Seafood pasta with tomato, baby spinach and capers
I’m aware that I put capers in almost everything lately. There’s definitely a caper energy permeating my household these days … and why not? They add a subtle saltiness and tang to any dish and I love the complexity that capers add to something that could be humdrum without them.
That doesn’t necessarily apply to this pasta recipe, because I don’t think there’s anything hum-drum about it. I have Emeril to loosely thank for my inspiration for this dish, with his fresh seafood pasta recipe, but beyond the seafood, tomatoes and white wine, they really don’t have a lot in common.
I was going for something distinctly tomato-y, but with some unexpected flavors, and I think I accomplished that, but without offending any traditionalists with a weird taste sensation. It’s traditional with a twist and it was a big hit tonight.
Pasta with tuna, red wine and capers
In the event that I came off as a total food snob when I referred to baked ziti as plebian (even though I think it’s completely delicious!), here’s one of our favorite recipes that most food snobs wouldn’t even consider making (because there’s canned tuna in it). We did, however, serve it to a food snob far more snobby than the likes of me, and it was a well-loved meal.
About 7000 years ago, or something closer to fifteen years, I acquired a fun little cookbook by Barbara Russo called Quick and Easy Elegant Pasta (long since out of print, unfortunately for you!). It’s all true. The recipes are so simple to make, with few ingredients yet lots of flavor, and there really is something distinctly elegant about each recipe. Whether an ingredient or a combination of ingredients, an interesting method or presentation, there’s something special about each of these recipes.
Over the years, her recipe for linguine with tuna and red wine has morphed into something revered in our household, both for the amazing base recipe Ms. Russo created, but also because we have altered it to suit our ever-changing culinary sensibilities.
Bread pudding with rum sauce
Pia Schiavo-Campo, our Guest-clacker today, is a fabulous foodie with an ardent passion for gastronomy. She began experimenting in the kitchen about 12 years ago, and before long, this multi-cultural epicure realized she had a gift for cooking. Check out her blog athttp://foodlovela.blogspot.com/.
I dreamt of bread pudding last night. I call these dreams foodmares because when I realize that my food fantasy is not greeting me when I wake up at 3:00 a.m., I’m completely out of sorts. They’re cruel, these foodmares. But in my dream state, it’s utter bliss. My sweet tooth should really be called a sweet jaw. I’m certain I could subsist on sugar alone, though my growing mid-section is a clear indication I should probably incorporate some veggies into the high glycemic regime I call a diet.
When I’m entertaining at home, I love serving wonderful desserts. It seems that no matter how elaborate or elegant the main dish was, my guests inevitably remember dessert. And so I do my best not to disappoint them. I have several tricks up my sleeve. But the crowd favorite on a chilly evening, is Bread Pudding with Rum Sauce:
Guinness Stout: not just for drinking
As wonderful as Molly’s Cabbage soup recipes sound, when I saw this recipe for Guinness and onion soup with Irish cheddar crouton, I spontaneously salivated. It made me think of all the mouth-watering recipes we love with Guinness Stout as a main ingredient.
If you’ve never cooked with beer, you really don’t know what you’re missing. In fact, one of our favorite beef stews has Guinness Stout in the broth. The rich and creamy Irish brew also makes a fabulous steak sauce. You can make it like that recipe suggests, or you can saute some shallots, deglaze the pan with Guinness, reduce and swirl in some butter once you remove the pan from the heat.
Rice cooker risotto: it can be done – World’s Easiest
My prime motivation of laziness resulted in a brilliant discovery tonight: risotto can be made in the rice cooker. No, really. Stop — you sound like my dad. It really isn’t always about technique, you know. Sometimes the right ingredients and a little ingenuity can create an amazingly flavorful dish.
We were going to make a very simple Rachael Ray recipe for my sister and her family: Drunken Risotto with Grilled Chicken. Two things prevented me from following Rachael’s directions — I wanted to use brown rice instead of white rice, and I didn’t want to stand there for an hour, stirring the brown rice risotto, because it takes so much more liquid when using brown rice.
Beef Bolognese – The Drunken Chef
For years, I was convinced that Bolognese just meant throwing some ground beef into a marinara sauce. I blame this on many of the big “family style” Italian restaurants that seem to be spreading this myth. The traditional Bolognese sauce consists of meat braised in wine and tomatoes. It is not a tomato based sauce. Instead, it is a meat sauce with some tomatoes. It’s a fine line, I know, but it makes all the difference, trust me.
This is one of my absolute favorite meals to make. It’s easy, it cooks for a long time, so it makes the house smell great, and people really like it. Indeed, it’s good enough to serve to company, but it’s cheap and easy enough to take left overs to work, or just eat all week for dinner.
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