Not a lot of cooking this weekend, I caught a head cold Saturday night and spent Sunday only eating things that come in bowls, like cereal and soup. I have to go into work today since Brian and I are on deadline with some data Margaret needs for a grant proposal. Boo... What's the use of sick days if you can't take them! At least it's not the flu again...
This weekend was draft weekend, which is one of my favorite weekends of the year. The more I think about the Redskins' picks, the more I like them. They traded away their first round pick for two second round picks, which was actually pretty smart because they still got the same guy they would have picked in the first round, but now they only have to pay him second-round-pick money, and since the last I heard they were OVER the salary cap, that's good. Probably still paying off Deion Sanders. I'm concerned about this additional tight-end and QB, though. I really like Chris Cooley and Jason Campbell, but Chris assures me that a lot of teams play with two TEs. What I really wish they had gotten, instead of all the receivers, is better offensive lineman, since it's hard to had a good passing game if you don't have the pass protection. BUT, I'll give this Zorn character the benefit of the doubt and see what he comes up with this year, even though his name makes me think he's a villain from a bad sci-fi movie.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Pan-fried Polenta with Corn, Kale and Goat Cheese
One of my yardsticks for deciding if a recipe is successful enough for me to want to keep that loose piece of paper floating around my cookbook already stuffed with loose pieces of paper is whether the work and time that went into that recipe is balanced (or better, more than balanced) by my enjoyment of the food. Usually, I find that it is not. Enter, fried polenta:
I wanted to try a fried polenta recipe because I heard it was good, and I had bought a whole box of polenta a while ago and need to use it up. It was only after starting this that I realized it used stone-ground cornmeal, which I also need to use up, but don't know what the difference is between them. Anyway, the recipe said this would serve 2, but it's really more like 4-6. I didn't use kale, I just sauteed some artichokes. The polenta took FOR-E-VER to fry. I found after a while that it worked much better with a hotter pan and less oil--I hadn't believed that it would only need a tablespoon of olive oil and put more in, but I think a tablespoon would have been enough for at least the first two slices. I ended up cutting the polenta in eight pieces because it was so big. Anyway, after getting everything together and suffering numerous oil-splatter burns on my arms and covering my stove with oil splatters, we decided that the polenta added nothing to the taste, and we'd really just rather have the sauteed artichokes.
If you decide to try this, I would use about half the polenta in the same size pan so the wedges are thinner (mine were at least an inch thick, maybe an inch-and-a-half. Too thick). I would also not use EVOO. If you have non-extra virgin olive oil, use that, or use something else with a high smoke point. And don't feel you have to stick with the kale and goat cheese, I think another veggie or green and a different cheese would work ok. We had our artichokes with feta and swiss.
I would also highly recommend cleaning anything that came into contact with the un-cooled polenta as soon as possible. Polenta is an untapped resource, I think, in the glueing and construction industry.
INGREDIENTS:
| 1 tablespoon butter 2 cloves garlic, minced 4 1/3 cups water 1 cup stone ground cornmeal 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 1/3 cups fresh corn kernels | freshly ground black pepper 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese 1/2 bunch kale 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 tomato, sliced 3 ounces goat cheese |
DIRECTIONS:
| 1. | In a medium saucepan, heat the butter over medium heat. Add the garlic and stir constantly for 1 minute; don't let the garlic brown. Add 3 cups of the water, and bring it to a boil. |
| 2. | While the water heats, whisk together in a bowl the cornmeal, salt, and 1 cup water to make a smooth mixture. |
| 3. | When the water in the saucepan comes to a boil, pour the mixture into it. Whisk constantly for 3 minutes to prevent lumps from forming. Turn the heat to low. Cook for 40 minutes, stirring with a wooden spoon every 10 minutes. Stir in the corn kernels and cook the polenta 5 minutes more. Stir in the pepper and Parmesan cheese. Pour the polenta into a lightly oiled 8x8 inch pan and smooth the top with a spatula. Chill the polenta in a refrigerator for 1 hour. |
| 4. | While the polenta is cooling, cut away the stems and center stalks of the kale. Cut the leaves into 3-inch pieces. |
| 5. | Cut the chilled polenta into 4 large triangles. Heat the olive oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil begins to smoke, carefully add the polenta triangles. Fry the polenta until it is golden brown on the underside, then turn the polenta over and cook it until it is golden brown on the other side. Arrange the polenta on a baking sheet. |
| 6. | Preheat the broiler on your oven. |
| 7. | Place the kale and 1/3 cup water into the skillet that was just used to fry the polenta. Cover the skillet and cook the kale over a medium-high heat for 4 minutes. |
| 8. | Place the tomato slices on top of the polenta triangles. Sprinkle the goat cheese on top of the tomato slices. Broil the polenta until the cheese melts and the tomatoes begin to cook. |
| 9. | Arrange the kale on a serving platter. Place the hot polenta triangles on top of the kale and serve immediately. |
I wanted to try a fried polenta recipe because I heard it was good, and I had bought a whole box of polenta a while ago and need to use it up. It was only after starting this that I realized it used stone-ground cornmeal, which I also need to use up, but don't know what the difference is between them. Anyway, the recipe said this would serve 2, but it's really more like 4-6. I didn't use kale, I just sauteed some artichokes. The polenta took FOR-E-VER to fry. I found after a while that it worked much better with a hotter pan and less oil--I hadn't believed that it would only need a tablespoon of olive oil and put more in, but I think a tablespoon would have been enough for at least the first two slices. I ended up cutting the polenta in eight pieces because it was so big. Anyway, after getting everything together and suffering numerous oil-splatter burns on my arms and covering my stove with oil splatters, we decided that the polenta added nothing to the taste, and we'd really just rather have the sauteed artichokes.
If you decide to try this, I would use about half the polenta in the same size pan so the wedges are thinner (mine were at least an inch thick, maybe an inch-and-a-half. Too thick). I would also not use EVOO. If you have non-extra virgin olive oil, use that, or use something else with a high smoke point. And don't feel you have to stick with the kale and goat cheese, I think another veggie or green and a different cheese would work ok. We had our artichokes with feta and swiss.
