It's Poonchkie Season

Salem, Massachusetts

Pastry Chef Rob Lianni shared the story behind "Poonchkies," a special treat that's made from February until Easter. It's a polish jelly donut that traditionally was made on Fat Tuesday, to use up all of the eggs and sugar but now, "we make them right through Easter because people want them so much," says Rob!

Poonchkies

Recipe for Paczki

An Easy Paczki Recipe

Ingredients:

2 Tbs sugar
2 Tbs room temperature butter
½ cup warm milk - Warm to 110 degrees. Check with candy thermometer.
¼ tsp genuine vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
2 large eggs
1 tsp dry yeast
2 cups flour + flour for rolling out dough
Oil for frying (about 2 cups - Canola recommended)

Optional
Either glaze, sugar, or powdered sugar for the outside

1. Whisk together the sugar, butter, warm milk, vanilla, and salt in a mixing bowl. Breathe deeply while doing this. It smells delicious!
2. Sprinkle the dry yeast into the bowl. Whisk it in gently. Sing a Disney tune for good luck.
3. Begin adding the flour a bit at a time. Stir it in with a wooden spoon until it is all mixed in. Dough should not be wet. You can add a LITTLE bit of flour if needed.
4. Sprinkle flour on your pastry board (or clean counter), and transfer the dough to it. Then add a bit of flour over the top of the dough ball.
5. Knead the dough gently until it is soft and pulling away from your hands.
6. Place dough ball in a lightly greased bowl.
7. Cover and let it rise in a warm place, out of drafts, for about 1.5 hours. Turn your oven on for awhile if necessary to warm the kitchen up. The dough should double in size by then. If it does sooner, you can continue. If it doesn't double in 1.5 you can give it some more time. If it fails to rise you probably had old/dead yeast, too hot of milk, or not a warm enough place for the dough to rise.
8. Place your dough on your floured pastry board and get out your rolling pin.
9. Strike a pose with that pin! Roll out the dough to about 1/2 inch. Have a little flour handy if needed to keep the dough from sticking to the rolling pin. Strike another pose!
10. Use a floured cookie cutter, glass, Mason jar, etc to cut out as many round shapes as possible. This recipe should make about a dozen. This could depend on the size of the cutter you used.
11. Flour a cookie sheet, or other flat surface, and lay your dough rounds on it. Put them in a warm place and give them about half an hour to rise.
12. Heat the oil in a large, deep frying pan. My grandmother used a deep fryer, but I don't have one.
13. Place as many dough rounds as will fit in your pan, but do not crowd them together so they are touching or squishing each other.
14. It should only take about 1.5-2 minutes to brown each side. Flip them gently with tongs or a spatula. It is easy to burn them so don't get distracted!
15. Gently lift each paczki out and place it somewhere to cool down. I think a wire rack, followed by a rest on a paper towel covered plate (to blot excess oil) works best.
16. Let them cool about 10-15 minutes. You can then sprinkle them with powdered sugar, regular sugar, or drizzle them in honey or glaze. Or just eat them while still warm.
17. If you didn't eat them in the previous step, eat them now. Do not share with anyone!

Recipe from Squidoo.com

Anne Willan and Tarte Tatin a la Tomate

@AnneWillan

Cookbook author, Anne Willan offered her delicious recipe for cooking vegetable tarte tatin.

Tarte Tatin à la Tomate

Ingredients:
6 ounces/170 g store-bought puff pastry 
2 pounds/900 g plum tomatoes, cored and halved lengthwise 
Salt and pepper 
1/4 cup/60 g sugar 
1/4 cup/60 ml red wine vinegar 
1/4 cup/60 ml olive oil, more for the pan 
2 or 3 sprigs fresh rosemary 
2 or 3 dried bay leaves 
1 head garlic, divided into cloves, unpeeled 
1/4 cup/60 ml red wine 
Few leaves arugula or frisée, for garnish 

Method:
Heat the oven to 275°F/140°C. Sprinkle the cut sides of the tomatoes with salt and pepper and set them aside. Sprinkle the sugar in a large frying pan with an ovenproof handle and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar melts and toasts to golden caramel, 3 to 5 minutes. Take the pan from the heat and at once add the vinegar, standing back as it will sputter and fume. Return it to the heat, stir to dissolve the caramel, and then stir in the oil. Again take the pan from the heat and add the tomatoes, cut side down, packing them tightly so they all touch the bottom and pushing the rosemary and bay between them.

