Maple Mascarpone Cheesecake

Well our Jack & Jill went off without a hitch. Family and friends gathered from all over New England at the local country club to eat, drink, and boogie down with us. It's hard to believe that in about one month I will be married! It was truly a fun time, hangover and all. 

Back in the kitchen, as I alluded to last week, our next project is the Maple Mascarpone Cheesecake. My fiancé has been eyeing this recipe for a while, as have I, so once the hangover wore off I got to work.

While you can find all of the ingredients for this dish year round, it's probably, to me, most appropriate to serve this in the early fall. There's something about the smell of warm maple on a cool night that makes fall seem all the more official to me. It's been equally cool here this week so I just couldn't wait to give this a try. 

First, I brought the maple syrup to a boil, then reduced to a simmer for roughly 30 minutes or  until it was reduced by two-thirds. This really intensified the flavor. It was then finished with heavy cream.

Next, was to butter some ramekins and dust with sugar. I couldn't for the life of me find the exact foil ramekins that Mario mentions in the 'Tools of the Trade' section at the back of the book. My local grocery store only had foil muffin tins, but I used some kitchen shears to separate them and it worked out really well. 

Time to fire up the mixer to beat some cream cheese and sugar. 

Some eggs and vanilla were added in installments, making sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl well. I then added the mascarpone and some of the cooled maple mixture and beat again. Mario noted to not over mix at this stage, as it can lead to the batter breaking. 

The batter goes into the ramekins, which are then placed in a water bath before going in the oven. Don't over fill these because they will expand a little. Then wrap in foil. 

The recipe calls for roughly 50 minutes of bake time which was spot on. These are done when the center isn't jiggly and is set. Something should be said about our will power to wait until they have chilled over night in the refrigerator before digging into them. 

I used a large dinner plate for the final plating, along with the reserved sauce and the roughly chopped walnut shortbread cookies from the last post. As you can see, it made for an elegant looking dessert. It's understandable that Mario says that this is Babbo's most popular one as well.  

I actually preferred using the smaller sized ramekins. Anything bigger would have been overkill to me. This would also make a perfectly sized final course should you attempt to put together one of the recommended tasting courses at the back of the book. 

I will get into tasting courses a little bit later. In fact, because we love hosting dinner parties, my plan is to create my own tasting menu experience here at home and post about it on this blog. But before I sign off for today, I want to talk about Mario's approach to desserts. 

Mario explains that 'in Italy, the dessert is always appropriate to their surroundings. In a fancy ristorante I may be served an exquisite panna cotta scented with a hint of seasonal citrus; a casual trattoria may offer a traditional crumbly cake with a glass of local dessert wine.'  Sometimes you might just have ripened seasonal fruit. Whatever it may be, it's fresh, handmade, and tasty, along with being appropriately portioned. Mario wanted to make sure that this was the focus of the Babbo dessert menu, and I think it's important to have these approaches to dessert in your repertoire.  As I mentioned before, and of course this is totally a personal preference, I think that it's better to offer a dessert that's smaller than larger to your guests. Especially after having a few other courses before it. I like the dessert to be just big enough that upon finishing it I say, 'ah if I only had one more bite.' 

In America, we tend to supersize everything, desserts especially. By doing this, we fail to make anything a special treat. When I can go out at any time of the day or night and get a snack to appease my sweet tooth, then sweet confections merely become a means to an end. And like most addictions, it's never enough nor are you ever really satisfied. Yes, I said addiction, because in 1900 the average yearly consumption of sugar per person in America was 20-30 pounds. Today, it's nearly 120 pounds. Factor in the added unnatural chemicals and preservatives in that crap that we eat and your health becomes a ticking time bomb. 

For some in our government, they believe that the solution is to increase taxes on junk food. Instead, I feel that there is a better solution. I suggest we take the Italian approach. I suggest we take some personal responsibility, get rid of all of the processed junk food in our diet, enjoy fresh fruit, but make a special homemade dessert or treat every once in a while. Invite some friends and family over to share it with. Make it with real food and with real ingredients that you can pronounce. It'll be much better for you and you'll feel great knowing that YOU made it and not some food lab thousands of miles away. 

Okay rant over. That wraps up this post for now. Next, I want to make a few dishes featuring asparagus. Asparagus season is in full bloom and the chefs at Babbo get really excited for it this time of year because it signals the end of winter's long braised food and cold weather. Until next time...

