webcowgirl: (Default)
Ah, work. As usual coming back from vacation meant my motivation was gone and everything seemed more unreal than usual. As the work on the reorg continues, this is especially true; no one seems to have any motivation or focus, and God knows I've got no feedback on anything I've been doing for well over a month. My boss is gone for the next two weeks, and due to so many other people being on vacation, apparently I'm Big Man On Campus next week and get to go to the Very Very Big Meeting on Friday (I will wear my nicest suit even though it's casual day on Fridays; it's a good chance for me to raise my profile to upper management). I've been thinking about bringing my tiara to make sure people know I'm the queen next week; for a while on Friday I was wearing a bean bag frog on my head to get people (including me) used to the idea. I'm sure it created exactly the right impression.

I'm trying to live a slightly less mad life these days (i.e. now that summer is, basically, over) and as part of that I'm visiting [livejournal.com profile] booklectic once a week. My thought is that I could go over, make dinner, and have a visit, ensuring she's got company on [livejournal.com profile] dr_d's karate night and giving me a chance to hang out with someone I like (as with a new baby she's not exactly getting out a lot). This Thursday was my first go of that and it was really just very fun; it was fun to cook for a group again ([livejournal.com profile] dr_d was actually there this time and apparently will get home in time to eat leftovers, so I will make sure to cook for three regularly). I have not been motivated to do much in the kitchen these several months, and that plus the visit with my friend(s actually) made for a really good evening.

Friday was see Scott Pilgrim night and I really enjoyed it. I went with someone I mostly only know off of Twitter; at the end of the night (after the Japanese dinner where we discovered a shared, hearty enthusiasm for ELO's Time album), as we parted at the platform for the Northern Line, he asked, "So what is your real name, then?" It was perfect as I didn't know his, either. Ah, social networking, so much potential and yet frequently so limiting. At least it got me someone to go see a movie with Friday and we did really have a good time.

Today was supposed to be Spend The Day With [livejournal.com profile] wechsler day, but he decided to bail on Accomplice in favor of chill-out time. This means I saw it with someone I didn't know well, but she and I had a great time (review here). I liked the whole run-around-outside-treasure-hunt-mystery thing, and liked even more that it was set on the South Bank, which I visit a lot; each spot we stopped at will be a little special to me now.

Actually a funny thing is that we crossed places I'd been earlier in the day with W, first the Rabat Cocoa Estate shop (where we got caffeinated beverages and I was plied with chocolate numerous times while waiting for said beverages, you can bet I'll be back), then the Southwark Cathedral where we'd sat and ate our lunch after buying the ingredients for dinner. Returning there after we split up gave the day a somewhat circular kind of feeling. At any rate, when the show wrapped up, I headed home and gave a go to a recipe I'd seen in the New York Times two years back: Pisto Manchego, a veggie soup made of yellow and green summer squash (zukes/courgettes, I used pattypan squash), tomatoes, garlic and eggs (simmered in the sauce right before serving, you could skip them if you want and make it vegan). It was fab and just perfect with the solid whole-wheat bread W'd picked up at the market. It's hours later and I'm still full, too. Time possibly to move onto the new Sookie Stackhouse book [livejournal.com profile] booklectic lent me: hard to believe I've had it for two whole days and not finished it already!
webcowgirl: (HotTomato)
So ... with all of these trips to Italy, I've been cooking a lot more food from the region, thanks in part to some good cookbooks I've picked up. And along the way I've acquired some ideas about certain pastas liking to be served in certain ways. Trofie, for exampple (little strings with a knot tied in them is what they look like more or less), wants to be served with pesto and green beans. I don't know why, that's just the way I got it twice (Genoa and Milan), so that's how I think it needs to be served.

And bucatini, a hollow pasta. I think it wants to be served with Trapanese pesto, a mix of raw tomatoes and almonds. So I bought some, "fusilli lunghi bucatini," big curly hollow spaghettis, especially for this recipe, and, as they say, it was good.

However, there was some leftover in the bag, only enough for one serving, and not worth the effort of peeling tomatoes and using the mortar and pestle on the almonds, so I decided to try them in a carbonara sauce (as it's a cool day and it sounded good and I had all of the ingredients). (Note this pasta isn't very common so holding out until the next bag was bought seemed like not the best option.)

