Morels

Can you spot the morel? Yeah, they’re incredibly hard to find among all those pinecones. We recently went morel hunting, and we found one—count ’em—one single morel for all our efforts. Hardly enough for dinner, but I did add it to a gratin of Creamed Leeks. It’s one of those things, experienced mushroom hunters always keep their foraging spots closely guarded secrets, so we’re just guessing where and when to go. But luckily my morel cravings didn’t go unsatisfied for long—what I didn’t find in the woods, I found at the farmers market.


By the way, morels and asparagus are a perfect springtime pairing.


Seared Rib-Eye Steaks & Steamed Asparagus with Morel Cream Sauce*
Printable Recipe

2 1 to 1 ¼-inch thick rib-eye steaks
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
4 ounces morel mushrooms, sliced into bite-size pieces
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons red wine
¼ cup beef broth
½ cup heavy cream
2 sprigs thyme
1 pound asparagus, trimmed of woody ends

Season the steaks generously with salt and pepper and set aside at room temperature for about half an hour.

Heat a medium, heavy sauté pan over high heat until very hot but not smoking. Add the oil and swirl to coat the bottom of the pan. Add the steaks and cook without disturbing for 4 to 5 minutes, or until they release from the pan and are crusty and brown. Using tongs, turn the steaks and continue to cook over high heat another 2 to 3 minutes, or until the desired doneness. Moisture will just begin to accumulate on the surface of the steaks when they are medium-rare. Remove the steaks to a plate and tent with foil to keep warm.

Reduce the heat to medium, add the morels to the pan, and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes, or until soft. Add the garlic and sauté another 30 seconds, or until fragrant. Add the wine and simmer for a minute or so, scraping up the brown bits from the bottom of the pan with a heat-proof spatula. Add the broth, cream, and thyme and simmer another 6 to 7 minutes, or until thickened and saucy. Meanwhile, blanch the asparagus in a large pot of boiling, salted water for 3 to 4 minutes, or until tender (but do not shock). Using tongs, transfer the asparagus to a paper towel-lined plate and drain for about a minute. Discard the thyme from the sauce, stir in any accumulated juices from the steaks, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Arrange the steaks and asparagus on individual plates, divide the sauce among them, and serve immediately.

Serves 2 to 4. Fresh morels only appear in the spring, so make the most of their fleeting season while you can. The sauce is plate-licking good—my husband proved it—and also fantastic with seared salmon.


*For everything you ever wanted to know about searing, plus dozens of fabulous searing recipes, look for my book Seared to Perfection in stores in the fall of 2010.

And just in case you didn’t find the morel, it’s right there.

Orzo

If I had to pick a favorite pasta shape, I’d probably go with orzo. My mom used to add it to chicken soup when I was a kid. Now I like to eat it plain, with nothing but a dab of butter and a grinding of pepper, or I’ll toss in some cooked broccoli and grated Parmegiano and call it dinner. It’s the texture of orzo that I really like. And the fact that you don’t have to twirl it around a fork, you can just shovel it in. It’s high on my list of comfort foods.

I think that orzo is the most misunderstood pasta shape of all. It troubles me when people are confused about it, when they’re convinced it’s rice. I feel I must come to its defense against this common mix-up—orzo isn’t rice, it’s pasta. Pasta, really. I just want people to understand.

But—and here’s where it gets complicated—even though orzo is pasta, it can be cooked like rice. It’s especially good cooked like rice pilaf. That’s exactly what I recently did, since it’s right in the middle of spring, and I’m having to dream up lots of different and delicious ways to prepare all the beautiful asparagus I keep bringing home from the farmers market.


Orzo Pilaf with Asparagus & Prosciutto
Printable Recipe

1 quart chicken broth
4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter
1 pound orzo
4 to 6 cloves garlic, minced
3 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto, julienned
1 pound asparagus, trimmed of woody ends, thinly sliced on a bias, and blanched
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Grated Parmegiano-Reggiano, for serving

Bring the broth to a simmer in a small saucepan. Meanwhile, heat a large, heavy pot over medium-high heat until very hot but not smoking. Add the butter and swirl to coat the bottom of the pot. Add the orzo and sauté for 4 to 5 minutes, or until golden brown. Add the garlic and sauté for another 30 seconds, or until fragrant. Add the hot broth and simmer, stirring frequently, for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the orzo is al dente. Stir in the prosciutto and asparagus and season to taste with salt and pepper. Arrange on individual plates, top with plenty of Parmegiano, and serve immediately.

Serves 4 to 6 as a main course. Toasting the orzo gives it complex nutty flavor. Be aware that the broth will bubble up furiously when you add it to the orzo.