I would also highly recommend cleaning anything that came into contact with the un-cooled polenta as soon as possible. Polenta is an untapped resource, I think, in the glueing and construction industry.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Penne Arrabiata
I had a slight crisis on Monday evening when we discovered that we had used our last can of diced tomatoes. I have suffered endless ridicule and derision over the last year because someone has felt that my stockpiling of canned tomato products is a bit too Montana and asked that I not buy any more, no matter how good the sale is, until I used up all the cans I already bought. Well, we were making a pizza on Monday and I was just going to put diced tomatoes on top with some spices and cheese, and I ended up having to use, of all things, pizza sauce. This can of sauce has been with us for a while, we must have bought it our first year in Madison, so I think we can all agree that the diced toms would have been better. Anyway, without my handy diced tomatoes (I do my shopping on the weekend, I’m just too tired after work), I’ve had to think creatively. Last night, I foraged for nuts and berries (remind me to tell you about these nuts, if I get the recipe!). Tonight, I’m frying up some polenta. Should be interesting.
What do I use my diced tomatoes for? Pretty much everything. I don't think I've posted this recipe, for Penne Arrabiata from The Spoon, but it's probably my favorite sauce at the moment, despite a disastrously huge amount of red pepper flakes when I made it for my family. The amounts are all totally flexible.
Heat up a skillet on low (this is not flexible). When it's warm, add, oh, about 6 Tbls or so of olive oil, a whole clove of garlic (or, if you like it garlicky, add more cloves or mince the one you add) and a dash of red pepper flakes. Don't let either of these burn, or you'll have to start over. Believe me. You might raise the heat a little if you need too. If you have fresh parsley, toss that in. If not, dried is ok. Cook all this, stirring, for a few minutes until the garlic is light brown, and then turn the heat back down and CAREFULLY add two cans of drained petite diced tomatoes, preferrably the no salt added kind. Add a generous sprinkle of salt to taste (confusing, I know, but it's better if you add the salt). If you add the tomatoes when the pan is too hot, the moisture on them will fight with the hot oil, and you'll have burned tomatoes and oil flying all over the place. The salt will break down the cell walls of the tomatoes, so even though they start out whole and not sauce-like, it'll end up really saucey. Give it about 15 minutes. If you left the garlic whole, take that out, and then serve with penne and cheese, if you like.
What do I use my diced tomatoes for? Pretty much everything. I don't think I've posted this recipe, for Penne Arrabiata from The Spoon, but it's probably my favorite sauce at the moment, despite a disastrously huge amount of red pepper flakes when I made it for my family. The amounts are all totally flexible.
Heat up a skillet on low (this is not flexible). When it's warm, add, oh, about 6 Tbls or so of olive oil, a whole clove of garlic (or, if you like it garlicky, add more cloves or mince the one you add) and a dash of red pepper flakes. Don't let either of these burn, or you'll have to start over. Believe me. You might raise the heat a little if you need too. If you have fresh parsley, toss that in. If not, dried is ok. Cook all this, stirring, for a few minutes until the garlic is light brown, and then turn the heat back down and CAREFULLY add two cans of drained petite diced tomatoes, preferrably the no salt added kind. Add a generous sprinkle of salt to taste (confusing, I know, but it's better if you add the salt). If you add the tomatoes when the pan is too hot, the moisture on them will fight with the hot oil, and you'll have burned tomatoes and oil flying all over the place. The salt will break down the cell walls of the tomatoes, so even though they start out whole and not sauce-like, it'll end up really saucey. Give it about 15 minutes. If you left the garlic whole, take that out, and then serve with penne and cheese, if you like.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Writing about the molten butter reminded me of something wild that I saw on Blue Planet yesterday. Oceanographers discovered an underwater lake made from super briny dense water that acted like a lake, with a shoreline and waves and everything.
In the version of the show I watched, they talked about how they tried to take the submersible under the surface, and it was so dense, it bounced off, and sent waves rippling along the "shoreline." The next video seems to be showing that (both these videos can be found on YouTube here, so you can watch them bigger):
In the version of the show I watched, they talked about how they tried to take the submersible under the surface, and it was so dense, it bounced off, and sent waves rippling along the "shoreline." The next video seems to be showing that (both these videos can be found on YouTube here, so you can watch them bigger):
Scotch Shortbread
From Joy of Cooking:
Preheat oven to 325.
Cream 1 cup of butter
Sift together:
2 C sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 C confectioners' sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
Blend dry ingredients into the butter. Pat the stiff dough into an ungreased 9 x 9 inch pan and press edges down. Pierce with a fork through the dough every half-inch. Bake 25 to 30 minutes. Cut into squares while warm.
RESULTS: Seems simple, right? Well maybe it is and I was just too cavalier about it.
First of all, confectioner's sugar has to be the hardest thing to sift. It picks up this crazy static charge as it goes through the metal mesh, and it seems to want to stick to everything outside of my plastic measuring cup, including my fuzzy sous chef, but nothing inside of it.
Second, I had a bright idea for softening the butter, which was straight from the freezer. Since the first step is creaming the butter in the mixing bowl, I though, why not put the metal mixing bowl in the oven as it's warming up, thus saving me the extra dishes that I would need for using the microwave. This was stupid for more than one reason. Unlike a microwave, an oven heats things from the outside in, which I knew but didn't recall until I pulled the mixing bowl out (which was very hot, so I had to be careful) and the core of the butter was still frozen, but it was swimming in a lake of hot melted butter. I didn't want all the butter to be melted because you can't cream melted butter, so I thought, why not try creaming it now, and maybe between the frozen butter and the melted butter, the temperature will even out and it'll cream nicely. This still might not have been disastrous, I don't know, but in an earlier attempt to have fewer dishes, I hadn't cut the butter up into pieces. It was still just two sticks, which, when I turned the mixer on medium, shot out of the mixer and bounced around my kitchen at high speed, leaving greasy butter trails over everything. Harper's been cleaning the floor for a while, and just took herself back to bed to rest up for Round Two. As this butter experiment seemed to create more cleaning for me, not less, I'm going to stick with microwave defrosting in the future.
The recipe said it should be a stiff dough. Maybe it should be, but mine was more like a crumbly pie dough. I DID think I was being smart by reducing the butter by a tablespoon and a half (purely arbitrary, since I had a partially used stick of butter already opened). I know you're not supposed to mess with amounts when you're baking, but like I said, I was being cavalier (read: stupid). The finished product was really more like the bottom crust on lemon squares than a good, solid shortbread. I think I'll follow the recipe next time. :)
Preheat oven to 325.
