Nancy McNeill of Portland, Maine reports that her new table has inspred her to cook meals that are fit for serving on the beautiful table. And her chairs have not even arrived yet. Nancy, we can't wait to see what culinary creations the whole set will bring! Send pictures!
Here she has made pasta with puttanesca sauce and a salad. Rumor has it an italian from Amato's looks pretty good on this table as well.
Alert reader Carla sent in her latest creation, which I have taken to calling ARLA bars. Carla reports:
"Here are pics of the date bars I made. They were made in the 'nart* with dates, almonds, pecans, crystallized ginger, cinnamon and cloves. They were based on the LARA ginger snap cookie bar. They are very delicious and as you can see I just happened to have little ziploc bags for each of them."
* 'nart = Cuisinart
Thanks, cARLA!
Connie invited me over for dinner last night and made pasta and a tasty sauce. Connie grew up eating food from Marcella Hazan's "Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking." Marcella tells it like it is:
"Outside of spinach, no coloring can be recommended as an alternative to basic yellow pasta. Other substances have no flavor and therefore no gastronomic interest. Or, if they do contribute flavor, such as that of the deplorable black pasta whose dough is tinted with squid ink, its taste is not fresh. Pasta does not need to be dressed up, except in the colors and aromas of its sauce."
Connie does not mess with Marcella, so she made a highly palatable spinach pasta. The sauce was minced onions, carrots, and celery sauteed in a pan with one can of whole plum tomatoes, a bit of water, some butter, s & p. Edible! Thanks, Connie!
My grandmother taught me a way to keep asparagus fresh and tasty in the fridge. It works! Basically, you treat the asparagus like flowers: cut the ends off (just a little), place in a container of water, and then create a sort of greenhouse by covering the top with plastic wrap or a plastic bag and secure with a rubberband. Pop this in the fridge. Try to change the water every day until you use up the stalks.
The salad was so tasty, I made it again the next night for a friend. This time, we had the salad with warm, seasoned bread on the side. I might just make this salad again tonight.
Last week, Carla told me about a salad she made, and I could not stop thinking about it. So I asked her for the recipe, and it was so good I am passing it on to all of you.
First, mince an entire shallot. In small bowl mix this with 1.5 Tablespoons of white wine vinegar and a good pinch of salt. Let this stand for at least 20 minutes, or while you do everything else.
Prepare 1-2 hard-boiled eggs. The tried and true method I use is to put the eggs in a pan of water that just covers the eggs. Bring to a boil and boil for 1 minute. Then turn off the heat and let the eggs sit for exactly 8 minutes, or 7 if they are smaller. Run cold water over the eggs to cool and stop the cooking. Peel the eggs when they are done.
Then, as you water is heating for the eggs, prep 1 lb. of asparagus. Clean it and cut into pieces to suit your fancy. I cut them in large pieces at an angle (2-3 pieces per stalk). I roasted the asparagus (400 for about 10-15 minutes) with a tiny bit of oil and s & p. Carla steamed her asparagus.
Put about 4 hand fulls of arugula in your salad bowl. I seasoned the dry leaves with a bit of s & p.
Whisk 3.5 Tablespoons of walnut oil into the shallot-vinegar mix. Add the warm asparagus to the arugula, toss in the dressing, and crumble the hard boiled eggs into the salad.
Enjoy! We paired this salad with a delicious spring risotto with snap peas, parmesan, and bacon.
