YouCanCook

3/06/2009, Gnocchi alla Ricotta e Salame al Cioccolato

2009-06-23T16:05:00.006+09:00

Hope you all had a good time and enjoyed making Gnocchi.
Here are the pics and rececipes from Wednesday. Ciao!

Gnocchi di Ricotta

Ingredients for 2 People

• 250 gr Ricotta
• 2 Tbsp fine Grate Parmesan
• 5 spoons of Flour
• 1 egg
• Pinch of salt
• Salt
• 2 Tbsp of Butter and a few leafs of Sage (for the sauce)

Directions

1. Mix the Ricotta cheese with one raw egg, parmesan and salt (use a spoon to mix)
2. Stir in the flour gently using a colander or strainer.
3. Place flour on the board and then take a spoon of the mix and place it on the board using the finger to help you.
4. Roll it into a stripe and cut it in small pieces. Repeat 3 and 4 until all the mix has been used.
5. Melt the butter with the sage in a small pan (do not burn)
6. Boil the gnocchi in water with salt and when they come to the surface strain them and serve with sauce and some parmesan on top.

13/05/2009, Spaghetti alle Vongole and Chocolate Pudding

2009-06-23T15:16:00.009+09:00

Here are the pictures from the other night followed by my recipe for Spaghetti alle Vongole and Chocolate Pudding. Buon Appetito a tutti! Thank you all for coming along.

Spaghetti alle Vongole

Ingredients for 2 people

• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 Tbsp finely chopped garlic
• 400g clams
• 1 Tbs finely chopped parsley
• Small pinch of red pepper flakes
• Salt
• 1/3 cup of dry white wine
• 300g of Spaghetti or Linguini

Directions

1. Sauté the garlic in oil in a large skillet, over a medium-high heat until the garlic starts to sizzle. Stir in parsley and red pepper flakes. Do not let the garlic brown.
2. Slowly stir the clams. Cover and cook over low heat 4 minutes.
3. Add white wine. Stir occasionally, until the alcohol evaporates. (The steam will no longer tickle your nose.)
4. Remove from the heat once most of the Vongole have opened up
5. Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot, add 1 tbs of salt, and drop in the pasta all at once, stirring until the strands are submerged. If you have a smaller pot, you can use less than 4 quarts of water, but you must constantly stir the spaghetti for one minute.
6. When the pasta is molto al dente (about 1 minute away from being al dente), drain.
7. Return the skillet with the clams to a medium heat and add the drained pasta so that it finishes cooking in the skillet. Cook until the pasta is al dente and most of the liquid in the skillet is evaporated.
8. Add some more oil and parsley to garnish

Budino al Cioccolato

Ingredients for 6 people

• 3 eggs (yoke only)
• 3/4 table spoon of sugar
• 75g of butter
• 4 spoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• ½ cup of Rhum or Marsala
• 100g of dry Buiscuits
• Finely chopped walnuts or Amaretti (optional)

DIRECTIONS

Combine egg yolks and sugar. Whip yolks until thick and lemon colored.
Add cocoa and butter partially melted. Beat until combined.
Add the crumbled biscuits and transfer the mixture into a metal foil.
Use hands to shape a ‘salame’ and wrap with the metal foil.
Put in the freezer for about one hour.

04/04/2009, Asparagus Risotto and Tiramisu

2009-04-06T15:35:00.007+09:00

Hope you all had a good time and enjoyed cooking the Risotto.
Here are the pics and rececipes from Saturday. Ciao!

Asparagus Risotto

INGREDIENTS for 4 persons

• 1 and half liter of broth,
• 5 tablespoons olive oil,
• 1 clove of garlic sliced.
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 2 cups Arborio rice
• 10 chopped asparagus
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• sea salt to taste
• freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS
1.Boil the asparagus for about 5 minutes.
2.Drain the asparagus (keep the water as it will be used as broth later on) and in a new pan stir fry them for about 6-8 minutes, with some oil and garlic. Once done then set aside.
3.In a new pan add 2-3 tablespoon olive oil and stir in the onion. Cook for a couple of minutes. Add rice, stirring to coat with oil, for about 2 minutes. When the rice has taken on a pale, golden color, pour in wine, stirring constantly until the wine is fully absorbed. Add 1/2 cup broth to the rice, and stir until the broth is absorbed. Continue adding broth 1/2 cup at a time, stirring continuously, until the liquid is absorbed, about 15 minutes.
4.Stir in asparagus and cook for another 6-8 minutes or when ‘al dente’.
5.Add parmesan, butter and pepper to taste before you serve.

