Kitch n Therapy

Simple Ingredients

Making a well for the egg, olive oil and salt.

The Atlas used for rolling and cutting.

Tagliatelle

Fresh Pasta
adapted from The Fine Art of Italian Cooking by Giuliano Bugialli

Ingredients:

1 cup of unbleached all-purpose flour
1 extra-large egg
1 teaspoon olive or vegetable oil
pinch of salt

The proportion of ingredients to each other is given, rather than a fixed amount per serving, because the amounts vary depending on which dish the pasta is being made for. White flour is used in making fresh pasta but Bugialli notes that Semolina should be used when making dried pasta.

Directions:

Place the flour in a mound on a pasta board. Make a well in the center and put in the egg, olive oil, and salt. With a fork, first mix together the egg, oil and salt, then begin to incorporate the flour from the inner rim of the well, always incorporating fresh flour from the lower part, pushing it under the dough to keep the dough detached. When almost half of the flour is absorbed, start kneading using the palms of the hands in a folding motion. Continue kneading until almost all of the flour has been absorbed. This process can take up to 10 minutes. Then the pasta is ready for the machine. If more than one egg has been used, cut the dough into as many pieces as eggs used. For each piece of dough, begin at setting 1 and pass dough through the rollers. Then fold the dough into thirds and press down. Sprinkle with flour and repeat the rolling and folding eight to 10 times until the dough is very smooth. These steps take the place of hand kneading. However, if you prefer hand kneading, then repeating the rolling and folding can be skipped. With whatever process you use, then move the wheel to the next notch and pass the dough through once, do not fold. Move the wheel to each successive notch to produce thinner layers of pasta. Stop when the layer reaches the thickness desired. Sprinkle a cotton dishtowel with flour and lay the sheet of pasta upon it until a think film forms, before cutting. Once cut, let the tagliatelle stand one a pasta board, or hang as in the photo above, until needed. When cooking fresh tagliatelle, add coarse salt to boiling water, then pasta, stir with wooden spoon and let cook for only 30 seconds. Drain and arrange on serving dish with prepared sauce. Serve immediately.

Making a homemade chicken stock is well worth the effort.  Although rigid recipes are not necessary for stocks, there are a few vital factors to know:

• Use a stock pot which is taller than it is wide.  This allows for slower evaporation and less time replacing liquid.
• Start with COLD water for the most flavor.  Cold water won’t immediately cook the proteins from the bones like hot water.  Because protein is water soluable, cold water will allow the protein to float to the top where it can be skimmed off.
• Bring to a boil quickly and then immediately turn down to a simmer.  If the stock is boiled, the fat will emulsify into the stock and creak a cloudy, fatty stock.
• No salt ever in the initial making of stock.
• Cook quickly with a cold water bath and refrigerate immediately.  If you must refrigerate it in small containers, then use only containers 3 1/2 inches in depth.  Stock can be stored in the refrigerator for 2 days, and in the freezer for one month.
• Boil any stock that has been stored before using it.

The best part of the chicken for stock is the cartilage because this is 100% protein and will dissolve into stock and be gelatinous.  If you have a source for chicken carcasses, including necks and backs but no liver,  then use the carcasses without meat attached.  Otherwise you may use a whole chicken and after approximately 50 minutes of simmering, remove as much of the meat as possible and return bones, etc to the stock.

Practical Recipe for Chicken Stock

2 chicken carcasses, including necks, no livers.  Or 2 whole chickens, no livers.

Add to tall stockpot with the next ingredients:

Mirepoix mixture consisting of 2 parts onions, 1 parts carrots, and 1 part celery (rough cut).

• The Mirepoix should be 1/8 amount as the bones, or for example if you have 2 pounds of bones then use 1/4 pound of  Mirepox.
• For 2 chicken carcasses, approximately,  2 onions, quartered; 1 carrot, cut into 1-inch slice, and 1 rib of celery, cut into 1-inch pieces.

Bouquet Garni including a sachet of Thyme, Bay leaves, Parsley stems, and Pepper Corns.
Whole clove of Garlic.
Cold water to cover.

Bring to boil quickly, skim, and then reduce heat to simmer.
Simmer, uncovered, for 3 hours, adding hot water as necessary to keep vegetables covered.

Strain stock through a fine-mesh strainer into a large soup pot.  Cool immediately by placing in a sink filled with ice water.

Voilà!