HOT Fudge (with Indian Ghost Pepper)

Ah, the quest for the elusive Indian Ghost Pepper. Last week, Joef and I were visiting our friends Ali and Patrick in Boston. We found ourselves at a local spice shop, where Joef asked if they sold Indian Ghost Pepper. The reply: "Yes, we do." (Joef's heart leaps.) "But we don't have it today." (Joef's heart falls.) "We usually have it every day." (Joef's heart falls further, and he proceeds to pout for the next few hours.)

This past weekend in New York, we were taken to another spice shop - and this time, we called ahead. Yes, indeed, they could supply Indian Ghost Pepper. And so we came to possess a probably lethal quantity of this spice, which, you see, is generally recognized as the hottest chili in the world. And now Joef can be happy again.

Then it came to what we might actually do with this stuff, and Joef's sister had the rather brilliant idea of adding it to hot fudge. Joef's mom, Betty, whipped up a batch of her unbeatable hot fudge sauce - half made with ghost pepper powder, and another half made with raspberry flavoring for the more sane among us.

Alright, so - was it good? Joef loved it. I have to admit that it was a really nice combination of flavors, the sweet and the smoky-spicy. I also have to admit that it had a semi-numbing effect on my mouth, and yes - it's crazy spicy - and yes, I just had a taste. But we did what we set out to do, and I can now say that I've truly had hot fudge.

Betty's recipe:
1 cup white sugar
2 tbsp cocoa powder (like Hershey's)
Pinch of salt
1 tbsp white caro syrup/corn syrup
Half-and-half - enough to make kind of a chocolate "soup" - Maybe 1/2 cup
1 tbsp butter
Flavoring of choice:
-1 tsp vanilla, or
-1 tsp raspberry flavoring, or
-Dash of Indian Ghost Pepper (which was quite spicy - adjust to taste)

Combine all ingredients except the butter and flavoring in a small pot. Bring to a boil while stirring. Cook until chocolate will completely coat a metal spoon - dip a spoon in, and if it comes out patchy, keep cooking until it coats the spoon. Remove from heat and add butter and flavoring of choice. Let the butter melt, then stir just enough to combine (stir too much, and it'll get grainy and loose the right consistency). Serve over ice cream!

(UPDATE: As of 12/3/2010, Naga Jolokia has been replaced by the Naga Viper chili pepper as the hottest in the world. But when we made this, Naga Jolokia reigned supreme!)

Joef's Candied Yams

Joef's Thanksgiving tradition is these yams. They are also his ultimate comfort food. I have to say, I was dubious about these yams at first, despite their being a fairly traditional - as I've learned - Thanksgiving dish. My family, too, was skeptical when Joef made these for our first Thanksgiving together. But I have to say I've come around, and my family brings them up (with yearning, in some cases) every year now. They are incredibly simple and deliciously sweet.

3-4 yams, peeled and sliced into circles
Brown sugar
Marshmallows, big or small (Joef prefers the big ones)

Preheat oven to 375. Take a square or rectangular baking dish and arrange sliced yams in the dish. Top with generous amounts of brown sugar. Really generous amounts. Place in oven and cook until yams are soft and brown sugar has turned to liquid. Cover the top with marshmallows, then pop back in the oven to allow the marshmallows to brown (making sure they don't, er, catch fire). Remove from oven and serve!

Spinach Pie

Spinach pie is really one of my favorite pies. I've always been a savory-vs.-sweet kind of gal, and this just hits the spot - it's even good, if not better, cold the next day. This pie was my (small) contribution to the Thanksgiving feast this year. We did Thanksgiving with family in New York this year, thanks to Kaylynn and Alexis, and it was a blast. The food - none of which I can take any credit for, aside from this pie - was out of this world. We even had oysters. Oysters!

The pie seemed to go over well, and was enhanced by the fact that it was a collaboration between myself and Joef's Aunt Sylvia, who made a delicious gluten-free crust for my filling. I need to get that recipe from her - for now, I've posted the usual and always satisfying crust recipe, and will update with the gluten-free version when I have it.

Happy Thanksgiving!

1 lb frozen chopped spinach, defrosted and drained
1/2 lb muenster cheese, grated
1/2 cup granted parmesan
Sprinkle of nutmeg
1 egg
1 onion, diced
2 medium-sized potatoes, boiled
Milk
Butter
Salt and pepper
Olive oil
Pie crust (below; gluten-free recipe to follow)

Put some olive oil in a large frying/saute pan and heat over medium. Add onions and allow to begin to soften, then add spinach. Stir around and let the spinach get hot and the onions soften. Add a little butter - 1-2 tbsp - and melt that in. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Meanwhile, break your egg into a large mixing bowl, beat it, then add your two cheeses and stir. Sprinkle in a little nutmeg (remember a little goes a long way). When your potatoes have boiled, mash them up with a little milk and butter, then combine in the large mixing bowl with the egg and cheese.

