Homemade Black Pepper Fettuccine Pasta with Summer Truffles, Parmesan and Butter

All Photos © Christine Elise McCarthy 2015

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All my posts now have a VERY customizable PRINT & PDF option.  Create a PDF & save the recipe to your computer or print it out.  It offers a “remove images” option & you can delete any part of the post you do not need before printing.  The button is below by the Twitter & Facebook links.

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I made this dish with THESE noodles & simply added a tablespoon of ground pepper to the eggs before kneading them into the dough.   Any dry pasta would work, too, but fresh noodles are just that much more delicate and the flavors here benefit from that.  If you cannot (or don’t care to) make homemade pasta – maybe buy the fresh pasta available at most supermarkets in the refrigerated section.

I found these truffles at my local Gelson’s for $14 and could not resist trying them – for that low price.

Ultimately, they were very, very lightly flavored – so I added a drizzle of the truffle oil above.  Still, the flavors were almost imperceptible but that was OK because I discovered that noodles with butter & Parmesan (and maybe some fresh parsley) are pretty awesome, too, and had that as my second meal with the homemade fettuccine.

If you ever come across actual fresh truffles, come back to this recipe & try them this way.   Or – if you have a truffle oil you love, drizzle that on the pasta & skip the actual truffles, altogether.

Homemade Black Pepper Fettuccine Pasta with Summer Truffles, Parmesan and Butter

Serves 2

INGREDIENTS

1/2 lb fresh pasta (or dry pasta of your choice)

2 Summer Truffles (optional) – sliced at thin as you can muster

Truffle oil

2 -3 TBS of the highest quality butter you can find (preferably grass fed)

1/2 cup or more of Parmesan cheese (highest quality you can find) – grated or shaved

Salt

Freshly ground pepper

Fresh parsley – chopped (if you are not using truffles)

DIRECTIONS

Cook & drain the pasta – reserving about 1/2 cup of the hot pasta water.

Melt the butter in a large saute pan (large enough to hold all the pasta).   I drizzled a bit of the liquid from the truffle jar in the butter & a few little bits of the truffles.

When the butter is melted, add the pasta & the Parmesan.  I used about 1/2 cup but the amount of cheese is really up to you.

Stir to blend & warm through.

Plate the pasta & garnish with sliced truffles, truffle oil, salt & lots of freshly cracked pepper.  Add more cheese, if you like.

If you are not using truffles, freshly chopped parsley is nice.

Vegan 15 Bean Soup with Arugula and White Truffle Oil for the Slow Cooker

 

All Photos © Christine Elise McCarthy 2015

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To see images of my past posts & get links to the recipes – look on my Pinterest board – HERE.

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All my posts now have a VERY customizable PRINT & PDF option.  Create a PDF & save the recipe to your computer or print it out.  It offers a “remove images” option & you can delete any part of the post you do not need before printing.  The button is below by the Twitter & Facebook links.

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First – two cool things about LA: the vintage cars that lined Wilcox the other day – evidently there for a period scene in a film and the gorgeous sunrise in that un-retouched or enhanced image above.

Now for yet another insanely easy vegan recipe for a slow cooker.  Even a child could pull this off.  I added arugula because I had it & it was beginning to wilt but it was no match for 5 hours in a slow cooker and basically disintegrated so – if you want to add arugula, stir it into your soup just before serving.

Vegan 15 Bean Soup with Arugula and White Truffle Oil for the Slow Cooker

INGREDIENTS

20 ounces of mixed beans (throw out the gross ham flavor packet)

10 cups vegetable stock

juice of 1 lemon

1 onion – diced

5 carrots – sliced

5 celery stalks – chopped

2 red potatoes – cubed

3 garlic cloves – minced

Arugula (optional) – as a last minute add in (CHOP IT – or else you will have long strands of red hot wilted arugula hitting you in the chin)

Parsley – chopped as garnish

White truffle oil to drizzle (optional)

DIRECTIONS

Put all that shit (except the arugula, parsley & truffle oil) into a 6 QT slow cooker & set on high for 5 hours.

