cRAzy PAstA

Ah Summer! The arrival of Shark Week, Sunshine, and fucking SQUASH at the Wallingford Farmer's Market.

This is some crazy fucking pasta I made on a lazy summer afternoon:

1/2 Package of linguine (I hate linguine, no wonder 1/2 a package has been in the pantry for ages)
2 lil tomatoes (cut into sections)
Yellow summer squash (cut thin on a bias)
couple carrots (in half and then in half)
1/2 red onion (long, thin slices)
fresh thyme and basil
hard romano/pecorino cheese
garlic (2 cloves)

Chop all those veggies up and make sure the garlic is finely grated because there's no SAUCE on this pasta.

Get the pasta going.

Caramelize the onions in olive oil with a dash of salt. Add the carrots and the squash and cook only until they still have some crunch, making sure you add the garlic and herbs about 2-3 minutes before you've finished.

Pile the veggies on top of the linguine, add the fresh tomatoes and finely grated cheese.

Watch shark week and think about how nice it is not to have warm blood in a cold sea.

Leeks Risotto

I had my first risotto in Derry, Northern Ireland, so I think it was probably the furthest thing from real risotto ever. A note about NI cuisine: the food is charming, much like Americans find Italian food charming.  But it takes all of the bad of American Italian, like saucy, oily, covered in cheese, with none of the good, like flavor or herbs or freshness.  Nonetheless, it was one of the best meals I had in my six months in NI.  I've been craving it for two years, but was intimidated by the prospect of making it at home.  After searching a few recipes, here is how I adapted it:

Leeks Risotto
Leeks-2 large or 3 small (couldn't afford the nice, fat, organic ones)
1 red onion (I used 1/2 of a monstrous huge one)
2 cloves garlic
1 cup arborio rice
1/2 cup (1 oz basically) of dried wild mushrooms (I had about 1/4 of a 4 oz bag left, but I would definately use a half or even a full bag in future)
2 cups vegetable broth
3/4 cups Chardonnay room temperature (no nasty swill wine, something you wouldn't mind drinking even if you hate white wine--I chose Wild Horse)
1/2 cup of cream (I would probably use heavy or whipping cream in future)
splash apple cider vinegar
tbsp butter
tbsp olive oil
dash basil
dash of thyme
salt and peppa

serves 2-4 (depending on if your seconds-types)
prep time: 2 hours (probably because it was my first time and I was pretty disorganized.  I think next time it will probably take me 45 minutes- 1 hour.

1. First thing to do is prepare the leeks mixture, which can be done up to a day ahead.  Cut all but the dark green off.  Cut the leeks longways in half.  Turn them on the flat side and slice into 1/8 half-moon slivers.  Soak these in a bowl of water and drain.  They are hella sandy, so feel free to repeat the soak and drain cycle a few times.
2. Soak the mushrooms in a measuring cup with one cup of water for at least an hour so that you get a nice, dark, mushroom broth. Take the mushrooms out, chop them, and set them aside. Pour the broth in a saucepan.  Add veg broth and start cooking on low heat.
3. Put some butter in an iron skillet and throw the leeks in.  Sprinkle salt over the leeks and keep the heat med-low so that they caramelize.  Don't stir too much.
1. I wasn't sure how long it would take to caramelize leeks, so I did them in a separate pan from the onions. It worked out well that way, and did not create extra dishes, as you will see, although it might have saved some energy on my part.
4.  Do the same thing with the onions: slice thinly and caramelize in olive oil over med low heat in a giant pan.
5. Take the onions and toss them in with the leeks. Add garlic and rehydrated wild mushrooms, and probably some more butter to keep it from sticking at this point. splash in vinegar. Use the oniony oil left in the other pan to sautee the arborio rice for a few minutes.  Stir the rice constantly or it will burn.
1. Note: some recipes told me to sautee for 10 minutes or until translucent, others said only 1 minute.  My theory is that they get translucent right before they get white again, and the center never really changes color, so don't necessarily look for them to be see-through. I sauteed for 7 minutes.
6.  Add the white wine and keep stirring while the alcohol cooks off.  Right before the rice gets dry again, add a half-cup of your now steamy vegetable and mushroom broth (The broth has to be hot or it will shock the rice and stop it from absorbing more liquid).
7. Turn the heat down on the leeks and onions pan and add the cream.  Make sure it doesn't scorch, and when it is reduced, take it off the heat even if your rice is nowhere near done.  It will get hot again when you mix them together.  You could even do this another day and refrigerate it so as to cut the prep time down.
8. Keep ladling 1/2 cup broth as the rice absorbs the liquid.  When the broth is all gone, the rice should be al dente.
9. Mix the veggies and the risotto together.  As you are folding the veggies in, they should heat back up, and so should the risotto get a tiny bit softer (unless you love al dente rice, which I don't).
10. Top with shredded parmesan and fold until the whole thing becomes a coagulated mass of deliciousity.

