Pasta - Easy, Delicious Comfort Food

Face it...sometimes we don't feel like cooking. No...really!

In my house, when nobody feels like cooking, we cook something simple. Usually it's one of our fallback recipes, though. Our favorite fallback is pasta.

Pasta

For those of you who don't like pasta...I can't help you. Go somewhere else. For those of you who do, let's talk pasta.

I'm a white pasta guy. And those who know me well, know that I am opinionated...No...really! Not very often do I find a flavored pasta, or a whole wheat pasta for that matter, that isn't too gummy or too hard. I've tried corn pasta and wheat pastas, pastas from sun dried tomatoes, squid ink pasta...just kidding. Saw that on chopped. LOL But, I'm EXTREMELY partial to a good, white, semolina Italian pasta made with copper dies. OH YEAH!...copper dies. Who cares? Me. 

Have you ever seen the close up of a hair. Wait...just a minute I'll show you...

Get it? Good pasta!

Modern dies are smooth. Old Italian copper dies make rough pasta...like a hair shaft. Again, who cares?  Well, you know how water slides off of a well waxed car. That's how sauce slips off of a smooth piece of pasta. Rough pasta=lots of sauce sticking to the pasta

Ok, I'm done talking pasta making. Of course, this is just for dried pasta. I, personally, love fresh pasta, but have never made fresh Italian pasta. When I do, I will blog it.

We have a few favorite types of pasta. For spaghetti, the thinner, the better. Angel hair is what we eat the most of, although, we eat a lot of maltagliati or penne (which, if you care, means quill. Like the end of a fountain pen). We eat others stuff too, but those are the ones we lean toward.

Cooking Pasta

If you can't cook a good pasta...fugetaboudit! It's as easy as boiling water...sea water that is. I always use a medium to large stock pot, depending on how much pasta we are making. Don't crowd your pasta. Give it plenty of room to swim. Don't forget that dried pasta plumps up when you cook it, so err on the side of too much water, rather than too little. And, speaking of water, always salt your water. A good rule of thumb is to make it taste like sea water. It's the only chance we get to season our pasta. We do this because we cook in layers...right?....RIGHT?...Good. We don't spend hours cooking a good sauce just to dump it on bland pasta.

Bring our brilliantly blessed brine to a rolling boil. That means really boiling fast. Drop your pasta in the pot, give it a quick stir to make sure nothing is sticking together and slam a lid back on the pot. The point is that we need to get the water back up to temperature as quickly as possible.

After the appropriate time (this all depends on the thickness of the pasta, etc. (check on the back of the box)) it's time to taste. Yes, you must taste it. The proper term for the correct doneness of pasta is al dente. This means literally "to the tooth" or "to the bite". It is firm, but not hard. It's before you get to mushy...way before. Don't throw your spaghetti against the wall. That kinda works, but it's kinda messy. 

Pasta's done...now what. Please!...Please!...Please! do NOT rinse your pasta! This is the number one biggest mistake someone can make with pasta. It's ok if you're making pasta salad, but  please don't do it to your spaghetti. Just don't.. Rinsing the pasta removes all the starch. Starch helps the sauce stick to the pasta. Notice a pattern? We're trying to get the sauce to stay on the pasta.

Next time we're going to make the stuff that goes on top of the pasta...wanna see it? 

Penne With  Pablano Pepper  Meat Sauce

As always, eat well.

Family Style

This was an amazing week! My wife's family (mine by osmosis) took a trip to the Poconos. Now, mind you, most of us cook. Some of us are a little more fanatical than others, but we are all to some degree proficient in the kitchen. This made for several days of borderline gluttony. Don't be offended by this. We  were all well aware of the Epicureans and the sins of overeating. We kept it just inside the lines.

The parenthetical chefs for this round of raucous mastication were as follows: Myself, Rachel (who teaches me things more often than I want to admit), Valerie (my daughter in-law who is as    obnoxious about food as I am), Bonnie (my sister in-law) & Jason (my professional pastry chef/foodie brother in-law). Needless to say, but I will anyway, we ate....and we ate well. I will be breaking this into two posts due to the shear amount of food. Lets start at the last dinner we all had together.