When you feel the spinach is cooked, remove it from the heat and let it cool a little bit so it doesn't cook the egg. Then mix it in with ingredients in the mixing bowl. Stir well, adding a little milk if you feel that it's dry. Pour it into the crust (see below).

CRUST (with gluten)
1 1/2 cups flour
1 stick butter, cut roughly into tablespoons
1/4 cup cold water

Preheat oven to 375. Combine the flour and butter in a bowl, and mix with your hands until fluffy and combined. Add the cold water, and again mix with your hands until you have dough that you can roll out. Add flour if it's getting too sticky. Place floured wax paper on your counter and roll out the dough on the paper (lightly flour the rolling pin, too) until it's about the thickness you want for your crust. Lift the dough over your pie tin, press down into the tin, and trim the edges (save them). Patch as necessary, then pour in the filling.

Take the remaining dough and roll it out again. Crust should cover the top of the pie. Use your fingers and thumb to pinch together the edges of the pie to get that ripply effect, and pierce top with tines of a fork.

Bake until crust is golden-brown.

Original Stuffed Shells: With "Sauce"

Yes, we have a stuffed shell repeat. But I think it's fair, because this is really a completely different dish. I made it for the in-laws because it's great for feeding a large group, and because last week at work I asked my co-workers what they were making for Thanksgiving, and they responded, simply: "sauce". Inspired, I had to make sauce, too.

This one takes some time to prepare - from absolute start-to-finish, it took about three hours. I was ever-so-intelligent and neglected to write down the exact proportions, but I think I got it close.

And yes, it is delicious (see Exhibit A)! Another one to be excited about, at least according to young nephew Finn (Exhibit B).

Exhibit A

Exhibit B

There are three main parts: making the sauce, making the filling, and then baking the dish. Two casserole/baking dishes holding a total of 23 shells fed 6 adults and two babies perfectly.

So - first, the sauce.

SAUCE
6-10 baby carrots, thinly sliced
1/2 white onion, finely diced
2 stalks celery, sliced lengthwise, then thinly sliced
3-4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 28-oz cans Hunt's tomato sauce
1 28-oz can Hunt's whole tomatoes
1-1.5 lbs cubed beef chuck
White wine
Dried parsley
Salt
Ground black pepper
Olive oil

You'll need a very big pot. Pour a couple/a few tablespoons of olive oil into the pot and turn heat to medium-high. Add the carrots, onion, celery, and garlic to the pot and season with a little salt and ground pepper. Stir around until it starts to get aromatic and soften slightly.

Add the beef to brown it on all sides. Pour in a little white wine and let the alcohol cook off while you brown the meat.

When the meat is browned, add all of your tomatoes/tomato sauce. Crush the whole tomatoes against the sides of the pot with a wooden spoon to break up. Season again as needed with salt and pepper, and sprinkle in a little dried parsley. Bring to a boil, then turn heat to low and simmer for about 1.5-2 hours, stirring occasionally.

While the sauce is doing its thing, you can make the filling (measures are approximate):

FILLING
1 lb fat-free ricotta cheese (approx)
3/4 of a large brick of mozzarella, grated
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 eggs
Salt to taste
A little ground pepper
Light sprinkle or two of nutmeg (a little goes a long way)
Sprinkle of dried parsley

Combine all ingredients in a bowl, stir together, set aside in the fridge.

OTHER
3/4 lb jumbo shells
Grated mozzarella for finishing

Preheat the oven to 400. When the sauce is almost done cooking, boil the water to make your shells. When they're ready, rinse them in cool water and drain. Remove the meat from the sauce and set aside in a separate bowl. Take your two baking dishes and ladle in the sauce to cover the bottoms of the pans, then add more (the sauce shouldn't cover the shells when you put them in, but should come up about 3/4 of the way up on the shells). Take each shell and fill it with a spoonful of the ricotta filling, then place it in the sauce in the pan. When the pans are full, place them in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes.

Remove from the oven and serve with the sauce meat on the side. Grate a little mozzarella cheese over the shells to finish. Green beans drizzled with olive oil and seasoned with a little salt and pepper make a nice side. Done!

Stuffed Seafood Shells

I have to say I'm a little bit proud of this one. Not because it was perfect - I think there's room for improvement, and plus I broke a major cooking rule with the combination of cheese and seafood - but because I truly made it up. Not a family recipe, not an improvisation - just made it up. Which, upon reflection, is probably why there was room for improvement - but hey, whatcha gonna do.

This made way more than we could eat. I'd say it'd serve 3-4 people; it does not make for good leftovers. If you have ideas for how to improvise on this, I'm taking suggestions. But overall, my only real hesitation is the ricotta-seafood combo (maybe just the scallops with some other seasoning for the filling? omit ricotta?); it was really pretty tasty.