BIG MISTAKE. The insides of the pasta appear to have retained way more water than I expected and my lunch was a bit of a goopy mess. This could also have been my fault for having used 2 T of milk instead of cream (didn't have cream), but the thinness all seemed to be due to water. To which I say, yuck! Except, well, it was still pretty edible. Still, notes for the future: bucatini is not a joyous marriage with a carbonara sauce.
webcowgirl: (Ozu)
Yesterday I mostly continued staying home and being unwell. I had given away my tickets for the previous night's ballet: I was really sad about missing a performance I'd seen each of the previous three years (New Works, showcasing up and coming choreographers of the Royal Ballet and in a lovely, intimate theater) but after sitting through the Pixies in befuddlement I thought I'd only make it to the show and go, "What the hell am I doing here? I feel like crap!" and utterly fail to enjoy myself at all. If it's work, you're not doing it right, really, so I stayed home Friday, for once.

However, I had tickets for Kabuki at Sadler's Wells for last night, and there was just no way I was going to miss it, especially as I'd bought them for [livejournal.com profile] wechsler as a birthday present for him and really wanted to be there to enjoy it with him as much as to see it myself. So I spent the day conserving my energy, sleeping late, doing just a little bit of housework, realizing even housework was very, very tiring, failing to ignite in general, and finally having a long conversation with my brother. Then suddenly it was 4:30 and I needed to head up north.

Sadlers' Wells presentation of Yoshitsune and the Thousand Cherry Trees was brilliant. I hid a lot of the plot in my review as I didn't want to spoil it for anyone who didn't go; but I will say that there was a fox spirit in this show and that furries around the world could learn a lot from the brilliant presentation of the fox in this play. Furthermore, the entire evening was a really good time. I had already spent the day basically feeling good about life (a stunning change from the nearly inevitable mope of most weekends the last year or more), and without doubt part of it was because I was looking forward to my good evening; but the evening itself was so perfect, from the temperature to people's good moods to being in a theater surrounded by women in kimono to the perfectly seared salmon [livejournal.com profile] wechsler was served at dinner to the lemon sorbet he bought me at the interval - what more could you ask out of life? And as it was a Saturday I had no compunction about a 2:40 running time for the show; in fact, I stayed up late writing the review because I was so ramped up about the show. God, I love Kabuki, and once I get my visa status permanently settled in the UK I would like, at some point, to go to Japan for a year and really immerse myself in the cultural life there. Not sure how that would happen any more, but it's what I'd like to do.

This brings us around today and I am a worn out girl with little energy. I still haven't got the kitchen clean like I'd like it, but I'm pleased to say I do have a [livejournal.com profile] shadowdaddy in it right now, making those amazing meatballs from that recipe in the New York Times some years back. It takes hours but we've got hours, I've got time to nap, and I'm going to do so in just a little bit and then get back to trying to get the house to looking like I'd like it to, and to getting the rest of my little planties in the dirt where they belong.
webcowgirl: (Default)
This is a really hearty recipe that's really easy and cheap to make and ... bonus ... it works for vegans, too. And you can fake it pretty well with canned goods.

2 cans garbanzo beans (or 1 cup dried, soaked and cooked, if you want to be hardcore)
1 T olive oil
1 garlic clove
1 fresh rosemary sprig (or no rosemary if you don't want)
9 oz tomatoes, peeled and chopped (I used one "box," or one can, but it seemed to want more) - est 5-6 medium
5 oz fresh tagliatelle, cut into short lengths (or whatever pasta you like, something chunky is best)

Drain half of your cooked beans, put into the blender and puree. Sautee garlic and rosemary in oil, then add tomatoes, and cook for ten minutes. Put puree and rest of beans into tomatoes, add a bit of salt, and cook down for a while. The recipe recommends cooking the pasta right in the tomato, but when I made it I cooked the pasta separately and ladled the mix on top. Drizzle with yummy olive oil and sprinkle some cheese on top if you like it.

For this recipe, I'll note the fresher the ingredients, the better it tastes. It also likes to have time for the ingredients to meld together in the pot. You can probably get nice results with basil instead of rosemary. It's a very forgiving recipe. Have fun with it!
webcowgirl: (HotTomato)
I made a yummy cobbler tonight (inspired by [livejournal.com profile] djm saying he was going to pick blackberries and then make a pie with them):


The recipe is from the Morning Grange cookbook my grandma gave me years ago. It was actually a bit hard to find one that used fresh fruit and didn't use self-rising flour. (I also rejected the one that called for a box of butter brickle cake mix, which they certainly don't have in England and which I doubt is even made in the US anymore.) I used a mix of 2/3 apricots and 1/3 peaches.

