Back to School Suppers - Pasta with Fennel, Sweet Sausage and Wine

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...I first featured this Patricia Wells recipe in 2008. While this pasta dish captures the soul of regional French cooking, it's not at all fussy and it is so simple to make that you might want to include it in your your collection of back to school suppers recipes. Pasta, sweet sausage and fennel are simmered together in a rich wine reduction before being coated with a mixture of egg and cheese. The shimmering sauce clings to the pasta and your first bite reveals flavor that rarely comes from a sauce so spare and easy to prepare. So, gather the family around the table for this simple pasta feast. Here is how the dish is made.

Patricia Wells' Lemon Loaf Cake - Cake Au Citron

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...I've been baking today. Like many of you, the Silver Fox and I will be attending an Academy Award party on Sunday and I've been asked to bring an appetizer and dessert. For all the baking I do, I have never made the Lemon Loaf Cake that Patricia Wells featured in her book Bistro Cooking. I thought this would be a perfect cake to tote with us, but while I was at it, I decided to also make Dorie Greenspan's s version of a similar cake. I wanted to do a side-by-side comparison of the two.  The cakes are not identical to each other,  so each will be featured in a separate post. First up, will be Patricia Wells' Cake Au Citron, This lemon cake is intensely flavored and has a texture that makes is hard to categorize. It is most like a pound cake, though it is lighter and more finely textured. The cake is very easy to make and requires no special equipment. It is almost foolproof. Almost. Like all pound-type cakes it is prone to "sad streaks". A sad streak is a gummy layer that sometimes appears toward the bottom of a pound cake. I'm sure you have encountered them at one time or another in your baking. Their appearance does not mean there is a problem with the recipe. You can bake a hundred beautiful cakes using the same recipe, then suddenly  encounter one that has that damp and gummy sad streak. It probably is related to cake shrinkage and some bakers go so far as to drop or bounce their cakes to set the crumb and prevent shrinkage. I'm not that brave. I'd rather live with an occasional gummy streak than deliberately drop a cake. I mention the streaks because one of the two cakes I baked using this recipe had the gummy streak in it while the other was perfect. Quite vexing. At any rate, this is a delicious cake to make for lemon lovers in your life. Its flavor is intense and, while it is wonderful as a standalone dessert, it would also make a fabulous base for a fruit compote or trifle. The cake keeps well and improves in flavor as it ages. Needless-to-say, it would be wonderful to serve with afternoon tea. Lemon lovers will really enjoy this cake. Here is how it is made.

Lemon Loaf Cake - Cake Au Citron...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite courtesy of Patricia Wells and Bistro Cooking

Ingredients:
2-1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
5 large eggs
1-1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup creme fraiche or heavy cream
7 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
Grated zest of 4  medium lemons

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter two 9” loaf pans.
2) Combine flour and baking powder and set aside.
3) Combine eggs and sugar in an electric mixer and mix until well blended. With mixer at slow speed, slowly add, in this order: creme fraiche, flour mixture, butter, lemon juice and lemon zest. Beat until very smooth.
4) Divide batter between prepared loaf pans. Place pans in center of oven and bake until golden and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about one hour. I suggest checking after 50 minutes. Remove to a rack to cool. Let sit for 10 minutes then turn out onto cooling rack. Turn upright and let sit until cool. Cut into thin slices. Yield: 2 cakes.







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Two Years Ago Today: Perfect Fried Onion Rings














Three Years Ago Today: Thai-Style Catfish - Plah Toht  Kamin  

Vintner's Grape Cake

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...I want to wish all of you who have loved and nurtured children a happy Mother's Day. I hope that those you are tending and those you have given wings will make this a special day for you. I'll be away from my own kitchen this week, but I'll be cooking and, hopefully, will be able to share some very simple recipes with you. The first of them is for a grape cake that was created by Patricia Wells. As you know, I'm partial to this type of cake, and if it is made with olive oil, I become positively weak-kneed. I love the play of the robust oil against the sweetness of the grapes. Cakes like this were originally seasonal and made only in the fall when grapes were being harvested. That limitation no longer exists, so, I make these cakes whenever I can find decent seedless grapes in the market. This version has lovely citrus overtones, and the flavor combination reminds me of a well-balanced sangria. The cake is really easy to make and it keeps and transports well. I hope you will give it a try. Here's the recipe.

