Monday, September 19, 2011

So Long to Summer with Sweet Corn Ravioli



I’ve been delinquent in posting this recipe and with only 3 days officially left of summer I figured I better hurry up!  I actually made this a while ago…twice in fact.  The first time, I was at the beach in NC with friends and corn on the cob wasn’t available so I had to use frozen corn.  It was tasty, but when I changed the ingredients a bit the second time around it was definitely better.  This sounds like such a fancy dish, but believe me, other than it being a little time consuming to make, it’s actually quite simple.  And what couldn’t be good about sweet white summer corn, pasta and a white wine butter sauce?  DELICIOUS!!! (Except to those of you who have an aversion to corn on the cob that I will never understand J)  

I didn’t use a recipe for this.  I just thought about the flavor/texture profile I was going for (creamy, sweet, salty, tastes like corn – obvs) and combined all the ingredients then doled blobs out onto gyoza wrappers – asian dumpling wrappers that are the perfect way to make ravioli quickly – folded them over, sealed them and that was that.  The trick to sealing them so they won’t pop open during cooking is to use a mixture of egg and water and rub a little all the way around the inside edge of the wrappers.  After folding them into half-moons, press the edges with a fork to secure the seal.  Like I said, easy, but time consuming.





Here’s what went into the ravioli:

4 oz goat cheese (I used mascarpone the first time – stick with goat, more flavor)
1 cup ricotta
Sweet White Corn from 4 cobs
Salt, to taste
Garlic powder, to taste
Parmesan, for sprinkling before serving

For the sauce, see my recipe from May 16, 2011 – Fish with White Wine Sauce.  Just add a little less lemon juice, and throw in a couple pinches of dried thyme.

Oh, and for good measure, sprinkle some bacon on top as I did.  Mmmmmm, bacon.


Monday, September 12, 2011

Baking GALS Round 3 - White Trash Anyone?

Before



Odd question, I know.  I’d bet there are plenty of people who would say “yes” to that before even knowing what kind of white trash I’m referring to!  Hmmm…we won’t go there.  J

This kind of white trash is much better than the other kind and it’s super easy to make.  Combine a bunch of cereals together with some pretzels and peanuts, melt some white chocolate and mix well.  That’s pretty much it.  When it’s all mixed, turn it out onto waxed paper and let it cool completely.  Only thing to note is that white chocolate doesn’t melt the same way that regular chocolate does.  It becomes stirable, but not pourable.  I had to scrape the melted chocolate from the pan and use my hands (don’t worry, I had my trusty latex gloves on) to gently squish everything together.

So simple and quite delicious….the perfect combination of salty and sweet.  And for those of you who claim not to like white chocolate, try it anyway, trust me.   I hope the fellas like it, it went out in the mail today!

Adapted from recipe by Alton Brown

3 cups rice chex
3 cups corn chex
3 ½ cups cheerios
2 ½ cups roasted salted peanuts
2 cups small pretzels – I used sticks and broke them in half
2 bags (11oz each) white chocolate chips


After - yum!!

**UPDATE**  I have since learned from a very reliable source on the matter, that the trick may be to add a little Crisco oil (meaning vegetable oil I believe) to the white chocolate chips as you're melting them.