Roast the tomatoes until they are very tender and wrinkled, 2 to 2 1/2 hours. Forty-five minutes before they are done, add the unpeeled garlic cloves to the pan. If liquid remains at the end of cooking, evaporate most of it by cooking the tomatoes briefly over high heat, taking care they do not scorch. 

Oil a second frying pan with an ovenproof handle and transfer the tomatoes to it, arranging them snugly cut side down in a pattern. Discard the herbs and leave the garlic behind, along with any juices, in the first pan. Add the wine to the garlic and heat it, stirring to deglaze the juices and boil them down to 2 to 3 tablespoons. Pour the liquid and garlic through a strainer over the tomatoes, then push through the garlic pulp. Set the tomatoes aside to cool. The tomatoes may be cooked up to a day ahead and stored in the refrigerator. 

Heat the oven to 400°F/200°C. On a floured work surface, roll out the puff pastry to a 10-inch/25-centimeter round and prick the dough so it rises evenly. Transfer it to the pan to cover the tomatoes and tuck any excess dough down around the fruit. Bake the tart until the dough has risen and is crisp and golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Let the tart cool for 5 minutes, then turn out it onto a platter and garnish with the arugula. Alternatively, let it cool in the pan, then turn it out and serve it at room temperature. Tarte Tatin à la Tomate may also be cooked up to 8 hours ahead and kept in the pan. Warm it briefly in the oven before turning it out.

Excerpted from THE COUNTRY COOKING OF FRANCE

Fischer & Wieser Giveaway

Case Fischer

For over 40 years, Fischer & Wieser has maintained a tradition of handcrafting delicious,gourmet offerings one jar at a time. Case Fischer joined Tonia this week to share the exciting and tasty story behind their delicious sauces! We're giving you the chance to enjoy Fischer & Wieser's Raspberry Chipotle Sauce and Mom's Spaghetti Sauce! Just click here to email Tonia and win!

     Click to hear the interview!

The Original Roasted Raspberry Chipotle Sauce

The Original Roasted Raspberry Chipotle Sauce® has garnered awards and accolades across the globe for more than a decade. A perfect blend of raspberries and chipotle peppers, this smokey, sweet and spicy sauce makes meat, fish and fowl extraordinary! Accept only the Original! Enjoy!

Mom's Spaghetti Sauce

Mom's Spaghetti Sauce is the original recipe from Patrick Timpone's mom, Nenfa. Naturally, it is the one you remember, made with lots of fresh whole garlic and fresh basil leaves that you have loved from the start. It's more like the fresh sauce that your mom used to make. We use Sicilian olive oil and juicy sweet California tomatoes to create the unforgettable taste that marries well with spaghetti. Open up a jar today and we know you will agree that it is America's Best Tasting Spaghetti Sauce.

Kitchen Sink Cookies with Top Chef Ryan Scott

@chefryanscott

What's new with Bravo's Top Chef Ryan Scott? Tonia caught up with the busy California culinary star and got him to share his favorite "foodie" recipe: Kitchen Sink Cookie.

Kitchen Sink Cookie

Ingredients:

5 cups Butter

5 cups Sugar

3 3/4 cups Light Brown Sugar

¼ cup + 1 Tbsp Light Corn Syrup

1 ½ Tbsp Vanilla Extract

10 each eggs

8 3/4 cups All Purpose Flour

2.5 Tbsp Baking Powder

1.5 Tbsp Baking Soda

2.5 Tbsp Kosher Salt

½ Gallon Guittard Chocolate Chips, Butterscotch Chips, Coconut, & Four Barrel Coffee (½ cup) mix

1 Bags Potato Chips

1 Bags Pretzels

Procedure:

