The Traveling Epicurean



Pasta Workshop with Chef Michel-May 14, 2024

Homemade Pasta Workshop May 14th at Two Blokes Brewing with Chef Michel!

Join us at the Homemade Fettuccini Workshop!

Ready to roll up your sleeves and dive into the art of making fresh pasta from scratch? Look no further! At this hands-on workshop, you’ll learn how to create delicious fettuccini noodles right in the heart of Mount Pleasant, SC at Two Blokes Brewing. Chef Michel Vejar will guide you through the process, sharing tips and tricks along the way.

Whether you’re a pasta-making pro or a complete beginner, this event is perfect for anyone who loves good food and good company. Get ready to knead, roll, and cut your way to a plate of perfect homemade fettuccini. Don’t miss out on this fun and interactive culinary experience!

You’ll be having an entire meal at this workshop: bread and roasted red pepper dip appetizer, a fennel salad with tangerine dressing, 4 complimentary sauces to top your pasta and coconut cake for dessert.

Limited spots and only a few left! Click this link to REGISTER NOW!

Ravioli

Ravioli 101

For your convenience you can now SHOP on this page for your cooking accessories and ingredients below the written recipe. I am a Amazon associate affiliate so all you have to do is click on each of the product photos and it will take you to purchase that product.

Here we are at Two Blokes Brewing in Mount Pleasant, SC learning to make homemade ravioli! There’s nothing more rewarding then making pasta from scratch, cooking it up fresh and then topping the raviolis with your favorite sauce. This was a very fun group that caught on quickly and truly appreciated learning the art of pasta making. Check out some of the Ravioli Workshop photos. The Ravioli recipe follows below.

Homemade Ravioli 101

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Ingredients for Pasta, NOTE: Click here to  purchase these flours on Amazon

  • 1 3/4 c. 00 Flour (Caputo Italian Flour) spoon the flour into the measuring cup
  • 1 1/2 c. Semola flour (Caputo Di Grano Duro) spoon the flour into the measuring cup
  • 4 whole eggs
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 1 tsp fine salt
  • 1 tbsp. water

Ingredients for Ricotta:

  • 16 0z. whole milk ricotta
  • 2 tbsp. fresh chopped basil
  • 1 whisked whole eggs
  • 1cup grated Reggiano Parmesan
  • pinch of salt & pepper
  • 1 cup canned pumpkin- OPTIONAL
  • 1 heaping tsp. freshly grated garlic- OPTIONAL

NOTE: One of my fave fillings is adding the 1 cup of pumpkin + 1 heaping tsp. grated garlic to the above ingredients

Directions:

  1. Add flours and salt to food processor, pulse to combine
  2. Add in all eggs and water, then pulse just until dough comes together, almost a ball
  3. NOTE: the dough ball should have a crumbly texture and not quite together, until you knead
  4. Empty out onto work surface and knead for 8 minutes using dough scrapper to gather little pieces
  5. Keep scrapping up the pieces while kneading, the flour is slowly absorbing the eggs & water so be patient here
  6. Shape into round disc and cover with saran wrap, let sit 30 minutes
  7. Uncover and cut into 6 pieces, 6 triangular shape pieces
  8. Take 1 piece at a time, flatten out towards edges and put thru #1 setting on Kitchen Aid pasta roller
  9. Tri-fold the dough and put thru on #1 setting
  10. Repeat trifold (letter fold) 2x more on #1 setting
  11. No more folding is needed at this point
  12. Add to #2-#4 settings putting thru 1x on each
  13. Also thru settings # 5 and #6 1x
  14. Begin to layer in between parchment paper so they don’t stick together
  15. Arrange long pieces of pasta on counter and add teaspoon size mounds of ricotta mixture 2” apart each way making 2 rows, 4-5 across and 2 down
  16. Using your finger dab a small amount of water around ricotta mounds to help seal the top sheet
  17. Gently lay 2nd top sheet over the ricotta mounds and starting in the middle smooth out the dough sheets
  18. You want to remove as much air as possible around the ricotta between the two layers of pasta
  19. Using your pasta wheel cut the desire shape ravioli around the sealed dough
  20. Repeat with the other pasta sheets until all your ravioli are cut
  21. Add the ravioli 8 at a time to salted boiling water for 2-3 minutes for all-dente pasta and serve with favorite sauce

 

Elegant, Large 13″ x 3″ Italian Certified PASTA BOWL

 

 

Set of 4 Bowls -Italian Certified

 

 

Gnocchi Workshop at Two Blokes Brewing

Gnocchi Workshop at Two Blokes Brewing

My culinary workshops at Two Blokes Brewing in Mount Pleasant, SC are both educational and enjoyable in this relaxed atmosphere! At this particular March 28th workshop everyone learned how to make homemade potato gnocchi! The best part was cooking up what you made and smothering the freshly made gnocchi with prepared sauces at the chaffing stations.  The variety of sauces to choose from at this class consisted of tomato-basil sauce, vodka sauce and white wine and dry cream sherry cheese sauce. Also included, fresh baked rosemary focaccia for appetizer, a spring fennel & citrus salad with tangerine dressing and giant chocolate chip cookies for dessert. All of these recipes available on this website, click on the hyper link to go to the preferred recipe.

