Spaghettini with Clams and Cream Sauce

Another in series of comfort food recipes. This one is basically Spaghetti con Vongole recipe but without the shrimps.

Ingredients:

1 Tbs. olive oil

3 or 4 shallots, finally chopped

3 Tbs. chopped parsley

1 can of baby clams, drained and separated

1 c. of white wine

1/2 cup 35% cream or whipping cream

Nutmeg, pinch

Hot pepper flakes, to taste

1/2 tsp. white pepper

1/4 tsp. dried tarragon

Truffle oil, dash (optional)

Process:

Cook spaghettini till al dente, drain, foss with 1 tsp of olive oil and keep warm.

Heat frying pan and when hot add olive oil and then shallots. Sauté for few minutes but don’t allow to brown. Pour in wine and cook off. Add clam juice and cook till only about 1/4 cup remains. Add clams and sauté for about 2 minutes. Add cream and cook under medium heat till sauce starts to thicken. Add parsley, tarragon, nutmeg, white pepper, chili pepper flakes and optional truffle oil.

When pasta is cooked al dente, drain and toss with the cream sauce.

Calf Liver with Mushrooms & Spaetzle

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If you serve this meal to dedicated liver or offal hater they will lick their chops not knowing what they just ate, it is that good. After all prep is done it takes just minutes to cook and serve. I highly recommend to cook Spaetzle or pasta ahead of time, just before starting to fry liver. Spaetzle can be reheated by tossing them in butter when you are reducing wine in the sauce.

This is not lean cuisine by any stretch of imagination but once in a while I don't think it will hurt. It is rich and it is very, very good. To make it even more luxurious, just before serving I put in few drops of truffle oil. The aroma just made it very special.

Note: You can substitute thin slices of pork tenderloin in place of liver. The cooking method is exactly the same.

 

Ingredients:

§    1 lb liver, beef or calf, all membranes and veins removed and liver cut into thin slices

§    2 Tbs. grape seed or vegetable oil

§    2 cups of sliced Cremini mushrooms

§    5 shallots, sliced or 1 small onion, chopped

§    1 tsp. caraway seeds, ground

§    1 tsp. white pepper or to taste

§    1 tsp. Kosher salt

§    1 cup dry white wine

§    3/4 cup (6oz.) 35% cream

§    Nutmeg

§    2 Tbs. chopped parsley

§    Spaetzle or broad noodles

Directions:

Preheat a bowl and keep at hand. Dry liver strips with paper towel and then toss with 1 Tbs. of oil.

Cook spaetzle, toss with butter and keep warm.

Heat up stainless steel skillet and when hot add 1 Tbs. of oil. When very hot drop in liver strips in one layer and brown for about 30 seconds and then turn all strips on other side and cook another 30 seconds. With slotted spoon remove liver to preheated bowl, sprinkle generously with salt, toss and keep warm. Discard all oil from skillet, put back on medium high heat and add 1/2 Tbs. of oil. Drop in shallots and mushrooms together with caraway seeds and white pepper and sauté while scraping fond from bottom of skillet. When mushrooms are soft and shallots are translucent increase heat to high, pour in the wine and reduce wine to approximately 1/4 cup. Pour in cream, stir and reduce till sauce is thick and looks velvety. Return liver strips together with accumulated juices to skillet, sprinkle with freshly ground nutmeg and stir till liver is reheated and coated with sauce.

Serve on individual plates with spaetzle and garnished with chopped parsley.

Cream of Corn and Avocado Soup

While I was putting Cannelloni in the freezer I have noticed a bag of corn kernels that we saved last summer. Out came the corn and since I have also spotted avocado in a basket on my kitchen island, recipe for a meal was born. Because this recipe is sort of Mexican in nature I have included lime and cilantro as well.

2 cups corn

1 avocado, pit and skin removed

3 cups chicken stock

1/2 cup heavy cream

Juice from 1 lime

Salt and white pepper to taste

Coriander leaves (cilantro), chopped avocado and roasted cashews for garnish

Put corn, avocado and chicken stock in a blender and liquefy for at least 2 minutes. Strain into a soup pot through medium mesh strainer pressing on solids to remove as much corn milk as possible. Of course, if skin from corn kernels doesn’t bother you, you can omit this step.

Place pot on medium heat and bring to slow simmer. Add cream and bring back to simmer, flavor with lime juice, salt and pepper. Serve in a bowl and garnished with cilantro, chopped avocado and cashews.

If you are using fresh corn, steam the corn for 10 minutes first.

This soup must be excellent in summer served cold.

Serves 2

Cream of Mushroom Soup

This is excellent way to serve leftover mushroom soup. Actually, it is so good that it is well worth it to make it from scratch. Since I have already posted recipe for mushroom soup I’ll just describe process of turning it into a cream.

If you are using leftover soup, warm it up in a deeper pot for easier no-mess blending. If you prefer cream of mushroom soup with some texture remove with slotted spoon (wider the slots the better) as much solids as you like and keep warm for serving. With immersion blender liquefy the soup for minute or two. Add cream, again as much as you like but no more then 1:4 ratio of cream/soup. Liquefy for another few minutes till smooth. Return to heat and when warm, serve in preheated bowl. Creamed soups are great with addition of little bit of curry. I use Malaysian (seafood) curry that is perfect match for these soups.