Creamy Bagna Cauda Food

BAGNA CAUDA

Steps:

• Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in garlic and cook until tender. Reduce heat to low. Mix in anchovy filets and heavy cream. Cook and stir until thickened. Remove from heat, cover and chill in the refrigerator approximately 2 hours.
• Return the mixture to medium heat, stirring occasionally, until bubbly. Serve hot.

CREAMY BAGNA CAUDA II

Steps:

• Blend butter, anchovies, garlic, half& half, and mushroom soup in a blender or food processor.
• Pour in a heavy saucepan or fondue pot and heat until warm.
• DO NOT BOIL!
• Serve in a fondue pot or small slow cooker.
• Dip bread cubes or veges in warm sauce.

CREAMY BAGNA CAUDA

Steps:

• Saute garlic in butter until light brown but NOT SCORCHED.
• Add anchovy filets, then cream.
• Hold out about 1/2 cup cream and combine with cornstarch.
• Stir thickener into mixture.
• Bring to a SIMMER but DO NOT BOIL.
• Stir constantly until thickened.
• You can place this in a fondue pot and serve with small, bite size assorted veggies or bread cubes.
• Some suggestions are carrot slices, artichoke hearts, cherry tomatoes, celery slices, cabbage leaves, Belgian Endive, broccoli florets, etc.
• Guests can dip their choice into the warm sauce.

BAGNA-CAUDA BUTTER (WITH GARLIC AND ANCHOVIES)

Steps:

• Heat the olive oil in a small saucepan over low heat. When the oil just begins to warm, add the garlic and anchovies and cook slowly, stirring until the garlic becomes toasty brown and the anchovies dissolve (about ten minutes). Let cool completely.
• Process the butter in a food processor until smooth and creamy. Add the cooled garlic-anchovy mixture and a pinch of salt. Process until well blended. Taste and add more salt if needed. Transfer to a bowl and stir in the parsley. Refrigerate until firm enough to shape into a log.
• Put an 18-inch sheet of aluminum foil on your work surface. Spoon the butter down the center of the foil into a log about 1-1/2 inches in diameter. Enclose in foil and twist the ends to make a sealed log, like a tootsie roll. Refrigerate for up to one week, or freeze for up to six months.

CREAMY BAGNA CAUDA

Steps:

• Wash and prepare the vegetables several hours before using them. Cut vegetable into strips about 3 inches long and 1/2-inch wide. Place all the vegetables in ice water to crisp. NOTE: Remember, this is a dip for vegetables freshly picked at the peak. Use only the youngest, sweetest variety of them as possible, and before serving pat all the vegetables dry with a towel. In a large heavy saucepan over medium-high heat, add cream and garlic cloves; bring just to a boil, lower heat to medium, and cook, stirring constantly to prevent scorching or boiling over, approximately 15 minutes or untilthe cream has thickened and reduced by half (approximately 1 cup). Remove from heat and let cool slightly. In another saucepan, melt the butter (or olive oil). Mash anchovies with a fork and add to butter, along with cayenne pepper and parsley; cook until the anchovies dissolves into a paste, about 5 minutes. Put the reduced cream, garlic cloves, and anchovy mixture into a blender and purée until the mixture is very smooth. (The recipe may be made ahead to this point.) In a saucepan, reheat the Bagna Cauda at a very slow simmer, stirring constantly, but do not let it boil. Serve in warming dish over candle (a fondue pot works well). If sauce begins to separate while standing, a few turns with a whisk will bring it back together. Sauce may be made ahead and kept refrigerated in covered jar. To re-warm, place jar in cold water in a pan and gently raise the heat until mixture is liquid again. Dip vegetables into the Bagna Cauda (a fondue-style fork will help), holding a piece of bread under the vegetable after dipping. After dipping a few pieces, the bread will be fragrant with oil and delicious to eat. Makes 6 to 8 servings (1 1/2 cups).

GARDEN-STYLE STRAW AND HAY PASTA WITH BAGNA CAUDA SAUCE

Steps:

• Bring a small pot of water to a low boil, then add the garlic and simmer for 20 minutes. Let cool, then drain, peel and mash into a paste. Season with sea salt.
• Bring a few inches of water to a boil in a large pot and season with salt. Fill a large bowl with ice water. Cut the vegetables into similar shapes and sizes but keep them separate. Blanch the vegetables, one kind at a time, until tender-crisp. Delicate vegetables like thin beans will take 1 to 2 minutes, firmer vegetables like squash will take 3 minutes. After each batch, transfer them to the ice bath to cool using a spider or a small strainer. Drain well.
• Heat the EVOO in a small pot over medium heat. Add the anchovies and stir until they break down and melt into the oil. Add the heavy cream, butter and garlic paste, and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, until thickened. Let the sauce cool, then transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate overnight (or longer).
• Bring a large pot of water to a boil for the pasta and season with salt. Add the pasta and cook until al dente, 7 to 8 minutes. Add the vegetables in the last 2 minutes of cooking to reheat them. Reheat the bagna cauda sauce in a saucepan over medium-low heat.
• Toss the pasta and vegetables with the sauce and the parsley. Season with salt and pepper.

BAGNA CAUDA

Steps:

• Put the oil in a pan with the garlic and anchovies and cook over low heat, stirring, until you have a melted, muddy mess. Everything should begin to meld together. Whisk in 6 tablespoons of butter, and as soon as it has melted, remove from the heat and give a few more beats of your whisk so that everything is creamy and amalgamated. Taste, and if you feel you want this as a dipping sauce - which is meant to be pungent but not acrid. If you want the sauce a little more mellow, whisk in the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter. Pour into a dish that, ideally, fits over a flame so that it does not get cold at the table.
• Dip in the crudites and eat.