eating as a fine art: May 2009

Saturday, May 30, 2009

just a regular everyday dinner

it's been so nice we've been grilling whenever possible. we tend to eat mexican food a lot. i'd made some rice and black beans and braised some chicken in tomatillo/olive salsa. we grilled some quesadillas with jack, black beans and chicken and made a salad with gorgeous spring radishes, carrots and avocado with a toasted cumin/lime vinaigrette. yummy everyday kind of meal.

Saturday, May 9, 2009

spring lamb

we got some lamb chops from the rancher who shared the demo space at new seasons with troy recently. i wasn't sure that i liked (eating) lamb. we grilled 'em up and had some little dumplings from the russian market across the street and some sauteed spinach with currents, garlic and pine nuts. turns out i do like lamb, and the rancher told me he only kills the ugly lambs.

Friday, May 8, 2009

yet another delicious breakfast

troy made breakfast: little plantain patties, bacon, and farmer's market eggs. and hot sauce: one is from pickleopolis-- which everyone should have, the red hot sauce they make is super yummy too-- and eros pista, which is this amazing hungarian hot sauce we get from our hungarian relatives (yay for my brother who married a hungarian!).

Thursday, May 7, 2009

craving mac & cheese

we were craving mac & cheese.
i remember in my early 20s when i lived briefly in linda & david's basement. david made the most amazing mac & cheese and i used to get up in the middle of the night and steal a forkfull. i'd see mackenzie there, sneaking big mouthfuls of chocolate from the chocolate block they kept above the fridge, for baking.
i still use a variation (as cooking varies as the years and whims go by) of david's recipe.

Recipes

David’s mac & cheese, as re-interpreted over the years

Preheat oven to 350*

Boil in salted water (should be like sea water) until just before al dente: 1 lb pasta (like macaroni shaped or penne or whatever you like)

Grate 1 lb+. cheese of choice. I like to use some jack, as it melts well, and is a good medium for the other highly flavored cheeses you should consider using like: sharp cheddar, gruyere, pecorino, goat cheese etc.

Meanwhile, sauté a small diced onion in a few TBSP butter until soft over medium heat. Add a couple cloves of garlic, smashed, and sauté another minute. Add another TBSP butter and four TBSP flour, sauté to lightly toast the flour, about a minute (should be the consistency of wet sand). Add, oh, 1 cup milk slowly and whisk to break up clumps. Slowly add milk until you get a sauce with the consistency of heavy cream or campbell’s tomato soup, just out of the can (should be about 3 cups total). Add salt; I like to add some smoked paprika and woscheshire sauce. Taste for seasoning (should be highly seasoned). Add oh, ½ the cheese.

Now, layer in a buttered casserole (I actually make this recipe in 2 dishes and freeze one): pasta, roux (milk/cheese sauce) and cheese in about 2-3 layers.

In David’s version, you’d put some pats of butter over your pasta layers, then sprinkle on wheat germ. That’s good—the germ is kind of sweet, and yummy. What I do is sauté some breadcrumbs very lightly in butter and garlic and toss in some wheat germ at the end and sprinkle this (liberally) over the pasta.

Bake for about 40-45 minutes or until lightly browned and bubbly. If you’ve made two casseroles (you smart thing), take the one you’ll freeze out of the oven after about a half hour, let cool, wrap in foil then in plastic, label and freeze.

eating as a fine art