Lemon Fusilli

We love Ina Garten aka Barefoot Contessa (which by the way have you ever seen that movie it's kind of depressing) . Love her.  A few years ago when we visited Paris, one of the definitive highlights of the trip (I'd say top 3) was spotting Ina and her husband Jeffrey on the street, and assaulting them.  Jeffrey kindly offered to take a picture of us. 

Kevin and I were clearly over the moon in taking this photo.  Ina doesn't look like it, but really she's thinking about the best way to invite us to dinner at her Paris apartment that night.  We had to decline. 

This past spring I really got into cooking/baking with lemons.  The summer produce wasn't out yet, and while I'm not expecting to find lemons at the farmers' market or anything, they're Spring enough so I went with it.  I was looking for a pasta that had a good dose of lemon in the sauce, and Ina came through for me with her  Fusilli with Lemon. I made it a while ago with good results, and I decided to revisit it last week.

Ingredients: 

• 1 tablespoon good olive oil
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic (2 cloves)
• 2 cups heavy cream  (I used half and half this time around, which I think ended up being a mistake)
• 3 lemons (2 for cooking, 1 for garnish--but before...oh never mind I'll tell you later)
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 bunch broccoli (or whatever you like--I used asparagus the first time I made this, and this time around I made it with baby zucchini)
• 1 pound dried fusilli pasta
• 1/2 pound baby arugula (or 2 bunches of common arugula, leaves cut in thirds) (this is a shitload of arugula, I think next time I'll do 1/4 pound)
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
• 1 pint grape or cherry tomatoes, halved

Serves 4-6 (I would say much closer to 6, unless you're the Mr. Brawny type)

If you were making this with broccoli, you would chop up the florets and blanch them.  I was using zucchini so I sliced them lengthwise down the middle and chopped them into 1-inch chunks. Aren't they precious.

I then sauteed them for a few minutes in olive oil, with a little sprinkling of salt.  Remove from heat and set aside.  To make things easier on myself I piled the non-sauce ingredients into a bowl--the sauteed zucchini, chopped cherry tomatoes, arugula, and parmesan cheese.  This bowl of goodness would be the stuff I throw in later to the cooked pasta and lemon/cream sauce.

I love tomatoes. Have I told you that?

For the sauce, it's basically lemon juice, lemon zest, cream, garlic salt and pepper.

In a large pot/saute pan/whatever, saute your garlic in the olive oil, and then add the lemon juice, zest, cream, salt and pepper.  Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until it gets thick.

There are two major things I would have done differently at this point.  First, I used half and half to be a wee bit healthier.  I'm not sure if it was the switch or just natural curdling, but the lemon juice curdled the 1/2 and 1/2 and it kinda stayed that way.  I don't remember this happening the first time I made it, when I used cream.  Anyway, I whisked it towards the end to try and smooth it out but it wasn't entirely successful.

The second thing? I must have used super lemons this time, because it was really acidic.  Kevin said it was yummy, but I think he was just being nice and for my personal taste I would start with 1.5 lemons and add to taste from there. The other unfortunate consequence of the steroid lemons was that the sauce took a really long time to thicken up, and I resorted to putting cornstarch in it. Whatever.

Cook your pasta but shave 1 minute off the recommended cooking time, drain and place into the pot with your sauce.

Toss pasta with sauce and cook for a minute or two to let the pasta absorb some of the sauce.  Take off heat and toss with zucchini, arugula, tomatoes and parm.

Yes, he wears that shirt in public.

Ta-da!

Dinner at Daniel

As I mentioned, last week Kevin and I both celebrated our birthdays--kinda nice because it feels extra celebratory. For two days we are the same age, and I am no longer the "older woman". 

Our Saturday started with a pleasant surprise, when my very good friend (who officiated our wedding) had what I can only call a party-sized platter of macarons delivered to our door, from Bouchon Bakery.  She remembered that I really loved the macarons at a bakery in San Francisco, and after I moved to New York about 8 years ago, she has still remembered my fondness for them and went through the trouble of finding somewhere that could deliver them to me.  I mean, to us. Us. It was *our* birthdays. 

Yeah, pretty much...

fucking awesome.

For lunch, I had Sapporo Ichiban ramen bought from the bodega, with some kimchi added to it. Classy!

That night we had plans to go to Daniel.  We weren't aiming to sit in the main dining area because we didn't want to commit to a full three-course meal.  I had heard you could sit in the Lounge and eat a la carte, so that seemed like the way to go.  I found out only too late that they actually accept reservations for the Lounge as well, and we didn't have reservations.  Bastards. Anyway, there were still little tables in the cocktail bar area that they could set up for dinner, so that's what we did. Yes siree.  

In order to work up an appetite, we walked across the park to the restaurant.  We had a respite from the crippling heat wave, so it was a beautiful evening to walk.  As we passed Sheep's Meadow, I snapped a shot of the buildings on Central Park South.

After a nice walk and surreptitious change of shoes for me, we found ourselves at the entrance of Daniel Boulud's flagship mecca.

