As you may or may not but should know, Penne a la Vodka is so-named because there really is vodka in the sauce - a whole cup, to be exact. There is also cream. If somebody can come up with a better idea than carbs smothered in booze and cream, I'd just love to hear it.
Vanilla-Scented Strawberries with Honey Cream
Adapted from Cooking Light.
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp (or so) vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon unflavored gelatin
1 tbsp water
2 tbsp cornstarch
1/8 tsp salt
3 large egg yolks
1 cup 2% reduced-fat milk
6 oz. 2% plain Greek yogurt
2 cups quartered strawberries
1. Bring first three ingredients to a boil over medium heat; stir occasionally until the sugar dissolves then remove from heat. Let stand for 10 minutes and then chill in refrigerator.
2. In a small bowl, sprinkle gelatin over 1 tbsp water. You want the gelatin to dissolve and may have to wiggle it around a bit to get it there. This WILL turn into a block (are you surprised?) and that's fine, just leave it.
3. Mix honey, cornstarch, salt and egg yolks in medium bowl with a whisk until combined.4. Heat milk over medium-high heat in a small, heavy saucepan to 180 F. If you still don't have a thermometer (honestly, 98% of the things I make never need it, it's just these two posts), watch the milk for small bubbles forming around the rim. You do not want to let it boil. This next part needs both hands: gently pour the milk into the honey-egg mixture in a slow stream while constantly whisking. If you don't, you'll end up with honeyed scrambled eggs. If that's what you were going for then God help you.
5. Return the milk-honey-egg mix to the saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly. After about two minutes the liquid will thicken and bubble a bit (not boiling, though) and you may think, as I did, "huh, that looks like yellow pudding." That's what you want. That means you're done. Remove from heat and add the gelatin mix/blob to this and stir well (the gelatin will incorporate because of the heat, just stir until you're sure it has). Pour it into a clean bowl (I just took a paper towel to the one the pre-cooked mixture had come from). Stir it every so often for about 20 minutes - you want it to be cool but it won't be set.
6. Stir in yogurt. Depending on how you're serving this and to how many people, you have options here. According to the original recipe, you should spoon 1/4 cup of the yogurt-milk-honey-egg mix into 8 dessert cups or bowls, cover them each, and allow them to set in the fridge for at least 2 hours. I'm only serving 2 people tonight, so I'll make 2 serving and save myself some trouble by dumping the rest into a bowl and chilling it as one serving.
7. Top each serving with 1/4 cup strawberries (I wouldn't cut these until just before you're ready to serve) and drizzle with about 2 tbsp syrup.
Tips and Tricks- This was actually supposed to be Lavender-Scented Strawberries with Honey Cream but my local chain grocer didn't have any dried lavender. It was a sad, sad day in the baking aisle. But, it goes to say that this can be Just About Anything You Like-Scented Strawberries with Honey Cream. I considered coriander and cinnamon as options before deciding vanilla would probably compliment the honey best but you go where your nose takes you. And then let me know how it turns out!
- If you need to speed this thing up because you're on a deadline or out of patience (or, like me, both), you can allow your servings to cool in the freezer instead of the fridge. It should only take about an hour, but be careful not to let it freeze! Once the water separates out into crystals the texture gets ... well, just don't do it.
- My syrup ran over the strawberries and pooled on top of the yogurt (as you can see). It's not super attractive so you may consider soaking the berries in the syrup for about an hour prior to serving if presentation is a concern of yours.
Servings and Pricing info: If you stick to the suggested 1/4 cup cream + 1/4 cup berries = 1 serving formula, this set me back $1.85/serving which really isn't bad. Granted, the berries where on special (2 for 1 pints), though I did also have to buy gelatin, milk and yogurt. Assuming you already have those things around (which you probably should) this becomes much cheaper.
How was it? I liked it fine but it isn't going to into my Dessert Hall of Fame. Since I'd just had a ton of pasta and was more full than not, I was glad I hadn't decided to make something richer. I'm not usually a huge fan of these sorts of desserts though so I don't think anything went horribly awry. Good for at the end of a heavy meal, especially when it's hot out. Could also double as breakfast.