Cream 1 cup of butter
Sift together:
2 C sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 C confectioners' sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
Blend dry ingredients into the butter. Pat the stiff dough into an ungreased 9 x 9 inch pan and press edges down. Pierce with a fork through the dough every half-inch. Bake 25 to 30 minutes. Cut into squares while warm.
RESULTS: Seems simple, right? Well maybe it is and I was just too cavalier about it.
First of all, confectioner's sugar has to be the hardest thing to sift. It picks up this crazy static charge as it goes through the metal mesh, and it seems to want to stick to everything outside of my plastic measuring cup, including my fuzzy sous chef, but nothing inside of it.
Second, I had a bright idea for softening the butter, which was straight from the freezer. Since the first step is creaming the butter in the mixing bowl, I though, why not put the metal mixing bowl in the oven as it's warming up, thus saving me the extra dishes that I would need for using the microwave. This was stupid for more than one reason. Unlike a microwave, an oven heats things from the outside in, which I knew but didn't recall until I pulled the mixing bowl out (which was very hot, so I had to be careful) and the core of the butter was still frozen, but it was swimming in a lake of hot melted butter. I didn't want all the butter to be melted because you can't cream melted butter, so I thought, why not try creaming it now, and maybe between the frozen butter and the melted butter, the temperature will even out and it'll cream nicely. This still might not have been disastrous, I don't know, but in an earlier attempt to have fewer dishes, I hadn't cut the butter up into pieces. It was still just two sticks, which, when I turned the mixer on medium, shot out of the mixer and bounced around my kitchen at high speed, leaving greasy butter trails over everything. Harper's been cleaning the floor for a while, and just took herself back to bed to rest up for Round Two. As this butter experiment seemed to create more cleaning for me, not less, I'm going to stick with microwave defrosting in the future.
The recipe said it should be a stiff dough. Maybe it should be, but mine was more like a crumbly pie dough. I DID think I was being smart by reducing the butter by a tablespoon and a half (purely arbitrary, since I had a partially used stick of butter already opened). I know you're not supposed to mess with amounts when you're baking, but like I said, I was being cavalier (read: stupid). The finished product was really more like the bottom crust on lemon squares than a good, solid shortbread. I think I'll follow the recipe next time. :)
Asparagus
For last night's French dinner with Suz (we were watching La Vie En Rose and decided to have a dinner with French food, hence the new cookbook), I was going to make a soup to go along with the spinach gratin, but also wanted to use the fancy china, for which I have no bowls. So, asparagus it was! I think that was a good decision because it was a little warm in the house after all the baking I did yesterday. Anyway, Julia Child says her favorite way to cook asparagus involved tying it up in a bundle and then boiling it for 15 minutes! That seems a) complicated, and b) too much cooking for such a tender veggie. I checked my Italian cookbook, and it said the best way to cook asparagus was also to tie it in a bundle, but to steam it for 10 minutes. I don't know what's up with this tying, but 10 minutes seemed too long, too. Under Suz's guidance, we steamed it loose in my steamer, with about 2 inches of salted water (or, you can try salting just the veggies) for 3 minutes, and that was perfect. I really don't see the need for this bundling, and I think cooking it any longer would turn such tender veggies into mush.
The other big question mark for the asparagus was what to serve it with. Julia recommends various sauces, the easiest of which involves reducing lemon juice to a syrup, then mixing in a stick of butter!!. I mean, really. It's not like this is a bad tasting vegetable! It isn't plain, either, like potatoes or something. By contrast, my Italian cookbook recommends putting just a teeny bit of butter on the asparagus and letting it melt through with a little cheese sprinkled on top. That's what I did and it was very tasty. I think this might illustrate a difference between Italian cooking (which Mario says is about preparing food as simply as possible) and Parisian French cooking (where Julia was trained) where the emphasis seems to be on richness and sauces. I definitely lean toward Italian, although I'm looking forward to trying more things from Julia's book.
Stay tuned for the adventures in Shortbread!
The other big question mark for the asparagus was what to serve it with. Julia recommends various sauces, the easiest of which involves reducing lemon juice to a syrup, then mixing in a stick of butter!!. I mean, really. It's not like this is a bad tasting vegetable! It isn't plain, either, like potatoes or something. By contrast, my Italian cookbook recommends putting just a teeny bit of butter on the asparagus and letting it melt through with a little cheese sprinkled on top. That's what I did and it was very tasty. I think this might illustrate a difference between Italian cooking (which Mario says is about preparing food as simply as possible) and Parisian French cooking (where Julia was trained) where the emphasis seems to be on richness and sauces. I definitely lean toward Italian, although I'm looking forward to trying more things from Julia's book.
Stay tuned for the adventures in Shortbread!
Gratin Aux Epinards (Spinach Gratin)
From Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking:
RESULTS: Well, let me tell you. The French apparently love butter. This is from my new cookbook that I got on Thursday, and it's really just a fun book to read, Julia was really funny. You can also make this in a pie shell (making this a quiche), but I didn't think it needed the extra fat and calories. Having said that, it was really good, very tasty and buttery and moist-- perhaps a little too moist. I would make sure you cook off as much liquid from the spinach as possible. I used shallots because I've never used shallots before, and I really liked the nutmeg/shallot combination. Those suckers really made me tear up, though! Bottom line, this was delicious for special occasions, but the huge amount of cream and butter makes it not an everyday thing.
Suz and I went to the farmer's market yesterday and bought our plants for the year. I got two tomato plants (one roma and one cherry) and I'm going to pot those with a couple of the basil, since I heard they like each other's company. I also broke down and bought some better looking parsley. Mine is just not looking good, the stems can't support the weight of the leaves. I might keep one of the seedlings and keep it inside, just to see what happens (I don't want to put any of my seedlings outside because they'd be just pulverized in a good rain, their stems are so weak). Suz got thousands of plants, like a couple lavender and tarragon, some parsley, some oregano, chives. Should be a fun summer!
