Fava Beans with Farfalle Pasta
June 27, 2008
I had a bag of frozen fava beans in my freezer last week and I concocted a pasta dish with the beans in lieu of peas. If you have never had fava beans (or if your only acquaintance with them is as a side dish with liver from the move Silence of the Lambs) you should probably know a few things about them.
First, fava beans grow in pods. The bean in the pod must be removed by either dry or fresh preparation.
Second, the bean can be eaten fresh out of the pod, or dried and reconstituted. When assisting my vecina with her garden to make chicos, I also helped her pick the last of her fava beans for dry preparation on a tarp in the sun. When the pod turned black, she crushed the pods by stepping on them to remove the beans from the dried pod. The beans are then stored in her winter larder. I took some of the fresh pods home and removed the bean. The bean is really large and appears white with a tiny green sprout on the end. You squeeze the bean and out comes the green center. If eating the beans fresh, only the green center is edible. Oddly, when dried and then reconstituted, you can eat the whole bean.
Third, fresh is much better than frozen, but it is labor intensive. I prefer the fresh fava bean, and because it grows locally in Colorado, it is easy to find. However, you may have to make due with some frozen fava beans. The taste is not as great, but it will work for this dish.
I combined fava beans and farfalle pasta, but you can you whatever short pasta you like (linguine or similarly long string pasta is not ideal for this dish). You can also optionally use cream. As my intolerance of all things lactose prevents me from eating dairy, I prefer this dish without the cream.
You will need:
- farfalle pasta, 4 servings
- 1 bag of frozen fava beans
- 1/4 c olive oil
- handful of fresh basil
- handful of chopped fresh Italian Parsley
- 4 garlic cloves, crushed and minced
- Parmesan cheese to taste (optional)
- 2 slices of prosciutto, chopped (optional)
- 1/2 c cream (optional)
- salt and pepper to taste
Step One: In a pot of boiling water, add pasta and cook until al dente. Drain and set to the side.
Step Two: In another pot of boiling water, toss in frozen fava beans and flash cook for 4 minutes. Quickly drain beans and set aside.
Step Three: In a saute pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic and prosciutto. Cook until garlic begins to turn golden brown. At this point, if you want cream, add it to the pan as well and cook until cream just begins to simmer (you can whip in one egg yolk to the cream prior to cooking it so that the cream thickens).
Step Four: Toss in fava beans and spices (basil, parsley, S&P) to the pan. Gingerly combine the ingredients until everything is thoroughly heated. Add in the pasta and serve with grated Parmesan cheese or another plug of olive oil on top.
Labels: fava bean; pasta
Blueberry Muffins Squared
June 16, 2008
I've been looking for an "ultimate" blueberry mufifn recipe for years. I've never quite found one, although I've eaten muffins that I are exactly what I hope to bake: crispy golden brown tops and side, with a moist, flavorful light cake inside. If you are ever in Glenwood Springs, Colorado, be sure to pick up this famous blueberry muffin I describe at the coffee shop inside the Hotel Colorado. This recipe is not "that" recipe, but it did yield a delicious muffin.You will need:
- 8 Tbs. (1 stick) unsalted butter delicately melted in a small sauce pot and set aside to cool
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup of corn flour
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup milk or half and half
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup blueberries, rinsed and dried
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup milk or half and half
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup blueberries, rinsed and dried
Preheat oven to 375 degrees (C). Line a 12 cup muffin tin with papers or butter 'em up for batter.
Step One: Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a mixing bown using a wire whisk.
Step Two: In another bowl, combine the milk, vanilla, and egg, also stirring with a whisk.
Step Three: Pour the melted butter into the dry ingredients and combine with a wooden spoon or spatula. Add the remaining wet ingredients.
Step Four: Distribute the blueberries evenly in the muffin tins. Distribute the batter evenly among the 12 cup tin until it is all gone. The blueberries will rise while baking, so don't worry about it looking pretty on top, but if you like, save some for the end and place them on top as well.
At this point, you may also decide to sprinkle something on top. I used leftover brown sugar, marzipan, walnut, and butter crumbles from a coffee cake I baked previously. Be creative, or just pop the little guys in the oven.
Step Five: Bake muffins for 18-24 minutes. At high altitude, I bake on the side of caution and usually go for the full 24 minutes on cakes and muffins. It was just right.
The finished product is interesting because it appears half-baked (insert lame joke here). But believe me, it is cooked all the way through. Now eat it up before someone comes home and finishes them off while you aren't looking!
Roasted Chicken with White Wine
June 06, 2008
Rarely do I make an effort to buy a slab of meat these days, but I couldn't pass up an amazing sale on small organic fryer chickens at Whole Foods. For the price of two chicken breasts, I got the whole chicken. After bringing it home however, I realized that I didn't have a clue what to do with it. I turned to my many cookbooks however, and found a few roasted chicken recipes that I thought would be tasty and fast.
You will need:
- 1 fryer chicken, rinsed thoroughly and patted dry with a paper towel
- 1 bunch of parsley
- 5 ripe tomatoes or a quart of cherry or grape tomatoes
- 1 bunch of carrots
- 1 onion, quartered and taken apart
- 1 whole bulb of garlic, each clove removed, crushed, and skinned
- 1 lemon
- olive oil, salt, pepper
- 2-3 cups white wine
For this recipe, I used my 4 1/2 quart round Le Creuset stoneware that accommodated nicely the chicken and vegetables. You can use whatever roasting pan you have (even a cake pan!), just be sure to line it with foil.
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees (C).
Step One: Boil the lemon in a small sauce pot for 5 minutes. Remove the lemon, cut in half, and prick it with a small paring knife. Stuff the chicken cavity with the lemons, some of the whole parsley, and about 4 cloves of garlic.
Step Two: Pour about 3 tablespoons of olive oil in the bottom of the roasting pan, along with salt, pepper, and any other spices to your liking (i.e. crushed red pepper, bay leaves, thyme, etc). Toss in carrots, onions, tomatoes, garlic, and the rest of the parsley. I recommend chopping up the remaining parsley rather than throwing it in whole.
Step Three: Place the chicken over the vegetables and lightly coat it with olive oil using your hands. Pour in 2 cups of white wine (I used sauvignon blanc).
Step Four: Roast the chicken for about 1 and 1/2 hours. You can pour the remaining cup of white wine after one hour of cooking. To finish off the roasting process, I flipped my bird (hee hee) upside down in the roaster and crisped the bottom for 10 minutes.
Step Five: Remove the chicken and "rest" it for 10 minutes before carving up. I like to remove all the meat from the bones by hand because it is more efficient and surprisingly easy because the chicken is so moist. Just be sure not to burn yourself.
Serve the chicken over anything you'd like. I served the chicken over penne pasta tossed in olive oil, salt, and pepper. With the leftovers the next day, I reheated the chicken in a little more wine and olive oil, and served it over French green lentils and steamed spinach. You can also eat it on a sandwich, or with potatoes.
