spinach garlic pasta

taking time for dinner even with busy schedules this month is especially nice. loved the piece in NYT yesterday about the joys of a pot of water boiling on the stove. you can read it here. good things come from a pot of water boiling on the stove. you can make a whole dinner out of one pot of boiling water. like this breathtakingly simple spinach garlic pasta recipe. so ridiculously easy, light, tasty, unfussy. here are the ingredients: pasta, spinach, parmesan cheese, garlic, olive oil, water. molly's latest recipe on orangette reminded me to make this, hers has a similar rustic, simplistic spirit, but with prosciutto and butter, not spinach and olive oil. either way, cozy weeknight family dinner. grazie mille.

spinach garlic pasta

serves 4

1 lb dried or fresh pasta

12-16 oz fresh spinach

3 cloves garlic, smashed and peeled

1 cup freshly grated parmigiano reggiano cheese

2 glugs (TBSPs) extra virgin olive oil

a bit of salt for the pasta water

set the giant pot of water to boil. meanwhile smash a peel the cloves of garlic. salt the water. once the water is boiling furiously, place the fresh spinach in the pot. just for a second. scoop it out with a strainer. continue to drain spinach. add one glug of olive oil and then the pasta to the same pot of water, as long as it is boiling furiously again. it will of course be slightly green this water, perhaps if we are lucky, infusing your pasta with extra vitamins and minerals or perhaps a certain complexity of taste only spinach water can bring to the noodles. i notice no difference in taste, only a difference in the amount of pots i must clean and amount of water i must boil. i find it agreeable this dual pot use. while the pasta is cooking, chop the drained spinach. reserve. when the pasta is done, but still quite al dente, maybe even a little more al dente than usual, drain the pasta into a colander, reserve one to two cups of the twice used water, and and discard the rest. set the same pan on high heat, add the smashed garlic. let it roll around and sizzle in the pan for a minute or two, turn down the heat a bit so it doesn't burn. add in the spinach now. a bit of salt to taste. cook another minute. now add the drained pasta and the reserved water. cook for one minute. add in the cup of freshly grated parmesan cheese. serve immediately.

Happy Holidays

holiday planning update. it is starting to look like christmas around here.

our oldest decorated the chalkboard for us in the family room. the tree is up in the living room. some of the wreaths are up. but not the front door, not yet. the cards we designed arrived from moo.com yesterday. christmas shopping is 30% complete. not bad so far.

but this is the part where things begin to get a little crazy and pretty soon it is like a roller coaster ride that is going a bit too fast. the concerts and school and social events start this weekend. then it seems like all we do is get ready for concerts in fancy dress. get dressed. and get dressed again. it takes up a lot of time. lovely. charming. thrilling. touching. amazingly wonderful. children performing. seeing friends. and yet somehow those hot stuffy auditoriums. well you know i always dread it just a little bit and then it is always a happy experience. it is good fun getting dressed up and then getting caught up in the moment, the artistry, the beauty at these exciting, mostly beautiful but sometimes boring, artistic rituals. but maybe it is just that i have two musical children, one child turning 15 in a month. and another child that plays in two orchestras. perhaps it is the sheer number of these things we have been to in the last 12 years.

its all in the timing though isn't it? and that is how life seems to work: long stretches of NOT MUCH AT ALL going on and brief spurts of A MILLION THINGS all happening at the same time. whoosh, holiday 2009, here we go. good luck everybody. may everything work according to plan.

persimmon pomegranate salad with mixed baby greens

i am so done with thanksgiving. it was great, nicest one yet we all concurred. but that heavy holiday food. oh my. happily, one light spot on our menu is our traditional thanksgiving persimmon pomegranate mixed greens salad. crunchy, tart, leafy, tasty, acidic counterpoint to the rest of the meal. i invented this salad about 8 years ago and we've been eating it by popular request ever since. at the time, we were living in tiburon, california, with our lovely panoramic views of the golden gate bridge and the bay from our kitchen/living room windows (my that was nice) and locally grown persimmons as well as pomegranates from southern california were abundant in the markets.

luckily, due to the magic of modern food distribution and transport, something i am thankful for every day (and especially at the holidays), i can still get these ingredients, high quality and quite fresh here in connecticut. if i was going to be a locavore, which i never will be, i would have to live in central california i think, or some other equally fertile growing region in the world. i am sure someone from new england did not come up with that locavore concept, had to have been a californian, although i'm just guessing here. i would have to build a greenhouse system to get local food and apparently that has a higher carbon load than shipping food (according to BBC news) from its traditional growing region. i just cant live without grapefruit and avocados and artichokes, chocolate, coffee and tea. or wouldn't want to. anyway, other than the pumpkin pie, (which i have professed my profound love for here on cup and table many many times), this is one of my favorite items on our yearly thanksgiving menu:

pomegranate persimmon salad

serves 6 - 8

12 ounces mixed baby greens, rinsed and dried

1/3 pomegranate, seeds only (about 1/3 cup)

