ok. this was good. as in very good. as in i won’t go all yoplait ad on you, but this was another definite do-over. and the sooner the better.
i take very little credit as this plate of pasta was nothing more than a blend of: the latest post from rachel eats‘ blog, along with the addition of some murray’s cheese mail-ordered burrata. i’ve since found out - and to my surprise, that trader joe’s carries "burrata", but my obvious thoughts on that were although it’d most likely do in a pinch, there’s no way it could be even close to the same quality as these delicate cream filled mozzarella balls made in italy on monday, and at my door on wednesday…
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Tags: baking · beans · cheese · dessert · fish · pasta · tomatoes · travel
poached egg sitting on a caesar salad with bottarga…
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grilled fresh mozzarella with crisped speck and basil…
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Tags: bread · cheese · eggs · pork · salad
this past week, ceF was 2 years old.
and somehow it’s been nearly 2 weeks since i’ve posted but… PEOPLE, I’VE BEEN BUSY. you see it’s been SPRING - and i’ve officially gone riding. so if you need me, you can find me in the mornings at edwin warner park worshiping at the altar of mother earth and heaving myself up some pretty decent sized tennessee hills..
but not only that - i was actually doing the W word…
i know, i know. working… it’s crazy - but it was just a short, intense job. this particular gig was feeding 16 people for 3 days. and since you’ve probably stopped by to hear about some food, i thought i’d share the menu with you so you can see that i’ve not been slacking - not in the least…
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Tags: other
the bread you see is the olive bread from ‘on the rise artisan breads‘ in cleveland. and let me tell you, if there was bread like this in nashville - or even close, you wouldn’t be hearing me complain about the food here… maybe ever.
the salad was compliments of both chris’s handiwork and a farmer’s market stop on the way to my house where he picked up delvin farms local arugula, spinach and strawberries. the just picked produce was then paired with my begging to be used 3 week old golden beet - so all of that, a red onion - and a jar of this:
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Tags: salad
every now and then a dish comes along that knocks me out. and i don’t even mean anything complicated. just a simple plate of food that satisfies you on some primal level - food that is almost soulful. like this ‘pasta. to. die. for’. it’s barely even cooking, yet it blows my mind every time i make it. and now, this pasta ceci. i mean, where have you been all my life? all those trips to italy - all those italian dinners and piles of books - somehow i’ve missed you. but now i know, and it’s all with thanks to rachel, an english woman living in rome who authors the beautiful blog, ‘rachel eats‘.
rarely do i ever cook things twice. perhaps mostly because my cooking tends to be experimental or often just a curiosity - or i don’t remember what i even did to ever redo it. but this pasta ceci? this will be made often. after all, we’re talking both pasta AND (rancho gordo) beans…
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Tags: beans · pasta
or maybe it’s not a pesto. i’m really not quite sure as there’s no cheese or nuts in this first version although in the second dish, both of those are added in a non-classical way. but regardless, i came home one afternoon last week and once again decided to cook by what needed ‘to go’. a very large container of baby spinach was still looking good, but 8 days after purchase, needed to be used. so that was the basis for what then became 2 fabulous dinners.
i’m on a mission to make a dent in what currently exists in my kitchen, as i’m wondering if the over abundance of food is acting as a sort of psychological stronghold, protecting everything from my safety to my image. so it’s time to lighten the freezer load, use some of the pricey condiments i’ve collected - and take cues from my voluptuous pantry. it’s springtime after all… and there’s nothing like a good purge.
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Tags: pasta · pesto
because that’s what was in my pantry - and fridge - and freezer. friends were coming by on short notice and i needed to shop from my ever abundant kitchen. anything to appease some of the guilt from being perpetually overstocked and avoid a trip to the market. so although this was pretty much a throw together kind of dinner, there was a lot of to choose from. i try and do better in this regard, but i am a serial food buyer - forever curious.
it may soon be time for another month or so of "eating down the house". it could use happening…
but i had a box of beautiful saffron pasta that had been waiting patiently to be used, and some pinky orangey skinned snapper fillets that had been bought on a whim and thrown in the freezer nearly too long ago, plus the tail end of a bag of medium frozen shrimp bought for my sweet old kitty and used as treats. he’s been gone 4 months now and it was time to finish them up. pancetta is always a staple in my freezer, and i had an onion, some garlic, the remains of a still fresh bunch of parsley, a bottle of pinot grigio and a little glass vial of saffron that i’d been hanging on to…
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Tags: fish · pasta · seafood