Spinach | ||
| 2 | tablespoons finely minced shallots or green onions | |
| 2 | tablespoons butter | |
| 1 1/4 | cups chopped blanched spinach or frozen spinach (drained) | |
| 1/2 | teaspoon salt | |
| 1/8 | teaspoon pepper | |
| 1 | pinch nutmeg | |
Egg Custard | ||
| 3 | eggs | |
| 1 1/2 | cups whipping cream | |
| 1 | pinch nutmeg | |
| 1/8 | teaspoon pepper | |
| 1/4 | cup grated swiss cheese | |
| 1 | tablespoon butter, cut into pea-sized dots | |
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Cook the shallots or onions for a moment in the butter.
- Add the spinach and stir over moderate heat for several minutes to evaporate all its water.
- Stir in salt, pepper and nutmeg and taste carefully for seasonings and set aside.
- Beat the eggs, cream and seasonings in a mixing bowl.
- Gradually stir in spinach mixture.
- Sprinkle with cheese and dot the top with butter.
- Bake at 375 degrees for 25 - 30 minutes.
- The quiche is done when a knife plunged into the center comes out clean. Serve immediately.
RESULTS: Well, let me tell you. The French apparently love butter. This is from my new cookbook that I got on Thursday, and it's really just a fun book to read, Julia was really funny. You can also make this in a pie shell (making this a quiche), but I didn't think it needed the extra fat and calories. Having said that, it was really good, very tasty and buttery and moist-- perhaps a little too moist. I would make sure you cook off as much liquid from the spinach as possible. I used shallots because I've never used shallots before, and I really liked the nutmeg/shallot combination. Those suckers really made me tear up, though! Bottom line, this was delicious for special occasions, but the huge amount of cream and butter makes it not an everyday thing.
Suz and I went to the farmer's market yesterday and bought our plants for the year. I got two tomato plants (one roma and one cherry) and I'm going to pot those with a couple of the basil, since I heard they like each other's company. I also broke down and bought some better looking parsley. Mine is just not looking good, the stems can't support the weight of the leaves. I might keep one of the seedlings and keep it inside, just to see what happens (I don't want to put any of my seedlings outside because they'd be just pulverized in a good rain, their stems are so weak). Suz got thousands of plants, like a couple lavender and tarragon, some parsley, some oregano, chives. Should be a fun summer!
Friday, April 18, 2008
Earthquake!
The earthquake this morning was way stronger than either of the ones in Japan. I slept through one of them, and I would have easily slept through the aftershocks if Chris hadn't called to check on me. The other I didn't even feel. I was teaching (and thus, standing up) and my seated students all suddenly looked vaguely startled (that's all you're going to get from Japanese kids during class). Apparently, you don't notice the really little ones if you're standing. I would also like to point out that "earthquake" is another one of those really useful Japanese words that they don't point enough emphasis on in Japanese class. I found that most of the vocab I learned before I left was almost completely useless (for example, "alien"), and I had to pick up everyday language there, "earthquake" and "all-you-can-eat buffet" being two really good examples.
Anyway, this morning I was lying awake in bed and the house started shaking up and down and there was a rumble outside. Nothing was even close to being damaged, but it was still scary. Then Harper sort of meandered in to the bedroom when I called her. Honestly, she doesn't scare the tulip-bulb-stealing squirrels away, and she doesn't warn us of earthquakes, what did we get her for? :)
Not much cooking this week, the weather's been so nice! However, I have some projects brewing. I bought a new cookbook yesterday, and Suz is coming over to watch La Vie En Rose. On the list for this weekend include some french cooking and shortbread cookies (maybe), so stay tuned.
Anyway, this morning I was lying awake in bed and the house started shaking up and down and there was a rumble outside. Nothing was even close to being damaged, but it was still scary. Then Harper sort of meandered in to the bedroom when I called her. Honestly, she doesn't scare the tulip-bulb-stealing squirrels away, and she doesn't warn us of earthquakes, what did we get her for? :)
Not much cooking this week, the weather's been so nice! However, I have some projects brewing. I bought a new cookbook yesterday, and Suz is coming over to watch La Vie En Rose. On the list for this weekend include some french cooking and shortbread cookies (maybe), so stay tuned.
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Obamarama
So, despite my ranting about Little 5, I did go out last night. My friends have a tradition of meeting at a bar that overlooks the main street from the second story, sort of a safe distance to watch the craziness. I was pokey getting ready to go, and at about 5:30 Suz calls me as I'm brushing my teeth and tells me that she saw Obama walk into Nick's, the restaurant right across the street from the bar they were at (also, Aunt Demmy's favorite from when she was here). I screamed and I think stamped my feet because I was upset that, had I been on time, I would have seen him too. Very sad. Anyway, I'm on the bus, hoping to see him leave Nick's, and the woman in front of me answers her phone. From what I could tell, it might have something to do with Obama at 6, so I'm shamelessly eavesdropping. When she asked her little girl, "can you say Obama?" (she could, many times), I asked her what the scoop was. She said that he would be at the Sample Gates at 6 to give a little wave before heading to Terra Haute to give a speech. This is good because I'd be getting off the bus at the Sample Gates anyway. There's tons of people just standing around, but a discouraging lack of security guards, and I asked around and the general consensus was that he already left town. :( Pooh! Anyway, it was without a doubt the most exciting half hour of the week, and it was fun, even if I didn't get to see him.
The picture is of him signing the wall at Nick's, which is the most famous place in Bloomington (although there was a burger place called Hinkle's that was featured on the Food Network. They put peanut butter on their burgers. But most people in Bloomington have never heard of it, so that doesn't count).
Plan for today includes putting my winter coat back on, because it might snow, and going to the Farmer's Market with Suz and her awesome friend Nichole from CA (Nichole packed well. She brought her winter coat and hat, and also a tank top. She'll need them both this weekend). Then, we're going to make high tea for lunch, complete with scones and cucumber sandwiches. Then I'm heading back over there this evening to play Settlers of Catan. A full day!
Friday, April 11, 2008
Harper was in the backyard and I went outside to play some fetch with her (well, to throw the ball, which she usually then chases and makes a swipe at with her mouth, only to lose interest just shy of actually grabbing the ball. We've got to work on getting the ball into her mouth, and then we can start on actual retrieving. One step at a time) and this HUGE gust of wind came up so hard it pushed me back (I actually did the pinwheeling arms thing) and blew our swing into the side of the house. It spooked Harper, she jumped on me with her ears scrunched (her way of saying either, "where's my treat/walk," or "eek!") and then high-tailed it into the house. The house is fine, the cloth awning on the swing has a small tear in it, but we've already decided that's not move-worthy, so it only needs to last us through this summer. Unless Brad and Suz want it.
