8 posts tagged “angeli caffe”

I hope everyone had as good a time as I did at the Loteria Grill party last night.  I'll be posting my recipe for the butternut squash lasagna soon.  If anyone has pictures, please send them along or share them on Facebook.

Thank You!

No, not in the way you're thinking... I'm hosting a Pie & Beer Fest at Angeli

Fried Peach Pie

Since I’m at Angeli all day today I figured I would take advantage of the fryer and make Fried Peach Pies (served with Tahitian Vanilla Ice Cream).  How bad can they be?  Sooo not bad. The best ever.

I made a crust with the dreaded Crisco since butter would burn at high temperature, but since you are actually dipping the crust into fat you can use less than would be called for in a regular pie crust.  I used a couple of eggs as well as a very small amount of icy water and a couple of tablespoons of sugar.  Deep fried,  the crust reminds me of the best cannoli shells. Shattering bubbles on the very outer layer then once your teeth hit the inner layer of dough it’s perfecly flaky and the not too sweet peaches are a great foil for the richness of the fried dough.  I sprinkled the pies with sugar.  I had to leave the restaurant so I wouldn’t fry another one.  Thank goodness I shared the tester with three other people.

I want to play with making tiny little ones for catering jobs.

Cooking Huevos Haminados

The Kitchn's

Onion-Skin Easter Eggs
makes one dozen

12 medium eggs at room temperature
12 onions

Clean the eggs so there are no particles sticking to their shells.

Chip or peel away the dry skins from the onions. Reserve onions for another use. In a stainless steel saucepan, boil 4 1/2 cups water, 3 tablespoons white vinegar and the onion skins. When it boils, turn heat down to low and simmer, covered, for 30 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature (I put the pot on my fire escape and it cooled off in about 20 minutes.)

Pour mixture through a fine-mesh strainer into another stainless saucepan, or into a bowl then back into the original pan if that's all you have. For the dying, it's best to use a pan with a 9" diameter, like a Dutch oven. Remember to use a stainless steel pan to avoid staining. Arrange the room-temperature eggs in the pan in one layer and carefully pour the cooled dye over them.

Bring liquid to an easy boil over medium heat. Then reduce to low and cover. Simmer for 10 minutes, then start checking for color by gently raising an egg out with a slotted spoon. It may take up to 20 minutes to get the right color. Do not cook for more than 20 minutes. (If, after 20 minutes, the eggs are not a deep enough color, remove pot from heat, cool to room temperature, then place in refrigerator until desired color is reached.)

Remove eggs with a slotted spoon and cool on racks. When cool enough to handle, massage in a little olive oil to each, then polish with a paper towel. Keep in refrigerator until time to eat (or hide).

Join me for a pasta & tomato workshop, Saturday April 18 at Angeli Caffe. 

How to cook pasta.  What kind to buy.

SippitySup's Cabbage Soup

A Good Food listener named Fritz wrote to us about his watery soup:

"I follow soup recipes, but my soups always come out tasting mainly like the liquid used.  I usually use stock or milk, and even these produce watery, bland soups that don't taste like vegetables, meat, etc.  My failure embaarrasses me! I can cook a lot of things quite well, but not soup!  And I thought soup was supposed to be easy!  Any tips?" --Fritz

I suspect an under-salting problem.

The secret to flavorful soups make with even water is to start with a flavorful abundant mirepoix/soffrito.  I nearly always start with a small dice of onion, celery and carrot cooked in a good quantity of olive oil until the aromatic veggies soften and start to take on color. for a normal sized pot of soup that would be 1/4-1/2 cup olive oil (don't roll your eyes), 1-2 onions, 2-3 celery stalks and 2-3 carrots.  Start there then you can add minced garlic, herbs like parsley, basil in large quantity (a handful) then your main ingredients (other veggies, lentils, ready cooked beans etc).  You can add a bit of prepared tomato sauce for flavor and acidity.  Then pour in water to cover.  Don't forget to add salt. And simmer for awhile.  Flavor needs to build.  All the soups at Angeli are water based and they're usually flavor bombs.