1 large or 2 small fuyu persimmons, peeled and sliced

1 leek, finely sliced

dressing

2TBSP pomegranate cherry juice

3TBSP seasoned rice vinegar

3TBSP extra virgin olive oil

(a touch of dijon mustard or some minced shallots is nice here but i usually skip it because i am overwhelmed in the kitchen at this point) assemble ingredients. whisk up the dressing. pour. toss. serve. bon appetit.

Local Turkeys

a local gang came by last week looking for trouble (love to dig up my yard with their rather large feet). but they did let me take a few pictures. i caught one looking in my back door window staring into the house for a long time. they seem to think they own the property, and begrudgingly tolerate our presence. sorry turkeys, but for now our name is on the deed.

i hear the first thanksgiving, the real one, included geese and fish as the main course. only later was turkey on the menu. turkeys were abundant at the first one, but were not eaten as they were considered sacred. maybe that means too strange looking to eat. they look rather reptilian i think. but somehow majestic at the same time, with all that elaborate plumage. however you celebrate it, happy thanksgiving everyone. i am grateful for all my friends old and new and my wonderful family. cheers, xo, g

vietnamese chicken noodle soup

there are many versions of pho. the most famous is made with beef stock and thinly sliced raw beef. we prefer chicken around here. either way it is hot, tart, salty, spicy (to taste) fresh delicious noodly pho. this is one of my all time favorite foods to make or to eat. i have never been to vietnam (but i tend to frequent a fair number of vietnamese restaurants, too many to count). i don't let that stop me from making pho. i have been improving this recipe for taste over the years while at the same time reducing the number of steps so it is less trouble. yes it is possible to improve the taste while reducing the number of steps. not easy, first you must strip away a recipe to its purest essence. anyway, if it is less trouble, i will make it more often and that is a nice bonus for one of my favorite foods. recipes are rigorously tested around here based on the time honored "too much trouble index." some recipes are worth a bit of trouble. some are not. in any case, one day i hope to go to vietnam and cambodia and taste the food in it's original environment. oh the flavors and colors of the authentic, i can only imagine. until then i will busy myself slurping up this inauthentic soup in blissful ignorance.

step number one, and the key to the success of this dish is the secret ingredient: crispy shallots. do not underestimate the complexity and nuance from this single ingredient. i begin here.

crispy shallots

thinly slice 3 or 4 shallots. chop lightly. saute in 4 BSP olive oil over high to medium high heat until they begin to brown. use plenty of oil here, they will soften rather than crisp if you dont use enough or the heat isnt high enough. when they are beginning to brown nicely turn off the heat. watch them as they cool, sometimes the pan is so hot they continue to cook for a while. when cooled, set aside in a bowl lined with a paper towel to drain the oil. scallions can be added to this mixture with great result. you can saute them togther.

broth

2 quarts chicken stock

2 cloves garlic, sliced

1/4 cup minced cilantro stems

1 medium onion, sliced

4 TBSP good quality fish sauce

2 TBSP brown sugar

juice of 1 lime

bring stock, onion, garlic, stems, to boil. add fish sauce, brown sugar lime to taste. simmer until ready to use.

rice noodles

place in boiled water until soft, drain and rinse thoroughly in cold water to keep them soft and not stuck together until you are ready to use them. (save the hot water).

shredded chicken breast

i buy a rotisserie chicken from whole foods and remove the skin and gently shred the breast into large strips. set aside. (easy).

bean sprouts and napa cabbage

use the hot water from the rice noodles. add a little salt. bring to a boil and blanch the bean sprouts and napa cabbage seperately for a minute or so each. drain.

cilantro

use the stems to perfume the broth they are wonderful and do not wilt like the leaves do. i can't believe most people discard the stems. tragedy. i have read that vietnamese cooks use them also. i really must go and find this out for myself. maybe a cooking/eating tour of southeast asia is in order.

condiments

limes

cilantro leaves

crispy shallots

fresh scallions

thai chilli sauce

soy sauce

rice vinegar

everyone gets to assemble their own soup in our house. one child likes only the cabbage. another strongly prefers the bean sprouts. one only like the soy sauce and vinegar, one loves the chili sauce. these asian noodle soups are generally served up individually at stalls, everyone ordering just what they want. so sensible. place the noodles in the bowls. have everyone add in their meat and veg, pour the hot broth over all. add condiments. slurp slurp enjoy.