Aroma Cucina

Avocado Creme

Now this is a ‘foam’ that I know works. I’ve made this lots of times, usually as a foil for spicy shrimp, but last night this crème was delicious, just eaten on a piece of Belgian Endive.
And you know I’m eating avocados now, because when I go back to Italy….no more guacamole fore me. The Umbrians don’t believe in avocados.

Here’s the recipe for avocado crème:
1 ripe avocado
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
Pinch of salt, pinch of smoked adobe chili and a few squirts of lemon juice
½ t chopped shallots, marinated in red wine vinegar

Make the whipped cream.  Start with a chilled bowl, a chilled whisk and very cold cream. It will all whisk up in a med-firm cream in just a few minutes of whisking. Quit your whining, it’s a quick upper body workout. 
Cut the avocado in half, remove the pit (there must be something that you can do with those pits, there are so nice and smooth and round, but yet, they don’t bounce very much).
Mush ½ of the avocado into the cream and whisk together.
Squirt the lemon juice on the other half of the avocado and mush it into the pulp, then add it to the cream and whisk everything all together.  I worry about the lemon juice and the crème not getting along, so that’s why I combine it with the avocado pulp first.
Add some salt, little chili powder, give it a mix, garnish with the marinated shallots, and you are good to go.
If you want to try this with shrimp, combine some bay leaves, garlic, hot chilies, salt, pepper, and whatever other spices are talking to you at that moment. Leave the shrimp in their shells.
Heat a cast iron pan, with out oil. When it’s hot, add a small amount of oil, then the spices, then and the shrimp. Quickly toss and coat the shrimp with all the spices. Serve them in their shells, with the avocado crème on as a dipping sauce. It’s cools down the spices and just is an addictive combination.

Old Favorite

It's sort of like going closet shopping. You know when you go to the back of the closet and dig out some forgotten gem? 
We were hungry. There wasn't much around in the kitchen. What to make for lunch?
I had eggs, a bit of swiss chard and a leek.
Sformata! I had forgotten all about sformatas! They are savory baked custardy Italian treats.
Preheat the oven to 375F.
Take some eggs, break them into a bowl. Add a small fist full of cheese. A small shot of cream, salt, pepper and whisk all together.
Saute some  swiss chard and leeks.  Blanche the swiss chard first..it needs to be cooked twice to tame some of the bitterness.
Let the vegetables cool down a bit, and then whisk together with the egg mixture. Ladle into individual muffin tins.  I use a silpat form...very easy and not much will ever stick to them.
Bake in the oven in a bain marie (water bath) until firm, about 25-30 minutes.
I garnished these with some crispy parsley leaves, and a shot of balsamic vinegar.
Enjoy!

Carmelized Onion Sformata

Caramelized Onion Sformata (or this dish could be called: "What do I make for lunch when all I have is some eggs, an onion, maybe some asparagus and a little bacon?)

Sformata
4 eggs
2T of milk
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
salt, pepper

Sauce and Garnish
4 oz. gruyere, comte, caciocavalle, ribiola or other mild cheese..no, not Velveeta, that's not a cheese
4T milk or cream
1 slice of bacon, or the equivalent amount of pancetta
Possible Topping Variations: Roasted asparagus, Frizzled leeks, sautéed spinach, drizzle of balsamic vinegar, sliced fresh tomatoes

A "sformata' means a little custardy, savory, muffin type thingy. It's a loose category of savory custards, popular in northern and central Italy. They have lots of eggs and cream around, so it's logical that they would invent a dish like this.  You will need a muffin pan, or some sort of baking cup. I use a silicone form. These things are great, they take high temperatures, almost nothing sticks to them. And they come in very cool colors.

Preheat oven to 400F.
Fry the pancetta or bacon until it is crisp.  Remove from pan and place on absorbent paper.
Sauté the chopped onion in the bacon fat. Remove from heat and sprinkle a few drops of balsamic vinegar on the onions. Be careful, it will splatter.

In a separate mixing bowl, whisk the eggs until they get frothy. Add a pinch of salt and a twist of pepper (you're using your pepper mill, right?). Add the onions and whisk again.  Pour the egg mixture into a lightly greased muffin pan or your silicone mold.  Take a roasting pan that is big enough to accommodate the muffin mold, fill it half way full with hot water. Place the muffin pan in the water...you've now created a 'bain marie' or water bath. Place the bain marie in the oven and bake until the eggs set, about 15 minutes.

Topping
Use your imagination. Go look in the fridge. Little bit of asparagus? Some leek? Some spinach?  Sauté it, or roast it or slice it and have it ready to put on top of the sformata when they are done.
I like roasted asparagus. Taking the same little cast iron pan that I cooked the pancetta in, lay thin slices of asparagus stem and tip in the pan, add a little olive oil and put in the oven along with the sformatas.

Sauce
On low heat, warm up 4T of milk or cream. Gradually add the cheese and whisk until it melts. If you let this come to a boil, it will coagulate and look gross. It will taste fine, but it will not be pretty. Consider yourself warned. Don't get scared; just be careful.

When the sformatas have set, they will be firm to the touch and they are ready. Carefully turn them out onto a plate, arrange some salad around them, add the cheese sauce, the roasted asparagus and pancetta. Have a glass of wine and enjoy.