Trapani-Style Rigatoni
We’ve had some pretty disappointing experience with homemade pesto before. It always came out tasting, for lack of a better word, grassy—too much like raw plant matter and not enough like the delicious melding of flavors that we know an awesome pesto can be. This recipe from our new BFF Jamie Oliver (we promise we’ll start using other cookbooks eventually) wasn’t advertised as pesto, but that’s basically what it was, and a delicious one at that! It uses almonds instead of pine nuts and includes the unique element of fresh tomatoes, which adds a surprising brightness to the dish. We forgot to restock our anchovy supply, so that ingredient was left out, but we can definitely see how that would have added a yummy, savory something to the dish. On the bright side, we can safely say that if you want to make this a vegetarian pasta, ditching the anchovies is a perfectly honorable choice and it still comes out delicious.
The headline for the night is definitely that we’re not afraid of pesto anymore! I have a sneaking suspicion that the answer might be just whizzing it around in the food processor for way longer than seems necessary. It’s a noisy job, but your tummy will thank you. Ours did.
Curried Chicken Salad
We made this once last summer in the land before blogging, and our primary recollection is that while the flavor was there, the recipe called for waaaaayy more dressing than strictly necessary. Goopy is the last personality trait you want from your chicken salad. This time we still made the same amount of dressing but added it in small quantities to ensure the perfect level of binding without gooping. We left out the celery and the chutney based on our desire not to purchase ingredients (one of them rather pricey) that we probably wouldn’t have another use for. Our only regret is that we halved the recipe, since this would have for some bangin’ leftovers. We actually made it a day ahead due to a schedule kerfuffle, and not only did it keep beautifully, it was delicious at room temperature—if you’re ever at a picnic or potluck with us, keep your eyes out for this bad boy!
The pièce de résistance any time we make curry is the curry powder we have stashed away. There’s a huge (HUGE) container of it in our freezer that Dan’s Trinidadian ex-nanny sent to us many moons ago, along with her curried chicken recipe that is a childhood favorite of Dan’s. We have to keep it in the freezer—inside three layers of packaging, no less—because it’s so potent that when we first got it, its mere presence made our dorm room smell like curry for weeks. Delicious curry, but still!
Spinach Feta Pie
This was a fun, somewhat different vegetarian meal that we were inspired to make from, you guessed it, one of our new cookbooks. It made for a good-tasting dinner when served with a simple Greek salad, but there were enough hiccups the we will probably find a different recipe next time we’re in the mood for a homespun spanakopita experience. For example, the recipe didn’t tell you to drain the spinach before putting it in the pie, which made the bottom of the crust quite soggy. Also we didn’t think ahead to the fact that it wouldn’t keep well, so we ate less than half the pie and wound up having to ditch the leftovers—waste, yuck. Also, phyllo dough is hard. It’s hard, you guys! It tears so easily and it becomes dry and brittle so quickly. And you need a lot of space to spread out and work with it, which is tough when you’re juggling the other elements of the meal. It was a nice idea but…maybe Greek takeout next time?
Pasta e Ceci
This is another recipe from one of our new Jamie Oliver cookbooks, Jamie’s Italy (a nearly identical version of the recipe from the book can be found here). It’s basically a chickpea stew simply flavored with onion, garlic, carrot, and some herbs, with little teeny pastas thrown in for substance and texture. It’s a cousin of the pasta e fagioli and though the flavor is subtle, it compares admirably with other chickpea dishes we’ve made. The simple seasoning really allows the buttery flavor of the chickpeas to shine (even though they’re canned). A little parsley garnish and a hunk of crusty bread complete this meal that very well might be our last stew of the season. The apartment’s been heating up (even with central air, cooking can be a stuffy activity) and we’re starting to put out our feelers for creative ways to cook in the summer while keeping the house cool. Let us know if you have any ideas!
Pasta con Acciughe e Pomodoro
You guys…we have a new toy. It is so shiny.
Dan’s #1 birthday wish was to take our cookware collection to a whole new level with the addition of our first-ever All Clad piece, and his parents generously indulged our kitchen geekiness. This is the crème de la crème of consumer cookware. We have been pretty fed up lately with our Rachael Ray pots and pans, which we loved at first because they were a great deal and are super nonstick. They’re certainly easy to clean, but we’ve found that they are made of very thin metal which can cause uneven heating and “hot spots” that scorch our food. Not so with All Clad. It is hefty and high-quality. And did we mention shiny?
We are huge dorks.
Anyway…
We christened our new baby with a simple, lovely pasta dish from a beautiful recently-acquired Jamie Oliver cookbook called Jamie’s Italy. It reads basically like pasta marinara, but it’s a lot more interesting and engaging than your cop out sauce-from-a-jar meal. The tomato sauce is made from scratch—albeit quickly—with raisins, pine nuts, and anchovies, which provide a unique savory taste and depth of flavor. The recipe (nearly identical version found here) called for garnishing with breadcrumbs, which we found dried out the pasta, so we switched to everyone’s best friend, parmesan cheese.
French Country Indoor Picnic
While the weather was certainly beautiful enough for a picnic, Dan decided that he likes the idea of a picnic more than actually having a picnic. Who likes to sit on the wet and dirty grass, get attacked by bees or mosquitos, and deal with the fickle sun?
Instead, we decided to bring the idea of a picnic indoors, with an array of casual nibbles. From left to right, sparkling berry lemonade and white wine to drink, a cheese and charcuterie plate, rosemary and raisin crackers, smoked salmon pate, and country bread.
Easy Sole Meuniere
Sole Meuniere is the ultimate in simple French food that delights in the combination of a few choice ingredients. And, like any good French dish, the most important of those ingredients is butter. We recreated this Barefoot Contessa recipe using some inexpensive frozen fish fillets. There was indeed an embarrassing amount of butter involved, but with a little lemon, parsley, and our own creative addition of capers, the result was light and flavorful, if indulgent. The texture of the fish probably would have been a little better if we had splurged for fresh sole, but that would’ve pushed this meal out of our price range. It’s always fun to try your hand at the classics, and this experience confirms that Sole Meuniere is classic for a reason!
