Lots of Cooking and Baking Tonight

There are several ingredients out there that I see in lots of recipes and want to try using, but haven’t gotten around to trying them yet. One of these ingredients is won ton wrappers. I found a recipe that called for them in the June CL that I have wanted to try for a couple weeks now. You may think it is an Asian dish, but it is actually an Italian one. Won ton wrappers are frequently used as a short cut way (as opposed to making homemade pasta) for making raviolis. The recipe is for Mushroom Ravioli with Parmesan-Chive Sauce and since Scott (a non-mushroom eater) is out of town we decided to have Jess (a mushroom lover) over for dinner.

The recipe is fairly simple to make the different parts, but is time consuming and does dirty up a few dishes. To make the filling you cut the mushrooms up in the food processor by pulsing it a few times. Once they are chopped you sauté the shallots and add the mushrooms and a little salt and sauté for a few minutes. Once the filling is made you add about 2 teaspoons full of it to the center of each won ton. You then fold the won ton over and seal it using a little water to dampen the edges. You will want to keep a damp paper towel over the other won tons to keep them from drying out while they wait. Once you have formed all the raviolis they hang out on a cooking try with that has been sprinkled with a little cornstarch (keep them covered with a damp towel and stick them in the fridge if you are not going to boil them for a little bit). Go ahead and get a pot of water boiling for the pasta and then start on the sauce. For the cream sauce you whisk the milk and flour together over medium-low heat until it thickens (about 4 – 5 minutes). Then you remove it from the heat and add the chives, salt, pepper, and cheese. Once the pasta is cooked then you add them to the sauce and top with chives. I did increase the quantities on everything as this recipe comes from a section on cooking for two and since tonight’s dinner was for three I upped the amounts.

We thought the raviolis were good, however, they took a lot longer than I anticipated to make. In fact we put Jess to work to help fill the raviolis when she got to our house. Aren’t we great hosts... lucky for us she is a great big sister and likes to cook! Russ’ Dad had brought us some fresh shrimp back from the beach, so Russ grilled them up and we had the shrimp along with some yummy contributions Jess brought as an appetizer. This worked out really well since dinner was a late one tonight. The cream sauce worked well with the raviolis, however, I still think there could have been flavor to the dish. I think the mushroom filling could have used some red wine and more seasoning (I used a little more salt than called for and added pepper) to enhance the flavor. The won ton wrappers were a lot easier than making homemade pasta I think homemade pasta for raviolis is better as far as taste and texture (if only my homemade pasta turned out better….). I will most likely not make this recipe again mainly because of how time consuming it was, however, I love the combination of mushrooms, cream sauce, pasta, and chives and will certainly look for more recipes like this in the future. Russ rates the raviolis a 7.

I must also point out that Russ thinks I am trying to kill him when I make vegetarian meals. The last few times I have planned on making a vegetarian meal something comes up and we end up eating out that night or like tonight conveniently meat shows up at the last minute (in the form of fresh shrimp tonight)…. Hmmmm….

For the side I tried one of Ina Garten’s recipes for Green Beans with Shallots. This recipe struck my eye since I knew I would have leftover shallots from the pasta. You blanch the green beans for a couple minutes in boiling, salted water and then dump them in an ice bath (which stops the cooking and keeps the pretty green color). Then sauté the shallots in a little oil and butter for a couple minutes. Last add the green beans, salt, and pepper and sauté until the green beans are heated through. (Please note: The recipe for the green beans will be posted shortly.)

We liked the flavor of the green beans with shallots. I let them boil a little too long (my hands were busy at the 3 minute mark, so they boiled a little longer) and I think they would have been better if I had cooked them a little less. I liked the flavor combination of the shallots and green beans. I don’t think this is the ultimate green bean recipe, but I certainly may make it again as it was tasty. Russ rates the green beans a 8.

I have been in the mood to make a fruit cobbler recently, but can’t seem to justify making a big dessert for just Russ and me. So, since Jess was coming over I decided to go for it. There are so many recipes out there that I didn’t know which to pick and ended up deciding on trying Fine Cooking’s that is on the cover of their June / July 2007 issue. I like how their instructions give you options on some of the flavorings. The topping is a little different than I am used to as it almost looks like sweet biscuits that top it and don’t cover the entire top. For my cobbler, I decided to go with peaches and blueberries.

To form the dough you use a food processor and add the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt and pulse to blend. Then you add the butter and pulse until they are the size of small peas. You then hand blend the sour cream and any flavorings you want (I used cinnamon). You form the dough into a log and split it into 10 pieces and put it in the refrigerator until you are ready to bake it.