Results
Risotto was a hit! I had Joe in tears!  I felt like the rice was a tiny bit underdone, and I'm not sure if that had something to do with not sauteeing it in enough olive oil or for long enough, or what.  Upon reheating for seconds, it was perfectly tender.  My other query is: should the Chardonnay be warmed like the broth?  I feel like if you bring it up to the temp of the rice, then you risk reducing the alcohol out before it has the chance to bring the rice to life.  Next time I will definitely be using fresh herbs, but all I had on hand was dried this time.  Still, I can't think of anything quite as delicious as fresh lemon-thyme in something like this.  I really wanted to use lemon juice and zest too, but I was out of lemons.  The acid from the vinegar was meant to substitute for lemon juice, and I bet balsamic would have been just as good or better in its place.

This is maybe the second time in my life that I've had leeks, and the first time I cooked with them and I couldn't believe how deliciously buttery they are!  Next time I think I will use heavy whipping cream to really bring out the creaminess.

Overall though, this was a super first try.  It wasn't even as hard as I make it sound either.  The most important thing is to get the rice steps in order, but do the vegetables however it will make it easiest and cleanest for you.

Baby's first pickles!

So neither Joe nor I have ever made pickles and sometimes we're just not really into recipes, so this recipe is still in development.

"BreadnButter" or Something Pickles
1.5 English Cucumber
1 red onion
1.5 square inch fresh ginger
4 cloves garlic
shit-ton of salt
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup white distilled vinegar
1/2 cup white sugar

Actual prep time: 10 minutes
Wait time: 2 hours
Makes two jars worth of pickles

1. Slice the cucumbers into 4 large rounds, then julienne those (about the thickness of a slice of onion).
   
2. Slice the onion into long strips (about the same length as the julienned cukes).
3. Put these in a bowl and cover it with salt.
4. Crush and mince garlic and ginger and put it in the same bowl, adding some more salt.
5. Leave these in the fridge for like 30-60 minutes (I could barely stand to wait longer than 30 minutes).
6. When these come out, they will be about half the size by volume that they were originally.  
7. Mix the two types of vinegar and the sugar until the sugar is dissolved. 
8. Stuff the vegetable matter in a mason jar and pour the vinegar/sugar mixture over it. Lid it and put it back in the refrigerator for an hour.

January cleaning prompts separate pickle shelf (yes the labels are necessary)

Results: So I know that I didn't do the proper sanitation procedure for canning, but these pickles were gone within two days because they were so good. Another thing is that they were less crunchy each day.  I think maybe this had something to do with the fact that I used iodized salt instead of canning salt.  I'm not actually convinced that canning salt is any different than table salt, maybe someone can shed some light on that topic for me.  As for the taste of the pickles, the ginger infused the cukes and onions so thoroughly that it made me want to cry with joy every time I took a bite.  I think four cloves was just the right amount of garlic too, although these were pretty small cloves.

Holy SHIT healthy Spinach and Artichoke Dip

We made this dip for our playoffs party.  Colts shred Ravens like Joey and Jocey shred cheese!  We served it with blue and white corn tortilla chips and it was a huge hit.

Spinach & Artichoke Dip
1 cup finely grated gruyere
1 cup finely grated parmesan
.5 quart of plain whole yogurt
a bunch of fresh spinach, chopped or a bunch of frozen spinach, thawed, drained, and chopped
1 sweet yellow onion, diced
3-5 cloves of garlic, minced into paste
2 tbsp olive oil
almost a whole jar of artichoke hearts in olive oil

paprika 1/2 tsp
coriander to taste (I use a pinch)
cumin to taste (I use at least a tsp, probably more)

Prep time: how fast can you grate cheese?  No seriously it takes like 10 minutes to make, but a while to bake.

1. Heat up some olive oil and toss in the onions, cover with salt and sautee on low heat.  After several minutes of cooking, add the coriander and cumin.
   
2. Preheat the oven to 425. Mix the yogurt and cheese in a glass loaf pan.
3. Chop the spinach and toss it and the minced garlic in when the onions are getting tender.  Since it takes like 2 minutes to wilt spinach, just make sure the onions are mostly cooked but with a little bite left to them.  The garlic should be a paste: mince the garlic, sprinkle sea salt on it, and drag a knife over the salt until it grates the garlic into mush.  Because it is so fine, it needs very little time to cook, so be careful it doesn't brown.
4. Meanwhile rough chop the artichoke hearts, and mix the hearts and everything from your skillet into the yogurt mixture.  Add the paprika, and more cumin if you feel like the onions didn't get enough.
5. Bake at 425 for 45 minutes (it will not be hot through, it will be more like warm.  If you want it hot, like I did but could not wait for, bake for at least an hour).

 
Results: I call this dish healthy because I use yogurt instead of sour cream.  Yogurt has about 150 calories per cup, whereas sour cream has about 60 calories for 2 tbsp.  2 tbsp is only like a handful of chips worth of dip.  That's ridiculous, kind of like the Ravens losing 3 to 20 in a playoff game.  I'm not sure that parmesan and gruyere are very healthy, but they seem healthier by virtue of being European, rather than American cheeses.  One thing is: don't forget to chop the spinach.  Think about how wet spinach sticks together: once it's wilted, it's going to be in a clump.  Next time I think I might add some fresh tomato on top.