Garnish as you like.

See?  EASY!

Smoked Gouda & Truffle Oil Mac and Cheese with Crispy Panko

 

All Photos © Christine Elise McCarthy 2014

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All my posts now have a VERY customizable PRINT & PDF option.  Create a PDF & save the recipe to your computer or print it out.  It offers a “remove images” option & you can delete any part of the post you do not need before printing.  The button is below by the Twitter & Facebook links.

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This is the second installment of my mac & cheese hat trick.   Easy & THIS one was the crowd pleaser of the three.  The other day I posted Chipotle Gouda and Guinness (Stout) Mac and Cheese with Vegan Pulled Chicken (or Pork) in Homemade Chipotle Apricot BBQ Sauce – seen just above.  I kinda liked that one the best but this one is simple & elegant.  Just do not be heavy-handed with the truffle oil because it gets overpowering quickly,  Also – be sure it is not old – because it goes rancid faster than most oils or, maybe because you typically use it sparingly, it just sits around past its shelf life but be sure to sniff it before using it.

Here is the mint & zucchini mac & cheese!

Again – I cooked these for a birthday party (the three versions) and did not photograph them out of the oven.  The photos in ramekins were taken the following day as I reheated leftovers.   You could cook yours in a casserole pan or in ramekins.  Either way, it still tastes delicious!

Without further ado – I present my Smoked Gouda & Truffle Oil Mac and Cheese with Crispy Panko!

Smoked Gouda & Truffle Oil Mac and Cheese with Crispy Panko

INGREDIENTS

1 lb pasta – cooked, drained & cooled under running water

12 oz smoked Gouda – grated

2 cups mozzarella – grated

A few tsp truffle oil (black or white) used in a quantity to suit you particular tolerance of the flavor

1 TBS Dijon

4 cups milk

4 TBS butter

4 TBS flour

S&P

1-2 cups panko

DIRECTIONS

Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Cook & cool the pasta.  Drizzle about 1 tsp truffle oil on it & stir it in.  Set aside.

Warm the milk.

In another pan, melt the butter over med-high heat & then add the flour.  Whisk constantly & it should bet thick pretty fast.  Heat it until it starts to turn a golden sandy color.  Then, reserving ONE CUP of the milk to the side for later, add the remaining 3 cups of milk 1/2 cup at a time, whisking the whole time, until all the milk is incorporated & it is sorta thick – but still pourable.

 

Whisk in the Dijon and a tsp of truffle oil.  Taste it & decide whether you think it could use more truffle oil.  I did not add more here – but you can if you like.  All truffle oil is not created equal & some may be stronger than others & the amount required is a matter of personal preference.  Add S&P.

Now add the smoked Gouda & the mozzarella.  When the cheese is all melted & incorporated, mix in the pasta.  Taste it.  Does it need more truffle oil?  You decide but try to go light with it.

At this point, I felt my pasta was too dry & might get ruined in the oven so I stirred in the remaining cup of milk.   This is also a judgement call.  I like wetter mac & cheese – others like it drier.  Use your judgement.  The top picture is before I added milk & the next shows what it looked like with a cup of milk added.

 

The truffle mac & cheese is above on the right.

Treat a casserole pan or a bunch of ramekins with cooking spray & put the pasta in.  Top with panko.  I sprayed the panko with cooking spray.  It helps add some crunch to the breadcrumbs.

Bake for about 30 minutes or until it is all melty & the panko is beginning to brown.

Serve with additional truffle oil on the table so folks can add more if they like a heavy truffle flavor.

Enjoy!

Vegan Celery Root Puree Soup with Black Truffle Oil

 

All Photos © Christine Elise McCarthy 2013

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Food doesn’t get much easier than this.  The truffle oil is a delightful touch but not required to make this soup addictive.  Despite tasting rich & creamy – this is vegan & virtually calorie-free.   TRY IT!

