Scott's Kitchen

New Year's Eve Pasta - 2009 Edition

My wife made a wonderful pasta dish for tonight's New Year's Eve supper. She made it up as she went along - something she likes to do and is very good at! I tried to capture the process in real-time!

Here's the gist:

• Bring 6 qts water to a boil over high heat, add 2 Tbsp salt, add 1 lb fettucine. Cook al dente and drain pasta.
  
• While waiting for the pasta water to boil, heat 3 Tbsp olive oil in a large saute pan over medium heat.
• Add 3 diced shallots and 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes and saute quickly.
• Add 8-10 oz sliced cremini mushrooms, season with salt and pepper. Saute the mushrooms until softened, about 5 min.
  
• Add 1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth, 5 cut-up pieces of cooked bacon, 1/2 lb thin, sliced asparagus and 6 Roma sliced tomatoes (peeled or peel after cooking a bit).
  
• Cook stirring gently for 2 minutes. Stir in 3/4 cup heavy cream (or 1/2 cup cream and 1/4 cup red wine). Immediately reduce heat and cook until thickened.

That's it - a very tasty pasta dish for New Year's Eve. Serve with a special red wine (we served ours with a wonderful Copain Anderson Valley Pinot Noir that was a Christmas gift from good friends)

Happy New Year! Best wishes for a wonderful 2010!

Scott's Sunday Afternoon Braised Short Ribs with Pasta

This is a perfect recipe for a lazy Sunday afternoon! The short ribs need about 3 hours to cook - so start around 2 PM and you'll be ready for a great dinner about 5:30 or 6 PM. Have a bottle of good Zinfandel handy - it's a perfect match to this dish!

The inspiration for this recipe came from Giada De Laurentiis - but I made a bunch of modifications - basically to make it simpler and easier. I really don't like recipes that use amounts that result in wasting portions of ingredients you buy in standard size packages. So, I adjusted - and simplified using some Trader Joe's items - and the result was great!

Update: Baked Penne using Whole Wheat Penne

I made the Baked Penne with Sausage, Beef and Red Wine Sauce recipe that I posted last weekend again today - this time substituting whole wheat penne pasta for the traditional penne.

While whole wheat pasta is undoubtedly healthier, we all seemed to agree that the original version of this particular recipe was preferable from a taste standpoint.

If you're into the "nuttiness" of whole wheat pasta, you'll probably find the substitution works just fine - otherwise, stick to the original recipe!

At the local market I also noticed that DeCecco makes a spinach penne - called "penne rigate con spinaci" - we might try that next time! Note that DeCecco doesn't make a whole wheat penne.

Baked Penne with Sausage, Beef and Red Wine Sauce

This baked penne dish has quickly become a favorite in our household - we first made it last weekend - and, in this modified version, again today.

It's a great comfort food dish. Takes me about an hour to prepare it from start to serving. The inspiration for this recipe came from Lynne Char Bennett's column in the San Francisco Chronicle titled "Dry Creek Zinfandel makes a penne-wise partner" - January 23, 2009.

I've modified the recipe to a) reduce the mushrooms, b) add red wine to the sauce, and c) simmering the sauce longer to reduce the extra liquid (from the wine addition) and concentrate its richness - along with some other minor tweaks. But the core of the recipe remains Bennett's.

Comfort Food: Baked Penne with Meat, Mushrooms and Cheese

This Friday's San Francisco Chronicle's Wine section carried the latest "Pairings" column by Lynne Char Bennett titled "Dry Creek Zinfandel makes a penne-wise partner". Zinfandel is among our favorite red wines (along with Syrah and Shiraz from Australia's Barossa appellation) - so the article caught my eye.

Included in Bennett's column was a recipe for "Baked Penne with Meat & Mushroom Sauce" which we made - with minor variations - tonight.

Her recipe minimizes some of the fat that might otherwise be present - we used 97% lean ground beef, for example, when we cooked it and the mushrooms help extend the flavor along with the herbs that simmer into such a flavorful sauce.

Turns out this recipe was a real family crowd pleaser - we all really liked it, helped ourselves to a couple of servings, etc. We served it along with a simple Caesar salad - yummy! We paired a Ridge 2006 Dusi Ranch Zinfandel with the penne - a great combination!

We'll certainly be making the baked penne again - and are already looking forward to some left overs tomorrow night!

Scott's Famous Homemade Chicken Soup with Pasta

This year, as the cool fall weather has moved in and the daylight is fading faster, we've been experimenting with various chicken soup recipes to find one that really "hits the spot." There is something special about chicken soup - for both health and attitude! After several tries and variations, we think this one is just about perfect - and now it's famous!

It's a great Saturday or Sunday late afternoon treat to make in the fall and winter months. Hope you enjoy it - let us know by posting a comment!

Lemon Garlic Orzo

The original recipe for this simple side dish came from the now defunct S. Anderson Vineyard in the Stag's Leap district of the Napa Valley. This is a great side dish for almost any meal. It's flavors go especially well with the Roast Chicken!