Vintner's Grape Cake...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite courtesy of Patricia Wells

Ingredients:
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/3 cup whole milk
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
A pinch of sea salt
Grated zest of 1 lemon
Grated zest of 1 orange
10 ounces small, fresh seedless purple grapes
Confectioners’ sugar, for garnish

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Generously butter and flour a 9-inch springform pan, tapping out any excess flour. Set aside.
2) Place eggs and sugar in bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Beat until thick and lemon covered, about 3 minutes. Add butter, oil, milk, and vanilla extract, and mix until blended.
3) Sift flour, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl. Add lemon and orange zest, and toss to coat zest with flour. Spoon mixture into batter and stir with a wooden spoon until thoroughly blended. Scrape down sides of the bowl and mix again. Set aside for 10 minutes to allow flour to absorb liquids.
4) Stir about 3/4 of the grapes into the batter. Spoon batter into prepared cake pan and smooth top with a spatula.
5) Place pan in center of oven. Bake for 15 minutes, then sprinkle top of cake with remaining grapes. Bake until top is a deep golden brown and the cake feels quite firm when pressed with a fingertip, about 40 minutes more, for a total baking time of 55 minutes. Place on a rack to cool. After 10 minutes, run a knife along sides of pan. Release and remove sides of springform pan, leaving cake on pan base. Sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar just before serving. Serve at room temperature, cut into thin wedges. Yield: 8 to 12 servings.

One Year Ago Today: Spring Vegetable Soup

Two Years Ago Today: Greek-Style Yogurt Pie with Fruit Preserves

Three Years Ago Today: Old-Fashioned Blackberry Pudding

French Lemon Tart and Pâte Sablée

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...This lovely tart will raise an eyebrow or two. It combines a copious amount of lemon juice with a scant measure of sugar to produce a puckery custard that contains no butter or lemon zest. The finished tart is ambrosia for those who love lemon desserts and it is a boon for busy cooks. The tart filling contains just four ingredients, and the recommended pastry shell, a pâte sablée, can be made in a food processor and patted into place. If you are pressed for time, a ready-to-roll commercial pie crust can also be used. Please don't ask how I know that. This is a wonderful company or family dessert. It is not too sweet and it has glorious color. The recipe comes from Bistro Cooking by Patricia Wells. The tart lacks the height and sweetness of a standard lemon pie, but its wonderful flavor and spare simplicity will please the palate of any Francophile. You might want to serve this with macerated berries or a dollop of whipped cream. Here's the recipe.

French Lemon Tart - Tarte au Citron Madame Cartet...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite courtesy of Patricia Wells, Bistro Cooking

Ingredients:
2/3 cup fresh lemon juice (about 4 lemons)
1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons creme fraiche or heavy cream
5 large eggs
1 pâte sablée shell (see below), pre-baked and cooled

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2) Combine lemon juice, sugar and creme fraiche in a large bowl. Whisk until well blended. Add egg, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
3) Pour lemon cream into prepared shell. Bake until firm, about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from oven and place on a rack to cool. Serve at room temperature . Yield: 8 servings.