You may have heard of Little 500. It's the bike race they have every April here and generally it's an excuse for kids to party for a week. No one goes to the race. Every year I spend most of the week wishing I was elsewhere where there wasn't so much idiotic debauchery and general stupidity. For example, a frat house on the most dangerous and busy road on campus sets up a slip 'n slide that ends right at the bottom of a really steep hill, and the only thing between the end of the slip 'n slide and the cars being driven very fast by drunk people past some thick bushes is a very tiny sidewalk. Also, earlier this week a bunch of kids got maced by security guards when they started rioting after a concert ended earlier than they wanted it to. Was that really worth a riot?
It all gets pretty irritating, especially when these kids complain to their teachers and TAs that they shouldn't have homework or tests this week. They also complain about having homework due the week before spring break--not just the DAY before spring break, the entire week before. This week, and the first week of classes in the fall when freshman drive going the wrong way down one way streets and when it suddenly gets really hard to find parking spaces are the only two weeks of the year when I feel like Bloomington is a dangerous place to live and I'd be better off stocking up on supplies and staying home.
Anyway, Obama is supposedly going to the women's race today, just to watch and wave. I wish he'd come and give a speech! Bill Clinton gave a talk, but he was something like 3 hours late, and he's not Obama.
You may have heard of Little 500. It's the bike race they have every April here and generally it's an excuse for kids to party for a week. No one goes to the race. Every year I spend most of the week wishing I was elsewhere where there wasn't so much idiotic debauchery and general stupidity. For example, a frat house on the most dangerous and busy road on campus sets up a slip 'n slide that ends right at the bottom of a really steep hill, and the only thing between the end of the slip 'n slide and the cars being driven very fast by drunk people past some thick bushes is a very tiny sidewalk. Also, earlier this week a bunch of kids got maced by security guards when they started rioting after a concert ended earlier than they wanted it to. Was that really worth a riot?
It all gets pretty irritating, especially when these kids complain to their teachers and TAs that they shouldn't have homework or tests this week. They also complain about having homework due the week before spring break--not just the DAY before spring break, the entire week before. This week, and the first week of classes in the fall when freshman drive going the wrong way down one way streets and when it suddenly gets really hard to find parking spaces are the only two weeks of the year when I feel like Bloomington is a dangerous place to live and I'd be better off stocking up on supplies and staying home.
Anyway, Obama is supposedly going to the women's race today, just to watch and wave. I wish he'd come and give a speech! Bill Clinton gave a talk, but he was something like 3 hours late, and he's not Obama.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
By the way, Mom took that picture in Santorini from the balcony of where we ate dinner. I love that you can see the ridges in the cliffs beyond the town, and I love that spot of light in the bottom left corner. It's very Dutch Renaissance-ish. Or, how I imagine Dutch Renaissance-ish to be like. And it really was that purple.
Baked Shells with Winter Squash
I decided to toss out the spicy black bean cakes recipe. If I'm going to go through all that for a black bean recipe, I might as well just make black beans and rice. So, here's another from Martha Stewart.
RESULTS: I really liked this one, and Chris didn't hate it. The onions get nice and sweet (I only used 1/4 of one white onion. I think you can adjust it to taste) and it's the same color as Kraft mac and cheese, but without all the powdery guilt. :) The best part was definitely the bread cubes on top, especially since I defrosted some of the homemade bread and used that. I might try those bread cubes on other casserole-type dishes. Wait till the bread gets nice and brown.
Ingredients
Serves 6.
- Butter, for baking dish
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 large onions, halved and thinly sliced
- Coarse salt and ground pepper
- 2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary leaves
- 1 pound small pasta shells
- 1 package (12 ounces) frozen winter squash puree, thawed
- 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 3 slices crusty baguette, cut into 1/4-inch cubes (1 1/2 cups)
Directions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Butter a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Heat 3 tablespoons oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add onions; season with salt and pepper. Cover; cook until onions are soft and release liquid, 15 minutes. Uncover; raise heat to medium. Cook, stirring, until onions are browned, 20 to 25 minutes. Stir in 1 teaspoon rosemary.
- Meanwhile, cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water 2 minutes less than package instructions suggest. Drain, reserving 1 1/2 cups cooking water. Return pasta to pot.
- Stir squash and reserved pasta water into onions; simmer 2 minutes. Toss squash mixture and 1/2 cup Parmesan with pasta. Transfer to prepared dish.
- Combine bread cubes with remaining Parmesan, rosemary, and oil; season with salt and pepper. Top pasta with bread cubes; bake until golden brown, 10 to 15 minutes.
RESULTS: I really liked this one, and Chris didn't hate it. The onions get nice and sweet (I only used 1/4 of one white onion. I think you can adjust it to taste) and it's the same color as Kraft mac and cheese, but without all the powdery guilt. :) The best part was definitely the bread cubes on top, especially since I defrosted some of the homemade bread and used that. I might try those bread cubes on other casserole-type dishes. Wait till the bread gets nice and brown.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Spicy black-bean cakes
INGREDIENTS
- Lime Sour Cream:
- 1/2 cup reduced fat sour cream
- 2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
- 1 small fresh jalapeno pepper, minced
- salt to taste
-
- Bean Cakes:
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 4 green onions, thinly sliced
- 6 cloves garlic, pressed
- 2 fresh jalapeno peppers, finely diced
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 2 (14.5 ounce) cans black beans, drained and rinsed
- salt and black pepper to taste
- 2 cups grated raw sweet potato
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 1/2 cup plain dried bread crumbs
DIRECTIONS
- To prepare lime sour cream, mix the sour cream, lime juice, 1 small minced jalapeno, and salt together in a small bowl. Cover, and refrigerate.
- Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Cook green onions until softened, about 1 minute. Stir in garlic, 2 diced jalapenos, and cumin; cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Transfer contents of skillet to a large bowl. Stir in black beans, and mash with a fork. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Mix in sweet potatoes, egg, and bread crumbs. Divide into 8 balls, and flatten into patties.
- In the oven, set cooking rack about 4 inches from heat source. Set oven to broil. Lightly grease baking sheet with 1 tablespoon oil.
