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I was chopping vegetables for dinner on Sunday night.
There is nothing unusual about this statement; the sous-chef duties usually fall to me. I chop and mince while Daniel adds everything together in a pot or pan. He asked me, on this night, if I was okay with continuing this. Yeah, of course, I said. After all, I've known for quite some time that in our little duo, I am the baker.
"But you're a good chef, too," he said. "That lemon pepper pasta was delightful."
I don't undertake major cooking endeavors, for the most part. Scones, cookies, breads, cakes - these are the projects that interest me. And most of the cooking projects I do involve doughs, anyway, like pot pie or spätzle. Every so often, though, I do cook something, and that lemon pepper pasta was such a time. So on Monday night Daniel took on my usual sous-chef chopping while I cooked the vegetables (almost burning them because the last time I made the dish I did not have any distractions in the kitchen).
Here is the nitty-gritty: make this. It is simple and delicious. The flavors are bright enough to perk up these days of winter.
Spicy Lemon Pepper Pasta
adapted slightly from here
You'll notice there aren't really amounts here. If I were better at crafting recipes, there might be, but I'm not baking here, after all. Part of the fun is splashing in a little of an ingredient, then a little more if it needs it. Exercise caution at fist - you can always add more, but it's hard to take out some if you've splashed too much, say, lemon juice in there.
pasta - I use penne when I make this
olive oil
broccoli florets
about half a jar sun-dried tomatoes
hot pepper flakes
lemon juice
salt
black pepper
Boil some pasta. While that is happening, chop up the broccoli and the tomatoes. Pour enough oil into a wok to coat the bottom of it, then toss in the broccoli. Cook at medium-heat for a minute or two, then stir in the tomatoes. Let cook - without stirring - for another minute or two before stirring. Repeat this process of waiting and stirring until the broccoli is bright green and the tomatoes have regained some of their color.
If you've timed this exceptionally well, your pasta will be ready to drain. Make sure it is well-drained, then add it to the wok. You may need to add some more oil - only enough to lightly coat the pasta. Add in a splash of lemon juice, to taste. Add in salt and pepper, also to taste.
Et voila. Serve and enjoy.
We were seduced by taco night.
It's just - that taco filling is so good! And tacos are so easy! And we get two or three entire meals out of them! And did I mention how good they are? So good. But yesterday Daniel lamented, "We have been corrupted by tacos. I miss culinary adventures already."
Which is how we wound up reclaiming Monday.
It wasn't exactly something we set out to do. We were at the supermarket, hoping to find all the ingredients for our meal, since even though we discussed it we did not have a back-up plan - and the next thing you know, Monday night feels like the weekend. The bottle of wine helped with that, but it was also simply the attitude with which we approached the evening.
It wound up being a really good night: we made delicious food (which I promise I will tell you about in a second), drank some okay wine, took a short walk, and hung out until midnight! On a weeknight! I know, we are pretty crazy.
So, this food. The recipe we started from called it pasta alfredo, but let's face it. This dish is delicious, and vegan, and also not fettuccine alfredo. I think it might actually be better than most of the fettuccine alfredo I've had, because it involves way more interesting ingredients. Some of which, granted, are kind of weird and may take a little snooping around in your supermarket to find. (A hint: nutritional yeast can be found in the bulk aisle of Whole Foods.)
It was so good that I went back for seconds while Daniel was finishing up his first bowl. I kind of want some right now, just writing about it. The weird ingredients are worth it, trust me. Make this. It is super easy and so g.d. delicious.
Fettuccine in Bianca
adapted slightly from here
1 c. rice milk
1/3 c. raw unsalted cashews
1/4 c. nutritional yeast
3 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp margarine
1 tbsp tahini (heaping)
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp paprika
a couple shakes of nutmeg
a couple cloves of garlic
Add all the ingredients to a blender. Blend until smooth. Done.
Prepare some fettuccine. Drain. Put back in the pot you used to cook the noodles. Pour the sauce over. Use medium heat and cook until warm.
We also added some broccoli, which was the right decision.
October is here, and that means sweater weather and pumpkin dishes. (You know, like, pumpkin cheesecake...mmm.)
I'm not sure where the idea for pumpkin gnocchi came from, exactly, but once it did, I sort of fixated on it. Which was a problem, seeing as I couldn't find pumpkin puree in the stores and didn't want to mash up a pumpkin on my own. So we had taco night. Problem solved!
...Except that I was still fixated. I wanted to make that pumpkin gnocchi. Pumpkin was finally found in the store, a big 29-oz. can of it, but it still took us a while to actually get around to make it. (There was a pretty awesome home-made General Tso's stir fry in there, too, but my contribution to that was really just chopping.) But make it we did, and then we gobbled it right up.
Pumpkin Gnocchi with Sage Butter Sauce
adapted from here
15 oz. pumpkin puree
2 3/4 c. all-purpose flour
dash of nutmeg
dash of cayenne pepper
salt and pepper
1/3 c. melted (vegan, in this case) butter
about 7 minced sage leaves
3 cloves garlic, minced
Combine the pumpkin, flour, nutmeg, cayenne, salt, and pepper, until everything is incorporated. Take about a handful of the dough and, on a lightly floured surface, roll it into a rope about an inch in diameter. Cut the rope into pieces about an inch wide.
Get some lightly salted water boiling in a large pot. When they are ready, pop the gnocchi into the water. As they cook, prepare the sauce by melting the butter in a small pot. Add in the sage and the garlic; let simmer for a bit.
The gnocchi will be ready when the float at the top of the boiling water. Remove promptly and mix with the butter. Serve - with parmesan if you're not vegan!
