up to the 7th setting on your pasta machine or as thin as possible by hand with a rolling pin.  Place a large pot of heavily salted water on to boil.  Carefully place a the whole egg yolks in the center of the sheet allowing for at least 1" of space around each .  Wet the edges around each egg yolk with water and lay a second sheet on top.  Seal the edges of each ravioli thoroughly and cut in to individual raviolis.  Place finished raviolis on a dry, clean towel or parchment paper.  Once all the raviolis are finished, in a large saute pan, heat the butter and sliced shallots over medium heat.  Begin to boil the raviolis for 1.5-2 minutes total.  Flip them to cook on both sides.  Remove each drained ravioli to a large serving bowl.  Allow the butter in the saute pan to bubble until just barely golden.  The shallots should be translucent and just beginning to caramelize.  Remove the pan from the heat and add the truffle oil.  Mix to combine.  Pour the sauce over the warm raviolis and add fresh cracked pepper and sea salt to taste.  Serve hot.

Serves 4              

Hand Cured Apple & Almond Wood Smoked Bacon

I'm in a love affair with cured and or smoked meats and sausages.  Of these culinary delights, I am especially smitten with cured smoked bacon.  As a Matter of fact, I love it so much that I've decided to never purchase it again.  I will never buy it again because I've learned how to make my own.  

Perhaps the biggest challenge I ran up against in my attempts to make bacon was finding a reliable source for fresh, free range pork belly.  You can use any pork belly but free range pork has such amazing flavor.  Luckily I found a little market a stone's throw from where I live which sells whole pigs.  This means that they also sell every part of said pig.  The shop employs masterful butchers who deftly break down the whole beast to extract whichever part you're interested in.  

The picture above shows a pork belly which I portioned, cured and smoked.  It has not been cut yet in to the traditional strips of bacon which Americans have come to know and love.  I have my own in house butcher for that.  Below, please find my recipe for and instructions for making your own bacon which will trump any you can find at the market.

5 pounds of pork belly, skin on

The cure

2 ounces (50 grams) of kosher salt (about ¼ cup)

2 teaspoons (12 grams) pink salt

¼ cup (50 grams) maple sugar or packed dark brown sugar

¼ cup (60 milliliters) maple syrup

Mix the dry cure ingredients together, then add syrup. Rub the mixture over the meat and put it skin side down in a plastic bag slightly bigger than the meat and put it in the refrigerator for a week. Turn it over every day. Remove the meat from the bag and rinse clean, then pat dry. Put it back into the refrigerator on a rack over a baking sheet and let it dry for 12 to 24 hours. Smoke until it reaches an internal temperature of 150 degrees. Remove the skin while the meat is hot. (Discard skin, or cut into pieces and save for other uses.) Let the bacon cool, then wrap in plastic and refrigerate or freeze until ready to use.

 

  

Lavender Blossom Ice Cream

I wanted to challenge myself by making tasty ice cream flavored with an ingredient from my garden.  I stood peering in to the garden, still dripping from the recent winter rain.  I glanced at the rosemary, thyme, oregano and lemon verbena.  My gaze lingered on a lime and clementine tree.  Finally I grabbed a large handful of lavender leaves from a nearby bush.  I crushed it in my hand and inhaled.  The fragrance was mixture of heady pine with delicate floral nuances in the background.  I pinched off and crushed a few bright purple blossoms.  The fragrance was decidedly more delicate and floral with the aroma of pine taking a back seat.  I began to pinch off the blossoms one at a time.  Once I had a large handful, I headed back in to the kitchen.  The ice cream I made was truly eye popping.  It had none of the resinous flavor that lavender can sometimes represent.  It was delicate and redolent with floral complexity.  Please find my recipe below.  I hope you enjoy!


Rachel's Lavender Blossom Ice Cream

2 Cups light cream
1 Cup Whole milk
6 large egg yolks

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup fresh lavender blossoms, finely chopped
1/4 tsp. sea salt

Heat the cream, milk and lavender blossoms in a sauce pot over medium-low heat.  Allow the mixture to become very hot but stop short of simmering.  Maintain the heat and allow the mixture to steep for five minutes.  Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar and salt until light yellow and fluffy.  Slowly add 1/2 cup of the hot cream mixture to the egg yolks, whisking continuously.  Add the tempered egg yolk mixture to the sauce pot of hot cream.  Do not allow the pot to simmer or boil.  This will cook the eggs.  Continuously stir the mixture until it thickens slightly and coats the back of a wooden spoon, approximately five minutes.  Strain the mixture through a fine mesh strainer in to a container and allow to chill in the freezer or fridge until ice cold.  Continue by following your ice cream maker's instructions.