Country Style Ribs

Suck yer fingers ribs.

These aren't technically ribs. These are actually pork butt (and a fine butt they are), but for all intents and purposes, we'll call them ribs.

These ribs are also a little fatty. Now, some of you might have an aversion to fat. This is sad and I won't dwell too much on the reasons why you are blatantly wrong for your stupid opinion. Just know that you are and we'll drop it at that. Fat gives flavor and when it is lit from the underside by fire, becomes a thing of immense beauty that smokes the meat it is attached to.

These are so easy to make it is almost not worth talking about, but we will anyway.

1.) Par boil your ribs (butts, whatever!) This is a fine opportunity to infuse flavor. We dumped a healthy bit of Montreal Seasoning in the water and boiled until they felt firm and we couldn't see pink on the outside.

The infused boil liquid.

2.) Brush one side with BBQ sauce (I prefer Sweet Baby Rays...and you should too) and place sauce down on a hot (this is necessary) grill. Sauce the top side. Flip when the bottoms of the butts (he he he) are caramelized. Repeat three or four more times. As you do this, you ad layers of crusty, saucy goodness. Note that we went through two large bottles of sauce for the amount above on the grill. Want to see it again? I know you do.

Rachel's Roasted Asparagus w/Bacon

Sooo good. Some veggies ARE worth eating.

I said it before and I'll say it again...everything is better with bacon. Although we usually roast these sans crispy pork, we had some extra that night and opted to splurge.

1.) In a previous post I went over how to prep asparagus for eating (ie. snapping the bottom off at the first knuckle). Do so.

2.) Toss with olive oil.
3.) Squeeze some lemon juice (from a lemon, not from a bottle!) over the top.
4.) Grind some course salt on top.
5.) Top with almost cooked bacon.
6.) Broil until the asparagus is soft and wilty.
7.) Stuff in your eagerly gaping maw.

Jason's Ultimate Turtle Cheesecake

I am a bit of a cheesecake snob. While I have indulged in department store no-bakes and sad wanna-be whipped junk, I don't prefer it and certainly complain with every last bite. This one made me smile. It was different enough to make me look closely, but familiar enough to make me sigh. This was a nice end to a meal of pure comfort food.

1.) Use your favorite pre-made chocolate cookie crust. Yes I said it. This is so time saving and most of these that you get at the store are of very good quality.

2.) Pour in carmel icecream topping to cover the bottom of the crust.
3.) Cover bottom of crust with crushed pecans (the same the world around no matter how you pronounce them)
4.) Mix three packages cream cheese, three eggs, 3/4 C sugar and 1T vanilla. Beat until smooth.
5.) Pour mixture into crust.
6.) Bake in a pre-heated, 325 degree oven for an hour or hour and 10. Whenever it's set in the middle and a toothpick comes out clean, it is done.
7.) Chill. Tip: If you freeze these the topping sets better on top and it cuts MUCH easier.
8.) Top with carmel, crushed pecans and melted milk chocolate drizzles as shown.

That's it for this post. Tune in next week for part two.

As always, eat well.

Danny & Denise

Say Cheese!...cake

Denise loves her some Martha Stewart....ok I admit that I've watched Martha a bit too. OK! I watch alot of Martha's food segments. I can't help it, she's the only felon I know that cooks while pretending to be an aristocrat. But I digress...

Denise wanted to make this cheesecake for a get together with some friends. I was a little skeptical, but she did see it on Martha. This cheesecake is made with ricotta, after all. I am an american cheesecake eater. American cheesecake is made with cream cheese. The following is that cheesecake that I modified  because I messed it up. More on that later.

Ingredients:
Original Recipe:
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 pounds ricotta cheese
1 teaspoon orange zest
6 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt

My Additions:
1/4 C AP flour added to the original
1-8oz package cream cheese softened

1.) If you are using an oven (I suggest that you do, or you will end up drinking your cheesecake) set it to 350 degrees.