- Place bean patties on baking sheet, and broil 8 to 10 minutes. Turn cakes over, and broil until crispy, about 3 minutes more. Serve with lime sour cream.
RESULTS: I don't tend to have much luck with "____ Cakes." They tend to fall apart in the pan and taste greasy, even my beloved Crab cakes are more like crab crumble. (I read that one way to help this is to put the mixture in the fridge for an hour before forming the cakes, so the bread crumbs can help everything stick better, but I haven't tried it yet.) I thought these might do the trick since they're broiled, so there's not much flipping. Neither Chris nor I hold much with sour cream (although I think you could substitute yogurt cheese for sour cream), so I served with cheddar cheese and taco sauce. I also cut the garlic waaaay back, since I have to talk to people at work tomorrow. Turned out not bad. One of my favorite parts were the scallions, so don't leave those out. Definitely don't skimp on the salt, it needs it.
One thing that could have been better is that it really wasn't very moist. I guess when I think beans, I think a thick sauce, plump beans, etc, and this was dry. We used a lot of taco sauce. But short of adding more egg or soaking the breadcrumbs in milk beforehand, which might work-- or might be awful, I'm not sure what to try. Suggestions?
Sunday, April 6, 2008
artichokes with penne
I mentioned before that I got interested again in cooking when brother Chris gave me a honkin' huge traditional Italian cookbook for Christmas a couple year ago. Some of the recipes are not something I'd like to attempt, things with squid ink and intesines, etc. Other recipes are really easy and have about 2 ingredients. One of husband Chris and my favorites is a sauteed artichoke dish with penne. I like how with dishes prepared in a saute pan, you can take liberties with the recipe more easily than in a baking dish that gets put in the oven and is not to be disturbed for hours and hours, and I definitely did that with this recipe. It calls for things like fresh artichokes, and it says how to cook them and whatnot, but there won't be good fresh artichokes for a while, so I just use canned. It's so easy, I can tell you what I did tonight without looking at the recipe.
heat some olive oil (3-5 Tbls, ish) in a large saute pan over low heat. Toss in a whole garlic clove, some parsley and a dash of red pepper flakes and saute until the garlic is lightly toasted, or however you like it. TOSS THE GARLIC (there's going to be some major heat in a second, and the garlic will burn and smell awful if you leave it in). Finely chop a couple cans of non-marinated artichoke hearts. Throw those in the saute pan and raise the heat to medium. Give it a good stir, and then let it simmer away in it's juice. Eventually, that juice is going to evaporate. What I like to do then, if there's time, is let the artichokes get nice and brown. This adds an amazing flavor that the steamed/stewed artichokes (what was going on as the water was evaporating) just doesn't have. My pan usually gets pretty dry, and even on our non-stick saute pan you get little bits stuck to the bottom. That's ok. Keep stirring occasionally to move more artichokes in contact with the pan. When it gets to the doneness that you like it (the browner the better, I say), use a little of the pasta water from your penne to de-glaze the pan. Maybe you could also use white wine(?) I don't know how white wine goes with artichokes, but you DEFINITELY do NOT want to use red wine. That would be awful.
Tonight, I let the artichokes get browner than usual, to the point of crispness, and I added the red pepper flakes, which I never did before, and both were good additions. The recipe calls for fresh parsley, but I won't have any of that for a few weeks, so I always use dried.
serve with the penne, and it you want, either parm. or mozz. cheese. Or, you can not serve it with pasta, but put the artichokes in a baking dosh, top with cheese and bake until melty, then serve with slices of bread. Delicious!
heat some olive oil (3-5 Tbls, ish) in a large saute pan over low heat. Toss in a whole garlic clove, some parsley and a dash of red pepper flakes and saute until the garlic is lightly toasted, or however you like it. TOSS THE GARLIC (there's going to be some major heat in a second, and the garlic will burn and smell awful if you leave it in). Finely chop a couple cans of non-marinated artichoke hearts. Throw those in the saute pan and raise the heat to medium. Give it a good stir, and then let it simmer away in it's juice. Eventually, that juice is going to evaporate. What I like to do then, if there's time, is let the artichokes get nice and brown. This adds an amazing flavor that the steamed/stewed artichokes (what was going on as the water was evaporating) just doesn't have. My pan usually gets pretty dry, and even on our non-stick saute pan you get little bits stuck to the bottom. That's ok. Keep stirring occasionally to move more artichokes in contact with the pan. When it gets to the doneness that you like it (the browner the better, I say), use a little of the pasta water from your penne to de-glaze the pan. Maybe you could also use white wine(?) I don't know how white wine goes with artichokes, but you DEFINITELY do NOT want to use red wine. That would be awful.
Tonight, I let the artichokes get browner than usual, to the point of crispness, and I added the red pepper flakes, which I never did before, and both were good additions. The recipe calls for fresh parsley, but I won't have any of that for a few weeks, so I always use dried.
serve with the penne, and it you want, either parm. or mozz. cheese. Or, you can not serve it with pasta, but put the artichokes in a baking dosh, top with cheese and bake until melty, then serve with slices of bread. Delicious!
Saturday, April 5, 2008
http://www.startribune.com/opinion/commentary/17309829.html
For those of you confused by what's going on in Tibet, here's an article written by one of IU's professors. It's definitely an editorial piece, but I think he explains China's position towards the Dalai Lama well.
I had the chance to see the Dalai Lama speak a few months ago when he came to campus. It was in the basketball stadium, and it was filled to the rafters, literally. Everyone was so quiet and respectful during his talk, which was about secular compassion, and how you don't need to be religious to be compassionate (which is a main goal of Buddhism, to have compassion for all things, meaning there's no difference to your ego between yourself and other living things-- I can go into this more if you want, it's sort of a confusing point, but I need to get out the door now for the farmer's market). The only thing that didn't make sense to me was that he said he likes cats more than dogs. No accounting for taste, I guess.
Weirdest weather forecast: freezing fog?!?! This has happened before, everything gets super slick because the water droplets just freeze to every surface imaginable.
For those of you confused by what's going on in Tibet, here's an article written by one of IU's professors. It's definitely an editorial piece, but I think he explains China's position towards the Dalai Lama well.