Tiramisu'

INGREDIENTS for 5-6 persons

• 4 egg yolks
• 2 table spoons of white sugar
• 1 pinch of salt
• 4 egg whites (“snow” whipped)
• 500g mascarpone cheese
• 2 packages ladyfingers
• 2 espressos + ¼ cup of “Amaretto di Saronno” liqueur
• 1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder, for dusting

DIRECTIONS
1.Combine egg yolks and sugar. Whip yolks until thick and lemon colored.
2.Add mascarpone to whipped yolks. Beat until combined. In a separate bowl, whip the whites with a pinch of salt. Gently fold into yolk mixture and set aside.
3.Dip the lady fingers biscuits in the coffee and liqueur mixture and lay them in the bottom of a large glass bowl. Spoon half of the cream filling over the lady fingers. Repeat ladyfingers, and filling layers. Refrigerate several hours or overnight. Garnish with cocoa powder only when ready to serve.

02/04/09, Pasta alla Carbonara

2009-04-04T23:08:00.005+09:00

Here are the pics and recipe from the other night.
Thank you all for coming along. Ciao!

Pasta alla carbonara

INGREDIENTS for 2 people

• 250 gr Pasta
• 80 gr of Pancetta (bacon)
• 2 eggs
• 1 tbs cooking oil
• a spoon of unsalted butter
• pepper
• 2 raw eggs

DIRECTIONS
Beat eggs and whisk until blended. Ad 2 spoons of parmesan and blend the cheese with the eggs. Bring water & salt to boil in large pot. Meanwhile, fry the bacon seasoned with pepper (use butter preferably) over med heat until crisp.
When the pasta is done, completely drain the water, and put the pasta into the bowl with eggs and parmesan. Mix it.
Stir in hot bacon and finally season with salt, pepper and a little bit of oil.
Serve with grated parmesan cheese.

25/03/2009, Saltimbocca alla Romana (chicken escalopes with Parma Ham and Marsala wine) with mushed potatoes

2009-03-27T01:03:00.007+09:00

Here are the pictures from the other night followed by my recipe for Saltimbocca alla Romana. Buon Appetito a tutti! Thank you all for coming along.

Saltimbocca alla Romana

Apart from using chicken rather than veal, in other respects this is the proper way to make the dish. Despite the advice of countless cookery books, I find it unnecessary to secure the ingredients with toothpicks and thus spare myself both the initial labour and the more fiddly business of removing them when hot: the little packages always seem to stay intact regardless.

INGREDIENTS for 2 persons

300g turkey breast
2 slices Parma ham
a couple sage leaves
1 tbs cooking oil
a spoon of unsalted butter
50ml white wine
50ml Marsala
The juice of half a lemon

DIRECTIONS

● Remove the skin and cut the fillet in half.
● Place each piece of chicken between two sheets of cling film and beat them with a meat bat or using the side of a cleaver (caution required) until quite thin. The idea is to produce a thin rectangular escalope .
● Place the each slice of Parma on a on each chicken slice, pushing it down so that it sticks to the meat. Place a large sage leaf on the middle of each one (it can be placed under the ham as well). Season the meat with finely milled pepper.
● Heat a large frying pan and add cooking oil and 25g butter. Once foaming, add the escalopes, ham side down. Cook on a steady heat for two minutes and then turn briefly for a minute to seal the other side.
● At this juncture, pour the wine. Reduce very briefly before adding the Marsala. Bring this mixture to the boil, letting it bubble around the meat and reduce for a minute until the juices start to thicken.
● Add the lemon juice and serve immediately with a simple green vegetable and/or mashed potatoes.

19/03/2009, Farfalle al Ragu (Bolognese Sauce) and Salame al Cioccolato

2009-03-19T18:32:00.010+09:00

Hi Guys,

I hope you enjoyed the food on Wednesday night.
Here are the snapshots and recipes from that evening.
Thanks all for coming along.