Here’s some pics from the very fun gnocchi workshop and a recipe link as well!

Click HERE for Potato Gnocchi Recipe:

Valentine’s Day Pasta Workshop at Two Blokes Brewing!

Valentine’s Day Pasta workshop at Two Blokes Brewing on Tuesday, February 14, 2023!

We have your Valentines Day plans set at Two Blokes! Learn to make homemade pasta from Chef Michel Vejar with your special someone or some friends this Valentine’s Day!

The Workshop includes a class where you will learn everything you need to make pasta, then you will make your own for dinner! After you are finished, you will enjoy a full meal with the fruits of your labor. Michel will be providing everyone with a Caesar salad, tomato-basil or vodka sauce for the pasta & chocolate crackle cookies.

Get your tickets NOW before they sell out!

Sign up at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/valentines-day-couples-pasta-workshop-tickets-494186754887

Click here to go to recipe page for HOMEMADE PASTA

Pasta

Homemade Pasta 101

For your convenience you can now SHOP on this page for your cooking accessories and ingredients below the written recipe. I am a Amazon associate affiliate so all you have to do is click on each of the product photos and it will take you to purchase that product.

There’s nothing like the tender yet slightly chewy feel and taste of homemade pasta. There are thousands of recipes out there to make homemade pasta. In my test kitchen this recipe is perfectly balanced for achieving the most important qualities in texture and taste for making homemade pasta.

My recipe combines both 00 flour and 00 semolina giving a better texture and mouth feel to your pasta. In our world of easy ordering on Amazon you can get the Caputo Brand in both “00 flour” and a very fine “Semolina Flour – Il Grano Turo” in 2.2 lb. bags delivered same day.

Rule of thumb is homemade pasta is always better the day its made with only a little drying out time, keep it covered with dish towel or saran. It does freeze beautifully, just layer it in between layers of parchment in fettuccine bundles in a hard container so it doesn’t get crushed when you move things around in your freezer. When ready to eat thaw in frig over night, run your fingers thru after they thaw to air out and keep covered until ready to boil or drop the pasta into salted boiling water immediately from frozen form.

Follow my step by step directions below and you’ll feel like a pro making your own homemade pasta. Don’t forget to try some of my sauces like Tomato Basil Sauce, Vodka Sauce, or my Pesto Sauce.

 

 

 

 

 

Ingredients:

  • 1 3/4 c. 00 Flour (Caputo Italian Flour) “spoon and measure”
  • 1 1/2 c. Semola flour (Caputo Di Grano Duro) “spoon and measure”
  • 1/4 c. Semolina Flour (Granule texture) ONLY to keep pasta separated while drying out. NOTE: this does NOT go into the dough mixture
  • 4 whole eggs
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 1 tsp fine salt
  • 1 tbsp. water

Directions:

  1. Add flours and salt to food processor, pulse to combine
  2. Add in all eggs and water, then pulse just until dough comes together, almost a ball
  3. Empty out onto work surface and knead for 10 minutes using dough scrapper to gather little pieces into the dough ball
  4. Shape into round disc and cover with saran wrap, let sit 30 minutes
  5. Uncover and cut into 6 pieces, 6 triangular shape pieces
  6. Take 1 piece at a time, flatten out and put thru #1 on Kitchen Aid pasta roller
  7. Fold in 1/2 and put thru at #1 again
  8. Next, make trifold (letter fold) and put thru #1 2x more for total of 4x in #1 setting
  9. No more folding is needed at this point
  10. Now put pasta sheets, WITHOUT folding,  setttings #2, #3 & #4 one time thru
  11. Then comtinue 1x on settings # 5 and #6
  12. Change out Pasta Roller for Fettucine or linguine rollers and gently feed flat past sheet thru the top of the roller catching molded strands as they come out the bottom
  13. Lay down cut pasta onto coarse Semolina to dry out for 15 minutes
  14. Repeat with the other pasta wedges until all your pasta is cut
  15. Add to salted boiling water for 2 minutes for all-dente pasta and serve with favorite sauce

What to do with leftover Corned Beef…

What to do with leftover Corned Beef…

 

How fun it is when St. Patrick’s Day rolls around knowing corned beef and all the fixings are going to be on the dinner table.  Well, here’s the answer to all that leftover corned beef now sitting in your frig! So many of you have loved eating my Risotto Reuben Balls appetizer at my demos but they are a little time consuming. So now I have 3 more corned beef appetizers that are not as complicated but equally as satisfying! All of these new appetizers can be also be served with my amazing homemade Thousand Island Dressing.