I had the chance to see the Dalai Lama speak a few months ago when he came to campus. It was in the basketball stadium, and it was filled to the rafters, literally. Everyone was so quiet and respectful during his talk, which was about secular compassion, and how you don't need to be religious to be compassionate (which is a main goal of Buddhism, to have compassion for all things, meaning there's no difference to your ego between yourself and other living things-- I can go into this more if you want, it's sort of a confusing point, but I need to get out the door now for the farmer's market). The only thing that didn't make sense to me was that he said he likes cats more than dogs. No accounting for taste, I guess.
Weirdest weather forecast: freezing fog?!?! This has happened before, everything gets super slick because the water droplets just freeze to every surface imaginable.
Friday, April 4, 2008
Mary Jo's French Bread
After two and a half long weeks of nothing but work and two days off, I took off from work early yesterday and am taking all day today off. I've been having work dreams (dreams about work that turn into to-do lists that I tell myself I have to remember to do the next day) for the better part of a month, and I needed a vacation. So, when I got home for work, the only thing that I wanted to do was make bread! John and Kathy got me Mary Jo's Cuisine, a cookbook by a chef who recently retired from her restaurant in Oxford, OH. It's got a lot of instructions, so I'm not going to try to type it up here (sorry!). It did, however, turn out amazing, and she says that homemade bread freezes really well, so I would recommend trying SOME sort of homemade bread, the next time you need to de-stress. I would recommend following the recipe exactly, at least the first few times, before you make flour substitutions or herb additions or anything like that.
For those of you who enjoy this sort of thing, here's a couple cute pictures of Harper dog. I can exactly date and approximately time that picture with me in it, because I'm reading the last Harry Potter, which took me 12 hours to read on the day it came out. Since I'm almost halfway through it, it must have been taken at about 4pm on July 21, 2007. Harper thinks that chair is her chair, so if I sit in it to read, she insists on joining me. I just like the lighting in the other picture, it makes Harper look like she's in a glossy magazine.
Thursday, April 3, 2008
So, it seems like a lot of you are starting your own blogs. If you wouldn't mind if I put a link to your blog on my site, please let me know! Otherwise, I won't.
Congratulations to Bethie! She got a job offer. She's still waiting on the contract, so nothing's official yet, but getting the offer is the hard part!
Congratulations to Bethie! She got a job offer. She's still waiting on the contract, so nothing's official yet, but getting the offer is the hard part!
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Time for a book update! I finished Chocolat. I hated the ending of the book. It's so similar in so many ways to the movie, but so different in all the wrong ways. Very disappointed. Let's just say, when my friend told me she wasn't into romantic books, I told her Chocolat the book might suit her just fine. Otherwise, I liked it.
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle is still irritating me sometimes. I really love the parts when she's actually talking about her farm, but it's when she gets into politics and trying to be persuasive that I get irritated. It pains me to say this because she's such a skilled writer, and Poisonwood Bible is one of my three favorite books of all time, but she just shoots herself in the foot needlessly. Here's the most recent example. She's talking about commerical organic produce farming, and how there's a non profit that helps farmers sell their organic produce (there are all kinds of rules). She says, "In 2005, ten years after the program began, participating family farms collectively sold $236,000 worth of organic produce to regional retailers and supermarkets, which those markets, in turn, sold to consumers for nearly $0.3 million." Ok. First of all, I'm not sure what I'm supposed to make of this fact. In the context, she doesn't really help her reader know if this is a large number or a small number, or what. She seemed to think this was a good idea, but on the other hand, if you've got more than say five farmers, I bet $236K doesn't split up to be a large enough amount to cover their costs (which she says are substantial for organic farmers) AND make a living, and I'm guessing that we're talking about more then five farmers.
Secondly, I'm not a math person, but $236,000 and nearly $0.3 million sound really close to being the same number to me. Why change the format? Why not tell us the exact number? I can only assume that either this is an editing error on the part of the publisher, or she wrote this to make the second amount seem much larger and more impressive. I don't like being manipulated by fancy slight of hand if this is the case. However, again, the context doesn't tell me if we want the profit for the grocery store to be big or not. Is it good that the market is big, or is it bad because the grocery stores are making more of a profit from the produce? (Although, grocery stores traditionally have low profit margin, I'm told by a certain economist.)
This is really difficult for me. I really want to like this book, and I do like a lot of it and am very inspired to do some of the things she does in the book. But I can't help feeling like she's trying to manipulate the readers by not presenting all the facts and skewing the ones she does present. This is disappointing, especially considering her early career was in journalism (although, this may be why she's no longer in journalism). Sigh! Just looking at the critical reviews on Amazon, I don't seem to be the only one who feels this way, but most people by far gave it 5 stars.
I also just started The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time. I like it so far. It's told through the eyes of an autistic boy who's trying to solve the mystery of who killed his neighbor's dog.
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle is still irritating me sometimes. I really love the parts when she's actually talking about her farm, but it's when she gets into politics and trying to be persuasive that I get irritated. It pains me to say this because she's such a skilled writer, and Poisonwood Bible is one of my three favorite books of all time, but she just shoots herself in the foot needlessly. Here's the most recent example. She's talking about commerical organic produce farming, and how there's a non profit that helps farmers sell their organic produce (there are all kinds of rules). She says, "In 2005, ten years after the program began, participating family farms collectively sold $236,000 worth of organic produce to regional retailers and supermarkets, which those markets, in turn, sold to consumers for nearly $0.3 million." Ok. First of all, I'm not sure what I'm supposed to make of this fact. In the context, she doesn't really help her reader know if this is a large number or a small number, or what. She seemed to think this was a good idea, but on the other hand, if you've got more than say five farmers, I bet $236K doesn't split up to be a large enough amount to cover their costs (which she says are substantial for organic farmers) AND make a living, and I'm guessing that we're talking about more then five farmers.
Secondly, I'm not a math person, but $236,000 and nearly $0.3 million sound really close to being the same number to me. Why change the format? Why not tell us the exact number? I can only assume that either this is an editing error on the part of the publisher, or she wrote this to make the second amount seem much larger and more impressive. I don't like being manipulated by fancy slight of hand if this is the case. However, again, the context doesn't tell me if we want the profit for the grocery store to be big or not. Is it good that the market is big, or is it bad because the grocery stores are making more of a profit from the produce? (Although, grocery stores traditionally have low profit margin, I'm told by a certain economist.)