Farfalle al Ragu (Bolognese Sauce)

INGREDIENTS for 4-6 people

• 1/2 red onion chopped
• 1 celery ribs chopped
• 1 medium carrot chopped
• 1 clove of garlic finely chopped
• 2/3 spoons of olive oil
• 250g of ground veal
• 250g of ground pork
• 1 can of diced tomatoes
• Half cup of red wine
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 or 2 Bay Leaves

DIRECTIONS

Cook onions, celery, carrot, and garlic in oil over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until softened for about 3 minutes.
Add veal and pork and cook over moderately high heat, stirring and breaking up lumps, until no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Add wine and simmer for a few minutes until the wine has evaporated. Season with salt and pepper.
Stir in tomato can and bring to boil, when it does add the bay leaves turn down the heat and gently simmer until sauce is thickened (about 1 ½ or 2 hours).
Sauce may be made 2 days ahead and kept in refrigerator. Frozen, it keeps for about 1 month.
Serve with a little bit of butter and plenty of parmesan cheese in each dish.

Salame al Cioccolato

INGRDIENTS for 6-8 persons

• 3 eggs (yoke only)
• 3 table spoon of sugar
• 75g of butter
• 4 unsweetened cocoa powder
• ½ cup of Rhum or Marsala
• 100g of dry biscuits

DIRECTIONS

Combine egg yolks and sugar. Whip yolks until thick and lemon colored.
Add cocoa and butter partially melted. Beat until combined.
Add the crumbled biscuits and transfer the mixture into a metal foil.
Use or hands to shape a ‘salame’ and wrap with the metal foil.
Put in the freezer for about one hour.

11/03/2009, Mushroom Truffe Risotto and Tiramisu'

2009-03-12T10:04:00.000+09:00

We finally managed to used the Kitchen in the Yotsuya Community Center.
Mushroom Risotto with Truffle and Tiramisu was on the menu.
Enjoy the snapshots. Thank you all for coming along and see you next time. Ciao!

03/03/2009, Mushroom Truffe Risotto and Tiramisu'

2009-03-04T21:35:00.000+09:00

Here are the pics and recepis from the first class of YOU CAN COOK on Tuesday 3rd of March, thank you all for coming along.

Tiramisu’

INGREDIENTS for 4-5 persons

• 4 egg yolks
• 2 table spoons of white sugar
• 1 pinch of salt
• 4 egg whites (“snow” whipped)
• 500g mascarpone cheese
• 2 packages ladyfingers
• 2 espressos + ¼ cup of “Amaretto di Saronno” liqueur
• 1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder, for dusting

DIRECTIONS
1. Combine egg yolks and sugar. Whip yolks until thick and lemon colored.
2. Add mascarpone to whipped yolks. Beat until combined. In a separate bowl, whip the whites with a pinch of salt. Gently fold into yolk mixture and set aside.
3.Dip the lady fingers biscuits in the coffee and liqueur mixture and lay them in the bottom of a large glass bowl. Spoon half of the cream filling over the lady fingers. Repeat ladyfingers, and filling layers. Refrigerate several hours or overnight. Garnish with cocoa powder only when ready to serve.

Mushroom Risotto

INGREDIENTS for 4 persons
• 1 and half liter of broth,
• 5 tablespoons olive oil,
• 6-7 shitake mushrooms, thinly sliced
• ½ pack of dried ‘porcini’ mushrooms,
• 1 clove of garlic sliced.
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 2 cups Arborio rice
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• sea salt to taste
• freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 3 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS
1. Put the dry mushroom in a bowl with warm water for 20 minutes.
2. In a pan, prepare the broth over low heat. (can use mushroom stock cubes) Make use of the water from the mushrooms above.
3. Warm 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir in the mushrooms (dry and fresh) and the garlic, cook until soft, about 10-15 minutes. Remove mushrooms and their liquid, and set aside.
4. In a new pan add 2-3 tablespoon olive oil and stir in the onion. Cook for a couple of minutes. Add rice, stirring to coat with oil, about 2 minutes. When the rice has taken on a pale, golden color, pour in wine, stirring constantly until the wine is fully absorbed. Add 1/2 cup broth to the rice, and stir until the broth is absorbed. Continue adding broth 1/2 cup at a time, stirring continuously, until the liquid is absorbed, about 15 minutes.
5. Stir in mushrooms with their liquid and cook for another 10 minutes.
6. When the rice is ‘al dente’ add parmesan, butter and fresh parsley, remove from heat and season

See you all in the next classes.
Please visit http://ucancook.homestead.com/index.html for the updated schedule of cooking classes.