Rippin Another Blog: Parmesan Roasted Fennel with Mozzarella di Bufala and Reduced Balsamico

Good morning sugar loves!

It's my opinion that food is something that unites us all. Without getting all humanistic and homogenizing (because I learned in my Women's Studies classes that's a bad thing), we all need food. We all eat food (hopefully). We all want food (except those with eating disorders). And we all love food. Who doesn't enjoy eating?? (again, see above).

While what we eat differs from country to country, region to region, home to home, person to person - we do all eat.

And thank God for that. She must love food too.

That's why for the month of February I selected a Swedish blog to rip a recipe from. Min ugn är min tv. We might not speak or type the same language but with photos as fantastic as this Mattias', how can we not connect? The best part was looking at the food and trying to figure out what dishes were. And when it came to actually making one of his dishes, as Haydn mentioned yesterday, Google translator is a handy-dandy-translating magic machine! 

Fennel gets an incredibly tender flavor when it's cooked, losing most of it's aniseed punch, while the creaminess of the mozzzarella paired with the crunchiness of the cheese is unreal.

Small note: Buy the best ingredients for this that you can afford. They key to simple dishes like this is getting the good shit. Your mouth will thank you. Twice.

tack så mycket, Mattias... and Google Translator.

Roasted Parmean w Fresh Buffalo Mozzarella
(printable recipe) - serves 2.

Ingredients:

2 Large Bulbs of Fennel.
2 Fresh Buffalo Mozzarella
Real Parmesan Cheese, finely grated.
Good Quality Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
Coarse Sea Salt and Fresh Cracked Black Pepper. 
1 Batch Balsamic Reduction.

What to Do:
 
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. 

As it heats, chop the woody and fuzzy tops off the fennel and slice in half. Place on a baking pan and drizzle generously with oil, salt and pepper. Place in the hot oven and bake for 30-45 minutes or until it starts to brown nicely. 

Remove from the oven. Sprinkle with a good helping of Parmesan cheese. Place back in the oven and continue to cook until the cheese has a juicy golden color (approx 15 minutes). 

As your fennel bakes, remove the fresh buffalo mozza from the package and in a sieve to drain well.

Once the fennel is done, pile it all up on a big plate, drizzle with a good helping of balsamic reduction and olive oil, garnish with some fennel tops and serve with a loaf of crusty bread.

Eat.

RPI: Mission Lamb (Roast Lamb Dinner)

Sometimes you want original... Something new and exciting and inventive.

...and sometimes you want traditional. Moments and places that just shouldn't be ef'd with.

Does that make traditional boring? Nay! It's comforting. And gentle. And in this case, generally and specifically delicious.

When lamb was selected for our next Rock Paper Ingredient challenge, I couldn't have been happier. Lamb is by far, in my top ten ingredients of all time. Nothing beats moist, perfectly cooked lamb with all it's gamey succulence and tender, fall apart in your mouth texture. Lamb. Oh lamb. lamb. lamb. Yes. Lamb. 

Pair it with a big fat, kick ya in the crotch red wine, and you'll have me purring faster than a....well, than a cat getting it's belly scratched. Please don't scratch my belly. Especially when it's full of lamb and red wine. Because chances are, I ate a lot of lamb. And drank a lot of red wine. And I'm havin me some lamby red wine babies - and you should never - EVER - walk up and rub a pregnant woman's belly.

My choice for RPI Mission Lamb: Lamb roast dinner. Ain't nothin' wrong with that. Not boring. Not unoriginal. Not a bad idea at all. In fact, it was comforting. And gentle. And generally and specifically delicious.

Roast Lamb Dinner
(printable recipe) - serves 5-6.

Ingredients:

3 Lb. Lamb Roast, no bone.
1 Head of Garlic, peeled.
2 Apples, cored and cut into quarters.
3 Leeks, washed and sliced.
1 Lemon for juice and zest.
Handful of Fresh Rosemary.
Handful of Fresh Thyme.
1 Tbsp Coriander Seeds.
2 Tbsp Butter.
1 C Dry Red Wine.
Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
Coarse Sea Salt & Fresh Cracked Black Pepper.

