From jonaspas@sprynet.com Mon Jun 15 13:05:39 1998 Date: Mon, 08 Jun 1998 21:31:11 -0400 From: "Jonas V. Bilenas" To: Pasta Lovers: ; Subject: Pasta Lovers Newsletter - 98.08 Issue Pasta Lovers Newsletter 1-3 times a month 6/8/98 3023 Subscribers --------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, send "unsubscribe pasta" message to mailto:jonaspas@sprynet.com Do not include any other text. --------------------------------------------------------------- Contents: 1. A few recipes with wild salmon 2. Reader Mail - Chicken Marsala - Another Marsala Recipe - Tomato Tips - Looking for recipe computer program - Spinach/Gorgonzola Pasta ************************************************ 1. A few recipes with wild salmon. A few weeks ago we picked up a large filet of wild salmon at Sutton Place Gourmet Market in Woodbury, NY. The salmon was so sweet, my wife kept asking if I marinated it in sugar or honey. I just dredged it in some seasoned flour and sauteed it and served it with some pasta, fennel and poblano peppers. The piece of fish was so big that we ate half of it one day and saved the rest for the next day with some potatoes and pesto. For the fist dish, I cut the salmon into bite size pieces. The second day, I cut the remaining salmon into 2 pieces. - 1 large salmon fillet - 2 cloves garlic sliced thin - 1/2 fennel, cored and sliced thin - 1/2 poblano pepper, seeded and sliced thin - 1/4 cup orange juice - 1/4 cup stock or pasta liquid - 1-2 tsp butter - flour for dusting, mixed with Cajun seasoning, dried dill and salt - pasta of choice - olive oil Put pasta water up to boil. Add pasta and stir pot now and then. If pasta stops boiling, cover pot until water returns to a boil. Heat saute pan. Dredge salmon pieces in flour. Add olive oil to saute pan and add fish. Brown on one side and turn over. This will cook fast, remove when almost done and set aside. In the same saute pan, add the fennel and pepper and saute for about 2 minutes. Add garlic and saute for a minute. Add the orange juice and scrape the pan. Reduce a bit and add butter to make a sauce. Return salmon to pan with the cooked pasta and coat with the sauce. Add some stock or pasta liquid if you like a thinner sauce. Serve pasta without any cheese. Serves 2. As a variation, slice the salmon real thin like lox and add at the last minute to the saute pan with pasta and vegetables. The heat should cook the fish while tossing. The next day I served this dish with the remaining vegetables left over from the pasta recipe: - remaining salmon, cut into 2 servings (remove skin) - 1/2 fennel, cored and sliced - 1/2 vidalia onion, sliced - 1/2 poblano pepper, seeded and sliced - 4-5 small potatoes, sliced 1 inch thick - flour for dusting, mixed with Cajun seasoning, dried dill and salt - 1 tsp pesto - olive oil Put pot up to boil and add potato slices into water. You can add them before water boils, just after slicing. This will prevent them from discoloring. In one pan, saute fennel, onions and pepper in pan with oil for about 3 minutes. Set aside until potatoes done. In another pan, add oil, and add salmon that you have dusted with seasoned flour. Saute on each side for about 5-8 minutes total depending on how you like it. When potatoes are done, drain and add to the pan with the vegetables. Bring back to heat and stir in pesto. Serve vegetables with salmon and possibly a wedge of lime. ********************************************** A Word from our sponsors: ******************************************************************** HOT SEX! Ooops, wrong ad...FREE MONEY! Wait, that's not it either. Oh, here it is. FREE JOKES! That's right, if you want more humor in your life then subscribe to "Rodney And Cathy's Joke List". To receive FREE daily humor in your e-mail box send a message to: rcjokelist-on@mail-list.com or visit our web site at: http://www.rcjokelist.com ************************************************ Note: Thanks to Joke List, we received over 300 new subscribers. Hope you all enjoy and send in your favorite or humorous recipes. ************************************************ Reader Mail From: Karen Wheless Subject: Chicken Marsala Status: Here is a chicken Marsala recipe that I adapted from a recipe I was served in a restaurant. It's a little different from most of the chicken Marsala recipes I've seen, but it's very good. Hope you like it, Karen Wheless Chicken Marsala 1 pound boneless chicken flour lemon pepper 4 tablespoons butter 2 teaspoons marjoram 10 ounces mushrooms 1/2 cup chicken broth 1/2 cup Marsala wine 14 1/2 ounces tomatoes canned 1 tomato chopped Dust chicken with flour. Sprinkle with lemon butter and saute in butter. Remove from the pan and keep warm. Add marjoram and mushrooms to butter; saute. Add chicken broth and Marsala. Cook for a while, add canned tomatoes. If necessary, thicken sauce. Add fresh tomato; cook until just tender. Add back chicken, cook until hot through, and serve over rice or pasta. ____________________________________________ Karen Wheless kwheless@rockland.net "The universe is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper." Eden Phillpots ------------------ Next Mail --------------------------- From: kloth@lucent.com (Timothy Joseph Kloth) Subject: Chicken Marsala - Recipe Lisa, Jonas, Here is our favorite recipe for Chicken Marsala. We tried to get as close to our favorite local (Naperville IL) Italian restaurant as we could. It's easy and good. Chicken Marsala 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts 1 9 oz pkg (or more) fresh fetuccini 1/2 lb fresh mushrooms, sliced handful of flat leaf parsley 1 sm can chicken broth 1 sm can beef broth dry Marsala