Penne a la Vodka
Adapted from Rachel Ray* via Smitten Kitchen.
1 tbsp or so extra-virgin olive oil
1 tbsp butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 shallots, minced
1 cup vodka
1 cup chicken stock
1 32 oz. can crushed tomatoes
16 oz penne rigate
1/2 cup heavy cream
20 leaves fresh basil, shredded or torn
Salt
Pepper
1. Heat a large, heavy skillet over medium heat. Add first four ingredients. Gentle saute for 3-5 minutes.
2. Add vodka (!) and allow it to reduce by half (2-3 minutes). Add chicken stock and tomatoes. When sauce begins to bubble, reduce heat so that it continues to simmer. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Either keep the heat on very low and continue to watch the sauce, stirring sporadically, or just turn the burner off while you put the pasta on to cook. (If this needs clarification: put enough water in a pot to cover the amount of pasta you'll be adding. Once the water boils, add the pasta. Cook according to the time on the box. Sheesh.)
3. While the pasta is cooking, prepare any sides you might want (I sauteed some asparagus - left over from Monday's flatbread - in olive oil but you do you, boo). If you don't want sides, use this time for person reflection, meditation, a quickie, to fold your laundry, or anything else that comes to mind and takes less than 13 minutes.
4. When pasta is finished, drain and place drained noodles into a bowl. Add cream to sauce and put back onto heat (or just add cream if you kept the skillet on the burner) and stir until combined. If you're reheating the sauce, bring it to a simmer. If it's already simmering, poor it over the pasta. Add torn basil leaves.
Tips and Tricks
- You may find, as I did, that your sauce is a little acidic. That is quickly and easily remedied with a little bit of sugar (not sugar substitute). I didn't measure but about a half tablespoon should do the trick; just stir it into the sauce while it's still on the burner.
- As always, add cheese when you're finished if you want it. A sprinkling of Parm-Reg did me well, but experimenting with other hard Italian cheeses never hurt anyone.
* I hate Rachel Ray. I think she is a ridiculous fraud as a chef, and her personality is so grating I'd gladly throw her into a wood chipper, given the opportunity. However, her name is here now because SmittenKitchen adapted this recipe from her and I adore SmittenKitchen. Most things I make and end up loving come from her and if I wasn't careful, my blog would basically be a copy-and-paste mock-up of her's.
Serving and Pricing info: I don't know what the servings on this are supposed to be but I can tell you if I were to guess as to the quantity of food I ended up with, I'd say it's somewhere in the neighborhood of a metric shit-ton. It will easily last me 6 servings, though I can also see lasting to 8, so I'll give the numbers for both. Taking into account that I had to buy vodka, basil, cream, penne, and crushed tomatoes, this ended up costing me between $2-$3/serving depending on how long I can make it last. Worth every penny, and probably several more.
How was it? Awesome. Just awesome.
Generally, I mark the success of a meal by how much water is left in my glass when I take my last bite. In the instance of the vodka sauce, I had the same amount that I began the meal with. Silence took the table as my partner and I waited for the other to turn so that we might get more on our forks without violating any taboo table rules. All in all, a successful route to a full tummy.
ReplyDeleteAs vegetarians (me life-long, her recently converted/forced) we switched the chicken stalk for vegetable and both agreed that the flavor was still lovely and abundant. Additionally, I did not have pasta (she did) and the sauce worked swell on vegetables in the place of the small pieces of carb-heaven that I miss so much. My rating for the sauce: hug in your mouth.
Finally, as a generally mal-nourished grad student, the whole meal (sans vodka, but what grad student doesn’t have/need that?), side included, was under $10, and served us—maybe twice, no judgments—with plenty left over.
OH! And somebody (no names) licked their plate.
Thanks, Kristine!
-Abe
PS- Rachel Ray through a wood chipper would be an agonizing noise.