What to Do:

12 - 24 hours in advance: Marinate the lamb. First, truss the lamb with butcher string to ensure even thickness of the lamb all the way around. In a pestle and mortar, bash together the coriander, lemon zest, and a good dose of salt and pepper. Once the pods are open and fragrant, pour into a freezer bag or appropriate sealable container along with the herbs and a few good glugs of olive oil. Place lamb in the container and massage into the marinade. Seal and place in the fridge to marinate, occasionally rotating to ensure even marination.

When it's time to cook: Pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees F and place a cast-iron pan over fairly high heat.

As that heats,  place in hot pan and sear until you have good color on each side. Remove from the heat and place on a wire rack in a roasting pan. Throw in the rest of the ingredients - the butter, wine and lemon juice - and tuck around the lamb. Cover and place in oven. Roast for an hour and a quarter to an hour and a half or until a thermometer reads 132-135 degrees F for medium rare.

Remove from the oven, place meat and wire rack over a cutting board and cover with foil. Allow the meat to rest 10-15 minutes. Slice thinly and serve.

While the meat rests, make your sauce. In the same dirty pan you seared the lamb in, add the red wine, a sprig or two of herbs and a good helping of salt and pepper. Bring to a boil over high heat and then turn heat down to a simmer. Allow the wine to reduce by half, making sure to scrape all the bits off the bottom of the pan. Stir in the butter and lemon juice. Strain through a fine sieve and serve along side lamb.

Eat.

RPI Eggs: Super Simple Poached Egg Sunday Breakfast

Happy Thursday darlings!

The best part of my day? I logged into Blogger, checked the blog's stats for the day, and opened up my draft for RPI Mission Eggs... I was greeted by this:

Jingle bells, batman smells, Robin laid an egg.

Batmobile lost a wheel and Joker got away.

Oh the joy of sharing a blog with a close friend who you wished lived closer. I've heard this song eight million times and was always kind of annoyed by it. Until now. Now it's the endearing gentle message my dear friend Haydn left me in my draft copy of RPI Eggs - a small but significant message that he hopelessly misses me. I miss you too, Haydn. Stupid, giant, Canadian country.

Something else that is dear to my heart? Eggs. Particularly, super simple Sunday breakfast eggs. When we established eggs as our Rock, Paper, ingredient mission this month, my mind immediately started digging into the various culinary fascinations of eggs - custards, cakes, aioli, souffle, blah blah blah. Ultimately, I chose to showcase the true nature of the protein powerhouse known as the egg. And stayed true to chicken.

Small side note: Duck eggs scare the squeezebox outta me. Much too large. Much. too. large. Pretty much anything that is larger in size than the average/normal freaks me out.

All you need for this recipe: eggs, bread, left over veggies. Maybe a little cheese. Golden. 

Super Simple Poached Egg Breakfast

(printable recipe) - serves 2.

Ingredients:

4 Pastured Eggs.

1 Tsp Vinegar.

1 Bunch Kale or Chard.

1/3 C Chicken or Veggie Stock.

Leftover Roasted Winter Veg.

2 Pieces Baguette or Sourdough Loaf, cut on an angle.

2 Shavings of Salty Grainy Cheese (ie Grana Padano, Parmesan, Pecorino Romano)

Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

Coarse Sea Salt & Fresh Cracked Black Pepper.

What to Do:

Pre-heat your oven to a high broil. Once hot, place sliced bread on a baking sheet, brushed lightly with olive oil, and slide under heat. Broil until golden. Remove from oven and lay the cheese on warm toast. Set aside.

Turn the oven down to 400 degrees F. Re-heat winter veg in oven until hot. 

Heat 2 Tbsp of oil over medium heat in a large saute pan. Once hot, throw in the greens, season well with salt and pepper and stir well to coat. Add the stock and while stirring often, allow the greens to cook through and the stock to evaporate.