Latona Hedrick's Quick Cobbler
1 c flour
3/4 c milk
1/2 tsp vanilla (note the recipe doesn't say what to do with it)
1 pound can of cherries, peaches, or pineapple, drained (her note says "I usually use more fruit if I use raw fruit." I also added a splash of cointreau as the apricots I used were dry.)
1 c sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 stick oleo (I used far less than this, probably a third of a cup)

Dot bottom of baking dish with slices of oleo and melt. Mix four, sugar and baking powder; add milk (I also added vanilla). Pour over batter in baking dish. Spoon drained fruit over mixture, making sure there is enough room for batter to bubble through fruit.

Here's my interpretation of enough room: Latona Hedrick's quick cobbler (with apricots and peaches), b... on Twitpic

Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. Serve warm with ice cream or whipping cream. (This is very good made with fresh peaches.)

And it was good! The cobbler looks done now! It's still bubbling so I'll let i... on Twitpic We didn't even add ice cream.

My day was actually far busier than I should have let myself be, since I'm still sick ... I went to London Bridge to meet my friend Cate and help her organize her paperwork for her visa renewal (since she basically helped coach me into passing the interview for my new job, I most certainly owe here), then trekked up to Walthamstow for a visit with [livejournal.com profile] dreamsewing, who showed me around her new digs and helped me do some strategizing about how to fix an awkward social situation I find myself in. We also had lunch at an adorable restaurant called Manzes which is basically a Victorian pie and mash shop that's been trapped in a bottle on Walthamstow high street for over a hundred years. (Good pie, too.)

I had canceled my evening plans as soon as I got out of the train at London Bridge and realized I'd basically burned through my energy for the day simply by walking to the tube stop; what, really, was I thinking? I swear, I do this thing where I keep pushing myself through my exhaustion over and over again and I'm convinced it's why my damned colds linger so long. Thank God I don't have to go to work this week! Anyway, J and I are both sick and were happy to stay home tonight, him cooking and me somehow washing the dishes despite an overwhelming urge to lie on the sofa. Going out for exercise is a good plan but at this rate it's not going to be happening until next week rolls around.

Oh, and I finished The Ladies of Grace Adieu and other short stories and totally loved it. But now ... I MUST go to bed.
webcowgirl: (flower)
I now have dirt between my toes (even though I wore shoes!). All of the known dahlias have been planted (only about 10, I think). A lot more garden space has been opened thanks to [livejournal.com profile] shadowdaddy and [livejournal.com profile] wechsler's good efforts. I need to get the glads in but I think this is a fine time to call it done for the day.

Thanks to [livejournal.com profile] wechsler for making us lunch. I have no idea what to do about dinner right now but I did enjoy the peppered duck breasts. And the caponata I made last night (recipe here, more info on cooking eggplant here) was even better today. God knows I made enough to serve eight, or possibly 12 given that it's served 8 so far and we're not done with it yet.

With luck, [livejournal.com profile] shadowdaddy will make cookies as promised. Me, I think I need a shower.
webcowgirl: (Ballet)
Man, the last two evenings have been a whirlwind of activity - two really awesome nights of ballet, one in celebration of our anniversary, one just regular old same-old, same-old (except all new works in an intimate environment so ROCK). Now that I'm taking the reviewing thing more seriously, though, every show I see means a pile of work as I attempt to assemble my thoughts into something coherent.

I've managed to write up last night's highly enjoyable New Works at the Linbury, but meanwhile Giselle is still languishing on the shelf! These guys at work better start getting some stuff to me - I don't want to have spare time, I want to be getting things done, but there's a clog in the pipeline. Maybe I'll just scoot my way over to the gym early and get some exercising in while there's nothing awaiting my attention.

Also, this recipe for gomen is making me drool over the thought of Ethiopian food.
webcowgirl: (HotTomato)
Normally I wouldn't eat cauliflower - but I will give this recipe a try - only without the anchovies.

1 lb bucatini (hollow spaghetti)
1 med cauliflower
2 oz golden raisins
minced onion (actual amount not listed in recipe! one small?)
1 oz pine nutes
1 small bag of saffron (no idea how much this is but use your judgment)
2 oz fillets of anchovy in oil - only, not so much, as in my mind fish would ruin it!
5 T extra virgin olive oil
Salt, pepper to tast

Cut off tops (florets) of caulifower and parboil in salted water for 5 minutes. Drain (reserving the water) and put aside.

Brown the minced onion in a saucepan with plenty of oil. Add the anchovy, drained and chopped, until it dissolves. (Or skip it. I will.) Add raisins, pine nuts, cauliflower, then brown on moderate flame.

