Archive for May, 2008
noodles for breakfast? absolutely!
It’s not your average really good cook who would suggest I invite 8 girlfriends for a sleepover at our lake house and offer to create a delicious breakfast menu centered completely around Al Dente Pasta. But then it’s not just anyone who could show up late to a pot-luck birthday party where she was in charge of organizing the food, and in a matter of 10 minutes miraculously rearrange and transform each and every dish. That’s Annabel Cohen for you and here’s how I met her. It was at Kim Hippler’s 50th birthday party. I went into the kitchen to offer my assistance. Looking around, I couldn’t help but notice many unique touches that were far from traditional. I had to ask “who is the person who thought to garnish this dish with just picked, wildly deformed green and red tomatoes?” I also needed to identify who could imagine grabbing frozen peas from the freezer and with a flick of the wrist, magically adorn a tray of phyllo triangles. The people in the kitchen, to whom I addressed my questions, looked at each other and began describing a burst of energy that seemed to appear out of nowhere. Her name was Annabel. I knew I had to find this person. Needless to say, I did. We clicked immediately and the rest is becoming culinary history.
Kim, Annabel and Me. Getting Ready for Sleepover Cook-a-Thon
Al Dente Pasta Frittata served with Monique’s Luscious Leek and Sundried Tomato Sauce
Frittata is an Italian version of the omelet. Rather than folding ingredients into an egg pancake, the filling is mixed with the eggs and served as an egg pie, cut into wedges. Unlike omelets, frittata can be served warm or at room temperature.
12 ounces (1 package), uncooked Al Dente Pasta, any flavor
1 pound fresh baby spinach large stems removed
12 large eggs
1 1/2 cups shredded fresh Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup water
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 1/2 cups chopped onions
1 medium red bell pepper, chopped
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 jar (about 3 cups) Monique’s Leek and Sundried Tomato Sauce, heated for garnish
Position oven rack in upper third of oven and preheat oven to 400°F.
Cook pasta to al dente according to package directions. Drain well and set aside.
Place spinach in a large microwave-safe bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Cook on high for 5 minutes. Allow to cool to the touch before removing the spinach and chopping (there is no need to remove the water). Set aside.
Place eggs, cheese and water in a medium bowl and whisk well. Set aside.
Heat oil in one very large oven proof nonstick skillet (or two smaller skillets), over medium-high heat. Add the onions and pepper and sauté until softened, about 5 minutes. Add cooked pasta, spinach, tomatoes, salt and pepper and cook, stirring frequently, for 3 minutes more. Spray the sides of the pan with nonstick cooking spray.
Whisk the eggs again for about 10 seconds, and pour the mixture over the vegetables and pasta. Reduce the heat to medium and cook the frittata for about 5 minutes, until the bottom is set and lightly colored. Carefully place the skillet in the preheated oven and bake until frittata is set, about 15 minutes more. Remove from the oven, allow to sit for 5 minutes before running a rubber spatula around the edge and as much of the bottom of the frittata as possible. Tilt the skillet and gently slide the frittata from the pan onto the serving dish, cut into wedges and serve with heated sauce on the side. Makes 12 servings.
Caramelized Noodle Kugel
Although there are countless recipes for kugel, this one, baked in a tube or Bundt pan, reminds me of a gooey stick bun.
1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) butter or margarine
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 1/2 cups pecan halves
1 pound (16 ounces) Al Dente Egg Fettucine
4 large eggs
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp. salt
Melt half the butter in a large tube pan or Bundt pan. Pick up the pan with both hands and swirl the butter around the bottom and up the sides of the pan.
Press the brown sugar into the bottom of the pan and press the pecans into the sugar.
Cook the pasta to al dente, according to the package directions and drain. Transfer the pasta to a large bowl. Mix in the eggs, the remaining butter, cinnamon, sugar, and salt and pour into the pan.
Bake in a preheated 350ºF, oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until the top of the kugel is brown. Let sit for 15 minutes before running a knife around the edge of the pan and unmolding the kugel onto a serving plate. As the kugel cools, the caramel top will become slightly hardened, like praline. Cut into slices and serve at room temperature. Makes 16 or more servings.
1 comment May 27, 2008
locals wherever we go
Al Dente Pasta
Featured at the Ann Arbor 4th Avenue People’s Food Co-op for their Annual Meeting
As Dennis and I travel the country, we always feel like we’re locals wherever we go. But in Michigan, especially Ann Arbor, we are true locals. Lately, whenever I have a free weekend, I’ve been going to stores in our area, sampling Al Dente Pasta and Monique’s Sauces. It has been especially fun to turn people on to our new Whole Wheat Pastas with Flax. In the past months I’ve been to Plum Market, Colasante’s, People’s Food Co-Op and Whole Foods. On May 24th I’ll be at the new Hillers which opened in Union Lake. On May 31st, come visit me at The Produce Station, on June 7th at Papa Joe’s in Birmingham and on July 15th at Busch’s Farmington store. People are always asking me why I, the owner of the company, am still the one out doing the demos. I know it may seem strange, but I really love having the chance to connect with our customers. It always makes me feel good, so I guess that explains why I do it.