Hundredth Recipe!

Here it is dear readers, recipe number 100 on Hungry Cravings! I just celebrated my first blogiversary a couple of weeks ago, and now I’ve reached another milestone—the triple digits! All in just over one year! I mean 100 recipes—that’s enough to fill an entire cookbook. But there’s a whole lot more where that came from, and I feel like I’ve only just begun!

So I thought that for nice, big round number like 100, I need something really memorable. Something intense and indulgent. Something completely over the top. Something chocolate, of course! Because I always celebrate with chocolate. Readers, for each and every one of you, I have a smile, a warm hug, and a bowlful of my hundredth recipe, Dark Chocolate Ice Cream.


Enjoy!


Dark Chocolate Ice Cream
Printable Recipe

7 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped or 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
2 ½ cups milk
6 large egg yolks
¾ cup sugar
2 cups heavy cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Place the chocolate into a medium bowl, place the bowl over a medium pan of simmering water, and heat, stirring frequently, until melted. Bring the milk to a bare simmer in a small, heavy saucepan. Whisk together the yolks and sugar in a large bowl. Continue whisking while adding the hot milk in a thin stream. Place the bowl with the yolk mixture over the pan of simmering water, and heat, whisking constantly, for 8 to 10 minutes, or until it thickens and coats the back of a spoon. Immediately strain through a fine mesh sieve into a clean bowl and whisk in the chocolate, cream, and vanilla. Chill over an ice bath until ice-cold. Transfer to an ice cream maker and churn until frozen. Transfer to a container and freeze for 4 to 6 hours before serving.

Makes about 2 quarts. For the best texture, enjoy within a day or two of churning.

Stuff It

If a vegetable has a hollow, pocket, hole, or cavity, we cooks will find a way to stuff it.


Sausage & Pine Nut Stuffed Artichokes with Tomato Sauce
Printable Recipe

4 large artichokes, trimmed
Kosher salt
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
½ pound bulk Italian sausage, crumbled
1 small yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon minced fresh marjoram
2 teaspoons minced fresh rosemary
6 ounces day-old French bread, cut into ½-inch cubes
¼ cup toasted pine nuts
1 cup chicken broth
1/3 cup grated Parmegiano-Reggiano
Freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup white wine
1 recipe Basic Tomato Sauce

Cook the artichokes in a large pot of boiling, salted water for 18 to 20 minutes, or until tender. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the artichokes to a paper towel-lined plate. Let rest for about 20 minutes, or until cool enough to handle.

Meanwhile, heat a large, heavy sauté pan over medium-high heat until very hot but not smoking. Add the oil and swirl to coat the bottom of the pan. Add the sausage and cook for 4 to 5 minutes, tossing about 2 times, until nearly cooked through and crusty and brown in spots.* Reduce the heat to medium, add the onion, and sauté for 4 to 5 minutes, or until soft. Add the garlic, marjoram, and rosemary and sauté for another 1 to 2 minutes, or until fragrant. Mix together the bread cubes, sausage mixture, pine nuts, broth, half of the Parmegiano, and a generous pinch of salt and pepper in a large bowl until all of the liquid has been absorbed.

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Ease each artichoke open with your fingers, spreading the leaves wide without breaking them off. Pull out the tough purple leaves from the centers, and scoop out the chokes using a melon baller. Season the artichokes with salt and pepper and divide the stuffing among them, lightly packing it in. Transfer the artichokes to a roasting pan, top them with the remaining half of the Parmegiano, and add the wine to the pan. Cover the pan tightly with foil and bake for about half an hour, or until heated through. Uncover and bake for another 8 to 10 minutes, or until the Parmegiano is golden brown. Meanwhile, bring the sauce to a simmer. Divide the sauce among individual plates, arrange an artichoke atop each pool of sauce, and serve immediately.


Serves 4. Artichokes appear at farmers markets in the springtime. Trimming them for cooking is surprisingly easy. First cut off the tip with a serrated knife, and then, using a pair of kitchen shears, snip off the thorny end from each leaf. Unless you will be cooking the artichoke immediately, it’s a good idea to rub any cut surfaces with a lemon wedge to prevent browning. If the artichoke has a stem, peel it, and once the artichoke has been boiled, cut off the stem, dice it, and add it to the stuffing. Before stuffing the artichoke, be sure to remove every last bit of the fuzzy choke—it bears that name for good reason. A baguette is the perfect choice for the stuffing. And if you don’t have marjoram, substitute fresh oregano.


*Searing the sausage in this manner adds tons of flavor to the finished dish. For everything you ever wanted to know about searing, plus dozens of fabulous searing recipes, look for my book Seared to Perfection in stores in the fall of 2010.