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Vegan Celery Root Puree Soup with Black Truffle Oil

4 softball-sized celery roots – peeled & cubed (save a few green top leaves for garnish)

1 onion – diced

1 TBS olive oil

4 garlic cloves – minced

1 tsp white pepper

Water to cover (or stock)

Black (or white) truffle oil for drizzling

Salt to taste

DIRECTIONS

Put the celery root cubes in a soup pot.  Add water or stock (or water with a few bouillon cubes) to cover.  Boil the celery root until soft.

Saute the onion & garlic in the olive oil until the onion is translucent.  Add the onions to the celery root & stock.  Add white pepper & puree with either an immersion blender or in batches with a regular blender.

Add salt to taste.  Serve in bowls, drizzle with truffle oil (or not), lots of cracked pepper & a few celery leaves.

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Truffled Celery Root Mixed Grain Risotto Tower with Roasted Beets, Pan-fried Cauliflower & Basil Jus

 

All Photos © Christine Elise McCarthy 2013

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This might look intimidating but it is not.  It just requires a few easy steps.  Most of it could be substituted with other ingredients, too.  For example – hate beets?  Use carrots or corn or sweet potato instead.  Trader Joe’s mixed grain thing not available to you?

Use a regular risotto.  Celery root unavailable or yucky to you?  Make your risotto with whatever ingredients you prefer.  Don’t have fancy food mold ring to create the tower?   Use a bowl or just free form it on the plate for a more rustic presentation.

I loved this dish.  The celery root absolutely held its own despite competing with a lot of other flavors here from white truffle oil to roasted beets & garlic to the fried cauliflower to the basil oil.   This dish was served closer to warm-room temperature than what I would call hot – primarily because there are so many ingredients to time properly – but I liked it just warm.  It might also be served hotter if you don’t spend 15 minutes trying to get the perfect photo of it.

Speaking of which – I am often asked what I use to photograph the food.  The answer?  My iphone 5 and a construction lamp.  See?

That is all I have going on.  I have limited dishware & napkins etc with which to present my recipes and I am beginning to feel my images are starting to look a lot alike but that is just the reality of doing it all DIY on a shoestring budget.  But THIS dish – this will definitely wow folks on any plate.  I hope you try it.

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Truffled Celery Root Mixed Grain Risotto Tower with Roasted Beets, Pan-fried Cauliflower & Basil Jus

INGREDIENTS

For the risotto

1 lb Mixed grains (or risotto or other rice)

1 large celery root – peeled & diced

2 cups milk

1 cup Parmesan – grated

White truffle oil to drizzle – (VERY optional)

For the roasted beet & garlic puree

6 small beets

4 TBS heavy cream

4 cloves garlic

For the pan-fried cauliflower

1 head cauliflower

1-2 TBS olive oil

For the basil jus (basil oil)

1 cup fresh basil

3/4 cup high quality olive oil

DIRECTIONS

For the beet & garlic puree

Halve your beets (or quarter them if the are large) & drizzle them with olive oil.  Toss them with the garlic cloves & roast them & the garlic (add lots of extra garlic so you can have some extra around for future recipes) in a 400 degree oven for 30-45 minutes or until tender.  Check frequently & remove the garlic if it browns quickly & is done before the beets.  When roasted – cool a bit then puree the beets, 4 roasted garlic cloves & the heavy cream in a food processor.  Set aside.

For the basil jus

Plunge the basil in boiling water for 30 seconds.  Plunge it in cold water, drain & squeeze out the water.  Puree the basil with olive oil in a food processor.  Set aside.

For the pan-fried cauliflower

Slice the cauliflower into 3/4 inch steaks.  Heat the olive oil & fry the cauliflower until browned on both sides.

Alternatively – you could roast the cauliflower (tossed in olive oil) in a 400 degree oven for 30 minutes or until it is soft & beginning to brown.  My photo here is of florets roasted in the oven.  The assembled tower images show cauliflower pan-fried as steaks.

For the risotto

I cooked the bag of mixed grains as per the directions.

