0 Merry Christmas! From Chef Red Hawk

Merry Christmas! to all of you.

I want to leave you Deaf Foodies my quick note to wish you all Merry Christmas! and Happy New Year!


Thank you and Merry Christmas to all of you my blogging friends.

Chef Frank Hawk and Family.

1 Pasta Puttanesca Recipe

After all gathering of knowledge, I started to look for new ideas that I can improve one of pasta dishes. I don't talk so much about pasta dishes since it is very popular dish at restaurants and homes. Personally, I am little bored with all clamoring words from young ladies (and germs, too, depending on how they do in the bathroom and never wash their hands,) who love this Pasta Puttanesca. I had cooked this pasta dishes many times and lost track of numbers of how many I cooked. It started to stick to my memory and I can remember this dish easily when I need one for nice dinner special, then do the scavenger hunt through the kitchen to find common ingredients on hand.

Anyway, come to one pasta dish, that I enjoyed most with favorite tastes of olive oil, garlic, kalamata olives, and anchovy. Sometime, I added the shrimps to this--equally so good. I goggled and looked through pasta puttanesca recipes to compare between ingredients from a recipe to other. Difference in amount of ingredients reflected the Chef's preferences. It does not matter so much to me since I knew which is good or which is bad.

This recipe was named after the famous dish that offered to the ladies of night (or prostitutes, depending on what the word, puttanesca mean...) in Italy to use up what is left in the kitchen. The ladies really like the dish. So, it is how the pasta dish got the name.

Pasta Puttanesca

1/4 cup olive oil
1 large garlic cloves, peeled
6 anchovies, drained
3 tsp. capers
1/8 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
20 black kalamata olives, pitted
1 small bunch fresh basil leaves
28 ounces plum tomatoes, drained and break up with hand
1/2 cup finely chopped parsley
12 ounces spaghetti or 1 lb. fresh pasta
grated Parmesan, or pecorino

1. Heat the olive oil over low heat in a large skillet. Add the garlic and mashed anchovies, stir until almost dissolved, about 5 minutes.

2. Stir in the capers, red pepper and olives; cook 1 minute. Add the basil and tomatoes; bring to a slow boil. Reduce the heat and simmer 10-12 minutes. Add a little of the reserved juice if the sauce seems too dry. Remove from the heat and stir in the parsley.

3. Pour the sauce over the cooked pasta. Serve Parmesan on the side.

0 White Truffle Oil and Risotto Recipe

One of days, I found myself that I am so preoccupied with thoughts of white truffle oil after seeing the piece of paper that contained recipe for wild mushroom soup with white truffle foam in my cookbook. I remembered how it was made of and how it tasted. I was very amazed how it tasted along with white truffle foam--one of best soups I ever tasted and gobbled a bowlful of soup. It is darn good. The foam are made of heavy cream and white truffle oil. Heat first, not bring to boil. Add the oil and blended with immersed blender until the foam started to float. Scoop the foam from blender, drizzle over mushroom soup. Viola! Wild mushroom soup with white truffle foam.

I am sure that some of you are not familiar with interesting White truffle oil. It is not a cooking oil, it is a flavoring oil to enhance the dishes by drizzling over the food. I had hard time to explain how it tasted. Some sources that I read, said, "earthy and mushroom flavor" I don't agree with that and this "flavor". Its flavor changed when you tasted it and gave me nice aftertastes unlike any mushrooms I knew of. I already tasted real white truffles that I used it for cooking--Scalloped potatoes with white truffle, drizzled with white truffle oil. It smell like strong scent of wild mushroom that was smothered by earthy scent. I did not say the flavor, I said, the scents that enhanced my tongue and gave me more to eat the delicate food that blended into with earthy scent with nice flavors of meats, or potatoes, or anything come from the roots. In my opinion, the oil work best with anything that come from the roots like potatoes, carrots, and other any bland food that need some improvements. And with wild game meats, too.