Walnut Shortbread Cookies

This has been another busy week. Working in the kitchen, babysitting our family's dogs, all leading to the weekend crescendo of a Jack and Jill party on Saturday night to celebrate my upcoming wedding to my fiancé Jessica, the love of my life. A little drink and partying with some family and friends is definitely in order!

For the next recipe I decided on the walnut shortbread cookies. With having a lot on my plate this week (no pun intended), I needed something quick and easy to make, preferably with some sugar. I don't get to practice my baking nearly enough. 

These cookies will also serve a dual purpose as a garnish for the next recipe that I will tackle, the maple and mascarpone cheesecake, hopefully in the next few days, provided that I don't have a hangover on Sunday morning. 

These cookies are a favorite of Mario's son, Leo. It's easy to understand why. They have a rich and intense walnut flavor that leaves your house smelling like grandma made them. 

I started by toasting some walnuts in the oven until golden brown. 

While that's working, I cream the butter and both sugars. 

Don't forget to scrape down that bowl. 

Once the walnuts are toasted and cooled, they get pulsed finely in a food processor and added with the other dry ingredients, then mixed with the creamed butter mixture until a soft dough forms. 

Wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap and chill. Mario recommends 30 minutes in the refrigerator, but I put mine in the freezer for about 40 minutes. I didn't want the dough to be frozen or rock hard, I just knew that with my refrigerator it would need longer and that this method would expedite the process much faster. But when you are doing it, take your time. Be deliberate in everything that you do. If after 30 minutes it still doesn't seem firm enough, then give it a little more time. Again, certain parts of these recipes are merely a guide and they don't factor in your own personal home equipment. 

Next, I cut the dough in half and roll each half to a 1/2 inch thickness and cut the shapes. Whatever scrap was left over was rerolled and then recut with the cookie-cutter. In the suggestions for this recipe, Mario does say that doing this may make those rerolled cookies a little tougher than the others. But I didn't notice, and they tasted just great to me. I feel that it is also important to mention that as far as cookie dough goes, this dough does seem a little bit dry compared to the standard chocolate chip cookie dough recipe that you may be used to. 

Finally, we pan up the cookies dust them with a little bit of confectioners' sugar and bake them in the oven for about 15 minutes

Once these cooled, I enjoyed them with a nice hot cup of black tea. I don't normally eat tea cookies, but I can see these becoming my go-to cookie recipe for many years to come. They are by far the best cookie that I have ever eaten in my life. 

I love the buttery richness of a good homemade cookie. I love the aroma that permeates every square inch of the house after you are done baking them. I love that I can actually pronounce all of the ingredients that are in them. I just love them!

Until next time...

Pappardelle Bolognese

I couldn't think of a more amazing dish to ease into this endeavor than Mario's Pappardelle Bolognese. As Mario mentions, few things are simpler, yet more difficult to perfect than a plate of pasta. I couldn't agree more. Nothing quite irks me as much as a bowl of overcooked pasta with a drab condiment.

Bolognese sauce is typically paired with tagliatelle in Italy. The purists would pair it with nothing else. But it is his restaurant and he prefers Pappardelle. So who do you think will win that argument? The sauce can be combined with any noodle really, but it brings up another point. Ultimately all of these recipes are just a guide. You are the chef and ultimately it is you who has to bring your little personal touches into what you cook.

This recipe will comfortably serve 6 to 8 people, so you'll want to invite some friends and family over to share. One whiff of this amazing Ragu and they will be knocking on your door all week.

I started by sweating some mirepoix and garlic

 

 

Next I added the veal, pork, and pancetta, deglazed with some wine, added a little tomato paste and milk and simmered for about an hour. While that is cooking away, I prepared the fresh pasta.

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you have never made fresh pasta before, don't get discouraged. It can be a little bit tricky, but his recipe works perfectly. As you can see, I used the traditional Italian well method. Just flour, eggs, and oil. Once the dough starts to form, it will look like a shaggy mess. It may feel a little bit dry, but trust me, it will all work out. Just give it a good knead and whatever flour that will not incorporate naturally into the dough will just be discarded. In future posts, when I make fresh pasta again I will be sure to post several pictures of this step for those that may feel a little unsure about the consistency. Knead the pasta dough for about 6 to 10 minutes until it looks like this:

 

 Here I am rolling out the fresh pasta after it has been wrapped in plastic wrap and has rested at room temperature for 30 minutes. Yes yes I know it's a handcranked pasta machine. I still have not gotten around to buying the roller attachment for my KitchenAid which will make the process so much faster.