1. In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, cream butter, sugars, corn syrup, and glucose syrup on medium-high for 2 to 3 minutes until fluffy and pale yellow in color. Scrape down sides of the mixing bowl with a spatula.
2. On a lower speed, add eggs and vanilla extract to incorporate. Increase mixing speed to medium-high and start a timer for 10 minutes. During this time the sugar granules will fully dissolve; the mixture will become an almost pale white color and your creamed mixture will double in size.
3. When time is up, on a lower speed, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix 45 to 60 seconds just until your dough comes together and all remnants of dry ingredients have incorporated. Do not walk away from your mixer because you will over mix the dough. Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl with a spatula.
4. On the same low speed, add gallon of chocolate chips, butterscotch, coconut, and coffee mix and mix for 30 to 45 seconds until they evenly mix into the dough. Add chips and pretzels on low speed until they are just incorporated.
5. Using a 6oz ice cream scoop, portion cookie dough onto a parchment paper lined sheet pan, at least 4” apart. Wrap scooped cookie dough tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a minimum of 1 hour or up to 1 week. DO NO BAKE COOKIES AT ROOM TEMPERATURE. 
6. Preheat the oven to 400F (convection oven 350F). When the oven is hot, bake the cookies for 9 to 11 minutes. While in the oven, the cookies will puff, crackle, and spread.

A Recipe from Chef Ryan Scott

Chocolate Souffle with Jason Moniz

Locavore

Executive Chef & Partner of Locavore in San Fransisco, Jason Moniz, shares his secret for a chocolate souffle.

Chocolate Souffle

Happy Valentine's Day

Chef Ian Just

Boston Chef, Ian Just, owner of Les Zygomates, served up his recipe for Chocolate Fondue for Valentine's Day.

Chocolate Fondue

Ingredients

1 cup sugar

1 cup semi sweet chocolate

1 cup butter

2 TBLSP bittersweet chocolate

Zest of one orange

2 TBLSP flour

3 whole eggs

Directions

Melt chocolate & butter in double boiler, whisk until incorporated. Heat sugar & eggs until warm. Remove skin of orange, dice rind into fine cubes. Add chocolate/butter mixture to sugar & eggs. Mix well. Add flour, zest of orange and whisk well. Butter terrine mold, pour into terrine. Leave an inch at top of mold. Cover with foil.

Served in a Terrine – 12” x 3 1/2"

Recipe of Ian Just – Les Zygomates – Boston

Chocolate Lovers Truffles

Susan Fussell

Susan Fussell is the senior director of communications for the National Confectioners Association. If you're a chocolate lover, you are going to LOVE Susan's recipe for Chocolate Hazelnut Truffles!

Chocolate Hazelnut Truffles

Whoopie Pie Surprises

@nsiler

Host of PBS's Bake Decorate Celebrate, Nancy Siler joined Tonia in spotting some dessert trends for this Valentines Day. Nancy noted that, "you can actually take your Whoppie Pies and use your marshmallow fluff in the middle and roll it in colors or crushed peppermints to make that heart into something more!"

Spiced Whoopie Pies with Lemon Creme

Ingredients:

• Whoopie Pie Pan
• Vegetable pan spray
• 2-1/4 cups cake flour, sifted
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup firmly-packed brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2/3 cup milk
• Lemon Crème Filling

Directions:

Preheat oven 325°F. Lightly spray Whoopie Pie Pan with nonstick cooking spray.
In large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, spices and salt. In second bowl, beat butter and sugars with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add egg and vanilla; beat until well combined. Add half the dry ingredients into the butter mixture and mix on low speed. When dry ingredients are almost incorporated, add milk. Continue to mix on low speed until all ingredients are almost incorporated. Add the remaining dry ingredients. Mix on low until just combined. Spoon 2 tablespoons batter into each cavity; spread batter to the edges. Cavity should be about 2/3 full.
Bake 11-13 minutes or until the top of the cake springs back when touched. Allow the cakes to cool in pan 8 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely before filling. To assemble pies, spread about 1 tablespoon lemon filling on flat side of one cake; top with second cake.

Makes 12 whoopie pies (24 cakes total).

Recipe provided by Nancy Siler

Baking Tips and Whoopie Pies

@nsiler

Nancy Siler, host of Bake Decorate Celebrate! on PBS, offers some baking tips on how to make a special marble cake for Valentines Day. Click on the link below to hear more!