Al Dente Pasta with Roasted Vegetables
Recipe
1 head of cauliflower, cut into bite size flowerettes
1 bunch asparagus, tough part of stems snapped off
2 sweet red peppers, cut into chunks
1/2 cup olive oil
coarse kosher salt
Parmesan Cheese
1 bag Al Dente Whole Wheat Fettuccine
Preheat oven to 450. Lightly oil rimmed baking sheets. Place vegetables in a single layer on baking sheets. Lightly toss vegetables with oil and sprinkle generously with coarse salt. Bake until tender. Cut asparagus into 1 inch pieces. In the meantime, cook pasta in a large pot of boiling water. Drain and toss with vegetables. Garnish with chopped fresh parsley and Parmesan Cheese. Serve hot or at room temperature.
Another nice touch is to garnish with toasted almonds or pinenuts.
1 comment May 21, 2008
according to my calculations….friends + AL DENTE PASTA = a ridiculously awesome party
The following article was written by Eden Litt. Monique gave Eden 5 bags of pasta and this was the result:
An Italian, a Portuguese, and an Iranian walk into a room…Sounds like the start of a really bad joke. It’s not, but it was the start of a beautiful fun-filled Al Dente pasta party evening hosted by moi.
The night started off frantically, as this was a spontaneous idea—What should I wear? Do we have enough plates? Where is everyone going to sit? How many people are actually coming?—The party was called for 7:45 pm. I began to cook at 7:30 pm (I couldn’t have been more thankful that Al Dente’s flavorful pasta only takes 3-4 minutes to cook!). By 8:15, all 12 of my guests had shown up for a tantalizing evening. Although it was not required, each guest brought a treat of their own to add to the dinner table: from Sam’s homemade garlic bread and hot buns to Azzurra’s Parmesan cheese imported from Italy to Marina’s delicious veggie dip and vegetables to Farzin’s irresistible upside-down apple pie…just to name a few of the items off of our delectable menu. The night wouldn’t have been complete without all of these additions; however, the spotlight was on our five Fettuccine flavors of Al Dente pasta: Lemon Chive, Wild Mushroom, Red Chili Pepper, Whole Wheat and Garlic Parsley. In just 10 minutes [and two stove tops], we had ALL five bags of pasta cooked. After an introduction to each distinctive pasta variety, sprinkled with my gratefulness to my friends and their contributions, we dug in…and dug in hard.
A taste of our dinner table talk:
“I like the Red Chili Pepper pasta. It has a nice kick.”—Bryan
“Thank heavens for Monique!” –Hugo
“I would totally buy this…it takes no time to cook, yet tastes super fancy. Will you be mad if I steal your idea and have my own pasta party with this stuff?”—Erika
“Wait, this is good for me? Impossible. This tastes way too good.” Marina commenting on the Whole Wheat pasta with added flax
“Whenever I went to the grocery store I always bought ‘pasta’, which consisted solely of macaroni noodles, but this has honestly changed the way I think about pasta, and what I would consider to buy the next time ‘pasta’ is on my grocery list.” –Farzin
“I strongly like the Lemon Chive and Chili flavors the best. Surprisingly I can actually taste a difference.” –Tammy
“I am so full, but I don’t want to stop eating.”—Me
“Please tell me there are going to be leftovers in the house.” –David
The compliments started rolling in before I even needed to ask. However, one of my guests remained silent. I was nervous to call her out and ask her opinion, but I just had to. After all her opinion was sacred…she was Italian. I crossed my fingers, wiped the sweat from my brow, perked open my ears and politely asked for her thoughts. “This tastes the same as a real Italian dish,” she expressed boldly.
And so there it was…the perfect pasta party—15 empty stomachs turned full, two mouth-watering homemade sauces, a showcase of delicious side dishes, the lovely ambience of good music, good laughs, good company, and good food…and lastly, but least forgetfully the tasting of the fastest-cooking, healthiest, and most gourmet pasta ever—Al Dente’s.
Surprisingly I learned a lot that evening, like the fact that I sometimes don’t add enough water when boiling noodles, or the fact that you can add shaved lemon peels to Alfredo sauce. However, the most valuable lesson learned that night was if you can’t afford an Italian cook to slave over the stove for your upcoming dinner party, purchase the next best thing—a bag of Al Dente Pasta!
Below you’ll find the recipes to our homemade sauces (Tomato and Alfredo). I tried to get Sam to post his recipe on how to make his hot buns, but he respectfully declined exposing his family’s secrets.
Recipes:
Eden and David’s Infamous Homemade Tomato Sauce
(Serves ~15 people)
Ingredients
1 14.5 oz can of Tomato Paste
1 28 oz can of diced tomatoes
3-5 cloves of minced garlic
A package of mushrooms
4 tablespoons of olive oil
1.5 packages of Feta Cheese
2 teaspoons Oregano
On low heat, pour 2 tablespoons of olive oil into a small saucepan. Add mushrooms, and cook until they brown. In a larger saucepan, add the rest of the olive oil and garlic. Cook for 5-10 minutes, and then add the tomato paste and can of diced tomatoes. Slowly mix in the mushrooms (and leftover olive oil), oregano, and Feta cheese. Stir. Let simmer for 20-25 minutes over low heat while stirring frequently.
Homemade Alfredo Sauce
(Serves ~15 people)
Ingredients
2 pints of heavy whipping cream
2 cups of freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 sticks of melted butter
Grated lemon peel (optional)
In a large and deep saucepan, heat up at low heat 2 pints of heavy whipping cream and melted butter. Slowly add in the cheese allowing it to melt. Stir often. The grated lemon peel is optional and can be added after the sauce is made—this was an added tip by our Italian guest.
7 comments May 21, 2008