You'll need:
1 egg
3/4-1 cup fat free ricotta cheese
Salt and pepper
1-2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
1 lb bay (small) scallops, chopped in food processor
3-4 cloves garlic, sliced or roughly chopped
Olive oil
28 oz can whole peeled San Marzano tomatoes
2 Roma tomatoes, chopped
1 lb seafood "medley" (I found a great one, frozen, that had cooked clams, calamari, mussels, shrimp, etc.), defrosted
18-20 jumbo shells

Preheat your oven to 350. In a bowl, combine your ricotta, egg, parsley, and scallops. Mix, then season with salt and a little pepper. Set aside in the fridge.

Meanwhile, get your water boiling and cook your shells. Cook them very al dente - probably a minute or two less than you usually would. When they're done, rinse them briefly in cold water.

Prep an oven dish by drizzling it with olive oil, then add your San Marzano tomatoes. Break them up with a wooden spoon, then add garlic, dried parsley if you want, the fresh tomatoes, and more salt and pepper. Add your seafood medley and stir around a little.

Take each pasta shell and fill it with a spoonful of the ricotta-scallop filling. Place the shell in the oven dish and nestle it in the tomato sauce. Repeat until your dish is full; use a spoon to drizzle some of the sauce over the tops of the shells as well.

Pop the oven dish in the oven and cover with tinfoil; cook for about 30 minutes. Remove the tinfoil, turn oven to 400, and cook another 15 minutes. (The sauce came out kind of liquidy - maybe not using tinfoil would help the sauce thicken. Your call.)

Serve!

Pollo all'Arrabbiata

(adapted from Loukie Werle's "Italian Country Cooking")

What a perfect fall dish. We absolutely loved this one - I think it's the best new recipe I've tried in awhile. I mean, I guess it's hard to go wrong when you're cooking chicken in pancetta, but still. It's just a very satisfying meal, and even though the cook time is a little longer than my usual, it's very simple to make.

Here's how it goes:
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 - 3/4 red onion, cut into 8 or so wedges
5 chicken drumsticks
1/2 - 3/4 of a whole garlic bulb, cloves peeled and slightly crushed with the flat side of a knife
1/2 cup plus two splashes red wine (we used a Chilean wine called Korta, a Carmenere, which was great to drink, too)
2 serrano peppers or hot red chilies, chopped (I would've used the red; serrano were all I could find and it turned out great)
1 pint cherry tomatoes
Instant polenta for serving (or, if you have a picky husband, rice)

Plus (soffrito):
2 large cloves garlic
2 slices pancetta
1 tsp rosemary leaves, dry or fresh (I used dry)

Make a soffrito with the "Plus" ingredients - place the garlic, pancetta, and rosemary in a small food processor and chop.

Add the olive oil to a heavy-based pot or dutch oven, and add your soffrito ingredients. Cook and stir over medium for about 5 minutes, allowing the pancetta to become lightly browned. Turn the heat up to high and add the onion, chicken, and garlic cloves, browning the chicken on each side. Add the wine and cook for about a minute, then add the peppers and tomatoes and salt for seasoning.

Bring the chicken to a simmer, cover, and cook on low for 40 minutes. Add salt as needed. Serve over polenta (instant takes about 3 minutes or less to cook once the water boils).

Ricotta Cheese Dumplings

(adapted from Mark Bittman)

When the latest Minimalist column boasted homemade "ricotta gnocchi" without any pre-cooking or dough-rolling, I thought back to my own failed attempt at potato gnocchi, and was hooked. He was right - these are much, much easier than their potato cousin.

Now, I don't know that they satisfy the seemingly-constant true gnocchi craving that plagues me - the best way to describe them is more like ravioli without the pasta covering (hence the modified name) - but they were different, rich, and tasty. And really pretty simple.

I was just cooking for myself, so the recipe below made way too much for just me, and they don't keep well. The below should make about four servings; adjust accordingly. Bittman made them with a sage brown butter sauce, which I bet is fantastic; I opted for a simple tomato sauce (two diced Roma tomatoes, 1-2 tbsp of olive oil, 1/2 tbsp of butter, and basil flakes, salt, and pepper to taste, sauteed until the sauce breaks down). What will you try them with?

You'll need:
Salt to taste
One 15-ounce container ricotta cheese (nonfat is fine, I promise)
2 eggs, beaten
1 1/4 cups freshly grated parmesan
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
3/4 to 1 cup flour

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Combine the ricotta, eggs and parmesan in a large bowl, along with some salt and pepper. Add about 1/2 cup flour and stir; add more flour until the mixture forms a very sticky dough. Scoop up a spoonful of dough and boil it to make sure it will hold its shape; if it does not, stir in a bit more flour. (They will come apart a little; I think that's OK.)

Drop the ricotta mixture by the rounded tablespoon into the boiling water, working in batches so as not to overload the pot.

When the dumplings rise to the surface, give them a couple minutes, then remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. When you have enough, top with the sauce of your choosing and serve!