Marble Valentines Day Cake

Heart Shaped Whoopie Pies

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk

Directions:
 

Cherry Cream Cheese Filling (Recipe is below) Preheat oven to 350°F.
Lightly spray Whoopie Pie Pan with nonstick cooking spray. In large bowl, beat butter and sugar with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add egg and vanilla; beat until
well combined.
In another bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add half the dry ingredients into the butter mixture and mix on low speed.

When dry ingredients are almost incorporated, stop the mixer and add the buttermilk. Continue to mix on low speed until all ingredients are almost incorporated.

Stop the mixer and add the remaining dry ingredients. Mix on low until just combined. Spoon 2 tablespoons batter into each cavity; spread batter to the edges. Cavity should be about 2/3 full.

Bake for 8-10 minutes or until the top of the cake springs back when touched. Allow cakes to cool in pan 8 minutes. Cool completely before filling. To assemble pies spread filling on one cake and sandwich with another cake.

Makes 12 whoopie pies (24 cakes total).

Cherry Cream Cheese Filling:

1/3 cup dried tart cherries
1/2 cup boiling water
1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
2-3 drops icing color, if desired
Assorted sprinkles

In a small bowl, combine cherries and boiling water; steep 5 minutes or until cherries are plump; strain. Chop cherries roughly.

In large bowl, beat cream cheese with electric mixer until creamy. Add sugar; mix well. Mix in chopped cherries and icing color. Sandwich cakes with filling; roll edges in sprinkles.

Recipe from Wilton

Ellie's Raspberry Fool

Ellie Krieger

Host of the Food Network's Healthy Appetite, Ellie Krieger has a suggestion for something different this Valentine's Day. "A Raspberry Fool is basically is some pureed raspberries. And then I use a mix of real whipped cream. Typically a fool is ALL whipped cream but I fold real whipped cream with some thickened yogurt. That's my trick to get all of the richness and creaminess while balancing that it's still good for you!"

Raspberry Fool

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups vanilla nonfat yogurt
• 1 (10-ounce) package frozen raspberries, thawed
• 1/3 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1/4 cup well-chilled heavy cream
• 4 ladyfinger cookies

Directions

Place the yogurt in a strainer lined with a paper towel and let it drain over a bowl to thicken in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours, and up to 1 day. Discard the liquid and set the thickened yogurt aside.

Puree half the raspberries in a food processor until smooth. Strain into a large bowl, pressing the liquid out with a rubber spatula. Discard the seeds. Whisk in the confectioners' sugar. Stir in the remaining raspberries.

In a chilled small bowl whip the cream until stiff peaks are formed. Gently fold in the yogurt. Fold in the raspberry mixture.

Spoon into cocktail glasses and chill, covered, for at least 1 hour. Serve with ladyfinger cookies.

Recipe by Ellie Krieger

Fudge Cookies with Gail

@ChefGailsokol

You don't have to be a professional baker to make good fudge cookies. Listen to Chef Gail Sokol, author of About Professional Baking, share her recipe for Sour Cream Fudge Cookies that will make your mouth water!

Fudge Cookies

Makes 3 dozen cookies

Ingredients:

1 ¼ cups bread flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. salt

¾ cup Dutch processed cocoa powder

1 ½ cups semisweet chocolate, chopped

3 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped

6 TBLSP. Unsalted butter, softened

¾ cup granulated sugar

¾ cup light brown sugar (packed)

2 large eggs

7 TBLSP. Sour cream

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 ½ cups semisweet chocolate chips

Nonstick cooking spray

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder into a bowl. Whisk the mixture and set it aside.

Melt the semisweet and unsweetened chocolate in a double boiler. Cool to room temperature and set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer using the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugars together on medium speed for approximately 1 to 2 min. or until the mixture becomes somewhat light. On low speed, add the eggs, one at a time, incorporating each one well before adding the next. Stop the machine occasionally and scrape down the sides of the bowl.

With the machine still on low speed, slowly add the cooled melted chocolate and blend well. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Add the sour cream and vanilla extract, blending well. On low speed, add the flour and cocoa mixture and blend only until combined. Remove the bowl from the electric mixer and, using a rubber spatula or metal spoon, blend in the chocolate chips by hand.