We waited a few minutes in the lobby while they set up our table, and I took the opportunity to show my rube self and take some pictures.

The ceiling in the lobby area

Ze bar

Painting in the lobby area that Kevin really liked. I think they kinda look like bugs.

Waiting for drinks.  Daniel had a facelift about two years ago and I guess this dotted interlocking circle design is their new motif.

After we were seated, I had me a COCKTAIL!  Their cocktail menu is mouthwatering.  I opted for the Pomp and Circumstance, a gin cocktail with chartreuse, grapefruit juice and soda. So refreshing.  

A snapshot of the appetizer menu

Kevin is clearly excited about our amuse bouche--trio of beet. There was a smoked salmon and beet salad, a beet mousse, and something else. The smoked salmon preparation was the best.

Kevin ordered the octopus appetizer, which had both braised octopus and octopus tempura. The tempura was amazing. I could have popped those things like Pringles.

As you can tell, my photography skills have only been improving since I started blogging. Pat on the back. And shove those scallops into my mouth! NOW! Hazelnut and chorizo-crusted scallops. Two bit, fat, plump, juicy, perfectly cooked scallops.  Sooo sweet.  Aw whaddya mean you can't tell from this photo that they were scallops? You're killing me, KILLING me.

In between courses. Hi Kevin! Happy Birthday!

For the entree, I ordered the trio of veal--loin, sweetbread and cheeks. Excellent, although...

Kevin's perfectly cooked halibut pretty much kicked my veal's ass, and I don't say that lightly because I love sweetbreads and veal.

We didn't order dessert, but they brought us the mignardises.  Light, lemony madeleines and...a bunch of other yummy stuff I can't remember.

A satisfied customer at the end of a tasty meal.  So this was the picture that I took of Kevin.  Aaaand...

...this is the one he took of me.  We know who holds their liquor better in this relationship.

Walnut Ricotta Pesto

We had some of our friends over last weekend, who happen to be vegetarian (I'm surrounded--SURROUNDED).  It was also on a Friday night, so in addition to it being vegetarian, I wanted it to be easy to prepare.  Luckily a few weeks ago I caught an episode of Lidia's Italy (I told you we watched it a lot) and she made a walnut ricotta "pesto" that seemed to fit the bill perfectly.


Here are the ingredients, as adapted by, of all things, the Colorado Springs Gazette (it was one of the first to pop up in the Google search--the original recipe is in Lidia Cooks from the Heart of Italy).  This recipe says it serves about 4 to 6, so I went hog wild and increased the amounts by a bit because we were having 8 people:

• 2 cups walnut halves or pieces, toasted (2.5 cups)
• 2 cloves garlic (3 cloves)
• 1 1/2 cups ricotta, preferably fresh, drained (2 cups, or 1 lb)
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (I dunno, just kept pouring a little more)
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons freshly grated grana padano or Parmesan, plus more for passing at the table (about 1/3 cup)
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley (4? I don't know)
• 1 teaspoon coarse salt (God this is getting specific, I have no idea how much salt I used)
• Freshly ground pepper
• 1 pound fettuccine (2 lbs fresh--see note below)
• 3 tablespoons butter, softened

The biggest difference between Lidia's recipe and the adapted one (as well as the other adapted versions I've seen) is the use of dried vs. fresh pasta.  I love dried pasta--so convenient and tasty (and none of that whole wheat shit for me--I am curmudgeonly sticking to my unhealthy overprocessed carbs.  When I die before you, you may gloat.).  I went for fresh pasta because: (1) that's what Lidia used and apparently I am her slave; (2) this recipe has such few ingredients so the texture of the fresh pasta would play a big part; and (3) it was for guests, so why not.


I picked up 2 pounds of fresh wide fettucine--or was it tagliatelle? Anyway, it was a 1/2" thickness.  A few things about fresh pasta: (1) I haven't had good experiences with the "fresh" pasta packaged in supermarkets--I found that they have gotten too moist and I can't get rid of the raw flour taste; and (2) I like to let the pasta air dry a little before cooking because I think it helps with the texture (avoiding mushiness) and in my mind it's easier to cook out the rawness.  I could totally be wrong, but go ahead, call me an old wife telling a tale.


I shook out handfuls of the noodles to get rid of excess semolina flour, and curled them in cute little bundles.  I laid the bundles out and covered them with dry paper towels for a few hours before using.
  

Toast your walnuts. I put them in our toaster oven and baked at 350 degrees for, um, however much time the "Light" setting gives me. I would say about 3 minutes. Not that long. Better to have undertoasted nuts rather than burned ones.  You can also do this in a skillet over medium low heat.

After the walnuts cool completely, grind them in a food processor with the garlic.  As with the basil pesto I made, I boiled the garlic for about a minute before using so that the garlic wouldn't bite so much.

To the walnut/garlic mixture, mix in your fluffy ricotta...

...parsley, salt, pepper, and parmesan.  By the way, I needed to use a shitload more parmesan than the 1/3 cup, and had more to pass around the table.