Pâte Sablée...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite courtesy of Patricia Wells Bistro Cooking

Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour (do not use unbleached)
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cut into pieces
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1 large egg, lightly beaten

Directions:
1) Place flour, butter,salt and sugar in bowl of a food processor. Process just until mixture resembles coarse crumbs, about 10 seconds. Add egg and pulse just until pastry begins to hold together, about 20 times. Transfer the pastry to waxed paper. Flatten dough into a disk.
2) Dust fingers with flour, then, working very quickly with just your finger tips, press dough into a 10-1/2-inch loose bottomed black tin tart pan. I used a 9-inch tart pan. Press dough up sides of shell and crimp evenly. Cover carefully with plastic wrap or foil. Refrigerate for 2 to 3 hours.
3) Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
4) Prick bottom of shell with tines of fork. Line shell loosely with heavy-duty foil, pressing well into edges so pastry will not shrink while baking. Fill with baking wights or dried beans to prevent shrinkage. Bake just until pastry begins to brown around edges and seems firm enough to stand up by itself, about 20 minutes.
5) For a partially baked shell: Remove weights and foil and continue baking until lightly browned all over, about 10 minutes more. For a fully baked shell: Remove weights and foil and bake for an additional 20 minutes. Watch carefully to prevent burning. Cool for at least 10 minutes before filling. Yield: 1 pastry shell.







One Year Ago Today: Grapefruit Sorbet














Two years Ago Today: Swedish Meatballs








You might also enjoy these recipes:
Northwest Lemon Tart - Step By Step Gourmet
Strawberry Lemon Tarts and More - Pantry Eats
Luscious Lemon Tart - Flour Me with Love
LemonTart (from Joy of Baking) - Life of a Foodie and Her Family
Lemon Curd Tartlets with White Chocolate - Sweet Sensations

50 Women Game Changers in Food - #11 Patricia Wells - Golden Cream and Apple Tart

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...Julia Child stole my heart, but Patricia Wells grabbed all the shelf space as each of her thirteen books found a spot in the bookcases against my den walls. In an industry that has fallen victim to the cult of personality, this quiet and unassuming woman continues to write and teach and create gorgeous meals that define what good cooking should be. She does it without fuss or fanfare, and, fortunately for us, she records what happens in her kitchen. She studied art history and journalism in college. While she loved to cook, there were no food writers at the time she graduated, so she used her other skill and became an art critic for the Washington Post. Bored, she moved to New York and began to write about food whenever the opportunity arose. In 1976 she became a food writer for the New York Times and was finally able to combine her love of food and cooking with her writing. Two years later she moved to Paris to write for the Anglophone papers and, following publication of her first book, became the first woman restaurant critic for the French newspaper L'Express. In the intervening years, she garnered a James Beard Award for her writing and established a cooking school that is held in high regard. While French food is her forte, she now runs marathons and her work in recent years features lighter, healthier fare. I've selected this beautiful peasant tart to represent her recipes. It is delicious, simple to make and a perfect example of French bistro cooking. I hope you'll give it a try.

Golden Cream and Apple Tart - Tarte Aux Pommes A La Creme...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite courtesy of Patricia Wells

Ingredients:
3large egg yolks
3/4 cup creme fraiche or heavy cream
5 tablespoons sugar, divided use
1 tart shell, pre-baked and cooled
4 cooking apples (about 1-1/2 pounds), such as Granny Smith

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2) Place egg yolks in a large bowl and beat with a fork. Add creme fraiche and 3 tablespoons sugar, mixing until well-blended. Set Aside.
3) Peel and core apples. Cut them in half and then cut each half into quarters. Starting just inside edge of pastry shell, neatly layer slices, slightly overlapping them, in 2 or 3 concentric circles, working toward center of tart. Pour cream mixture over apples. Sprinkle top with reserved 2 tablespoons sugar.
4) Bake in center of oven until cream filling is set and apples are very brown, even blackened at edges, about 45 minutes. Remove to a rack to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature. Yield: 8 servings.

The following bloggers are also paying tribute to Patricia Wells. I hope you'll visit all of them.

Val - More Than Burnt Toast
Joanne - Eats Well With Others
Taryn - Have Kitchen Will Feed
Susan - The Spice Garden
Claudia - A Seasonal Cook in Turkey
Heather - girlichef
Miranda - Mangoes and Chutney
Jeanette - Healthy Living
April - Abby Sweets
Katie - Making Michael Pollan Proud
Mary - One Perfect Bite
Kathleen -Bake Away with Me
Viola - The Life is Good Kitchen
Sue - The View from Great Island
Barbara - Movable Feasts
Kathleen - Gonna Want Seconds
Amy - Beloved Green

Next week we will highlight the food and recipes of Lidia Bastianich. It will be really interesting to see what everyone comes up with. If you'd like to join us please email me for additional information. Everyone is welcome.