For the fruit you put it in a bowl after slicing it appropriately (depending on the fruit you use) and add the sugar, flour, salt, and any flavorings. I used vanilla extract and lemon zest in mine.

You then dump all the fruit in a bowl and top it with the dough pieces. This bakes for 50 to 60 minutes at 350F. I put the fruit in first and then added the biscuit pieces a little later as I wanted them to brown, but not get too hard. Once it is cooked then you let it sit for about 20 minutes before serving. We served it with vanilla ice cream, of course!

The cobbler was yummy and to be fair to the raviolis I must confess that a significant part of why dinner was a late one was because I took on making a full meal and a dessert on a weeknight. Russ had warned it would be too much to do for one night and while he was probably right… I was set on making a cobbler and Russ was looking forward to eating it. The cobbler was fairly simple to make and I feel like if I make this recipe again then it would come together even faster the next time around. The biscuit topping was yummy and was sweet, but not too sweet. I really liked the sour cream in it. The fruit was wonderful, but how could you go wrong with fresh, ripe Chilton County peaches from the farmer’s market and blueberries we picked with Russ grandparents last summer in Mentone. The ice cream was the perfect accompaniment to the dish as it added a creamy, sweet flavor. I will certainly make another cobbler, but while we really liked this recipe I imagine I’ll keep trying new recipes until I find one we like even better. Russ rates the cobbler a 9.

Fruit Cobbler, Fine Cooking June / July 2007

Sour Cream Cobbler Dough
Yields enough topping for one cobbler.

7 ½ oz. (1 2/3 cups) all-purpose flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar or packed light brown sugar
1 Tbs. baking powder
¼ tsp. table salt
3 oz. (6 Tbs.) cold unsalted butter, cut into 10 pieces
Up to two dough flavorings (optional)
¾ cup sour cream, chilled

In a food processor, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Pulse briefly to blend the ingredients, about 10 seconds. Add the butter pieces and pulse until they are the size of small peas, 5 to 7 one-second pulses.

Dump the mixture into a large mixing bowl. Add any dough flavorings (see list below), if using, and stir until evenly dispersed. Add the sour cream. Using a rubber spatula, gently smear the ingredients together until the flour is evenly moistened and the dough begins to form large, soft, moist clumps. Bring the dough together into an 8 inch long log. Divide the log into 10 roughly equal round pieces. Refrigerate the pieces while preparing the fruit.

Dough flavorings (choose 1 or 2 – optional):
Finely grated lemon zest: ½ tsp.
Finely grated orange zest: ¾ tsp
Finely ground cornmeal: ¼ cup (1 ¼ oz)
Ground cinnamon: ¾ tsp
Toasted almonds, pecans, walnuts, pistachios, or hazelnuts: ½ cup, chopped

Prepare the fruit filling:

Put the fruit in a large bowl. Toss with ½ to ¾ cup granulated sugar (use less for very ripe, sweet fruit and more for fruit that’s not perfectly ripe and sweet), 1 Tbs. all purpose flour (if you cobbler has any berries in it, use 2 Tbs.), and a pinch of table salt.

If you want to add optional filling flavorings, choose 1 or 2 from the list below and gently toss them with the fruit now, making sure to mix them in evenly.

Fruit (choose up to 3, for a total of 8 cups. All fruit should be ripe, well rinsed, and drained.): Apricots (cut into 1 inch thick wedges), Blackberries, Blueberries, Peaches or nectarines (cut into 1 inch thick wedges), Plums or pluots (cut into 1 inch thick wedges), Raspberries, Strawberries, hulled (if small leave whole; if medium cut in half; if large cut into quarters)

Filling Flavorings (choose 1 or 2 – optional):
Finely grated lemon zest: 1 ¼ tsp.
Finely grated orange zest: 1 tsp.
Ground cinnamon: ½ tsp.
Ground nutmeg: ¼ tsp.
Minced fresh ginger: 2 tsp
Pure almond extract: ¼ tsp.
Pure vanilla extract: 1 tsp.

Assemble the cobbler:
Pile the fruit into the baking dish, scraping any remaining juices or sugar from the bowl, and spread evenly. Remove the pieces of dough from the refrigerator and arrange them randomly on top of the filling, leaving spaces between the pieces. Don’t be tempted to flatten the dough – the large pieces are important for proper and even baking of the filling and topping. If desired, sprinkle a little sugar evenly over the cobbler.

Bake the cobbler:

Bake (at 350F) until the filling is bubbling and the topping is browned, 50 to 60 minutes. Let sit about 20 minutes to allow the juices to settle. You can serve this cobbler hot or warm (it will stay warm at room temperature for 1 to 1 ½ hours). Serve with lightly sweetened whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, if you like.