Naperville Eats: Cook with doctor’s mom at Edward
February 27, 2013 3:16PM
Dr. Francine Long showed how to make these ravioli at a recent cooking demonstration at Edward Hospital.
Ravioli
Pasta
2-1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 tablespoons water
Filling
1 pound Ricotta cheese
2 eggs
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoons parsley, chopped fine
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
Measure flour onto counter or pastry board. Make a well in the flour. Lightly beat eggs with the oil and pour half into the well. Using a fork, gradually draw in the flour. Add remaining egg mixture. Continue to draw in the flour to distribute moisture. When mixture becomes too dry to use a fork, knead dough with your hands, adding water as needed to make a soft dough. Knead dough for seven minutes. Cover and let rest for 15 minutes. Run dough through a pasta machine or roll out to 1/16-inch thickness. Lay dough on a Ravioli form or cut into 3-inch squares. Mix together filling ingredients. Place a teaspoon of filling on each ravioli square. Seal with fork or rolling pin if using a ravioli form. Cook ravioli in boiling water about seven minutes or longer if dough is thicker. Serve with favorite pasta sauce
Yeast Bread Coffee Cake
1/2 cup 2 percent milk
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup margarine
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup warm water
2 envelopes dry yeast
2 eggs, slightly beaten
4-1/2 cups flour
21-ounce can pie filling
Microwave milk, sugar, salt and margarine until sugar is dissolved. Cool. Stir yeast and 2 teaspoons of sugar into warm water. Stir until dissolved and allow to stand 10 minutes until foamy. Pour milk mixture and yeast into large bowl. Add half of flour and mix well. Add remaining flour gradually until the dough is soft. Knead on a floured surface for 7 minutes, adding flour if needed to prevent sticking. Place in a greased bowl and cover. Allow to rise 1 to 2 hours until double. Punch down and divide into four balls. Roll each ball into a 13-by-8-inch rectangle. Place dough on greased cookie sheet. Spread about a quarter to third can filling down center of rectangle. Fold sides of dough over the filling leaving top and bottom seam open. Let rise 30 minutes. Bake at 375 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes in center of oven and last 5 minutes on top shelf of oven until golden brown. It can be frosted with confectioner’s sugar icing if desired.
Article Extras
Updated: April 2, 2013 6:12AM
Doctors frequently instruct patients to “watch what you eat” to promote healthy eating. However, patients were given an opportunity to watch what the doctor eats during “Cooking with the Doctor’s Mom,” a recent food demonstration at Edward Hospital.
“I have been affiliated with Edward Hospital for 22 years,” began Dr. Francine Long, a physician with Edward Medical MDVIP Group. “I have been affiliated with my mother for 64 years,” she added, pointing to her 88-year-old mother, Rose Palma. “We are here to show you our favorite simple and wholesome foods.”
The Glen Ellyn residents took turns demonstrating their favorite recipes.
Long began the presentation by making ravioli. She measured out the flour onto a mat placed on the table and began mixing in eggs and water. A member of the audience asked why Long wasn’t using a bowl. Long looked at her mother who shrugged her shoulders and then Long simply explained, “This is how we have always made pasta.”
After incorporating all the ingredients, Long kneaded the dough to keep it smooth.
“You just fold and turn the dough, pushing it with the heel of your palm, forward and back,” she explained. “This is how you get Michelle Obama arms,” she joked.
After kneading, Long sent the dough through a pasta maker several times before placing it onto a ravioli form. She then made a simple cheese filling to be placed in each ravioli. A second sheet of pasta was prepared and placed on top. Long then rolled the top layer onto the form, which cut the dough into individual raviolis.
“They can be cooked and eaten or frozen at this point,” Long said.
To freeze ravioli, Long places it on greased cookie sheets and freezes them one hour. She then places the frozen raviolis into containers or bags in the freezer for later use.
Palma then showed how to make her well-known coffee cakes.
“All the politicians in DuPage and Milton townships know Rose’s cooking,” says Joann Richardson, a Lombard resident who attended the presentation. “She brings 10 coffee cakes to the meetings, and everybody loves her and her coffee cakes.”
Palma quickly mixed together the ingredients for her coffee cake while noting “yeast coffee cakes used to be so popular years ago. They really are so easy to make.”
After mixing the dough, she quickly kneaded it before putting it into a bowl to rise. “You have to keep flour on your hands all of the time you handle the dough,” she noted.
She covered the dough with a towel to allow the dough to rise and then pulled out a bowl of dough that had already risen.
“When the dough is ready, you divide it and then roll it out.”
She began to roll the dough into about an 8-by-13-inch rectangle.
“Sometimes it takes a while for the dough to listen to me,” she said as she struggled with the rolling of the dough.
When the dough was rolled, she spooned filling down the center, wrapped the edges over the filling and the coffee cake was ready to bake.
Palma usually serves the coffee cakes after baking but noted, “these coffee cakes freeze really well, and since each batch makes four or so coffee cakes, it is good to freeze some of them.”
The two women made the recipes look effortless. Their goal was to encourage others to try making wholesome food at home. They share their recipes for others to try.