2.) The original recipe said to drain the ricotta overnight in a cheese cloth. We ignored this step. This led to a VERY wet mixture. Which led me to panic and ad another 1/4 C of flour and an extra package of cream cheese. SOOO...Ignore this step. It will be ok. Really.

3.) Dump all the ingredients in your stand mixer bowl. If you don't have one....get one. It will be alot easier. If you absolutely refuse, you can use your hand mixer...I suppose. The original recipe wanted you to mix the wet ingredients first, then add the eggs one at a time. Then....blah, blah, blah. Whatever. I usually don't have the patience for that. Mix everything together until it looks like this and don't forget to scrape the sides down:

4.) Pour this into a lightly greased and floured 10" spring form pan. We use the bakers spray that has the flour already in it. I am lazy and this works for me.  You can use a 9" pan instead, but I am not sure of the difference in baking time, so watch it carefully.

5.) Bake for 50 to 60 minutes. Just watch the top of the cake. When the cake appears set to the touch in the center, check it with a thin knife or a toothpick. When it comes out clean, it is done. It should look like this:

 6.) Let it cool completely. It will fall a little as it cools. Don't worry. This is normal. It will have made it's own crust on the outside.

A few years ago we lost a very close friend of ours. She used to regale us with stories of Europe. This might be what nurtured my love of food (although this love, obviously started at birth). Aunt Sally (who was not my aunt) would rant and rave about how Americans' palates were ruined by sweets and would rather eat syrupy sweets than actually TASTE the flavors. I think that's why I fell in love with this recipe. It is by no means over sweet. It is creamy and slightly sweet, with an background flavor and aroma of orange. 

Interestingly, we didn't have any regular oranges so I used Cuties as the zest. If you don't know what they are, ask someone with kids. Odds are, they know what they are.

The Topping: 

I tend to enjoy a sweet topping. I AM a ruined American after all. Some of my favorites are: 

Blueberry Sauce

Strawberry Sauce

Lemon Curd (I will post this recipe later. It is my favorite!)

We didn't have the ingredients for any of these.

What we did have, was a half a bag of mixed frozen fruit. This bag had peaches, pineapple, strawberry and mango.

This would work. This would work well.

Every fruit sauce that I have ever made was made like this:

1.) Dump some fruit in a medium sauce pan over medium low heat.

2.) Add a cup or so of sugar. This is optional...do it anyway.

3.) When the fruit is mostly melted down, add some cornstarch slurry. This is a few tablespoons of cornstarch mixed with a half cup of cold water. When the cornstarch is dissolved, pour over the fruit.

4.) Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. We don't want the fruit to burn.

When the mixture has boiled for a minute or two, take it off the burner and let it cool. It will thicken.

This is a picture of the resulting cheescake and topping. Notice the odd Glamour Shots glow to it. Maybe because it is so heavenly. I don't know. But, by all means, make this and let me know how it turns out. I have a feeling that you'll love it as much as we do. And, just remember that sometimes what you think is a mistake can end up a happy surprise.

 Danny & Denise

Asparagus and Brussel Sprout Bake

I grew up hating vegetables. As I got older and my tastes changed, I still enjoyed very few veggies. After I was married for awhile, Rachel found a recipe for asparagus that won me over. This is not that recipe. I'll share that one later. But, bear with me.

Occasionally we shop at Sam's Club...ok, who am I kidding? We shop at Sam's Club all the time.
The best part of Sam's Club is, you guessed it, the food samples.

A few weeks ago, while wandering around Sam's in a wash of disappointment, thinking that I missed the samples, an aroma smacks me in the back of the head. I missed one...and it smelled wonderful!

Not that I usually get my recipes from a grocery store, this was an exception.

Asparagus and Brussel Sprout Bake

The Finished Product :)

This is so easy, it's crazy!

