Chicken Marsala with Pappardelle

I'm baaaaaaack!  After a weekend filled with driving, friends, and food, I quickly found myself back in the kitchen.  It really has become my little nook in the house, except of course, when it is time to do the dishes!  I had intended to make a warm and simple dinner tonight, and was happy with the outcome. 

Earlier this week the squeals of joy could be heard throughout the neighborhood when my Rachel Ray subscription finally started and arrived in the mailbox!  I will admit that I am not a huge fan of Rach's shows, but I used to LOVE watching $40 a day when I was in college, and I love her magazine.  It is a fairly good mix of home, cooking, and travel. 

I found myself drooling and staring at the picture of her meat-free Mushroom-and-Marsala Pappardelle recipe.  Kudos to the food porn staff at her magazine, they won me over!  As I have mentioned over and over again, my sister refuses to eat mushrooms...ugh...problem.  I decided to twist the recipe around a little bit and accommodate her taste buds with chicken.  I think if I had served two vegetarian meals in a row, since tomorrow is Meatless Monday, my dad would be cringing in fear of another vegetarian week on the blog! 

So, with all of that being said, I have typed up Rachel's recipe below and added my notes in italics!  It was really delicious, filling, and there was plenty to go around...twice!  Be sure to read the recipe all the way through before cooking so you don't encounter any surprises along the way!


Mushroom and Marsala Pappardelle
Source: Every Day with Rachel Ray - February 2011
Yields 6 generous servings

Ingredients 
2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
A handful of dried mushrooms, such as procini
Salt and Pepper
1 pound of pappardelle or other wide, long-cut pasta
4 tablespoons butter
3/4 pound cremini or portobello mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 large fresh bay leaf
1 small bunch tuscan kale or swiss chard, stemmed and very thinly sliced
4 shallots, chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
Freshly grated nutmeg. to taste
About 3/4 cup marsala wine
1 cup heavy cream
Afew sprigs fresh sage, very thinly sliced
Grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese

Right off the bat I can tell you that I eliminated all of the mushrooms from above, as well as the parmigiano-reggiano and sage.  I also replaced the marsala with red cooking wine that I already had in the house!  You will also need approximately 1 pound of thinly sliced skinless, boneless chicken and a teaspoon of either flour or cornstarch.  

To Prepare

Place the stock and dried mushrooms in a saucepan and bring to a low boil.  Lower the heat and reconstitute.  Remove the mushrooms with a slotted spoon and chop. 

Since I was not using mushrooms, I completely skipped this step.  Instead, I started heating the butter in a frying pan with the sliced chicken and bay leaf.  

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, salt it, add the pasta and cook until al dente.  Drain, reserving a little of the pasta cooking water. 

I could not find pappardelle at my grocery store, so I replaced it with paccheri.  Paccheri is essentially HUGE, ridge free, ziti! 

While the pasta is working, heat the butter in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add the cremini (or portobello) mushrooms and bay leaf and increase the heat to medium-high.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms darken, 7 to 8 minutes. 

Again, I used this step to prepare the chicken.  Of course, the cooking time was a little longer since I was working with raw chicken!  Be sure to cook the chicken until it has turned white and its juices run clear. 

Add the kale (or swiss chard), shallots, and garlic; season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. 

I used swiss chard and cut it down into strips that were approximately a 1/2 inch wide.  The size worked nicely for the dish - the chard was present without being lost or overwhelming!  Rachel's recipe also calls for freshly grated nutmeg, which is great, but I used pre-ground from my spice rack! 
  
Cooking for about 7 minutes longer, then stir in the wine.  Add the chopped reconstituted mushrooms and all but 1/4 cup of the mushroom infused stock (the grit settles to the bottom of the pan as the mushrooms reconstitute). 

I added 1 3/4 cup of vegetable stock (approximately 1 can).  
 
Stir in the cream and cook to reduce and thicken.  Toss the pasta with the sauce, adding the reserved pasta cooking water if the sauce is too thick to coat the pasta nicely.  Garnish with the sage and serve with the cheese. 

I had a little problem with the sauce thickening.  Despite following her fluid amounts in the recipe, it would not thicken!  I cooked it for a while and had no results, so I added it to the pasta pan and turned on medium heat in the hopes that some of the sauce would be absorbed by the pasta and would help it thicken.  I ended up pulling a little of the sauce out of the pan and mixing it with a teaspoon of cornstarch, made a paste, and added it back to the pan.  The sauce thickened within a minute of me adding the cornstarch and sauce paste!  If you don't have cornstarch, flour will have the same effect!  Also, to help my novice chefs along, 1 cup of heavy cream is the 1/2 pint sized container at the grocery store!  

 

Pizza Pizza!

Last night was homemade pizza night!  My Grandma Nancy has been making pizza at her house for at least 15 years.  Whenever we would make the ride out to Pennsylvania we would beg for her to make "Grandma Pizza"...it would only be a 5 hour drive to pick up our pizza order hehe!  She loads a fluffy crust with, in this order: sauce, parmesan, pepperoni, sausage, olives, and two kinds of shredded cheese.   It bakes and bakes and bakes, and when it finally comes out of the oven is bubbling, golden brown, and smells something beyond delicious!