This is really difficult for me. I really want to like this book, and I do like a lot of it and am very inspired to do some of the things she does in the book. But I can't help feeling like she's trying to manipulate the readers by not presenting all the facts and skewing the ones she does present. This is disappointing, especially considering her early career was in journalism (although, this may be why she's no longer in journalism). Sigh! Just looking at the critical reviews on Amazon, I don't seem to be the only one who feels this way, but most people by far gave it 5 stars.
I also just started The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time. I like it so far. It's told through the eyes of an autistic boy who's trying to solve the mystery of who killed his neighbor's dog.
Whole Wheat Tagliolini with Fresh Cherry Tomato Sauce
From Cooking Light Magazine:
The nutty, slightly sweet flavor of whole wheat flour is a tasty addition to a basic pasta recipe. Look for the smallest sweet tomatoes you can find for this simple sauce. Substitute grated orange rind for the lemon, if you prefer.
Ingredients
Pasta:
1. To prepare pasta, lightly spoon flours into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flours and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a food processor; process 30 seconds. Combine 5 tablespoons water, 2 tablespoons olive oil, and eggs in a bowl, stirring well with a whisk. With processor running, pour water mixture through the food chute, processing just until dough forms a ball. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface; knead 5 or 6 times. Shape dough into a disk. Dust dough lightly with flour; wrap in plastic wrap. Let stand 30 minutes.
2. Divide dough into 3 equal portions. Working with 1 portion at a time (cover remaining dough to prevent drying), press dough into a flat rectangle. Roll the dough into a 14 x 14–inch square, dusting with flour, if necessary (turning dough over occasionally and dusting surface with flour as needed). Lay dough sheet flat; fold ends so they meet in the middle. Fold the sheet in half like closing a book. Fold in half again to form 8 layers of pasta. Using a sharp knife, cut the pasta crosswise into 1/4-inch-wide noodles. Separate noodles, and dust with flour. Place noodles on a jelly-roll pan dusted with flour. Repeat procedure with remaining dough portions.
3. Bring 6 quarts water and remaining 1 tablespoon salt to a boil in a large Dutch oven. Place noodles in a sieve; shake off excess flour. Add noodles to pan. Cook 1 1/2 minutes or until done; drain.
4. To prepare sauce, heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-low heat. Add garlic to pan; cook 3 minutes, stirring frequently (do not brown). Remove from heat. Stir in tomatoes and remaining ingredients. Toss with noodles.
Yield
4 servings (serving size: 1 1/4 cups)
RESULTS: Meh. I didn't use enough flour at first and the pasta just sort of squashed into a glob instead of separating into ribbons. I didn't try the sauce, but I'm including it in case you'd like to. Maybe I'm just not a fresh pasta gal? Elsewhere in this article in this month's cooking light (March, or maybe April) there was a recipe for ravioli. That I'd like to try. The food network and other cookbooks keep trying to push the wonton wrapper ravioli, and I've tried it and it's not good. They get all slimey and you can see through them, sort of like, I don't know, rice paper or something not ravioli-ish. I think the wonton wrapper lobbyists have a hand in this sudden popularity. Anyway, I don't dig it, but I'd like to try rolling my own ravioli pasta. For this pasta, the rolling was acutally way easy, I really don't think you'd need a pasta roller or anything. We'll see.
The nutty, slightly sweet flavor of whole wheat flour is a tasty addition to a basic pasta recipe. Look for the smallest sweet tomatoes you can find for this simple sauce. Substitute grated orange rind for the lemon, if you prefer.
Ingredients
Pasta:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour (about 4 1/2 ounces)
- 1 cup whole wheat flour (about 4 3/4 ounces)
- 1 tablespoon plus 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 5 tablespoons water
- 2 tablespoons extravirgin olive oil
- 2 large eggs object
- 6 quarts water
Sauce:
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 5 cups quartered cherry tomatoes
- 1/2 cup thinly sliced fresh basil
- 3 tablespoons drained capers
- 1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1. To prepare pasta, lightly spoon flours into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flours and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a food processor; process 30 seconds. Combine 5 tablespoons water, 2 tablespoons olive oil, and eggs in a bowl, stirring well with a whisk. With processor running, pour water mixture through the food chute, processing just until dough forms a ball. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface; knead 5 or 6 times. Shape dough into a disk. Dust dough lightly with flour; wrap in plastic wrap. Let stand 30 minutes.
2. Divide dough into 3 equal portions. Working with 1 portion at a time (cover remaining dough to prevent drying), press dough into a flat rectangle. Roll the dough into a 14 x 14–inch square, dusting with flour, if necessary (turning dough over occasionally and dusting surface with flour as needed). Lay dough sheet flat; fold ends so they meet in the middle. Fold the sheet in half like closing a book. Fold in half again to form 8 layers of pasta. Using a sharp knife, cut the pasta crosswise into 1/4-inch-wide noodles. Separate noodles, and dust with flour. Place noodles on a jelly-roll pan dusted with flour. Repeat procedure with remaining dough portions.
3. Bring 6 quarts water and remaining 1 tablespoon salt to a boil in a large Dutch oven. Place noodles in a sieve; shake off excess flour. Add noodles to pan. Cook 1 1/2 minutes or until done; drain.
4. To prepare sauce, heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-low heat. Add garlic to pan; cook 3 minutes, stirring frequently (do not brown). Remove from heat. Stir in tomatoes and remaining ingredients. Toss with noodles.
Yield
4 servings (serving size: 1 1/4 cups)
RESULTS: Meh. I didn't use enough flour at first and the pasta just sort of squashed into a glob instead of separating into ribbons. I didn't try the sauce, but I'm including it in case you'd like to. Maybe I'm just not a fresh pasta gal? Elsewhere in this article in this month's cooking light (March, or maybe April) there was a recipe for ravioli. That I'd like to try. The food network and other cookbooks keep trying to push the wonton wrapper ravioli, and I've tried it and it's not good. They get all slimey and you can see through them, sort of like, I don't know, rice paper or something not ravioli-ish. I think the wonton wrapper lobbyists have a hand in this sudden popularity. Anyway, I don't dig it, but I'd like to try rolling my own ravioli pasta. For this pasta, the rolling was acutally way easy, I really don't think you'd need a pasta roller or anything. We'll see.
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