Turn Up the Heat
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Scoop the cooked pasta out of the boiling water and transfer the pasta to the pan with the sauce. Add the basil and toss well. Serve immediately.
Clams and Mussels in an Orange Bouillon
Bill Park, Manchester, New Hampshire
The sweet and salty broth from this dish is perfect for soaking up with bread. Ideally you should make the bouillon part of this dish the day ahead so the broth will have time to reach its full flavor potential, but you can certainly make it on the day you will serve it. If so, prepare the orange bouillon first and then cook the shellfish just before serving. You can find frozen fish stock in most fish markets or in the seafood section of your local supermarket, but you may use clam juice or chicken stock if needed.
Serves 4 people
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 tbsp. oil
1 cup white wine
2 cups fish stock or chicken broth, or 1 cup clam juice
½ gallon orange juice
1 tsp. crushed red pepper
1 tsp. cornstarch mixed with 1/3 cup water More white wine or fish/chicken stock for cooking shellfish, roughly 3 cups
24 clams (countneck or mahogany), well cleaned
48 mussels, well cleaned
In a large pot, sauté the garlic and onion in the oil for 5 minutes, until the onions have softened. Add the wine, and over medium-high heat, simmer steadily for about 20 minutes until you have reduced the liquid by half. Then add the fish stock (or chicken broth or clam juice), orange juice, and crushed red pepper, and reduce by a third. Stir in the cornstarch and water mixture to thicken the bouillon, and cook for 2 to 3 more minutes. Remove from the heat. If you are making this bouillon the day ahead or a few hours before serving, cool and then refrigerate. Otherwise, just let the broth rest while you prepare the shellfish.
In a separate large pot, pour in enough wine or stock so that you have about ½" of liquid in the bottom of the pot. Heat over medium-high heat and add the clams. Cover and cook until the clams open. Add the cold bouillon and the mussels, and cook until the shells open. To serve, place equal amounts of clams and mussels in each serving bowl and top generously with broth.
Raspberry Crème Brûlée
Bill Park, Manchester, New Hampshire
All bias aside, my husband makes the best crème brûlée I’ve ever tasted. The little ramekins of creamy custard are topped with a crispy crust of sugar and fresh berries. Don’t worry if you don’t have a special torch for browning the sugar, because you can certainly do that under the broiler. This is an easy dessert to make, but, as Bill says, “It has to be babied!” He also says that when browning the sugar top, under no circumstances should you thoughtlessly stick the ramekins into the oven and leave them unattended, since the difference between perfectly done and burned is a matter of seconds. So stick by your ramekins unless you want to tick off a chef!
Makes 6–8 servings
1 quart heavy cream
½ pint fresh raspberries
12 egg yolks
1 cup powdered sugar Sugar for browning Optional: extra raspberries for garnish
Preheat oven to 300°.
Bring the cream and raspberries to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally so the cream does not burn, and remove from heat. Strain through a mesh colander or sieve to remove seeds, mashing the raspberry pulp down with a spoon.
In a mixing bowl, beat the yolks and powdered sugar with an electric mixer until the mixture becomes pale yellow and thick. Using a wooden spoon, temper the eggs with the hot cream and raspberries by slowly adding in a small amount to the yolks and mixing thoroughly. (It is important to mix with a spoon here, since you do not want to add air to the custard.) When fully incorporated, add the rest of the cream and raspberries and stir well.
Fill individual ceramic ramekins with custard and place them in a large baking dish with enough water to reach ½ to ¼ the depth of the ramekins, about 1" of custard. If you do not have individual dishes, you may use one larger ceramic baking dish, and again, fill the dish with only 1" of custard. Cover the entire dish with foil and bake for 30 to 40 minutes until the centers of the custards are almost firm but still have a slight jiggle to them. Remove from the oven, uncover from the foil, and let rest in the water bath for 30 minutes. Remove the ramekins from the water bath and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled.
Just before you are ready to serve, turn on the broiler. Sprinkle each ramekin with sugar so that you have a thin, even covering and place them on a baking sheet. Set the custards under the broiler and keep a close eye on them. Cook until the sugar bubbles and browns (3 to 5 minutes, depending on your oven) and then quickly remove them. You may need to rotate the baking sheet during this process to achieve uniform browning. Serve with a few fresh raspberries on top, if you like, or eat as they are!