When I asked my brother what he wanted for dinner this week, since he goes back to dining hall food this weekend, he said, "Grandma Pizza!"  I wanted to go Grandma's route, but couldn't afford the list of ingredients with the food budget, so I decided to go with a Barbecue Chicken Pizza and a Rustic Vegetable Pizza.

I made a crust from scratch with a recipe from my Kitchen Aid book, which I am now referring to as the Holy Grail.  I doubled this recipe to make 2 pizzas!

Crusty Pizza Dough 
Yields dough for 1 large pizza
Source: Recipes For Your Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer

Ingredients 
1 package active dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
1 cup warm water (105 degrees to 115 degrees)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 1/2 to 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon cornmeal

Dissolve yeast in warm water in warmed mixer bowl.  Add salt, olive oil, and 2 1/2 cups flour.  Attach bowl and dough hook to mixer.  Turn to Speed 2 and mix about 1 minute.

Continuing on Speed 2, add remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time, and mix until dough clings to hook and cleans sides of bowl, about 2 minutes.  Knead on Speed 2 about 2 minutes longer.

Place dough in greased bowl, turning to grease top.  Cover.  Let rise in warm place, free from draft, about 1 hour, or until doubled in bulk.  Punch dough down.

Brush 14-inch pizza pan with oil.  Sprinkle with cornmeal.  Press dough across bottom of pan, forming a collar around edge to hold toppings.  Add toppings as desired.  Bake at 450 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes.

I stuck fairly close to the recipe since I am still pretty new to the world of raised doughs, but I did make a few small changes because of what was available to me in my kitchen pantry.  I was out of olive oil, so I replaced it with white truffle oil, which just added to the flavor of the crust.  It did not changed the dough physically.  The only other change I made was the pan I used.  A pizza pan is not something I have added to my cooking arsenal yet, so I split the dough in two balls (remember...I made a double batch!) and spread it across to large baking sheets!  

And for the toppings...

On the chicken pizza, I poured a 18 ounce jar of BBQ sauce, 1 pound of chopped pan-seared chicken, and 2 cups of shredded white cheddar.

On the veggie pizza, I placed a handful of spinach leaves, sundried tomatoes, sliced black olives, shitake mushrooms, and a heavy sprinkling of parmesan cheese. 

The results are in... 

The Barbecue Chicken Pizza was a HUGE hit!  The Veggie Pizza, on the other hand, was good but missing something...I think it is called moisture!  Oops!  I really should have put some red sauce down on it, or opted for a shredded cheese that would have added some moisture while it cooked.  You cook, you learn...I'll have better luck next time hehe!

Savory Nut Loaf with Cheddar Bechamel Sauce

Oh the infamous nut loaf!  I realized a few years ago that it is a bit of a staple in a lot of vegetarian's diets, and despite that fact, has become a bit of a punch line amongst the meat eating community.  After growing up in a meat and potatoes household, I explored vegetarianism when I went to college (I know, shocking stuff).  I would do ok for a few months, and then retreat back to meat either at Thanksgiving or the 4th of July.  I just cannot resist roasted turkey and juicy burgers!  Despite my weakness for meat, I do still enjoy vegetarian dishes, and usually try to incorporate 1 a week into our dinner menu. The real trick though, is getting my dad and sister to enjoy them.  I tend to run into a lot of problems because my sister HATES lots of vegetables, and my dad, while he will eat just about anything, he is just not very open minded about meals that completely omit meat.  Meatloaf is his favorite dinner, so here's hoping!

Savory Nut Loaf
Yields 6 servings

To Prepare the Nut Loaf
1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a frying pan. 
3. Dice 1 small onion, and add it to the frying pan.

4. Dice 1 cup of shitake mushrooms, and add them to the frying pan.  You don't have to use shitakes, but I would avoid the canned mushrooms!  This recipe is a delicate balance of wet and dry, and the moisture will throw your end result!
5. Dice 2 cloves of garlic, or if you are using the pre-diced add 1 tablespoon. Add it to the frying pan.

6. Chop 2 cups of nuts.  I chose cashews and walnuts!  You can either chop them by hand, or you can pulverize them in a food processor.  I went the route of hand chopping, which gives them a texture ranging from sand to small pebble.  If you want more consistency, go with a food processor or magic bullet!  If you suffer from a nut allergy, you could use soy nuts.

7. Pour the chopped nuts into a large mixing bowl.
8. Pour the frying pan mixture in with the nuts once the onions have turned translucent and the mushrooms have started to brown.

9. Add 1 cup of cottage cheese to the bowl.  You can use any cheese you like...don't feel obligated to go this route if you don't like it!  If you would like to make this recipe vegan, you can use a vegan cheese! 

10. Add 2 cups brown rice to the bowl.

11. Add 2 large eggs to the bowl, and mix everything together well!

12. Spray a loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray, or grease it with a little butter.
13. Pour the mixture from the bowl, into the greased loaf pan.  Even out the top of the loaf mix and place it in the oven.

14. Bake the loaf for approximately 1 hour, until the loaf is firm and golden brown!

To Prepare the Bechamel Sauce
1. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a small pan.
2. Once the butter is melted, thoroughly mix in 1 tablespoon of flour.

3. Once the butter and flour is bubbling and thick, mix in 1 cup of milk.
4. When the milk has come to a boil, mix in 1 cup of shredded cheddar and mix continually until they cheese is melted and fully incorporated into the sauce!