Halibut ravioli

“Fish, to taste right, must swim three times — in water, in butter and in wine.”
— Polish Proverb

Fall has officially started and I find myself still tasting a little bit of summer.  We have the crisp morning air here in Seattle but sunshine protrudes the dawn by eight am.  It is our little secret that September still stems beauty in the Pacific Northwest.  Tourists are gone but our  summer weather lingers.  The weather forms the food that is produced in the kitchen.  Adjusting to buying pears and apples rather than blueberries and raspberries takes time, but trying to stretch  that last bit of summer corn is still forthcoming.  A mashup of summer and fall was what became of my inner battle.

Homemade fresh warm pasta, yummy fish, and those last few ears of corn roasted to perfection what could be better on a sunshine crisp fall day...okay maybe Hazelnut Salted Caramel Bread Pudding for dessert but that is for the next time.  Happy Eating!

Ingredients

Ravioli Pasta dough:

Chowhound gives a great explanation on how to make the ravioli pasta dough including photos and ingredient amounts.

If you don't already have Chef Thomas McNaughton's book Flour+Water Pasta it is a keeper that needs to be incorporated  into your  cookbook collection.

Ravioli stuffing:

  • 1/3 pound Halibut filet

  • 1/3 pound roasted corn kernels

  • 1/3 pound sea greens soaked and blanched aka: sea asparagus, sea beans

  • 3 sprigs thyme

  • 1 shallot quartered

  • half a pan full of water

  • 1 tsp Black Peppercorn

  • 1 tablespoon kosher salt or grey salt

  • 5-6 tablespoons butter

  • fleur de sel

Step 1

Boil a Large Pot of water with kosher or grey salt for the Ravioli.

Next place 2 sprigs of thyme, shallot, peppercorn in saute pan for blanching with enough water to just slightly cover halibut. Poach halibut until translucent and remove from poaching water. Allow halibut to cool then chop finely.

Step 2

Roast corn and remove from kernels from cob. Dice the kernels.

Step 3

Allow blanched sea greens to dry then dice.

Step 4

Mix in bowl the halibut, corn and sea beans and salt and pepper to taste.

Step 5

Stuff ravioli's with about a melon baller size scoopful and close making sure to not leave air inside of the ravioli pockets.

Step 6

In boiling pasta water place filled ravioli and cook until al dente approximate 2-5 minutes depending on thickness and size.

Step 7

While ravioli is boiling heat butter in a separate light colored bottom pan large enough to fit ten ravioli.  Brown butter but be careful not to burn.  Add cooked ravioli to butter and  with a spoon douse ravioli with brown butter.

Step 8

Serve ravioli immediately with sprig of thyme and very small amount of fleur de sel. 

Enjoy!

Tips:

  • When poaching turn down the heat until the heat is almost off do not boil the fish

  • Sea Beans have natural sea salt that must be removed so do not skip the soaking step

  • Taste, Taste, Taste the stuffing prior to filling the ravioli's as you may need to add salt or not depending upon sea beans.

  • Bag of roasted corn can be found at Trader Joe's in a pinch if you do not have fresh corn.

  • A small ravioli pastry wheel makes the edges pretty, I found mine at a second hand shop, but if you are searching for one I like this one from crate and barrel with both cutting edges.

Wine Pairing

  • Oregon Pinot Noir

 

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

“We must have a pie. Stress cannot exist in the presence of pie”
— David Mamet

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Pie? The word alone invokes thoughts of summer warmth, porch rocking chairs and waving neighbors walking down the sidewalk.  It brings people together because no one wants to eat a pie alone and have 6-8 pieces sitting on the kitchen counter waiting to be eaten.  Or maybe you do...

  Having recently become a pie devotee,  thanks to a friend who is pie crazy, the decision was made to produce a hands down fabulous strawberry rhubarb pie.  Seasonal fruits being my favorite she helped me create this delectable pie.  Sweet, and Tart not clumpy or talcum tasting, but rather, a combo of fresh strawberries and crisp rhubarb that will have you weeping for another bite.  Okay, maybe not crying, but I promise it won't last two days in your house.   Camaraderie amongst friends and family  is usually what encourages someone to bake a pie although contests, fairs, or excess fruit from the garden may also be the extra nudge needed to pull out the flour, sugar, and butter.  Whatever your reason for deciding to pull out the pie dish I hope every slice finds you smiling, keeps you laughing, and helps you remember what makes a pie sinfully superior. 

 Why Butter or Lard?  Both butter and lard contain water that when heat is applied through baking makes the water evaporate  causing pockets to occur which leads to that flaky crust that everyone loves.   Don't be afraid of using lard in your pie crust unless you plan on eating the entire pie yourself... 

Ingredients Traditional Pie Dough 

Thanks to À La Mode Pie in Seattle for providing the instructions.

  • 350 grams Flour
  • 42 grams Sugar
  • 5 grams salt
  • 113 grams Cold Butter
  • 113 Grams Cold Lard
  • 125 ml cold water
  • 1 oz vodka

Step 1

In a food processor or with finger tips combine flour, sugar, salt, butter and lard into small chunks.  If self blending make sure to whisk flour and sugar and salt prior to adding butter and lard. You may need to chop into pieces the butter and lard before adding to the flour especially if your butter and/or lard is frozen.

Step 2

Pulse dough until you see small pieces. Next  add water and vodka, you can use a flavored vodka if you choose such as vanilla, whip cream, etc but make sure it is not your most expensive from Russia.

Step 3

Quickly pulse until pie dough comes together in food processor. Do not over process.

Step 4

Wrap pie dough in plastic wrap and chill 4 hours or overnight in refrigerator.