Using a 1 oz. (1/8 cup) ice cream scoop, place scoopfuls of batter onto a sheet pan covered with parchment paper; space each 3 inches apart. With a moistened hand, flatten each cookie slightly. Bake for about 18 minutes. The fudge cookies will be soft, but will firm up as they cool. Allow the cookies to cool on the sheet pan for 5 minutes before removing and placing them on cooling racks.

Courtesy of Gail Sokol  -  About Professional Baking – The Essentials

Top Chef for a Healthy Heart

@RichardBlais

Bravo's Top Chef Richard Blais joined Tonia to talk about Heart Health Awareness Month. "I'm working to teach people cook (and) inspire delicious heart healthy food," Richard says. One way to accomplish this is to cook with fresh vegetables. Another tip: use low sodium products. Richard suggests, "while you're cooking, think about flavor but don't think of flavor as necessarily the salt shaker." Try using ingredients like clams, low sodium V8, or lots of herbs and spices as your source of flavor.

Spicy BouilliaBlais

Serves  1

Ingredients

3 oz halibut filet

1 scallop

1 shrimp

2 clams

2 tablespoons carrot, diced small

2 tablespoons fennel , diced small

1/2 teaspoon oregano, dried

1/2 teaspoon thyme, dried

1 tablespoon onion, diced small

1 tablespoon celery, sliced

1 teaspoon fennel seed

2 teaspoons olive oil

5 garlic cloves, sliced

1 cup Spicy Hot Low Sodium V8

1 cup Low Sodium V8

2 tablespoons Healthy Request Cream of Chicken

Half lemon, juiced and its zest

2 tablespoons parsley

2 tablespoons basil, chopped

1/4 slice whole wheat bread

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Method

1.  In a sauté pan, sweat 3 cloves of garlic, thyme, oregano, fennel seed, carrot, onion, celery and fennel in 1 teaspoon olive oil until they release their aroma and soften.

2.  Add the Spicy Hot Low Sodium V8, Low Sodium V8 and clams and reduce on a simmer. When the clams open, you can remove them and hold for final presentation. When reduced by a third, swirl in the chopped basil and lemon zest.

3.  Meanwhile, in a separate pan, heat 1/2 teaspoon of olive oil, and after seasoning the fish, shrimp & scallop with a 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, sear them until just done, finishing them with a sprinkle of parsley and lemon juice and zest. Hold them with the clams for final presentation.

5.  Mix the Cream of Chicken with the remaining 1/2 teaspoon olive oil and remaining garlic, minced.

6.  Spread this on the toasted bread.

7.  To present, lay the sauce (stew) on the bottom of a shallow bowl and the fish fillet in the center of    the bowl. Lay the toast on top of the fish and the shellfish on top of the toast.

Recipe courtesy of Richard Blais

Anthology - Review

Anthology - San Diego, California

"Tonia's Kitchen" Producer, Patrick Kane recently dined at Anthology in San Diego, California. This unique venue pairs excellent cuisine with live music. Marsha and Howard Berkson, draw crowds of all ages to experience world class entertainment and award-winning food and drinks. One of the only venues of its kind in San Diego, the intimate, 300-seat house has won numerous awards since opening in 2007.

Patrick notes, "there are three levels of intimate dining and there isn't a bad seat in the house. It's really such a fantastic place for dinner and show with a romantic date. I thought their menu is nothing short of brilliant with every dish composed with perfectly balanced sides. Their cocktail list was inventive and highlighted some cool stuff like cinnamon infused bourbon, pomegranate purée, and even carrot juice. The wine list was extensive but the beer list was lacking.

Photo - Patrick Kane

The golden beet carpaccio was perfectly paired with peppery greens and a goat cheese vinaigrette that was so good you could swim in it.

Photo - Patrick Kane

The steak entree was cooked perfectly with an amazing demi-glaze that highlighted the quality of the meat. Overall I would highly recommend this venue an intimate show, amazing food, creative cocktails and excellent service."

Kris Rudolph and Betty

Here's a great Mexican dish from author Kris Rudolph, her new book is called, "Eating Healthy: Mexican Light Cuisine for Today's Cook." Kris's recipe mixes pork with a wonderful mango salsa! "It's quick and simple," Kris says. "As you're browning the pork, all you have to do is chop up two mango, one chipotle chili, add about a quarter cup of green onions, a little bit of lime juice, and a little bit of cilantro - and that's it!" Besides being delicious, the normal serving is about 240 calories.

