Thursday night’s cooking adventure was more than successful. Lemon posset is three simple ingredients. That’s all. And it tastes GOOD. I almost fell off my stool.
Remember my pledge to not skip ingredients because I don’t know what they are or they sound weird? That majorly came into play the very first night of cooking, because I had to drive into Lexington to go to Whole Foods for weird ingredients. Overall, my two days of cooking have been Uh. May. Zing. Happy second anniversary oven! Humbling things about learning to cook so far have included:
1. Having to ask grocery clerks (out loud) where food items are that I don’t know how to pronounce
2. Being told by a kindly grocer lady that green onions and scallions are the same thing
3. Having to look up what “mince” means, precisely, on the internet. Apparently even Google is a better cook than me.
General observations include:
1. It’s easy to spend a lot of money on cheese.
2. It’s super easy to spend a lot of money on old cheese.
3. There are a lot of varieties of parsley.
4. A goodly many things can be cooked using olive oil.
First trip ever to Whole Foods. I asked the man behind the cheese counter (they have one) where the parmigiano-reggiano cheese was, and he didn’t even correct my sad pronunciation. That’s how nice the Whole Foods people are. I asked him for white cheddar and he told me they carry several aged, sharp, white cheeses, and I didn’t have to go with cheddar if I didn’t want to. While I don’t feel any particular loyalty to cheddar, it’s what The Best American Recipes 2003-2004 called for, so I was compelled. Then he asked me if I wanted a sample before I made up my mind. I was pretty certain I was going to buy it, but why turn down free cheese? He cut me a few cubes and told me that what was great about this particular cheese was that although it was aged, it was still very creamy and a little smoky. I nodded and chewed and tried to maintain an expression that suggested I knew what he was talking about. He was kind of staring at me and I realized that he wanted me to give him the go-ahead to cut the cheese. I kind of nodded and he in turn nodded to a shifty looking man that I hadn’t noticed was standing there and I swear he stepped out of the shadows of the deli at that exact moment. He lobbed me off 8 ounces of their finest extra sharp, white cheddar, and we are now the proud owners of cheese that is as old as two of our sons. This is what cheese that isn't dyed orange or come in plastic-wrapped single servings looks like...
I got scallions and arugula and I actually saw a man cut my pork chops and then he wrapped them up in bona fide butcher paper! I am telling you that Rachel Ray in her finest hour did not feel half the chef I felt when I saw a huge man wielding a cleaver cut pork chops that were going to be cooked in MY KITCHEN! Check out my chops:
Below is the recipe for Olive Mill Pasta. The expression on my husband’s face when he ate the first bite made me want to dance and cry. His taste buds were shocked, I’m sure, and frankly I’m a little surprised they hadn’t already self destructed to avoid almost certain torture.
½ c. extra virgin olive oil
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter
¼ lb. fingerling potatoes, peeled and cut into ¼ inch slices
2 medium-small onions, minced
About 5 ½ c. vegetable or chicken stock
14 oz. artisanal short-cut dried pasta, such as strozzapreit, gemelli, or penne (I used penne)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 medium-sized ripe tomatoes, peeled, squeezed of seeds & juice
8 fresh basil or arugula sprigs, leaves removed and slivered with stems slightly crushed
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 bunch scallions, trimmed, slant-cut into 1 inch lengths
3 oz freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (about 1 cup)
The method.
Heat ¼ cup of the oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add the butter. When it melts, add the potatoes and onions. Cook, stirring gently, until they begin to turn golden. (How can you tell if a food that starts out golden in the first place has begun to turn golden in the pan? Beats me. I'm just learning. I just cooked them until they were a little smushy.)
Bring stock to a slow simmer in a medium saucepan.
Add the pasta to the sauté pan and stir gently. Lightly season with salt and pepper, tomatoes, arugula & garlic. Add 1 ½ cups of the stock. Cook, stirring gently, until nearly all the stock has been absorbed or evaporated. Add the scallions and another cup of stock and cook, stirring, adding additional stock from time to time so there is always some liquid in the pan, until the pasta is al dente, about 18 minutes. Remove any herb stems.
Fold in the cheese and 3 tablespoons of the remaining oil. Season with additional salt and pepper as needed. Transfer to warm soup or pasta bowls, taking care that the ingredients are well distributed. Drizzle the remaining 1 tablespoon oil over each bowl and serve.
And just for effect, here it is on my plate with my fancy arugula salad. You can clearly see that I didn't remember to take this picture until I'd already eaten half of my noodles, but you get the idea.
Voila! Oven-roasted ribs are on the menu for tomorrow night, along with fennel roasted vegetables. Buen provecho friends!
Great Job! I love having a husband that will try anything I cook!
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