Ravioli with Cream, Bay Leaf and Sage

This is another wonderful recipe from Patrica Wells. It's really simple to do. It falls into the category of assemble rather than cook; I relied on this often when I was working. The cream that naps the ravioli is infused with fresh bay leaves and the finished pasta is topped with fresh sage. That's all there is to it. I hope you'll enjoy this super, simple entree.

Ravioli With Cream, Bay Leaf and Sage

Ingredients:
1 cup heavy cream
6 bay leaves (fresh if possible)
Salt
1 pound fresh Cheese-filled ravioli
Large handful of fresh sage, rinsed and patted dry
Freshly ground black pepper

Directions:
1) In a large shallow skillet combine cream and bay leaves. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to very low and simmer gently for 3 to 4 minutes, to infuse the cream with the flavor of bay. Remove from the heat. Discard bay leaves.
2) Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt the water and add the ravioli and cook until just tender. Drain.
3) Add ravioli to cream mixture in skillet and toss to coat.
4) Divide pasta among 4 shallow serving bowls. Spoon any remaining cream sauce over pasta. Snip sage with scissors and sprinkle some on top of each serving. Sprinkle generously with pepper and serve immediately. Yield: 4 servings.

This is my entry for Presto Pasta Nights # 91 an event sponsored and created by Ruth at Once Upon a Feast. This weeks event is hosted by Daphne at More Than Words

Fusilli with Fennel, Sausage and Wine

Patricia Wells captures the soul of regional French cooking and transforms the ingredients of the French countryside into recipes that will work as well in your kitchen as they do in mine or hers. Here, she marries well-flavored sausage with a kiss of fennel and binds them together in a rich wine reduction that is tossed with pasta and a mixture of egg and cheese - carbonara style - just before it's served. The shimmering sauce clings to the pasta and your first bite reveals flavor that rarely comes from a sauce so spare and easy to prepare. Gather friends, uncork the wine and enjoy this simple pasta feast.Your evening will be memorable.

I've sent this recipe to Presto Pasta Nights sponsored by Ruth at Once Upon A Feast. This week's guest host is Melissa at The Cooking Diva.

Fusilli with Fennel, Sausage and Chianti

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound sweet Italian sausage, casing removed, broken into small pieces
1 to 3 teaspoons fennel seeds
3 tablespoons concentrated tomato paste (from a tube)
2 cups Chianti or other dry red wine
2 eggs, at room temperature
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
3 tablespoons kosher salt + salt to taste
1 pound dried fusilli or penne
About 1 cup pasta cooking water

Direction:
1) Heat olive oil in a very large skillet until it shimmers. Add sausage and brown. Stir in fennel seeds and tomato paste; blend well. Bring to a simmer; cook for 2 minutes to blend flavors. Add the wine; simmer, uncovered, until most of the wine cooks off, about 15 minutes. Taste for seasoning.
2) Place the eggs in a small bowl and whisk to blend. Whisk in the cheese and a generous grinding of pepper. Set aside.
3) Bring 6 quarts of water to a rolling boil in a large pot. Stir in 3 tablespoons salt and the fusilli. Cook until tender but firm, about 9 to 11 minutes. Drain the pasta, reserving 1 cup of the cooking water.
4) Add the pasta to the skillet containing the sausage meat. Toss to coat fusilli with sauce. Remove pan from heat. Pour in egg mixture. Working quickly, toss pasta with two forks to incorporate eggs and coat each piece of fusilli with the egg mixture. If the pasta appears dry add pasta water, a tablespoon at a time, to create a smooth, clinging sauce. Yield: 4 to 6 servings.