I've had this window open for almost an hour, not knowing what to say. I am having a rough time of it this summer, and the past few weeks have been non-stop. We have welcomed friends back and sent them away, and though I tattooed a creature of transition on my body, I am tired of the transition. I am tired of starting over. I know I am not done yet.
Meanwhile, I have been taking refuge in comfort food, hearkening back to the boring white food of my youth. I am eating pasta dressed only with olive oil, black pepper, and parmesan. I indulge in vanilla ice cream, with a crumble topping. You can see why I haven't been updating - I can't remember the last time I looked at a recipe or a cookbook.
There are twenty recipes marked unread sitting in my email, though. (What a weird time we live in - it used to be clippings sitting on a counter somewhere, now I've got recipes in emails.) I'm hoping once my emotional life settles down and the weather starts to cool off, I'll be back in the kitchen, creating.
Spring has started creeping into the District, and not a moment too soon. The seasons really are perfectly timed - as soon as one starts to wear out its welcome, another one comes right in to take its place.
This meant a lot of things for my weekend, things like taking a walk outside not to get someplace but to enjoy the weather, or having the windows wide open all afternoon, or wanting lighter fare than what I've been eating all winter. That last bit was especially true on Sunday, when all I really wanted was pasta salad from Cafe Tu-Oh-Tu. I did not, however, feel particularly moved to go all the way to Georgetown to get it. And my attempt to recreate it almost a year ago (whoa!) still haunts my memory, a little bit.
Dilemma!
So I cruised around the internet, looking at pasta salad recipes with the window wide open. I had two very different pasta salads in mind: the aforementioned Tu-Oh-Tu one, and another that my mother used to make, from a box. Say what you will about boxed food, but this was pretty delicious. And by pretty delicious, I mean I would eat just about all of it, by myself.
The internet, however, did not provide me with what I needed. Or not exactly, anyway. I decided then to just go into the kitchen and make my own (after a short phone call to my mother to see if she had any suggestions). I went with apprehension, remembering my colossal failure in trying to recreate the Tu-Oh-Tu dressing. Putting that aside, I leapt right into making a basic vinaigrette, on my own, with little help. It could have gone horribly wrong.
Dear reader, it did not.
Basic Pasta Salad
I've mentioned before - probably many times at this point - that I'm a big fan of simple meals, ones that don't need a whole lot of prep work. This is one of those. It might be my new favorite light spring dish. You could jazz it up in any way imaginable. Also, this makes one serving. That's it. I imagine it would be super easy to multiply, but I usually eat by myself, so there you have it.
1 serving of pasta (I prefer fusili, though I also like penne)
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
3 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp oregano
pinch ground black pepper
pinch red pepper flakes
Prepare and drain the pasta.
While the pasta is draining, pour the vinegar into a small bowl. Add the spices and stir around a little. Whisk in the olive oil, rapidly, until the oil and vinegar merge together.
Move the pasta back into the pot you cooked it in. Whisk the vinaigrette a little more and pour over the pasta, making sure to stir it in. Place in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes, or until chilled. Sprinkle with parmesan and enjoy!
So, if you're here reading this, chances are you know about my deep and abiding love for Italy. I went on a whim, instead of transferring, to stay in a castle and study poetry. Luckily my German classes paid off, since the castle was in the northern part of the country, up in the Alps in a land that was - like me - more Germanic than Italian. I was the translator for our group; my German got a practical work-out talking to shop owners and buying bread at the Saturday market.
The twelve of us studied with the offspring of Ezra Pound, and during the week our breakfasts and lunches were taken care of (and dinner, on workdays). As I've mentioned before, being polite has always trumped my pickiness, and because of this I tried all sorts of things that I would not have otherwise. Like wild boar.
Spätzle became my favorite food there, one I sought out in restaurants and hoped B. (who made our lunches and work-day dinners) would make again. I found it in the supermarket back in Greensboro, when I got back to the States, but something about buying it from the store like that seemed wrong. I knew it wouldn't live up.
This food has been on my mind for almost four years. (Also, jeez, how has that much time passed?) Once I got The Joy of Cooking, I darted back to the index to see if they had a spätzle recipe. And of course, they did. I still didn't make it. I'm not sure what I was waiting for, but I needed an occasion to make it. A colander, too, since traditionally you push the dough through the colander; unfortunately the holes on my colander were too small. Alas and alack.
Finally, the time was right. I hosted last year's (!) Festivus party, sating both my desire to make spätzle and my desire to have a dinner party. My spätzle turned out more misshapen than I remembered them in Europe, but it didn't really matter as none of my guests had heard of the dish before. (I also wasn't able to get any pictures of the process since I was more concerned with getting everything ready at the same time, but this way you get that goofy picture of me four years ago!)
Plus, if I may say so, it was pretty delicious! Food was served and everyone went silent, except for the occasional mmmms.
Spätzle
adapted from Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home
This dish is somewhere between dumplings and noodles. It's a fantastic dish for winter, because it's fairly hearty and filling, and it'll warm you up. Trust me, those Alpine folk know how to keep you warm. And well-fed.
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
pinch of nutmeg
pinch of black pepper
2 large eggs
1/2 cup milk
pat of butter
Combine flour, salt, nutmeg, pepper, eggs, and milk in a medium bowl, mixing well. The dough is going to be pretty sticky. Bring some water to a boil. This is the point where, if you have a colander with large enough holes, you could push the dough through them. If you don't, however, you can just drop the dough into the water with a small spoon.
Simmer and cook for about five minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the spätzle to a serving dish. As you're doing so, add butter every now and then to melt in the dish.
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