flour, salt, pepper 4 Tbl. butter Rinse chicken and dry. Pound to less than 1/2 in thick. Dredge the chicken in flour to which you have added some salt and pepper. In a heavy skillet melt enough butter to saute the chicken. Use med-hi heat. You want a little color on the outside of the chicken but it is thin so it will cook quickly. Remove chicken from pan (it doesn't have to be fully cooked at this point as it goes back in later). You may have to do the chicken in batches. Deglaze the pan with the two cans of broth. Add one can full of dry Marsala. Turn the heat up to reduce the sauce. How much you reduce the sauce is up to you. Probably at least by half. The sauce doesn't really thicken. I usually get impatient and don't reduce it enough. Add the mushrooms to the sauce (and some of the parsley chopped up if you want). Cook about 5 min. Add the chicken back to the pan and cover. Simmer 3-5 min. While all this was going on you had a pot of boiling water which you salted and added the pasta. Read the package for cooking time. Don't over cook the pasta. When done drain the pasta well and turn out onto a nice, warmed, serving platter. Top with the chicken and mushrooms. If you want a thicker sauce do it now with a little cornstarch and water. Pour sauce over top. Garnish with parsley (not chopped). Serve. Notes: I like pasta. That's why I said one or two packages above. You can try different combinations of broth and wine. More chicken broth would be a lighter taste, more beef would be a heaver taste. If you really like the taste of Marsala wine you could try part or all of sweet Marsala. Fresh ingredients make a BIG difference in this recipe. All quantities are approximate. Enjoy, Tim Kloth Jonas: Hope this helps reader Lisa Castillo. ----------------------- Next Mail ------------------------------- From: "Rosa Lupo" Subject: Did You Know? Did You Know? Tomato paste is tomato that has been pureed with much of the water removed. It can be seasoned with salt although many commercial products are available on the market available without salt. Tomato puree is simply the strained pulp of a tomato. Tomato sauce is tomato puree that contains seasonings. It has a higher water content than tomato puree. Tomato Tips There are 4 medium globe tomatoes or 8 Italian plum tomatoes or 24 cherry tomatoes to one pound. If you are not able to find fragrant, ripe tomatoes, substitute a good quality canned tomato. Our favorite at Sugarplums are the very flavorful San Marzano tomatoes from Italy. Avoid cooking tomato sauces in aluminum cookware. It compromises the bright color of tomatoes and may impart a bitter taste. Jonas: Good tips. When using fresh tomatoes, I buy plum tomatoes. I find them easy to peel with a potato peeler. When looking for canned, I look for San Marzano tomatoes. I buy them in an Italian market that has a quick turnaround since sometimes they can taste funny if too long in the can. When finished cooking my tomato sauce, I put them in plastic containers or freeze in plastic ice cube trays. ------------------------- Next Mail --------------------- From: jweeks@bsasi.com (Jack Weeks) I am subscribed under my home e-mail of jweeks@direct.ca. I wonder if you can offer some advice. I am looking for a good program that I can put in my computer, to hold, print, and save recipes. If you have any recommendations it would be appreciated. I tried a few shareware programs but nothing was really worth buying. Thx Jack Weeks Jonas: I never had much luck with these programs. Maybe a reader can make a suggestion. ------------------------- Next Mail ----------------------------- From: Kathryn Carey justine Rodeheffer Dear Jonas, I've been receiving your newsletter for several months now and I think it's awesome. I have yet to try a recipe I didn't like. Anyway, this recipe I'm sending is one of my favorites, and if it's not published somewhere, it certainly should be. The gorgonzola cheese might scare some people, but in this particular recipe, you can even use a little more without adding too much. Spinach/Gorgonzola Pasta 1lb ziti pasta (or penne) 6tbsp butter 2tbsp lemon juice 1/2 cup crumbled gorgonzola salt and pepper to taste 3 cups torn fresh spinach grated parmesan While the pasta is cooking, melt butter in a sauce pan and add lemon juice. Slowly add cheese, thoroughly melting after each addition. Add salt and pepper to taste. Drain and rinse pasta, toss with sauce and torn spinach. Top with parmesan. Thanks for all the recipes! Carey Rodeheffer krodehe@emory.edu Jonas: I love Gorgonzola sauces over pasta. I usually add some cream to mine, but this looks a bit lighter. Speaking of blue type cheeses, have you ever tried Maytag Blue? Great Blue Cheese made in the US. I think its made from the same family that makes Maytag appliances and the great California beer Anchor Steam. Give it a try, smooth and delicious. Till Next time, enjoy life with pasta. Jonas ________________________________________________________________________ Pasta Lovers Newsletter. Published 1-3 time a month and delivered by e-mail. Please send comments, suggestions, notes and recipes to: mailto:jonaspas@sprynet.com Send cookbooks, publications, products for review to: Jonas V. Bilenas P.O. Box 1315 Church St. Station New York NY 10008-1315 homepage: http://home.sprynet.com/sprynet/jonaspas/ We also publish a beer newsletter - reviews of beer, wine, and Scotch. To receive send "subscribe beer" message to mailto:jonaspas@sprynet.com To Place an ad in these newsletters, send inquiry to: mailto:jonaspas@sprynet.com Member of The List Exchange, http://www.listex.com ________________________________________________________________________