Dissolve the saffron in 1/2 C of the cauliflower broth. Add salt and pepper to taste and cook for 15 minutes. Boil the pasta until done in the remaining brother, stir into the sauce, rest for one minute, then serve.
webcowgirl: (Default)
The key here is almonds. I'll be trying this this week, I think ...

1 pound pasta (recommended "busiate," swirly like Goldilock's hair, but a fettucine okay too)
2 lbs ripe tomatoes
4 cloves garlic
3 1/2 oz peeled and toasted almonds
1 "tuft" basil
1/2 cup olive oil (the good stuff)
4 T grated pecorino
salt, pepper

Blanch, peel, seed, and chop tomoatoes. Crush almonds (in mortar or food processor). Keep aside. Mix garlic, basil, salt, and crush. Add tomatoes and also crush. Add almonds, stir in oil, salt and pepper. Let rest for a few hours. Serve with cheese on the side.
webcowgirl: (HotTomato)
So I gave a try at making Pasta Alla Carrettierra tonight. I had bought breadcrumbs in Palermo and picked up some ewe's milk cheese to mock what I thought the proper flavor profile was. (Note: I used manchego as I'd, er, inadvertently left the Asiago at home.)

I wound up kind of following this recipe but then adding in an idea from another recipe and adding in cubes of cheese (to pump up the protein). My recipe (limited somewhat by not remembering to buy any fresh herbs at the grocery store) was like this:

6 T olive oil
add 5 fat cubes of minced garlic. As they go golden ....
add in breadcrumbs and fry till golden. I can't tell you how much to use as I put in way too many. Probably a few T would do - I think I added almost a cup!

At this point I stirred in 1-2 T dried parsley (as I had no fresh and had forgotten to buy basil either), then added ....
2 cans of chopped tomatoes in sauce ...
and let it all cook for a while, all the while going OMG I put in too many breadcrumbs. Probably one can would be okay if you hadn't biffed the breadcrumbs like I did. Also note that while many of the recipes I linked to recommended raw tomatoes, or cooking raw tomatoes, that actually wasn't the flavor profile of what I had in Catania - no surprise as it's not exactly tomato season!

The bucatini finished cooking, I drained it, then dressed it with really good olive oil, then smooshed in some of the sauce, then added chunks of young pecorino and served it with grated manchego on the side to put on top.

Conclusion: delicious. Key ingredient: garlic and breadcrumbs! The cheese was not the crack-like component of the original recipe, which is good to know as for whatever reason Asiago seems much harder to find in London than it was in the US.

Next recipe: pasta with a RAW GARLIC sauce. I am looking forward to this! Also, having [livejournal.com profile] trishpiglet and [livejournal.com profile] babysimon for dinner was a great time and I'm happy I was able to distract them from my lack of dessert options by giving them Marsala. Now I can go and read a trashy Charlaine Harris mystery and consider my evening well spent!
webcowgirl: (HotTomato)
While we were in Catania, I ordered a bowl of Pasta Alla Carrettiera (Cart-Driver's Pasta). It was garlicky as all hell but we had a hard time figuring what the secret, crack-like ingredient was. I suspected parmesan, though I was pretty sure it also had breadcrumbs in it.

Now I'm looking through recipes online for the magic ingredients, and I'm amazed by how different they are. So far I have
Breadcrumbs, no cheese
Something with tuna fish I'm not going to link to
Ham and mushrooms (not!)
With pecorino but no breadcrumbs
Vodka and cream, no cheese or breadcrumbs
Basil and oregano, but no cheese or breadcrumbs
Fried bread crumbs and anchovies, yuck!
No bread crumbs but with cheese, from a blog based in Palermo
This one has no tomatoes!
One using egg-free pasta (pici) and "aglione"
And finally, one from a Sicilian website I'll want to visit later that has both grated and cubed pecorino

Anyway, all of this is coming up because I'm having company over for dinner and this is what I'm making! I have special gratable ewe's cheese to use (pecorino), but mostly I think garlic garlic garlic is going to make dinner a winner.

BFI for Dr. No tonight, but now I have a feeling it's time for lunch!
webcowgirl: (HotTomato)
First, the phone news: BT cancelled my line. Because I moved. Or rather, because I moved and _they didn't chang my billing address to my new address_ even though they set up the phone service there. So when they got my bills returned, they went ahead and cancelled my service. Morons. I had to put in a new order for service. Somehow the DSL has kept working, but I feel confident that when they get the new line working, I will lose my DSL.