 

 

 After rolling the dough out, it gets cut into 1 1/2 inch wide strips

 

 And now the moment we have all been waiting for... Cook up the pappardelle, toss into the Ragu, and plate it up.

 

 

 

 

This tasted so good. It is amazing how some of the simplest things are often the most magical. I had this with some crusty bread and a good glass of wine. It was hearty but surprisingly light, and the perfect accompaniment for the weather  here in Holyoke today which got up to a balmy 34°   Until next time...

Welcome!!

Hello and welcome to my blog Babbo at Home.  Join me as I attempt to cook all 150+ recipes that are in Mario Batali's cookbook The Babbo Cookbook. 

Mario is my culinary icon and is one of the reasons that I started in the restaurant business in the first place. I would watch in awe as Molto Mario aired daily on the Food Network. In fact, I can still hear the opening theme music in my head! His food had this elegant simplicity about it that intrigued me to my core. Not only was he a treasure trove of culinary knowledge but he also knew much about Italian culture. Something that you could never learn in a textbook. I won't bore you with the details of his past which is easily accessible by doing even the most modest Google search on his life, but he was actually in Italy, working and training, which is pretty much the culinary Mecca for all chefs. It is, like for most chefs, a dream to be able to travel and train there. I, on the other hand, had only a local rag tag culinary school to rely on for my training


So why Babbo and why Mario Batali? Well let's first start with a little background information on myself. My name is Alan Hogan. I live in the great city of Holyoke, Massachusetts where I am employed as a sous chef. Growing up in Connecticut where I've graduated from culinary school, my culinary kitchen adventures has led me to working in some of the top kitchens in the area, including Mohegan Sun, as well as a host of others. My experience includes everything from Italian to steakhouse to even Asian fusion. And yet, I still feel incomplete. I feel like I'm missing part of the equation. Is there something better? Is there a better approach?

In culinary school you learn the five mother sauces and how to make gelatinous stocks, and then how to reduce those gelatinous stocks, thickening with roux to make the sauce for the top end cut of fillet mignon, but Mario's way was drastically different. As anyone who has flipped through the cookbook can see, there are no fillet mignon's and there are no butter poached lobsters, nor will one see demi-glacé. This rather shocked me when I first received my copy of this cookbook nearly 10 years ago. Where was the Chicken Parmesan? I asked. The spaghetti and meatballs? Where was the classic French approach to doing things?

I was introduced to a whole new paradigm. One that would eventually change my approach in the kitchen and the way that I do things. It has led me to question everything that I have been taught, which is after all a good thing. We as cooks and chefs need to continually ask ourselves, why. Why is something the way it is and why do we do what we do?

So it is with much gusto that I declare my proposal to push myself to work through this entire cookbook. I am going to tackle everything that Mario Batali has to throw at me. I am going to learn to do things the Babbo way. Mario's way.

Some recipes will be easy (bruschetta, cookies, the vinaigrettes), and some will not be so easy (tripe, testa,), but I am going to test my skills in every way possible and cook every single thing in this cookbook.

I know what you are thinking. 'So a Chef is going to use a cookbook, big deal.' But bear in mind that this will be no simple task. There are many concepts and ideas in this book that are not taught in culinary schools. For example, I have never worked with lambs tongue, tripe, nor have I ever attempted to take a pig head and turn it into Salumi. But hey, if it's in there I'm going to do it.

So before we get started, let's start with a little disclaimer. I am in no way associated with Mario Batali, Babbo, or anyone in his organization. I am doing this merely for the opportunity to test my skills and to learn something new, as I share my experiences with the public. I am not doing this with the hopes to get a reservation at his restaurant, although that would be pretty freakin' cool! I am not doing this for any sort of fame or recognition. And I will not be revealing any kind of copyrighted material such as recipes. If you would like a recipe you will have to buy the book just like everyone else.

I will post as often as I can until I have reached the pinnacle of cooking every single recipe in this book. I will also include plenty of pictures of me in the process, along with any tips and tricks I picked up along the way to make cooking thru this book a little easier. I welcome all of your comments and emails, and I promise I will do my best to answer all of them as quickly as I can.

So with that let's begin...