Food Crush.

Ah Mr Bittman {cue dreamy music} . . . I must admit, I have a little crush on the man. When I see his videos on the NYTimes my heart flutters, my mouth waters, and I get all giddy inside. What can I say, the man can cook!

His recent dish was a creamy leek and garlic pesto pasta. Now as you folks know, I regretfully don't eat bacon, so I had to come up with an alternative option to make my dish pop. Low and behold, wild salmon was on sale this week, haaayyy! {You'll be seeing a lot of it by the by}

While Bittman's recipe is minimalist, it's not easy peasy. Especially when you've got a few burners going in a 90 kitchen. It was well worth the effort in the end though. 

Leeks! Dudes, make sure you clean them very throughly. 

Slice them in half a rinse downwards to get rid of dirt and sand. 

I lightly seasoned the wild salmon with some kosher salt & pimenton. 

First of all, this is my Cuisinart. This introduction is well overdue. 

Inside my friend is the leek & garlic pesto. 

Put the pesto back in the pan you sauteed the leeks & garlic in. 

You'll add the pasta and some pasta water to complete the dish.  

Hello Lovely. . .

Yeah . . . this is the shit you don't get to see . . .

Brown is the Color of My True Love's Tomato.

Hey folks! So about a year ago a grocery store, Best Yet, opened let's say around he corner. I was very skeptical at first because as you can tell food is near and dear to my heart. Therefore, where I get my food is of the upmost importance. Fairway was my clear favorite back then. I could buy cheap veggies, everyday staples, and specialty items like pimenton. It's an amazing store. 

Needless to say, Best Yet had to really be the shit. Luckily it is. Okay so there are regular groceries of course. In addition to that you have the most random ass shit that food nerds such as myself cream their pants for. I've found purple potatoes, blood oranges, and the subject of this post, Kumatos. I'd never seen  nor heard of them before. Of course I had to try them. I didn't want to do anything too complicated because I wanted to get a sense of the tomato's true flavor. I made a simple sauce, see below:

1 1/2 Tbsp of Olive Oil

3 healthy heaps of chopped garlic

1 package of Kumatos {I think there were 5-7 tomatoes}

8-10 garlic & parsley anchovy filets 

A few dashes of kosher salt {not too much though b/c anchovies are oh so salty}

A few dashes of coarse black pepper

Italian Parmesan for garnishing

And it goes a little something like this:

Brown Beauties. Dice tomatoes, then add to a pan with chopped garlic and olive oil. 

Sim-Simma, who's got the keys to my Beamer? This is a good time to add anchovies. 

I think it got to this consistency after 12-15 minutes of cooking. The anchovies dissipated into the sauce. Well except for a few pesky little bones here and there. Hey man, it's so worth the flavor!

I added spaghetti to the tomato sauce, then bowled {not plated} with some Italian Parmesan Cheese. I tasted a difference in the sauce, but it may have been the anchovies. It was delicious either way.

http://www.sunsetproduce.com/product/speciality/kumato-tomato

Don't Call it a Comeback!

First and foremost, Happy 2011 peeps! To put it frankly, 2010 was a shitty year for a lot of people. But hey, we got through it right? One of my last dishes of the year was courtesy of Mark Bitman once again. I'm not the biggest fan of gnocchi, but there was something about Bitman's Ricotta Gnocchi recipe that appealed to me. Here's how it went down:

Scoop out pasta dough, I used a tablespoon and fingers. Add the dough to a large pot of boiling water.

Then transfer to a small pan and sautee in a pan with fresh sage. 

So you'll notice my gnocchi is darker than Mr. Bitman's. There is an awful lot of multi-tasking involved with this dish. I got distracted and the gnocchi started to brown. I thought they looked even more beautiful and it added another texture to the dish.  

I diced some campari tomatoes then simmered them in a pan for a few minutes. The lightness and sweetness of the tomatoes were a perfect contrast to the saltiness of the cheese. 

Superb!

Last Night's Dinner/Today's Lunch

This dish ain't no trouble at all. Boil some water with a bit of salt & olive oil. Then add the pasta once the water is boiling rapidly. Saute strips of tofu in some oil olive and season with kosher salt & sesame seeds. Cook until each side is crispy, then remove them from the pan. Add Italian chopped plum tomatoes, yellow peppers, and arrabbiata sauce. Simmer for about 7-10 minutes, add the tofu, and plate over pasta. Garnish with pecorino romano & black pepper. 

Sweet Jesus, How Was I Ever Vegan?

Oh the lusciousness that is alfredo sauce. I really cannot understand why people buy jarred alfredo when it is so easy to make at home. Basic recipe: butter, half & half or heavy cream, chopped garlic, & parmesan cheese. Melt the butter, add the cream, let them simmer, then add garlic & cheese. Come on now, how simple. I added steamed broccoli, sauteed shrimp, and linguine to the sauce.

Shrimp over Angel Hair Pasta w Kalamata Tapenade Sauce.

If this dish sounds complicated, you're on to something because it kinda is. But the time and effort are more than pays off in the end. I had a ton of kalamata olives from a dish I made over a month ago and will someday post. I don't snack on olives too often so I realized I better cook them in something before they go bad. First thing I did was hand peel and de-pitt about a cup and a half of kalamata olives. Boy oh boy better put on some fun music for this task. It's quite time consuming, you might want to buy the pitted ones, but they are more expensive. I put the olives in my blender with 5 fresh garlic cloves, I'd say about 3 or 4 tbsps of olive oil, and 1/4 of a cup of pecorino romano cheese until it was nice and smooth. Then I added the tapenade to a large can of Italian chopped tomatoes that was simmering on the stove. I let them get friendly, then I boiled some angel hair pasta and sauteed about 12-15 shrimp. The rest is pretty self explanatory and may I add AMAZING! Enjoy mes amis!

Get Your Mac On!

It's Friday, so Ms Christiana's getting her mac on . . . old black lady style. I was a vegan for many years so I hadn't cooked mac & cheese since I was in HS. Anyone who comes from a Black Southern family knows that this wicked dish is an easier said then done. It takes patience, good timing, and a bit of finesse. My family doesn't f with eggs or extra milk or any of that ish. We go for a straight rue over pasta, then pop it in the oven. I used cavatappi because it looks more fun then a standard macaroni. I also used a New Zealand Cheddar which is on sale at Whole Foods this week. The cheese is a bit oily, but it melted well. I dashed some pimenton on top for a bit of color contrast. To put it simply, the shit was good.

Sweat the Small Stuff . . .

It goes a little something like this: boil some angel hair pasta, then sauteed some chopped garlic, yellow & green beans in some lovely butter or soy margarine. Sprinkle with kosher salt & Chinese 5 spice. Add freshly chopped tomatoes then shrimp. Finally swirl the cooked pasta in all the veggie goodness. Serve & savor.

No Skills Necessary.

This is meal is so easy it's barely cooking. Boil some water with olive oil & salt, toss in linguine. Heat heaps of chopped garlic in olive oil, add some chopped spinach, the tiniest bit of kosher salt, then chopped anchovies. This is the trickiest part gently sprinkle some hot pepper in the mix. This takes a steady hand & a good eye. you want to feel the pepper but not taste it. It should radiate like a halo of light after each bite. The sweetness of the garlic offsets the saltiness of the anchovies. Enjoy!