It was a stellar week in kitchen. We made pasta from scratch, an experience that has convinced me that dropping $40-60 on a pasta roller could be a fantastic idea. A few simple ingredients in a food processor and you've got your pasta dough. Five or minutes of production after that and you've got your pasta. There's no comparison between dry and fresh. It's night and day.
To go with the pasta we made marinara from scratch. A few additional ingredients later and we had Mafalda sauce, which went great with the fresh pasta (it's a runnier tomato/cream sauce that, once added to the fresh pasta, is absorbed and tastes great). The next day some of the groups made versions of marinara (Ragu Bolognese, Puttanesca, Arrabbiata), while our table made Cabonara-- a white wine, cream sauce that involves bacon, parmesan cheese, parsley and pepper. It was AWESOME! Easy to make and utterly delicious. I will be making it again.
(Ragu Bolognese...meaty and delcious...)
Funny side note-- Puttanesca literally translates in Italian as "Whore Sauce," an homage to its humble beginnings in the Italian red light districts. You learn something new every day...
We made garlic bread to accompany the pasta as well. The recipe is banging-- so enjoy:
4 oz softened butter
1 T minced parsley
1/2 t lemon juice
3/4 oz minced garlic
1 T minced shallot
1/4 t worechestershire sauce
1/4 t red pepper flakes.
Mix all of it together in a bowl, spread onto some French bread and bake at 375 degrees to your liking. Should be enough for an entire loaf. Very tasty.
The week also included mac and cheese (needed more cheese, in my opinion, but still good), sole vin blanc, minestrone soup (VERY GOOD!) and Hollandaise Sauce.
Boy do I hate Hollandaise. It's like mayo-- simple to make, simple to ruin...and not fun to shove down your throat at 7am, despite it's critical part in Egg's Benedict. Spoonfuls of Hollandaise make the medicine want to come up...that's my feelings on it. Also the whisking effort to make it, and fix it (Chef made us break it so we know how to fix it...all that means was more whisking) takes its toll on the wrist. Ugh...
Alrighty, I have to run and get the apartment cleaned up because Molly is coming in town from Cleveland for the weekend. Good times a'hoy! :D
PS-- Thanks for the birthday wishes all. My 25th will be far from my favorite (how special can it be on a Monday anyway?), but it was nice to hear from all of the people who helped get me to where I am today. Much love and respect...now to start aging gracefully (and rent a car!)...
