Smoked Salmon Ravioli w/ Chipotle Cream Sauce

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Wow, this recipe was delicious!! It's time consuming, but worth it for the taste and the process is very enjoyable. I don't have a photo of the finished dish, so I will make it again just to take a pic!


For 4-6 servings
Ingredients

• pasta
• 1lb plain flour
• 5 fresh large eggs
• ravioli filling
• 1/2 pound smoked salmon
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh chives
• chipotle cream sauce
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 2 small shallot, minced
• 4-6 canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, seeded and minced
• 1 pint heavy cream
• 1/2 cup milk, mixed with 1 to 2 teaspoons of the chipotle adobo sauce
• 1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cilantro

to do

pasta

1. put flour in a pile on working surface (i use dining table), stir in cilantro and make a hole in the middle of flour
2. pour in beaten eggs and yolks and slowly pull in flour into eggs, using fingers until it is all mixed
3. knead it and add more flour or water to obtain smooth consistency
4. divide it into workable chunks and feed through pasta machine (i used hand crank that has 7 levels; i stopped at level 3 for ravioli)
5. leave to dry but not until it's crisp; maybe 1 hr

ravioli filling

1. puree smoked salmon & eggs until smooth
2. slowly add 1/2 cup of cream, peppers, cilantro; mix thoroughly
3. layout dried pasta and space out fillings to leave about 1-2 inch gaps (i made large raviolis to maximize filling to pasta ratio, then served about 4 per person); i found it's better to use lots of pasta to be safe (ensure none break open or leak) and then trim excess pasta at end. (my mouth is watering just typing this becuase this tasted so good!!)
4. brush unsealed edges with beaten egg to then help seal the edges; press out any air when closing them since they will leak/burst otherwise
5. cut them apart and refridgerate/freeze until ready to use (a great thing to prepare before guests arive.... easy meal to make when guests are over but such an impressive taste!)
6. when ready to cook, boil large pot of salted water, cook for about 6 minutes

chipotle cream sauce

1. melt butter over medium heat in small pot
2. add shallot, cook until soft
3. add half minced chipotles and cream, heat slowly
4. mix in milk/adob sauce a small bit at a time until good to taste (depends on spice tolerance of you and guests!)
5. add salt/pepper and cilantro

to serve
arrange ravioli (i served about 4 per guest) on plates and drizzle the warm chipotle cream sauce on top. add chopped/sliced green onion, cilantro and freshly ground black pepper. have remaining sauce on the side.

wow!

French Tart

Saturday, August 18, 2007

From Mollie
recipe from bbc.co.uk recipe (slightly changed)

This is a very simple dessert to make and it looks so gorgeous and delicate! Fantastically tasty... definitely recommend it. I've done it with different types of jams to make different colored tarts. yum!

Ingredients

• pastry
• 1/2 pack pastry (enough to make 12" tart base)
• filling
• 900g/2lb cooking apples
• 50g/2oz butter
• 2 tbsp water
• 4tbsp apricot jam
• 50g/2oz caster sugar
• grated rind of ½ lemon
• 225g/8oz eating apples (or cooking apples)
• 1-2 tbsp lemon juice
• about 1 tsp caster sugar for sprinkling
• glaze
• 4tbsp apricot jam (these photos show what happens if you use blackcurrant jam-- makes it pretty!)

to do

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas6.3.
2. cut the cooking apples into quarters, remove core and chop the apple into chunks (no need to peel).
3. Melt the butter in a large pan and then add the prepared apples and water. Cover and cook very gently for 10-15 minutes until the apples have become soft and mushy.
4. Rub the apple through a nylon sieve into a clean pan, add the apricot jam, sugar and grated lemon rind. Cook over a high heat for about 10-15 minutes, stirring constantly, until all the excess liquid has been evaporated and the apple mixture is thick. Allow to cool.
5. Roll out the pastry thinly on a lightly floured work surface and use to line a 20cm/8in loose-based fluted flan tin. Cover with greaseproof paper and fill with baking beans. Bake blind in the oven for about 1-15 minutes, then remove the paper and beans and bake for about another five minutes until the pastry at the base of the flan has dried out.


6. Spoon the cooled apple purée into the flan case and level the surface.


7. Peel, quarter and core the eating apples, then slice them very thinly. Arrange in neat overlapping circles all over the apple purée, brush with the lemon juice and sprinkle with the caster sugar.



8. Return the flan to the oven and bake for about a further 25 minutes or until the pastry and the edges of the apples are lightly browned. Allow to cool a little.



9. For the glaze, sieve the apricot jam into a small pan and heat gently until runny. Brush all over the top of the apples and pastry. Serve warm or cold.