But nothing beats making a great chicken broth using a whole chicken.  And think of all the possibilities once you have all that tender boiled meat!

Last night was the first of five Good Food subscriber dinners.  During our pledge drive last month I threw out a bribe on the air -- live -- surprising the pledge drive staff, my executive producer and myself. I said I'd feed everyone who subscribed during the Good Food hour for free at Angeli Caffe, my restaurant. The response was amazing.  We had 500 subscribers in the two hour period. A record. And we broke the phone system. 

So last night 50 people came in for the first of these dinners.  I recruited George Cosette from Silverlake Wine to talk about the wines we selected for the evening. And Christine Moore from Little Flower Candy Co in Pasadena came armed with a beautiful dessert (see below.) 

After all these many years in the food business it still warms my heart to see how strangers can come together over plates of delicious food. Most of the subscribers came solo and sat at communal tables. I think they all left with new friends.

Me with greens

First course was a medley of antipasti -- including French lentils made in a soffrito base.  A soffrito is a flavor base. Mine had red pepper, garlic and onion. I added my cooked lentils to the soffrito to saute then seasoned with a combination of bittersweet Spanish paprika and sweet Spanish paprika. 

Good company, good food

After the antipasti I served beet greens plus a sauted broccoli dish.  Salad and chicken came too.

Christine Moore and me

Christine Moore from Little Flower Candy Co spent a lot of time in restaurants. That's why she's here helping me plate up the asparagus lasagna.

Here's the dessert.  It's Little Flower Candy's Foley cake, topped with almonds accompanied by lightly whipped cream and a delicious rhubarb compote. The compote was made by Leni Laguire of Elle Elle jams (sold at Little Flower Candy Co.) 

Fini!

Empty plates and happy people.  Thanks everyone.

If you've ever eaten at Angeli Caffe, Evan's restaurant, you must have tried her gnocchi.  They are divine.  Thanks to a listener request, she shares her recipe for Beet-Ricotta gnocchetti here. (Posted by Good Food Producer, Harriet Ells)

These “gnocchetti” are a revelation.  The color is intense, the flavor earthy and sweet and the texture has that kind of disappearing cloud – in – the- mouth effect.  The perfect recipe when you need to wow people, especially those who think they hate beets.  Boy will they change their minds!

 1 medium or two small red beets, washed

1 pound ricotta – set in cheesecloth-lined colander set in a bowl and allowed to   drain for a day

1 whole egg

1 cup grated imported Parmesan cheese plus more for the table

Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper

2/3 cups all-purpose flour plus more for dredging

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter

Fresh sage leaves

            Wrap washed beets in aluminum foil and place on baking sheet.  Bake in 450 degree oven until tender, approximately 45 minutes.  Remove from oven, open aluminum foil and let beets cool.  Slip the skins off with your hands.  Grate the beets into a mixing bowl on the large hole of a box grater.   Add the ricotta, eggs, Parmesan cheese and salt and freshly ground black pepper to the beets.  Mix well with a whisk or wooden spoon.  Add 2/3 cup flour to the ricotta mixture and whisk together to mix.   Set the mixture aside for a minimum of 2 hours in the refrigerator.  Can be made up to two days ahead.

            To form the Gnochetti roll a walnut-sized piece of  beet mixture into a nice round.  Drop it into the bowl of flour, carefully turning to coat all sides. Lay each dumpling on a parchment lined baking sheet lightly covered with flour.  Continue forming the Gnochetti until all the mixture is gone.

Just before you are ready to serve, melt the butter together with the sage leaves in a skillet.  Let the butter lightly brown, the sage leaves should be nice and crispy.  Set brown butter and sage aside while you cook the gnochetti. 

            Slip the gnocchetti into a  pot of gently simmering salted water.  Wait until they float to the surface of the water and continue to cook for an additional minute.  Using a slotted spoon, remove them from the water as they are done and place them on a serving platter.  When all gnochetti are on the platter top with melted butter and crispy sage. Top with a liberal dusting of Parmesan cheese and serve.

 (c) Copyright 2008 Evan Kleiman