TV Show Recipes

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LTV Cooking Show # 2
Homemade Ravioli with Fresh Tomato Sauce

The first thing to do is make a portion of pasta dough (see my post about pasta dough). Let the ball of dough rest for a couple of hours and then roll out long sheets of dough using the pasta roller attachment for a KitchenAid stand mixer.

Ricotta & Shiitake Mushroom Stuffing for Ravioli (Enough for 20 ravioli):

2 cups of ricotta cheese
¼ cup grated Parmigiano cheese
6 large Shiitakes, thinly sliced and sautéed in olive oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic (lightly sauté with Shiitakes)
salt and pepper to taste (approximately 2 Tsp each)

Place all the above ingredients in a food processor and puree until smooth. The consistency should be thick but silky smooth, a little thicker than the ricotta cheese.

To make hand-cut ravioli, lay out a 36 inch long rolled pasta dough sheet on a granite counter top, divide the sheet in half, and brush half with water, creating “windows” into which to pipe the filling. Seal the ravioli by laying the other half of the pasta dough on top, gently press the dough around the mounds of stuffing and cut the individual ravioli with a fluted pastry cutting wheel. I like the finished product because the ravioli look artisanal and hand-made.

If using a ravioli form, the process is basically the same. Roll out one sheet of pasta dough at a time, then cut it in half and drape one half on the metal form with jagged cutting edges. Gently press down into the dough to create a small pocket in each square of the form. Then pipe the stuffing from the pastry bag into each pocket. With a food brush “paint” water around the edges of the dough sheet and around each individual pocket, then lay the other half of the pasta dough sheet on top. Using a rolling pin, roll across the form several time until the jagged metal edges of the form come through the dough. Finally, turn the form upside down on a piece of wax paper sprinkled with corn flour, and push all the ravioli out of the form onto the wax paper. They are still connected to one another and they could be separated then. But it’s much easier to freeze the ravioli overnight and separate them from each other once they’re frozen. The frozen ravioli will keep in the freezer for several months.

Fresh Tomato Sauce
4 cups (1 qt) plain, unseasoned tomato sauce (or chopped fresh tomatoes, drained)
¼ cup olive oil
3-4 cloves garlic
1 small onion or 2 shallots, chopped
salt & pepper
red pepper flakes
chopped rosemary and oregano
basil leaves

Sauté the garlic and onion (or shallot) in the olive oil until translucent and golden. Add the tomato sauce and season with salt and pepper, red pepper flakes, rosemary and oregano. If using chopped tomatoes, the sauce needs to stew longer until half the liquid is reduced and to allow the flavors to blend well. Add the basil to the sauce toward the end, and top with more freshly chopped basil when serving.
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LTV Cooking Show # 3
Cioppino and Baby Lettuce Salad

Cioppino is a fish stew originating in San Francisco and is comparable to various regional fish soups and stews of Italian cuisine. Cioppino is traditionally made from the catch of the day, which in the dish’s place of origin is typically a combination of dungeness crab, clams, shrimp, scallops, squid, mussels and fish. The seafood is then combined with fresh tomatoes in a wine sauce, and served with toasted bread, either sourdough or baguette.

Ingredients
(serves 4)

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 large shallot, chopped
• 1 small fennel bulb, thinly sliced
• 1 teaspoons salt
• 3-4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• ½ teaspoon dried crushed red pepper flakes, or more to taste
• 2 Tbsp tomato paste
• 14 ounces diced or crushed tomatoes in juice
• ¾ cup dry white wine
• 3 cups lobster (or fish) stock
• 2 bay leaves
• 10-12 little neck clams, scrubbed
• ½ pound mussels, scrubbed and debearded
• ½ pound uncooked extra large shrimp, peeled and deveined
• ½ pound assorted firm-fleshed fish (salmon, halibut, cod, etc.) cut into 1″ chunks
• ½ cup lump crab meat
• Fresh oregano sprigs for seasoning
• Fresh tarragon sprigs for seasoning and garnish, plus 1 Tbsp chopped
• Fennel fronds for garnish
• Sliced toasted ciabatta or sourdough bread, for mopping up broth

Directions

Heat the oil in a large stockpot or marmite over medium-low heat. Add the fennel, onion, and shallot, and sauté until golden and translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the pepper flakes, salt, garlic, and sauté an additional 2-3 minutes. Add the tomato paste, diced or crushed tomatoes with their juices, wine, lobster stock, bay leaves, oregano and tarragon sprigs. Cover and simmer over medium-low heat until the flavors blend well, about 30 minutes.

Add the clams and mussels to the stockpot. Cover and cook for 5 minutes or until the clams and mussels begin to open. Add the shrimp, fish chunks, and crab meat. Simmer and stir gently until fish and shrimp are just cooked through, and the clams are completely open, about 5 more minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning with more salt and red pepper flakes, if necessary.

Ladle the fish stew and some extra broth into large soup bowls. Add the fennel and tarragon sprig garnish, and a sprinkle of chopped tarragon. Lean one or two slices of toasted, crusty bread against the side of the bowl, and serve steaming hot.

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LTV Cooking Show # 4
Fluke en Papillote and Caesar Salad

Fluke en Papillote
Cooking en papillote is a simple and classic technique. Steaming fish, or poultry, and vegetables in a pouch of parchment paper is a healthy way to prepare food because it hardly requires any added fat. Using your favorite seasoning and condiments in the packet adds moisture and infuses the contents with those flavors.

Ingredients (for one serving):
~ 1 small onion, sliced
~ 4 asparagus tips
~ ¼ head fennel (star anise), thinly sliced
~ 1 small leaf swiss chard
~ 1 small carrot ribbons (use vegetable peeler to slice off “ribbons”)
~ 2 Shiitake mushroom caps, sliced
~ ¼ red bell pepper, thinly sliced
~ 1 small piece of firm-fleshed fish (bass, salmon, halibut, cod)
~ chives, parsley, and fennel fronds prepped for garnish
~ lemon or lime slices for garnish

Seasoning / Dressing:
~ 2 Tbsp Ponzu or soy sauce
~ 2 tsp grated ginger
~ 2 tsp lemongrass, finely minced
~ 1 Tbsp sesame oil
~ 1 Tbsp fish sauce
~ 1 Tbsp mirin
~ 1 Tbsp rice vinegar
~ 1 Tbsp lemon juice
~ Freshly ground salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 350º F, making sure to warm an oven tray in the process. Place all seasoning ingredients in a large bowl and mix together. Add the vegetables and toss well to coat. Cut a large parchment paper square (or use a precut sheet) and fold in half, pressing down on the crease. Open the folded parchment paper rectangle, and place the swiss chard leaf on one side of the crease, in the center. Arrange the vegetables on top of the swiss chard leaf and layer in the fish fillet. Top with a few more vegetables, and drizzle with some of the dressing before sealing. Fold the other side of the sheet on top of the vegetable-fish mound and, starting at one corner, begin making small, tight, overlapping folds down the outside edge to close packet. Place the packet on a hot oven tray and cook for about 8-10 minutes. The outer edges of the folded pouch, or “the hem”, may begin to turn a light shade of brown.

Remove pouch from oven, cut or tear the top of the packet to reveal the steaming ingredients inside. Sprinkle with chives, fennel fronds, or your favorite herbs. Plate and serve while steaming hot. No matter what you call it — en papillote, al cartoccio, in parchment paper — you will undeniably love this dramatic and effortless method to serve your healthy meals.

Caesar Salad