Step 5

Remove dough from refrigerator and slice ball of dough in half using a pastry cutter or knife.

Step 6

Using a rolling pin roll out dough until circular in shape.  Use as little flour as possible while rolling out the dough. A wet dough is better than a dry dough.  After shaping and getting thinness preferred for pie lay dough into inside of pie pan.  Roll out second piece and slice into even strips for making lattice on top of pie.  Follow directions below for filling and finishing pie.

Ingredients Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Filling

  • 465 grams hulled and halved Strawberries
  • 364 grams chopped Rhubarb
  • 224 grams Sugar
  • 19 grams Potato Starch
  • 1 Lemon zested and juiced
  • Pinch of  Kosher salt
  • 1 egg (for egg wash)
  • 1 tsp of sugar (for dusting top)

Step 1

In a large mixing bowl, combine rhubarb, strawberries, sugar, juice, zest, starch, and salt.

Step 2

Place filling in pie shell and lay four strips across the filling then weave the remaining four strips through, in a lattice pattern. Trim and tuck lattice edges underneath bottom crust.

Step 3

Egg wash the pie crust and sprinkle generously with sugar (optional). Place on heavily greased foil lined baking tray and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 40-45 minutes or until juice has thickened and pie is bubbling.

Step 4

Allow pie to cool before serving.

Tips:

  • Cold dough is easier to work with so make sure your dough is very cold when rolling out dough
  • Boogie pies are fun to make using stencils or cookie cutters
  • Crimping the edges of the pie crust use your fingers to make a stick person
  • Add 1/4 cup finely chopped hazelnuts to traditional dough before you add the water for a slightly different crust.
  • Dough should err on the wet side. It is easier to repair a wet dough that fight with a dry crumbly dough
  • If crust begins to brown to much before pie is baked cover lightly with foil


Finger stick men for crimping pie edges

Finger stick men for crimping pie edges

Cinnamon Sugar Doughnuts

“Ich bin ein Berliner””
— President John F. Kennedy

Homemade Yeast Rising Donuts thanks to Brown Eyed Baker

Even JFK must have appreciated donuts after his speech to the Germans in 1963 of oops, calling himself a jelly donut.  Who doesn't after all love a donut gushing with fruit filled jelly that drips onto your white shirt and when taken to the cleaners has to admit it that yes it was jelly on that shirt that needs to be removed.  Or what about hot soft yeast donuts sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar  quickly after scooping them from the fresh frying oil.  The sugar mix sweeps over the donut embedding into the nooks and crannies of each morsel and the sweet sugar and cinnamon lingers on the tongue after each bite.  Gotta love donuts.

 Admittedly a passion to find the best doughnut in Seattle took me far and wide through the mazes of the Pike Place Market to the Street Side Farmer's Market's and onward to the cake doughnuts from Top Pot Doughnuts know best for their visit from a certain President in 2010.  Where have you found to be your favorite doughnut?  Are you a cake doughnut or soft doughy doughnut eater?  Have you had Philippine rice doughnuts? How about a maple bacon doughnut or a peanut butter and chocolate donut? As always homemade completes the circle of the donut search but then again those Ballard Market Donuts always seem to call my name...

Ballard Market Doughnuts

Hot Cinnamon Sugar Donuts from Ballard Market

Peanut Butter and Chocolate from Duck Donuts in North Carolina

Maple Bacon from Duck Donuts North Carolina

Ingredients for Cinnamon Sugar Baked Donuts

Recipe Adapted from Brown Eyed Baker

  • 285 grams  All Purpose  
  • 207 grams All Purpose Flour 
  • 56 grams o/ 1 large Egg
  • 56 grams Sugar
  • 250 ml of warmed Milk
  • 10 grams Active Yeast
  • 3 grams Kosher Salt
  • 113 grams  or 1 stick Unsalted Butter

Cinnamon-Sugar Coating

  • 1 stick butter (4 ounces), melted
  • 1 cup granulated sugar + 2 tablespoons cinnamon, mixed together

Cinnamon sugar Doughnut Holes and Milk...Recipe from Brown Eyed Baker

Step 1

In the bowl of your stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the egg and sugar on medium speed for about 1 minute. Add in the milk, yeast, salt, and vanilla. Turn the mixer to low, and then add in 285 grams of the flour. Blend slightly then stop beating and attach the dough hook and  on medium speed, add the butter one piece at a time until smooth. Reduce the speed to low, and then add the rest of the flour until the dough sticks to the hook and pulls away from the sides of the bowl. It should be soft and moist, but not sticky.

Step 2

 Turn the dough out on to a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth. Place in a mixing bowl coated with cooking spray and cover with a damp towel. Let rise until doubled in volume, about 1 hour. You can do this with your dough hook but great to get your anxieties or stress out on that ball of dough!

Step 3

 Punch down the dough and roll it out to about ½" thickness.  This is an important step or else you will have different size doughnuts which will bake at inaccurate times in the oven. Using a toothpick mark 1/2" on the toothpick as your thickness marker. With doughnut cutter cut out doughnuts and holes. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. On a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, or a silipat place the doughnuts 1" apart.  Do you have a silipat yet? If not they are a time saver and eco friendly.  I recently received one as a gift from my husband and they are amazing! Cover with plastic wrap and let sit on top of the preheating oven or warm room until almost doubled in size, about 25 minutes.

Step 4

 Bake until light golden in color, 5-8 minutes. Flip if you want golden brown on both sides.Using silicone tongues or your fingers, dip the hot doughnuts in the melted butter and then coat with the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Serve immediately; doughnuts are best eaten the same day they are made. 

(Recipe adapted from Doughnuts by Lara Ferroni)