Wow, I have been behind on cooking and definately on blogging. I need to back up and talk about one of my favortie meals I make, and the success and disaster that went with it.
Last Saturday 10/3, I had a group of friends travel to NJ to attend the Springsteen concert, and as I was initially invited to go with them, I definitely owed them dinner. I figured what better way to repay a friend and enteratin old friends then by cooking them an awesome meal? ( I hope they though it was awesome) This meal although one of may very favorites has not one recipe from the Gourmet Cookbook.
I started by going to my favorite bread Bakery - the Antique Bakery also here in Hoboken. ( In case I haven't mentioned it - we have some of the best food resources anywhere!) My personal favorite from Antique is their stuffed breads - They make Sausage and Pepper, Pepperoni and Cheese and Prosiutto and cheese. I bought a loaf each of the Sausage and Pepper and the Prosiutto and Cheese. These make wonderful appetizers/table snacks. Also to give the ultimate Hoboken dining experience, I served the bread with some of our finest Fresh Mozzerella from Lisa's Deli. (or Mutz as we call it here)
As a first course I served a basic Italian salad of mixed greens with oil and vinegar. This salad is so simple, chopped or torn lettuce of your choice ( I prefer a mix of red leaf and iceberg) I generously salt and pepper the lettuce and let it sit for a few minutes. I also like lettuce sligtly chilled so I serve it not too long after I take it from the refrigerator. After the salt has had time to dissolve on the lettuce, I add extra virgin olive oil and toss with my hands until fully coated and enoucgh to make the lettuice shiny. Then I add just a drizzle of red wine vinegar, but of course you can add this to taste. I happen to like it as plain lettuce, but you could add any normal salad additions here. ( Onions, olives, tomatoes and parmesan are good Italian additions).
As a main course I made homemade ravioli. I used the Basic Pasta recipe I always use from the Joy of Pasta, but for my filling I used Adalgiza and Tessie's Ravoli Filling from where else, but The Lost Ravoli Recipes of Hoboken. This is a meat filling that is fairly rich made from cream cheese, spinach, parmesan, veal and pork. It is a very easy filling as well as it is not actually precooked prior to be put inside the ravoli. this recipe is the basis for an entire memoir on one woman's search for the orgins of this recipe. With this dish, I served my mother's classic Bresciole recipe. This dish is like little Italian pot roasts and cooks down into very tender and tasty meat, and the sauce with it compliments the ravoli well. As usual Joe the butcher, didn't let me down when I ordered my meat. I don't even know what cut of beef this is - I call Joe and say I need 14 pieces of bresciole meat. Please feel free to post comments and I can further post the recipe if anyone is interested. As my side dish from the same book, I also made Spinach Torta alla Hoboken. This is a delicious Spinach, egg and cheese dish - sort of like an Italian crustless quiche. This meal is best served with a good Italian Chianti, which I bought but my dinner guest was kind enough to also bring a bottle that was perfect with the meal.
My dessert wasn't as good an effort. I was attempting an Epicurioius recipe I found for Chocolate Ravoli http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Chocolate-Ravioli-in-Bittersweet-Chocolate-Sauce-231566 The filling was a great success and I ended up serving it like a custard in a dish. The pasta for this I didn't not have luck getting the dough to a workable consistency. It was tasty, but I just couldn't make its work. I also adjusted the sauce and made it with white chocolate instead of dark to offer the contrast to the custard.
I hope my guests enjoyed the meal as much as I did cooking it ( and eating it) I will have to keep practicing with that chocolate pasta dough.
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