Grand Opening!

[Mama Mangia]

Linguine Mondello
(serves 2)

2 cloves garlic 1 tsp. parsley
1 tsp. chopped onion 1 c. medium shrimp
4 peeled tomatoes, chopped 1 lb. clams
1 tsp. ea. butter & olive oil 1 T white wine
linguini


Saute garlic and onions 1 minute in olive oil.
Add shrimp and wine and saute 1 minute per side.
Add tomatoes. Dice and mash with fork.
Add butter and clams.
Cover and cook 2-3 minutes until clams open.
Add parsley.
Boil linguini 8-10 minutes; top with sauce.

[Mama Mangia]

Spring Asparagus Soup with Crispy Proscuitto
(Serves 6)


1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper
1/2 cup yellow onion, diced
3 thin slices prosciutto
2 tablespoons thinly sliced shallots
8 cups water
1/2 cups chicken stock
2 tablespoons kosher salt
8 cups washed, coarsely chopped asparagus (incl. stems)
24 asparagus spears, peeled
1/2 cup shopped fresh Italian parsley
1 cup chicken stock
2 cups creme fraiche
Sea Salt to taste


In a large soup pot, over medium heat, melt 1/4 cup butter. Add onion and shallots and saute about 2 minutes, until slightly brown.
Add chicken stock and simmer.
Add asparagus and parsley and cook for 5 minutes, until very tender, but still green.
Using a slotted spoon, remove onion, shallots, asparagus and parsley and place in food processor or blender and puree in small batches.
Return the puree to the simmering stock and cook for 10 minutes, stirring to prevent burning.
Pass the soup through a fine strainer into a clean soup pot to extract the stringy asparagus stems.
Place pot over medium heat and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the soup reduces to desired consistency. Keep warm on low heat.
Place a saute pan over medium-high heat; when hot, lay slices of prosciutto in the pan. cook and turn about 1-2 minutes per side, until crisp, taking care not to burn them. Transfer to paper towels to drain. Let cool for 5 minutes, then julienne and place on dry paper towel.
Pour water into a saucepan and add salt: bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Blanch the asparagus in boiling water for about 2 minutes, or until al dente. Using a slotted spoon or strainer transfer the asparagus to an ice-water bath for about a minute, until chilled, then drain.
Place saute pan over medium heat and add chicken stock. Add asparagus and simmer about 1 to 2 minutes.
Whisk the creme fraiche and remaining 1/4 cup butter into soup. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Stand the asparagus, spaced evenly apart, up against the inside of 6 soup bowls. Pour soup into bowl and garnish with prosciutto.

[jfain]

I thought this would be a bit of fun since we all love to cook and play in the kitchen.

Let's start our own "restaurant" with dishes we would love to see served.

Post anything from beverages, appetizers, entrees, sides, desserts, breakfasts, lunches or dinners - ANYTHING at all!

Remember - at this restaurant we don't have to cook or do dishes! LOL

Well Mama sure got us started on the mains! I think I would like to start off with what to bring to the table first. Bread is what is most commonly offered but there are many people who can’t or won’t eat it because they are on a low carb diet, allergic or trying to cut back on white flour for health reasons. In our restaurant I would love it if we would offer a starter of various pickled things.

Sweet Pickled Grapes
Pickled Watermelon rind
Pickled green cherry tomatoes
Fresh cucumber pickles
Hot pickled Cauliflower

I will be the pickle chef for the restaurant. Don’t you think that would be more interesting than just bread?

[Mama Mangia]

Hey - our very own personal pickle chef! That would be marvelous! I know that I make relish trays all the time to go with meals - sometimes bigger ones - sometimes smaller ones. But pickles, peppers, cheeses, olives - all go well with so many meals.

[cookie]

Don't forget the Deviled Eggs made with Dijon mustard & topped off with olives stuffed w/pimento's, served at the BAR!

How about a Ice Cream bar stocked with stuff for 'BULID YOUR OWN SUNDAY!! Cookie

[chubbyalaskagriz]

FUN thread, mama!

Okay... bass-ackwards! DESSERTS FIRST!

