In a medium-sized, heavy saucepan, carmelize the shallots in the olive oil: bring up to a sautee to start the shallots sweating, then cover and lower heat to low. Cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the shallots are nicely caramelized -- not browned! Return to medium-high heat, add the rice wine and sautee until evaporated. Add the chicken stock and cook until reduced by 1/2. Keep warm. Add grated cheese right before serving to thicken the sauce a bit.
Make ravioli pasta: add the flour to a food processor along with the olive oil, salt and eggs. Pulse until the dough comes together in a ball. Place on a floured surface and knead for five to 10 minutes. Dough should be smooth, satiny and NOT sticky. Add more flour as needed while kneading. Wrap dough ball in plastic wrap and let sit for 15 minutes to rest.
Roll out ravioli sheets with a pasta machine if you've got one, or use a rolling pin if you don't. Leave the sheets somewhat thick; either setting 5 or 6 on an Atlas pasta machine.
I like large raviolis, so I put large blobs of the sweet potato mix on the sheet, then folded it over to cover. I seal my raviolis with water, not an egg wash. I only brush water on one side of the sheet and between each blob of filling -- leaving one side open so I can press out most of the air from the ravioli. Once I've got most of the air out, I seal the last side with water. Press all sides and between the filling blobs firmly, then cut with a pastry wheel or knife. Set aside to dry for 5 - 10 minutes, turning once so all sides dry.
Cook the raviolis in boiling salted water for 3 - 5 minutes until done.
Spoon some of the sauce onto a plate, lay a couple raviolis on the sauce and top with more sauce.
Devour.
Rinse the torn chard leaves well, leaving some water on the leaves.
In a large skillet sautee the garlic and onion in the olive oil. When aromatic, toss in the chard leaves and season with salt and pepper. Toss to coat, cover and cook three minutes. Crumble in the goat cheese and add the chicken broth. Cover and cook another few minutes until the cheese is melted.
If you've timed things right, the pasta's cooked at this point. Drain, retaining just a bit of the water in the pot. Pour the pasta and smidgen of water into the skillet with the chard leaves. Add the Parmesan cheese, toss to mix and serve immediately.
This dish comes together in a hurry. It took me about 15 minutes start to finish, including steaming up some cauliflower and getting a salad ready. Fast, good food.
Salt the boiling water, then drop in enough spaghetti pasta for 3 - 4 folks. Stir a couple times, then boil until the pasta's as you like it. I don't prefer al dente, so I let mine go a few extra minutes.
Cut off any dark flesh from the salmon fillet. Wash and pat dry, then season with salt and pepper. Place on a tray under the broiler for 3 - 5 minutes, depending on thickness. Turn and cook another 2 - 3 minutes until the fish is cooked through. (Cook it less if you like your fish medium-rare)
While the salmon's broiling and the pasta's cooking, sautee the shallot in the oil in a heavy saucepan over medium-high heat until transluscent, about 3 - 5 minutes. Lower heat to medium-low and add the goat cheese and stock, stirring to dissolve. Season to taste with a pinch of white pepper and salt. Keep warm.
When the salmon's cooked, flake it with a fork and stir into the cheese mix. Drain the pasta well and return to the pot. Pour the sauce over, stir and scoop onto plates.
I served this with a bit of leftover Pinot Blanc, which was a fair match. The wine was a bit tired and had lost a bit of fruit. I think any wine with a fair dose of acidity, yet fairly full-bodied would work well with this. I think I'd stay away from any weedy sauvignon blancs -- something in my head sees the gorgonzola clashing with the herbaceous character of a strong sauv blanc.
Here's a great dish to show off that pairing: risotto with lots of mushrooms and a good pinot noir from France's Alsace region. The pairing worked out quite well, although the pinot noir from the Turkheim co-op leans more to the brighter fruit style instead of the somewhat earthier, heavier wines found elsewhere. While the match was a good one, an earthier wine would have been even better!
Trim off the root and green end of the leek, then chop coarsely. Rinse well under water, the drain.
Pour the broth into a pot over medium heat. You'll need to keep the broth near the same temperature you'll use for the rice pot.
Heat a large, heavy pot over medium-high heat, then add the olive oil and butter. When melted, add the leek and shallot. Sautee for 3 minutes, then add the garlic and a couple grinds of black pepper. Stir in the rice and cook for a minute or two, stirring constantly.
When the rice is sizzling, add a cup or two of broth to the pot, stir in and lower heat to medium. Continue stirring the rice until the broth is almost absorbed, then add another cup of broth. Continue stirring and adding broth for 15 - 20 minutes until the rice is almost cooked.
Filter the porcini water through cheesecloth and add to the rice pot.
If the mushrooms are in large pieces, chop up a bit. Add to the pot. Continue
to stir the rice until it's nicely cooked and has absorbed almost all the
liquid. Stir in the cheese and butter and serve immediately, passing extra
grated cheese at the table.
One large help with souffles is a good mixer. I've used my Kitchen Aid
and had great results since it's so easy to beat the egg whites to a stiff
peak.
The next time I do something like this, I'll avoid wines which are really weedy or minerally. I'd think a dry, not-too-yeasty bubbly would work nicely or perhaps a nice riesling kabinett. I'm not sure what red to try here, but something lighter -- a relatively light bodied Chianti perhaps?
CRAB SOUFFLES
Sautee the onion in the butter in a medium, heavy saucepan over medium high heat. Add the flour and cook for 2 minutes over medium heat. The flour shouldn't color, just cook out a bit. Pour in the hot milk, whisking constantly to blend. Cook for 2 - 3 minutes until the bechamel becomes quite thick.
Remove from heat and stir in the salt, paprika and white pepper. Stir in the crabmeat, then whisk in the egg YOLKS one by one. Set aside to cool off a bit while you're beating the egg whites.
For the egg whites, use an absolutely clean bowl and beater. If you've got a copper bowl, so much the better: according to the pros, copper bowls are the last word for beating egg whites. I ain't got one and my plain ol' stainless steel bowl worked just fine. The egg whites can't have even one speck of yolk in them or they won't stiffen properly. Julia says to pour a bit of vinegar and salt in the bowl, then wipe it with paper towels -- but don't rinse it clean. The vinegar helps to stabilize the whites she says.
I didn't bother with any of that, just poured the egg whites into the very clean bowl and turned the Kitchen Aid onto low speed for a moment until the whites were just a bit foamy. Add the cream of tartar at this point and gradually increase the speed to high. Continue beating the whites until they form stiff peaks. [Stiff peaks mean when you pull the beater out of the egg whites, peaks form and hold their shape.]
Gently stir 1/4 of the egg whites into the crab bechamel, then fold that back into the remaining whites. Add in the grated cheese as you're gently folding the whites in.
Scoop the mix into the cooking dishes, taking care not to knock the collars off. The mix should overfill the ramiekins a bit.
Place the dishes in the oven and lower heat to 375. Cook for 15 - 20 minutes until the top is nicely browning and a toothpick or wood skewer inserted in the souffle comes out clean.
Gently and quickly remove the collars and serve immediately. The souffle
may only hold its dramatic puff for a couple minutes, so you want your
guests to "Ohhhh!" and "Ahhh!" while it's fresh.