Pork with Mango Salsa

Pino Luongo

Pino Luongo visited "Tonia's Kitchen" today to tell us how he makes his veal meatballs. "Think about veal, which has been seasoned with the Parmesan cheese, egg yolks, lemon zest, little pepper, nutmeg, and then rolled in a small grape size. Quickly pan fried. Then sauteed with onions, peas, and mushrooms. Once they're softened, you put in a little veal or chicken stock. Throw some fresh pasta in it. And when it is all well coated, you can put in the fresh Parmesan cheese."

Fresh Pasta with Meatballs and Mushrooms

Ingredients

• 8 ounces (228 grams) ground veal
• 1⁄4 cup (1 ounce/28 grams) freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1⁄2 cup (30 grams) bread crumbs
• 1 small garlic clove, minced
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh Italian parsley
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (270 ml) olive oil, plus more for drizzling (optional)
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 12 ounces (342 grams) white button mushrooms, wiped clean, stems removed, and sliced 1⁄2 inch (1.3 cm) thick
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 1⁄2 cups (200 grams) fresh sweet peas or thawed tiny frozen peas
• 1⁄2 cup (120 ml) vegetable stock or vegetable broth made with Knorr powdered bouillon
• 6 fresh mint leaves
• 1 1⁄2 pounds (680 grams) pasta alla chitarra or tagliolini made from Fresh Egg Pasta Dough (page 94)
• 4 tablespoons (112 grams) unsalted butter
• 1⁄4 cup (1 ounce/28 grams) freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Preparation

Place the meat in a large bowl, add the Parmigiano, egg yolk, bread crumbs, garlic and parsley, and season well with salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly but delicately so as not to compress the meat, which would toughen it.
Take a piece of the meat mixture about the size of a small grape and roll the mixture between the palms of your hands into a small ball. Place on a plate, and repeat with the remaining meat mixture.
Line a large shallow plate with paper towels. Set aside.
Heat 1 cup of the olive oil in a 10- to 12-inch skillet over medium heat. Place only as many meatballs in the pan as you can without crowding them and panfry until browned and crisp on one side, about 3 minutes. Flip and cook until the other side is browned and crisp, about 2 minutes more. Remove the meatballs from the pan with a spatula and place on the prepared plate to drain. Repeat with any remaining meatballs.
Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil in another large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and sauté until translucent, about 4 minutes. Add the mushrooms, season with salt and pepper, and sauté 5 minutes. Add the peas, toss, and cook until the mushrooms release their liquid, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add the stock and mint and cook for another 5 minutes. Taste and, if necessary, adjust the seasoning. Add the meatballs, toss well, and set aside, covered, to keep warm.
Fill a 10-quart stockpot with 7 quarts (6.6 liters) of water. Add 2 tablespoons kosher salt and bring to a boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente.
Reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid, then drain the pasta and stir it into the sauce. Add the butter, the Parmigiano, and a few tablespoons of the reserved cooking water, and heat over very low heat. Taste and adjust the seasoning, then toss thoroughly, drizzling with more olive oil if desired.
Wine: A young sparkling Prosecco from the Veneto may seem an unusual selection for meatballs, but because these are made with veal, it’s the perfect choice here.

Serving Size

Serves 6

@SavageFoodie

Susan Simon, author of five cookbooks and the co-author of the James Beard award-winning, “Pasta Sfoglia”, a guidebook, “Shopping in Marrakech” and translator of “Italy Dish by Dish”, visited "Tonia's Kitchen" to share her recipe for Vegetable Crumble. It's "kinda like a ratatouille, it starts out with sauteing garlic and hot peppers in olive oil. Sauteed eggplant, zucchini, and cherry tomatoes in that spicy olive oil mixture and taking them out and put them in a bowl. And at the end, when everything is cooked, you add chopped basil and salt to that mixture and you can put that in a baking dish. Just before you cook it, make a topping of flour, dried bread crumbs, unsalted butter, Parmesan cheese, and some olive pasted. Work that together with your fingers like a crumbled mixture, sprinkle it over the top of your vegetable mix and bake it."