I started to forget to take pictures. But anyway boil your pasta in salted water--I often hear that you take out the pasta when it starts floating to the top, but sometimes that still tastes too raw for me.  This time I think I overshot it a little and could have taken it out sooner, but in any case no one died although I almost cried in front of my friend for overcooking the pasta and she was very nice about it. After mixing the pasta with the walnut-ricotta mixture, mix in the butter.  I also added some of the pasta cooking water (and could have added more because this baby was thick).

I also made the tomato-braised celery. It was a potluck-style dinner, so one of my friends brought this amazing quinoa salad with cilantro, avocado, lime and all sorts of good stuff. Yummy indeed.

The dinner was to hang out with a friend who was visiting from California, and also to celebrate our birthdays.  So one of our friends brought over an AMAZING cake from Soutine, a little hole in the wall bakery near us that we really love.

Look at those pretty flowers! We also received truffles, multiple bottles of wine, and most importantly the kind of comfortable and familiar joy, affection and laughter that only friends can bring.

Soupe au Pistou, a la Mark Bittman

Faced with a mountain of basil and needing another use for it besides pesto, I made soupe au pistou from a Mark Bittman recipe that appeared in the New York Times.  You make a pesto-type basil mixture and stir it into a Provencal style soup filled with yumminess.

Ingredients (with my notes in italics):

• 1 cup fresh shell beans (like cranberry or lima), soaked for a couple of hours in water to cover, or 1/2 cup dried beans, soaked overnight (or boiled for 2 minutes and soaked for 2 hours), drained (I didn't do this because...meh I don't know why I couldn't pick a bean and didn't feel like soaking)
• 1 large onion, peeled and chopped
• 2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
• 2 celery stalks, trimmed and chopped
• 2 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped
• 2 small to medium zucchini, trimmed and chopped
• 2 tomatoes, cored, seeded and chopped
• 6 to 8 garlic cloves, peeled
• 2 cups fresh basil leaves, washed
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 cup small pasta like ditalini, or capellini broken into pieces
• Freshly grated Parmesan to taste

Serves about 8.


Let's start chopping.

Chop up the onion, celery, potatoes and carrots.  Okay sidetrack for a second here: the recipe says "chop" because that makes it sound easy and would have been easier, but I just picture this soup as a nice mixture of diced veggies.  Although I really do not like dicing carrots (I know, I brought it on myself).  Carrots suck. They are an uneven shape, hard but difficult to stabilize, ooh they just make me so mad. 

Place chopped veggies, including those damn carrot cubes, in a nice big pot (you would also put in the beans at this point if you're using them).  I also placed a rind of a spent Parmesan wedge I had been saving.

The recipe says to cover with water by 2 inches.  I put in less water because I think some of the water was supposed to get soaked up by the beans, but I wasn't using beans so I cut back.  Bring to boil, lower temp to simmer, and cook for 30-60 minutes (depending on your beans).  I simmered the mixture for about 35 minutes.

Then throw in your chopped zucchini and tomatoes.

Continue to simmer for about 20 minutes.  Ten minutes before you're ready to serve (although really who knows that they're going to be eating in TEN MINUTES) throw in the pasta.  After 10 minutes the pasta will continue to absorb water and get a little soft, but honestly we can't control everything so I decided not to care.

A few days before, I made the basil mixture.  While Bittman's recipe just calls for basil, garlic and olive oil, I was already making a batch of pesto so there were also almonds in the mix.  I did hold off on the Parmesan (I would add separately to the soup later).  I pressed plastic wrap to the surface of the "pesto" and refrigerated it for a few days until I made the soup.  I really appreciated having made the basil mixture a few days before because it saved a lot of work, and I was already peeved about dicing the carrots.

When the rest of the soup was done cooking, I mixed in the basil mixture, along with Parmesan cheese and salt to taste. Serve with some nice, crusty bread.

Ta-da!


Note: This is best served the day of.  After that, the pasta soaks up all the liquid and it's more of a pasta instead of a soup. Still tasted good, but not the same.

I Had Good lntentions

So I was totally going to show you what I made for our guests a few weeks ago. Shrimp and grits, fennel salad, and swiss chard.  It started off pretty well, with my nice-looking staged ingredients for the "grits"--or in my world, "polenta".  I'm not sure what the difference is, except that I think grits are supposed to be ground white cornmeal, which I couldn't find.

Isn't this cornmeal gorgeous?

I took a break during the interminable stirring to take a picture. But I forgot to take a nice staged picture of the final product after the butter and cream were stirred in, so what you get to see is the remains of the polenta after we hacked at it.

Then I was going to show you how to make the shrimp and grits.  Oh this was going to be so fun!!

 See here? I'm sauteeing chopped andouille, onions and garlic.

And the next step is...a half-eaten pot of shrimp! Ta-DAAAA!!!

Oh, and we mustn't forget the fennel and celery salad, with blue cheese and cranberries.  Take two heads of fennel, a few stalks of celery blah blah blah TA-DAAA!!!!

Oh and the swiss chard? Didn't make it onto the camera.

Anyone else have half-baked blog posts sitting around that you forgot to take photos for?