Bring the milk to a boil, add the diced celery root to the milk, reduce heat & simmer for about 20 minutes or until the celery root is soft.

Blend the celery root, the milk it cooked in & the cheese in a food processor until smooth.  Add to the cooked grains & blend completely.  Drizzle with truffle oil (if using) – sparingly, as it can really overpower the other flavors.

TO ASSEMBLE

I used a food ring like this

and simply put a layer of risotto then beet puree then cauliflower.  I drizzled it with the basil jus & topped it with watercress.  You could build yours backwards in a greased ramekin & flip it or in a bowl & flip it – or just present it in a more casual, rustic, unformed way.

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Traditional Deviled Eggs or with Shrimp or Truffle Oil or Pesto or Jalapenos or Sriracha or Harissa

 

All Photos © Christine Elise McCarthy 2012

I love deviled eggs and I am always surprised at how popular they are – because the concept is kinda gross.  And they smell so farty.  Yet – these bad boys evaporate at parties.

I recently attended a little shindig & decided to bring a sampler assortment of deviled eggs.  I found a few cool tricks to make them better, too.  One – how to get the yolks centered in the egg so you can better stuff them with the deviled mixture:

To accomplish this in each egg you boil you need to do a little advance planning. The night before boiling, take the eggs out of the egg carton and place them in the carton so the eggs are horizontal, or on their sides. They won’t fit right in the egg carton, nor will you be able to close the carton lid. This will, however, set the yoke in the center for boiling.

Secondly – the art of peeling:

ADD A TEASPOON OF BAKING SODA TO THE WATER YOU BOIL YOUR EGGS IN!!!  After hard boiling your eggs for 15 minutes, put them in cold water to bring the temperature down rapidly. You can even use ice cubes in your water, and you can change it several times—if you have the time—as the eggs will quickly warm the water up again.

Make sure they are cold as can be before you move on to the next step. This means the papery membrane is more likely to stick to the shell rather than your egg, so peeling is made super easy.

Tap the big end (bottom) of an egg onto the countertop so it cracks, then flip it and do the same for its more slender opposite end. This releases the pressure for the majority of the shell around the middle of the egg, and peeling the whole lot off should now be a breeze.

If the shell is still a little resistant to your charms, you can try peeling it underneath running cold water. It helps to persuade the shell away from the egg, as well as making for a perfect and clean finish to the outside to your egg.

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These tricks helped a lot.  There were a few eggs that got butchered in the peeling but far fewer than usual.  And look what I found inside one of them!

This reminded me of my new fixation – Abby & Brittany – the two-headed girl.

If you haven’t seen these gals on their new reality show – you need to.  They are amazing!

Anyway – I started with twenty eggs.  That’s a lot.  Reduce this recipe if you are not making these for a large group.

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Traditional Deviled Eggs

INGREDIENTS

20 hard boiled eggs – preferably chilled overnight (though this isn’t necessary)

1 cup mayonnaise

1 tsp hot sauce

1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 TBS Dijon mustard

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

OPTIONAL INGREDIENTS: Harissa paste, pesto, jalapenos, shrimp, sriracha, truffle oil, chives, scallions, horseradish, parsley

DIRECTIONS

Carefully halve all your eggs & delicately remove the hard yolks.  Mix the yolks with the other ingredients.  Use a sandwich baggy with one corner cut out & use it as a pastry bag to fill your eggs without making a huge mess – like you see HERE.

And there you have it!

As to the variations – I took a portion of the traditional recipe & added things like cooked shrimp with chopped parsley:

Jalapenos (four 4 deviled eggs I added 1/2 tsp horseradish sauce & 1 diced jalapeno)

Harissa Eggs (for four – I added 2 tsp harissa paste & drizzled more on top) with paprika:

White Truffle Eggs – for four eggs, I added 1-2 tsp white truffle oil & cracked pepper:

Pesto Eggs – I added a dollop of pesto on top of the traditional eggs & some sliced scallions:

Sriracha Eggs – I just drizzled sriracha on them:

The potential for these guys is limitless.  Get creative!