To poach eggs: Bring a deep saute pan of salted water to a light boil over medium-high heat. Once the water starts to bubble, add vinegar. Crack eggs into individual bowls and gently slide into the semi-boiling water. Using a slotted spoon, corral the whites around the yolks to help them keep their shape. Cook for about 3-4 minutes or until the egg whites are cooked through and the yolks runny. Remove from water and gently place eggs on top of cheesy toast.

Throw it all on a plate and chow down my friends, chow down.

Yes - eat.

How do your friends let you know they love you? How do you show you love them?

RPI: Chorizo Potato Boats (choo choo!)

Oh goodness!

I find it so amusing that Haydn and I both - inadvertently - chose childhood favorites for our chorizo RPI assignments. Great minds think alike!

Okay, maybe not so much childhood as teenage/young adult-ness. And while we're at it, maybe not so much great minds either. When I still lived in the the small-ass town where I grew up (think no-where Alberta), bumper-skiing and Budweiser were cool, gas was $5.00/litre and gettin' down on the farm (literally) was how we got down - bonfires, pickup trucks and all.

One night a week my friends and I would cruise - and by cruise, I mean see if we could break the sound barrier in my girl friend's volvo - into the city and hit up Boston Pizza for late night snacks and cokes. And if we felt really adventurous, some of us would even get long island iced-teas - the drink of all barely-legal kids everywhere. 

One of those snacks was potato skins. Oozy gooey semi-veggie friendly potato boats of unhealthy goodness. Well I'll tell ya what - I did them one better. I kept most of the potato, smashed it up with a little milk, butter and sour cream and then mixed in some seriously flavorful additions.

I give you, chorizo potato boats. All aboard!

Chorizo Potato Boats

serves 4 - (printable recipe)

Ingredients:

2 Large Russet Potatoes, washed and well dried.
3 Links of Spanish Chorizo, casing removed.
1/2 Onion, peeled & finely diced.
1 Garlic Clove, peeled & chopped.
Handful of canned/jar Artichoke Hearts, roughly chopped.
2 - 4 Sundried Tomatoes (depending on size), roughly chopped.
1 Roasted Bell Pepper, thinly sliced.
1/4 C Black Olives, pits removed and roughly chopped.
1/2 C Aged White Cheddar Cheese (or other flavorful good melting cheese), grated.
Smoked Paprika for dusting.
Approx 1/2 C Milk.
2 Tbsp Sour Cream + Extra for serving.
2 Tbsp Butter + Extra for serving.

2 Tbsp Fresh Italian Flat Leaf Parsley, chopped.
Coarse Sea Salt & Fresh Cracked Black Pepper.

What to Do:

Pre-heat your oven to 425 degrees F. 

As the oven heats, stab the potatoes with a fork all over to ensure they don't explode in the oven. Place on a baking sheet and and bake in the oven for 1 - 1 and 1/2 hours or until fork tender. Remove from heat and let cool enough so you can handle them.

While the potatoes are cooling heat a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the chorizo and break up well. Cook thoroughly, stirring often. 

Add the onion - allow to soften. Toss in the garlic, stirring for about a minute or until fragrant. Toss in the artichoke hearts, tomatoes, bell pepper and olives. Mix well and heat through. Set aside.

Once they have cooled somewhat, slice in half and spoon the inside of the potato out of the skin and dump in a bowl. Add 1/4 C of the milk, butter and sour cream along with a good helping of salt and pepper. Mash baby mash! If necessary, add more of any of the above to taste and find a good texture. Take care not to over mash because over mashing = starchy goopy mess.

Fold in the chorizo veg mixture as well as the cheese until well blended. 

Gently spoon the potato mixture back into the skins. Pile high. And set back onto baking sheet. Sprinkle with smokey paprika. Place back in oven for about 30 minutes.

Remove from heat. Top with the chopped parlsey. Serve.

Eat.

What kind of "trouble" did you get into growing up? What were some of your favorite dishes?

 This post is linked up with the Hearth & Soul Blog Hop via the 21st Century Housewife; Tasty Tuesdays; Tuesday Talent Show; Cast Party Wednesday; Whole Foods Wednesday; Frugal days, Sustainable Ways; What's in the Box;