Vegetable Crumble

 

@roadfood123

Noted cookbook author, Michael Stern, shared a recipe for Whipping Cream Pound cake from his book "Two For The Road." This recipe comes from an old friend of Elvis Presley, who loved this dish as a boy. As Michael says, "it's just creamy Southern comfort. In my opinion it's the ultimate pound cake!"

Whipping Cream Pound Cake

Ingredients

• 3 cups sugar
• 1/2 lb butter, softened
• 7 eggs, room temperature
• 3 cups cake flour, sifted twice
• 1 cup whipping cream (heavy cream)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions

1) Butter and flour a 10 inch tube or bundt pan.

2) Thoroughly cream together sugar and butter.

3) Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.

4) Mix in half the flour, then the whipping cream, then the other half of the flour.

5) Add Vanilla.

6) Pour into prepared pan.

7) Set in COLD oven and turn heat to 350ºF.

8) Bake 1 hour to 70 minutes, until a sharp knife inserted in cake turns out clean.

9) Cool in pan 5 minutes.

10) Remove from pan and cool thoroughly.

11) Wrapped well, this cake will keep for several days. 

@davidgrotto

Author and dietician Dave Grotto shared an interesting recipe for bibimbap, a traditional Korean dish that combines vegetables, eggs, chicken or steak. "What's nice about it is it includes thing that you would think are not so helpful for you," Dave says with a smile. For example: "fried eggs but this is fried in a non-stick skillet." Dave points out that eggs contain lutein, "which is a vital chemical, a natural plant chemical, that helps fight macular degeneration; an eye disorder than a lot of us 'boomers' now are facing."

Bibimbap

Salem's So Sweet Chocolate Festival

Get tickets here!

Jennifer Bell from Salem Main Streets joined Tonia to talk about the 10th Annual Downtown Salem, Salem's So Sweet Chocolate and Ice Festival. This event pairs wine and chocolate along with fifteen ice sculptures. The event kicks off with a wine and chocolate tasting at Hamilton Hall, "which is a beautiful, historic hall in Salem." Tickets are $25 and they hope to have some at the door, but it's suggested that you get yours now by phone at (978) 744-0004.

This week we celebrate New Hampshire Wine Week Winter Wine Spectacular! The SOLD OUT event is happening tonight at the Radisson Hotel Manchester.

Roland Maradino

Tonia spoke with Wine Ambassador, Roland Marandino, who represents the Cecchi and the Sartori di Verona families. What does Roland look forward to this year? "Over two thousand wines will be avaliable to sample... its a wonderful opportunity to taste (New Hampshire) wines and ask questions about them." Roland is very passionate about his wines. His enthusiasm is contagious as he describes not only the wines he represents but the role they can play in our lives. One of his recurring themes is that, for Italians, wine is food and consequently their wines are made not for judges but for the dinner table. They are intended to compliment a menu not to dominate it. Follow Roland on Twitter: @tablewineblog

George Sandeman

George Sandeman, Chairman of the House of Sandeman, is the eldest of the seventh generation of this family, linked to the Port Wine and Sherry businesses. He shared some knowledge on Port with Tonia, "Port is a special wine. True Port is made in Portugal. When the wine is made we do two things to maintain that richness: one is we always pick grapes when they're very ripe. And therefor very sweet. The second is we add brandy or wine alcohol to the fermentation... It's usually red red and very full bodied and has a very delicious, sweetness that is wonderful for the cold weather!" Sandeman Family Wine will showcase Tawny Ports tonight, stop by and taste the "significant difference."

Cannonball Wine Company

Yoav Gilat of Cannonball Wine Company recommends that you "come in, relax, and don't feel any pressure that you need to talk about the wines. Ask questions. Try the wines you like." He suggests starting with the whites, try the different regions, then move to the reds. "But don't try to drink fifty different wines, I would try to focus on things that you find good and that you like." Most importantly, "it doesn't matter what the score is." Tonight's event is a great opportunity to ask a chef about wine pairing and learning about different wines!

For those with tickets for tonight's event, thanks in advance for your donation to Easter Seals and enjoy your vino!