Appetizer #1 – Reuben Dip. It’s utterly scrumptious and probably a lot less messy to eat then an actual sandwich.

Appetizer #2 – Jalapeno Poppers or Stuffed Mushrooms. The mushroom version for those who can’t handle the pepper heat.

Appetizer #3 – Baked Corned Beef and Cabbage Egg Rolls.  An absolute no brainer for ease and deliciousness!

Appetizer #1 – Reuben Dip

Ingredients for Reuben Dip:

  • 1 c. finely chopped corned beef
  • 8 oz. Philadelphia cream cheese (room temperature)
  • 1/2 c. drained sauerkraut (remove excess moisture with papertowels)
  • 1 c. thousand island dressing
  • 1 c. shredded swiss cheese
  • 1/2 c. shredded mozzarella
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/8 tsp pepper

Directions for Reuben Dip:

  1. Pre-heat oven to 400°
  2. Add all above ingredients into a large mixing bowl and stir to combine
  3. Add mixture to 9×13 baking dish and bake 15-18 minutes until bubbly around the edges
  4. Serve with bagel chips or pita chips

Appetizer #2 – Baked Jalapeños Poppers or Stuffed Mushrooms with Corned Beef

Ingredients for Baked Jalapeño Poppers or Stuffed Mushrooms:

  • 12 jalapeños or mushrooms
  • 8 oz. cream cheese
  • 2 tbsp. Hellman’s Mayo – (OPTIONAL, makes is lighter)
  • 1 1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese, orange
  • 1/4 c. shredded swiss cheese
  • 1 garlic clove grated
  • 3-4 strips crispy bacon, finely chopped
  • 1/8 tsp each salt & pepper

Directions for Baked Jalapeño poppers or Stuffed Mushrooms:

  1. Per-heat oven to 400°
  2. Wearing gloves wash and slice jalapeños length wise thru stem
  3. With a small spoon scoop out seeds and white pith
  4. Mix all ingredients above in medium bowl
  5. Spoon about a tbsp of mixture into each halved jalapeño, should be almost level with edge of pepper
  6. Place on a parchment covered cookie tray and bake 12 minutes, just until melted and slightly golden, if you over bake all the stuffing will fall out of limp pepper

Appetizer #3 Corned Beef and Cabbage Egg Rolls:

Ingredients for Corned Beef Egg Rolls:

  1. 1 c. shredded corned beef
  2. 1 1/2 c. thinly sliced cooked cabbage
  3. 1/4 c. shredded raw carrot
  4. Canola oil for brushing egg rolls
  5. Egg roll wrappers

Directions for Corned Beef Egg Rolls:

  1. Pre-heat oven to 400°
  2. Place sheet of parchment down on cookie tray
  3. Add corned beef, cabbage and carrot to a medium size bowl and mix gently to combine
  4. Place egg roll wrapper in on work surface with point towards you
  5. Add 1/4 c. mixture to the center of egg roll wrapper, slightly below middle
  6. Dip your finger in small cup of water and rub on point edges on the opposite side away from you, it will seal the edges
  7. Fold up point closest to you up over mixture, then tuck point under mixture
  8. Then fold over left and right sides
  9. Now begin to roll up egg and place seam side down on parchment paper
  10. Once all egg rolls are placed onto cookie tray brush lightly with canola oil, on each side
  11. Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden
  12. Serve with Thousand Island Dressing or sweet and sour sauce

Persian Kotlet & Cucumber Sauce

Persian Kotlet & Cucumber Sauce

This Persian kotlet appetizer is also Persia’s version of a the All-American burger! Kotlet is made with a grated Russet potato that’s been boiled, grated raw onion, egg, saffron, allspice, salt and pepper. It’s formed and pressed into ovals, then dipped into breadcrumbs and shallow fried. It’s typical for this Persian kotlet to be served on bread, lavash bread or pita with sliced tomato, onions and pickles. My dear friend and amazing cook from San Francisco, Anita Vejar, helped to inspire and guide me thru these yummy Persian recipes.

This kotlet was the second appetizer served at Sholeh and Keith’s wine pairing dinner party, the Persian inspired dinner. You recently saw the delicious kuku recipe that I posted which was the first course at this same gathering.

