Fava Beans with Garlic

Favas with chopped Garlic and Onions4 cloves garlic, diced finely
2 Tbs olive oil
1 onion chopped
1 tsp each chopped fresh rosemary, sage and thyme
salt and pepper to taste
1 lb blanched fava beans, removed from pod and shell (see "Fabulous Favas")
1 1/2 cups chicken broth

Cook sauce until you can draw a spoon through it and it doesn't immediately fill inHeat oil over medium high heat in a stick saucepan.  Add garlic and cook until golden, about 30 seconds.  Add the onion and herbs, reduce the heat to medium, and cook about 8 minutes until onion is golden.  Add the chicken broth, and stir to remove brown bits from the bottom of the pan.  Cook until sauce is thick (you should be able to draw a spoon through the sauce and it doesn't immediately fill in the hole).  Add the favas, cook for an additional 1 minutes, and then turn off the heat.  Allow to rest for five minutes, taste, and season with salt and pepper.

Recipe Notes: For Vegetarians, substitute vegetable broth for the chicken broth

Wild Mushroom Couscous

Wild Mushroom Couscous2 Cups Israeli Couscous (it's a bigger grained couscous)
3 Cups Chicken Broth
2 oz dried mushrooms, chopped or broken by hand
2 Tbs Olive Oil
salt and pepper to taste

Put dried mushrooms in Chicken broth and heat in a microwave for two minutes.  Allow mushrooms to Rehydrate for 20 minutes.

Heat olive oil over medium high heat in a sauce pot.  Add couscous and cook until golden, about five minutes.  Add chicken broth with mushrooms.  Kitchen Klutz note:  Wear an Oven Mitt!! The liquid will create steam as soon as you add it to the burn.  This will burn.  Trust me.

Bring to a simmer, cover, and allow to simmer (you may need to reduce the heat) until all of the liquid is absorbed, about 12 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper, and serve.

Recipe notes: For a vegetarian option, substitute vegetable broth for chicken broth.

Fava Beans with Tomatoes and Herbs

1 Lb Fresh Favas, Shell and pod removed (see "Fabulous Favas")Fava Beans with Tomatoes and Herbs
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic
1/2 cup fruity red wine
1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
1/2 tsp salt
1 bay leaf
1 28 oz can plum tomatoes
2 Tbs olive oil

Heat olive oil over medium high heat in a large skillet.  Add garlic and sautee until you can smell it, about 30 seconds.  Add onion, rosemary, and salt, and cook until olive is gold and the garlic is sticking to the bottom of the pan, about 10 minutes.  Deglaze pan with wine, stirring to remove all of the bits from the bottom of the pan, and reduce over medium-low heat.  Add the tomatoes, but not the juice.  (Use your hands.  its the easiest way not to lose the tomatoes and then you can squeeze them when you add them to the sauce).  Add the bayleaf and cook until sauce is thick and flavorful.  Add the favas, cook for about 30 seconds and then turn off the heat.  Allow to rest for about five minutes.  The beans will "cook" from the heat of the sauce.  Taste and season with salt and pepper.

Recipe notes: if you don't have a fruity red win, use any red.  I just think the slight sweetness of the red wine complements the slight sweetness of the favas.  If you use fresh favas, since you have to blanch them to remove the pod they will cook extremely quickly. 

Macaroni and Cheese

1 Lb Elbow PastaHomemade Macaroni and Cheese
1 stick butter
4 Tbs Flour
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp white pepper
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp dried mustard
2 Cups Whole Milk
1/2 lb grated sharp cheddar cheese
3/4 lb fresh mozzarella, chopped

Cook elbows in salted boiling water until they are al dente. Drain and reserve.

Melt the Butter and the Flour to form a RouxIn a large sauce pan over medium heat melt the butter. When the butter is melted and begins to turn brown around the edges, add the flour, garlic powder, salt, pepper, nutmeg, and mustard.  Cook until you can smell the spices and the mixture looks pale gold in color.  Add 1/4 of the milk and stir to combine.  Add the rest of the milk and bring the mixture to a simmer.  Stir until the mixture has the consistency of mayonnaise.  Add the cheeses and stir until the cheese is completely incorporated.  Mix in reserved noodles and serve immediately!

Recipe Notes:If you are making this recipe for kids, use a mild cheddar instead of sharp, and omit the mustard and the nutmeg. This is a great recipe for a crowd and can easily be doubled and made ahead of time (prepare recipe as described above, place in a large casserole and bake in a 375 degree oven for about 40 minutes until the mac and cheese is golden brown and bubbly).

Duck Egg and Parano Cheese Souffle (adapted from Alton Brown)

Butter, room temperature, for greasing the souffle
2 tablespoons grated Parano Cheese
1 1/2 ounces (3 tablespoons) butter
3 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 1/3 cups milk, hot
4 large duck egg yolks
6 ounces Parano, grated
5 Duck egg whites
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

Preheat your oven to 375.  Grease the souffle dish and dust greased dish with 2 Tbs grated Parano Cheese.  In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter.  Meanwhile, combine the flour, mustard, and garlic powder.  Add to the butter, and stir to cook.  Slowly add the hot milk and turn off heat.

Separate the eggs into two separate bowls.  Beat the yolks until thoroughly mixed.  Temper the eggs into the hot milk mixture (add a little bit of the egg yolk to the hot milk while vigorously stirring continue to do this until the egg yolks are incorporated into the milk mixture.  make sure to keep on mixing so the eggs do not scramble).  Add the grated cheese.  Using a hand mixer, beat the egg whites and cream of tarter until stiff.  In thirds, fold the egg whites into the yolks, and pour into the casserole.

Bake for 35 minutes until light and puffy.  SERVE IMMEDIATELY (the souffle won't wait)!

 Recipe Notes: Alton Brown's original recipe calls for cheddar cheese, rather than parano, chicken eggs (I don't think that there are actually any recipes that call for duck eggs but they were fun to try) and 1/8 tsp of salt.  I omitted the salt because parano is a saltier cheese as compared to cheddar, but I would have added it if I used cheddar.  The duck eggs were a novelty, but the flavor was similar to chicken eggs.  The most noticeable difference was the yolks are much bigger than chicken egg yolks.