Cherry Slab Pie

Pie Dough (pâte brisée)

3 ¾ c. all purpose flour
2 ½ teaspoons coarse salt
1 ½ teaspoons sugar
3 sticks unsalted butter, cold, cut into pieces
½ cup ice water

Place the flour, salt and sugar in the bowl of a food processor and pulse to combine. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs, about 10 seconds.

With machine running, slowly pour the ice water through the feed tube until the dough just comes together in a ball.

Divide the dough into two pieces, one slightly larger than the other. Form into flattened rectangles and wrap each in plastic, dusting with flour and refrigerate at least 1 hour or overnight.

Pie Filling

2 ½ pounds (about 6 cups) fresh cherries, pitted, or 2 ¼ pounds (about 6 cups) of fresh blueberries
1 ¼ cups granulated sugar
¼ cup cornstarch
juice of ½ lemon
¼ teaspoon salt

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl, stir to combine, set aside.

Glaze:
2 tablespoons heavy cream
¼ cup sanding sugar or granulated sugar

To make the pie:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the larger piece of dough into a rectangle, a little bit larger than your baking sheet. The original recipe calls for a 15x10 baking sheet, but I used a 13x10 quarter sheet pan. To make this easier, place a piece of plastic wrap on your working surface, dust with flour. Place pie dough on top, dust with flour and place another sheet of plastic wrap on top. When your dough is the right size, lay your rolling pin on top of the top sheet of plastic wrap. Start rolling the dough around the rolling pin, leaving the bottom sheet of plastic wrap on your working surface. Dust the dough around the rolling pin as you go, so it will not stick to itself. Lift rolling pin over your baking sheet on one end and unroll dough. Remove plastic wrap from top. Fit into your rimmed baking sheet, pressing into corners (pastry will hang over sides). Spread filling into pie shell.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out remaining piece of dough to the size of your pan. Using same method as above, drape dough over filling. Fold edge of bottom dough over top dough. Pinch edges to seal Prick the top dough all over with a fork. Brush the entire surface of the pie with the cream and sprinkle with the sugar.

Bake until crust is golden brown about 40 to 55 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool just until the pie is still warm to the touch. Serve warm or a room temperature. Cut into 12 pieces. Slab pie can be kept at room temperature, loosely covered with plastic wrap, for up to 2 days

BLUEBERRY TART


For the tart shell:
7 tbl butter
the zest of 1 lemon
2 1/2 tbl sugar
1/4 tsp lemon juice
1 C plus 1 tbl of all-purpose flour
1/8 tsp salt

-> Preheat oven to 375˚F.

Combine the flour and salt in a medium sized bowl and set aside.

Combine the zest and butter in a small pot. Melt the butter over medium heat, stirring. Remove from heat, add sugar and lemon juice to pot. Stir and add to flour mixture. Stir the dough mixture until incorporated.

In a 9-inch tart mold, press the dough down and flatten with the palm of your hand. Using your fingertips, work the dough up the sides of the mold as evenly as possible. With a fork, “dock” the dough, meaning, gently poke a bunch of holes into the bottom part of the shell. Place in the middle rack of the oven, and bake until golden, about 18 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.

For the filling:
3 pints of blueberries
2 tbl cornstarch
1/2 C sugar
2 tbl lemon juice
the zest of 1 lemon

-> Set aside 1 pint of blueberries.

Combine remaining 2 pints with other ingredients in a medium-sized pot. Over medium heat, cook the berries, stirring, until the juices start to come out and the mixture thickens, about 6 minutes. Remove from the heat and cool down.

ASSEMBLY:
Put cooked blueberry filling into the shell evenly (this can be done while the filling is still warm). With the remaining pint of fresh berries, arrange them in a single layer on top of the tart. Allow to cool completely before serving.

[Mama Mangia]

don't forget the deviled eggs made with dijon mustard & topped off with olives stuffed w/pimento's, served at the bar!

How about a ice cream bar stocked with stuff for 'bulid your own sunday!! cookie

fabulous idea!!!

[Mama Mangia]

oh Kev! I believe in desserts first!

[cookie]

Fresh Bach of Cookies made daily! Cookie

[jpshaw]

You can't have a restaurant without salads. I will suggest Mama's 4 in gredient cucumber salad but I'm going to add onions to it.