The kick to this dish is the ....BACON...BAcon...Bacon...bacon.

Let's start with that.

1) In a heavy pan, render a goodly amount of roughly chopped bacon and drain well. Definition of goodly amount: Whatever trips your switch. I used 1/2 lb of maple smoked, thick cut bacon. You can use your favorite. Take the bacon out and drain on a paper towel. Keep the bacon fat in the bottom of the pan! By the way, my favorite pan in the whole world is my dutch oven. If you possibly can, get one and use it often. It makes you cook in a totally different way and makes EVERYTHING better.

Rendered Bacon Draining In  Paper Towel

2) Cut up a large onion. Add a little olive oil to the hot pan and sweat the onion. Sweat it like a fat man in a sauna.

3) While the onion is softening, cut up a bundle of asparagus (a good double handful?) and a mess of brussel sprouts. Please refer to the following picture for a better idea. I cut up the asparagus into 1 inch pieces after snapping off the growing end. The tough end snaps off naturally toward the bottom of the stock.

Cut the brussel sprouts in half.

4) Toss it all in the hot pan and saute the whole crazy thing for 15 or 20 minutes with the lid on. Stir every 5 minutes or so.

5) When the veggies are softened and slightly browned, add the bacon back in. Stir it up and enjoy!

Wanna see it again?!

It looks awesome! It tastes better!

There you go! Other than a bit of chopping, it's super easy! So, whether you are a vegetable hater or not, try this recipe! It might just change your opinion. It DOES have bacon in it after all.

Classic Crispy Roasted Chicken & Roasted Smashed Potatoes

Denise and I flipped a coin...I lost, so I get to post the first of many blogs.

Crispy Roasted Chicken

A few weeks ago, we made one of my favorite meals of all time. Not much of a story behind this one folks. I've been eating roasted chicken, like most of us, forever. But, there are a few things that make a good chicken truly great.

• Crispy Skin - Yup! Probably the best part of the chicken is it's epidermis. You can deny, fuss and fight, but it will do no good.
• Fall off the bone goodness - notice the picture...doesn't this chicken look relaxed?
• Juicy - ....'nuff said.
• Really good side dish - We'll get to this later.

My favorite chicken is simple.

Start with a good 4-5lb roasting chicken. Wash it well and, please, please, please dry this thing thoroughly.       This is the only way the skin will crisp up.

Rub with olive oil (yes this means getting your hands oily). 

Grind some course salt semi-liberally all over the top. Regular salt will work, but just not as well.

Place in a shallow metal pan. This is important too. This gives the heat a chance to get all around the bird.

Get all Hansel and Gretel on this pale piece of poultry and shove it into a preheated 450 degree oven.

Leave it in there until the legs relax, the skin is golden and the meat is 165 degrees. Get her out of the pan and on a board to rest for at least 10 minutes. Don't worry you have more to do while you wait.

Now if you want to get fancy, you can make a REALLY good gravy out of the drippings.

Here's how I do it:

Good Chicken Gravy 

Put the roasting pan right on a burner or two. Be careful! Seriously.

Pour a cup or two of milk in the pan. 

Sprinkle a couple of tablespoons of AP flour into the milk. Carefully whisk the lumps out and scrape all the good bits into the gravy and bring to a boil.

That's it. I do it all the time. SOOOO good!

The Side Dish:

Smashed Potatoes

Smashed Potatoes

While the chicken is roasting, bring a potful of good medium Yukon Gold potatoes to a boil. When soft, drain and lay out and dry on a bed of paper towels.

Dump the potatoes onto a sheet pan or two and smash with the heal of your hand, a pan, or anything that keeps you from burning yourself.

Drizzle liberally with olive oil and a good grind of course salt. Heave into the 450 degree oven and let it roast for 15 minutes. By now the bottoms should have a nice brown crust. Flip them over and bake again for another 10 or 15 minutes. You'll know when they're done.

That's it. My favorite meal. Simple and delicious.

Try it and enjoy.

Thanks for reading,

Danny