I think I should show you the picture of white truffle look like:











White Truffle Risotto

Salt and White Pepper, to taste
2 ounces , White Truffle Oil
4 1/2 ounces , Fresh Parmesan Cheese Grated
4 ounces , Butter
1 small , Yellow Onion Minced
6 cup(s) , Chicken Stock
2 cup(s) , Arborio Rice
2 ounces , Italian white Truffle (I don't know how anyone can afford the 2 ounces of Truffles. It doesn't matter me where it come from. I received white truffles from the locals also, even bought few from farmers Market if they are available. Pretty cheap than get it from Italy. It is very beautiful gems in area of Oregon forest. I knew it costs more than the mushrooms used to be, due to how hard to find the truffles in remote area--most of mushroom hunters won't reveal their sources where they find. I respect their business, If I knew where, still I won't reveal where it is, I am serious. Its cost depends on the season, if very small numbers of truffle, mean more cost. More demands, more costs. I was told that last season is not good for truffles, more money.)

Instructions :
Remove any dirt or soil from the truffle very carefully with a mushroom brush. Do not wash as the truffle should be kept dry and not get mushy.

In heavy bottom stainless pot, sauté the onion with about 2 1/2 ounces butter, cook until translucent. Add the Aborio rice, mix thoroughly and cook about one minute over moderate flame. Add 2 cups of the chicken broth and stir almost constantly.

As the rice absorbs the liquid, keep adding it in 1 cup increments until almost fully absorbed, this process should take between 18-20 minutes. Add remaining butter and the cheese (start with 4 oz. then add remaining if necessary). Add the truffle oil - you should now adjust your seasoning with fresh white pepper and kosher salt (taste the risotto before you season - you might not need any salt).

Place the risotto into 4-6 bowls - it should have a creamy texture.
Slice truffles (use a truffle slicer) onto each bowl of risotto and serve immediately.

0 Garlic Aioli--Garlic Mayonnaise

One of my favorite sauce that I always have it on my sandwich instead of old plain mayonnaise. I liked how it enhanced the flavors of sandwich--especially after thanksgiving, I have lot of turkey leftover and I made a good comfortable sandwich for myself along with garlic. Or add to pasta salad to improve its flavor instead of some funny labels of salad dressing with funny names of ingredients that I never heard before.

Far as I remembered that I had first encounter with sandwich in one restaurant, I found it tasted very wonderful with roast beef slices, caramelized onion, sauteed mushroom, and smoked Gouda cheese on ciabatta bread. After devouring the sandwich, I asked a pretty waitress about what sauce on bread. She told me that it is garlic aioli. I asked her how it was made--I found it is very simple recipe to make and I was informed that mayonnaise is "homemade" not from a jar. I went out and stopped by the library and search for a recipe. Burped the garlicky breath out and searching through cookbooks. Found one and I had it "xeroxed" for cost of dime--yea, it was before the age of computer come in full blast, it was before the age of internet come in. I went home and tried a recipe, went to heaven with a sandwich. Almost every day, I enjoyed the sauce.

This recipe, I give you an easy recipe so you can make and finish this within five minutes--I hope I am wrong about five minutes. I have an original recipe including make a mayonnaise from scratch in a food processor or blender with a raw eggs before making an aioli. For this reason, I give you this recipe with your favorite brand mayonnaise for food safety issues.


Garlic Aioli
Make about 1 cup
If you are that wimp or vampire (depending on who called you) with garlic, you can cut it down to small amounts. Personally, I like strong garlicky flavor in mayonnaise, it is my favorite sauce.

5 cloves garlic -- finely minced
1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
salt and pepper -- to taste

Crush the garlic cloves with the flat of a knife, and remove the skin. Then mince the garlic very fine. Add a pinch of salt, and using the flat of the knife again, scrap and press the garlic against the cutting surface to make a very smooth paste. It's making this paste from the fresh garlic that gives aioli its intense garlic flavor.

Add the garlic to a small bowl, and whisk together with the rest of the ingredients. Wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes to allow the flavors to develop. Serve cold.