Wow! I must have really benefited from that extra hour . . . I had major food ambition today. I started the day reading a few pages of Jamie Oliver's "Jamie At Home" cookbook which is a beautiful tribute to "garden to table" cooking. He is such an inspired and passionate cook with an incredible flair for bringing out the best of simple fare. Rustic, yet elegant, his cooking is really creative, healthful and delicious. http://www.jamieoliver.com/OK. So, I'm all over the board this morning, right? During our morning walk, I talked Joann's ear off about free range hens and organic eggs, my beautiful, but disappointing caramel apples (the taffy was too hard and chewy), the pure beauty of homemade ricotta cheese and the origins of junket and rennet, why it's important to slow-roast "winter" tomatoes and "don't you think Fontina cheese is absolutely luscious?" Poor Joann. I was a fountain of food love.
So, here's what that led up to........First stop after an invigorating walk on a perfect November morning: the grocery store....just for a few things. (This turned out to be about 90 minutes of inspiration gathering which included inspecting, reading, roaming, sniffing, squeezing, comparing, pondering, and searching for items like creme fraiche' and sumac). Then came checkout explanations to the befuddled young check out associate who had never heard of fennel or rapini and couldn't find them on his produce list.
Now, I'm talking to my mom on my way home, giving her the lowdown on my plans for the rest of the day. Ready?
1) Homemade Ricotta Cheese
2) Oven Roasted Tomatoes
3) Caramel Apples (to redeem myself from Friday's batch)
4) Fresh Homemade Tagliatelle Pasta with Rapini and Fontina Sauce
I cannot tell you how gratifying it was to make fresh pasta. Wow! It was defintitely a highlight in my repertoire. I am already looking forward to doing it again. Anyone interested in making any of the things you see here, please POST your requests or send me an e-mail, ok? I would LOVE to hear from you.
Thank you so much for your interest in me, my cooking, my ideas and my blog. You're always welcome and at home in Katie's Passion Kitchen.
Love, Katie
Bella Pasta
Oven Roasted Tomatoes
Super Fresh Homemade Organic Ricotta
Plum tomatoes are drizzled with olive oil, sprinkled with kosher salt, fresh thyme leaves, and dried oregano... slow roasted in a 300F degree oven until intensely flavored and slightly chewy (about 2 to 2 1/2 hours). They're served here on a bed of arugula, topped with fresh, homemade ricotta cheese, a drizzle of balsamic vinegar, olive oil and freshly ground black pepper.
Caramel Apples
Here are some of my caramel apples (the Halloween batch) ... they look great, except the taffy was too hard, even though I followed the directions by heating the caramel to 248 degrees. So, I tried again today and removed the caramel from the heat at 240 degrees. Still really chewy, but definitely better. LOL. Anyone out there have a caramel apple recipe with caramel that stays creamy and doesn't get too-too chewy? Please send it to me. Thank you! In the morning, I shall post some shots of the new and improved batch. Practice makes perfect, right? Candy's tricky.
Here are some of my caramel apples (the Halloween batch) ... they look great, except the taffy was too hard, even though I followed the directions by heating the caramel to 248 degrees. So, I tried again today and removed the caramel from the heat at 240 degrees. Still really chewy, but definitely better. LOL. Anyone out there have a caramel apple recipe with caramel that stays creamy and doesn't get too-too chewy? Please send it to me. Thank you! In the morning, I shall post some shots of the new and improved batch. Practice makes perfect, right? Candy's tricky.
P.S. Click on any (or most) photos shown in each post for a gigantic close-up, then use the back button on your browser to get back to the page...XOXO, Katie
P.S. Tonight, I will post the recipe for the pasta with my comments and recommendations. Buon Appetito!
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