The winning wine pairing for this kotlet was the wonderful Rombauer Chardonnay over the Spanish Tempranillo-Syrah blend. The suggested wine pairing for this Persian kotlet course came from my wine connoisseur friends in California, Jim and Jen Lee and they were right on. The wine pairing for the lamb and chicken main course was a tie between California Petite Sirah and Australia Shiraz.

What’s the difference you might ask? First of all, Shiraz and Syrah are of the same grape varietal and different in name only depending on which country they were grown in. For Example, in Australia the wine is referred to as Shiraz and in France its called Syrah. On the other hand, Petite Sirah is of a different grape varietal then Syrah & Shiraz. Petite Sirah is a distant relative of Syrah, the outcome of a cross between the Syrah and Peloursin grapes. Petite Sirah is a somewhat smaller size resulting in more skin-to-pulp ratio giving you inky, bold-rich flavors with notes of wild blackberries.

With my Greek ancestry and love of Mediterranean food I was excited about making the Persian cucumber sauce.  Tzatziki is a similar sauce although tzatziki has all the juice is drained before adding the Greek yogurt where as this Persian cucumber sauce does not.  The Persian cucumber is easier than the tzatziki with the omission of that one step.

If you have never added saffron to your rice you have no idea what you’re missing! Saffron, called threads, are derived from the Crocus Sativus flower (Saffron Crocus) giving the rice a rich golden-yellow hue which is sweet and luscious in flavor, almost velvety. Next time you make your rice just add in just a few strands of saffron and you’ll see what I mean. You may never want to eat plain white rice again! SEE LINK BELOW to purchase Saffron and basmati rice at a great price, along with other great finds!!

To go along with your Persian Kotlet you may want a refreshing dessert like Lemon Mousse Cups with Ginger Cookie crumble, Pavlova with Fresh Berries, or Death by Chocolate Meringue Pie!

 

 

 

 

 

Persian Kotlet & Cucumber Sauce

~Paired with Rombauer Chardonnay, California or a Tempranillo-Syrah Blend, Spain~

 

Ingredients for Persian Kotlet:

1 lb ground beef OR turkey burger

1 medium size Russet potato, boiled, cooled & grated

1 small Vidalia onion, grated

1 ex lg egg

1/2  tsp salt

1/4 tsp each allspice, saffron and pepper

1 cup plain or seasoned breadcrumbs

1 cup vegetable oil for sautéing

1 recipe for Persian cucumber sauce (see below)

(Also can serve with lavash bread, thinly sliced tomato, red onion and half-sour pickles-like a burger!)

Directions for Persian Kotlet:

  1. Add medium size potato to small pot of cold water and bring to a simmer for 30 minutes
  2. Remove the potato from the water and let sit until it’s cooled enough to handle then remove the outer skin and grate into a medium bowl
  3. Add grated onion to this bowl along with ground beef and spices
  4. Mix together until well combined
  5. Form the mixture into a regular size meatball-like shapes and then flatten out into ovals
  6. Add 1/2 cup vegetable oil to a medium size pan over medium heat
  7. Dip the oval shaped meat into the breadcrumbs and then into the hot oil
  8. Sauté for approx. 4 minutes on each side like you would a meatball
  9. Place the cooked Kotlet onto paper towels to absorb excess oil
  10. Repeat until all the Kotlets are cooked and serve with cucumber sauce and or with lavash bread, sliced tomato, onion and half-sour pickles

Ingredients for Cucumber Sauce:

16 oz.  Greek Yogurt

1 English Cucumber, diced with skin on

1 tbsp finely chopped shallot

1 lg garlic clove-grated

2 tbsp fresh dill, chopped

2 tsp extra virgin olive oil

1/4 tsp salt and pepper

Directions for Persian Cucumber Sauce: 

Add all ingredients to a medium bowl, stir to combine and serve with Kotlet or pita chips

SHOP HERE!!

Click the pictures to take you to your purchase …

Zaran Saffron, Superior Saffron Threads (Premium) All-Red Saffron Spice for your Paella, Risotto, Persian Tea, Persian Rice, and Golden Milk) (Persian (Super Negin), 2 Grams)

Nature’s Eats Blanched Slivered Almonds, Natural, 10 Ounce

SHIRIN Slivered Pistachios, Unsalted, 2 Ounce

Bombay Market Basmati White Rice – 4 Pound Bag


This tantalizing torshi (liteh torshi) includes fresh eggplant, cauliflower, carrots, celery, garlic, five types of fragrant fresh herbs, and our special blend of aromatic spices. Savory Veggie Torshi (13.2 oz)


OXO Good Grips Box Grater

Large Serving Bowl with Handles Set Oval Serving Platter 1.5 Quarts Set of 2 White

Crystal Star Acacia Pacific Merchants Acacia

All-Clad Essentials Nonstick Cookware set, 10-Piece, Grey