In the world of things I can control: dinner tonight! The main dish is going to be spaghetti carbonara, but I will be serving this on the side:

Wilted Arugula (that's "Rocket" for you Englishers)
Prep: 5 minutes
Total: 10 minutes
Serves 4

* 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
* 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
* 8 ounces baby arugula, rinsed and drained well
* 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
* 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
* Freshly ground pepper

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic; cook, stirring constantly, until garlic is fragrant but not browned, 2 to 3 minutes. Add arugula; cook, stirring constantly, until slightly wilted, 1 to 2 minutes. Add vinegar; cook, stirring constantly, until most of the vinegar has evaporated, about 1 minute. Stir in salt; season with pepper. Serve immediately.

Sounds perfect, huh? (FYI have switched to Virgin, under order number 704 772 403)
webcowgirl: (HotTomato)
This is the recipe for roast lamb I mostly followed last Sunday when I made the "Agnello Miracoli." It's from The Silver Spoon, which has become one of my two food bibles, right up there with the Joy of Cooking.

6 T butter
4 1/2 lb leg of lamb
3 oz pancetta, cut into strips (I actually used cubed, frozen pancetta, about 1/3 cup)
6 fresh sage leaves, cut into strips (I skipped this)
1 T rosemary needles (I used a bunch of fresh rosemary, on the stem)
olive oil (for frushing)
4 garlic cloves, chopped (I had mine in fat slivers, or whole)
5 T white wine vinegar
5 T white wine
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400F. Grease a roasting pan with the butter.
AT THIS POINT THE RECIPE SAYS:
Lard the lamb with the pancetta and, using a small, pointed, knife, make small incisions all over it. Insert the sage and some of the rosemary into the incisions.
BUT WHAT I DID WAS:
Jam some holes into the lamb with a sharp, thin knife. Shove cubes of frozen pancetta into the holes, then stuff a bit of the garlic (a whole clove if it will fit or a sliver otherwise) in after the pancetta. Add some of the rosemary stems in, cutting them off at the skin. Jam a few more holes in, deep, and thread the rosemary stems into the holes, adding some more garlic if you have it.
THE RECIPE CONTINUES
Brush the lamb all over with oil, place in the prepared roasitng pan and season with salt and pepper according to taste. Sprinkle the garlic and remaining rosemary on top.
WHAT I DID WAS:
Oil the lamb, pepper it, then sprinkle sea salt on it. Put diced garlic (1-2 T) and a few branches of rosemary (whatever you've got left) on top of the lamb.
THE RECIPE CONTINUES
Pour in the vinegar and wine and roast for 1 1/2 hours. Turn the lamb half way through the cooking and baste occasionally with the cooking juices.
WHAT I DID WAS
Pour in vinegar and wine and roast until done (175 degrees is about right). You can completely forget about it provided the lamb sits fatty side up in the pan.
webcowgirl: (wind)
Once again, the "years shall run [are running] like rabbits," as November has whizzed by so quickly I can almost feel the breeze in my hair. I don't know if the pace of life in London is faster than Seattle, but I feel like I'm seeing time rush by me like nobody's business. It's probably a good thing that everywhere I look I'm seeing more articles talking about how red wine is good for your health. When we get in our new place, I want to find something I really enjoy and just buy a case of it. Unfortunately we're no nearer to getting a place than we were last week, as the only place we liked has rented and the place we saw this morning was TINY and had the main bedroom facing a fairly busy street. I really, really want to move to a place where I can get a decent night's sleep, and not just because I've been hitting the wine stash.

I blew further of my precious time last night writing up my review of Infra and the other pieces we saw at the ballet Wednesday night. It's not as detailed as I would have liked, but I wanted to actually get some sleep last night and not stay up writing until 11:30 like I do sometimes. With so many shows coming up, I have to keep my energy levels high.

The visit with my uncle is going well so far - my only regret is that I haven't been spending nearly as much time visiting with him as I would like. We went to the Dickens museum yesterday, and while it was a bit interesting, it just didn't really resonate with me like it would have if it had been about Proust. I mean, I think Dickens is a pretty crap author, really, but I do really value his work on behalf of the poor (far more than his writing). And the museum was incredibly cold. Still, it was two hours with Frank, and his choice over the Foundling museum, so not such a bad way to burn an afternoon. And Thanksgiving with many members of the old Tripadelic gang was great - made me want to come back home to roost! (Also, roasted garlic gravy recipe - vegetarian but not vegan. Oh well.)

That said, I've got a full day at work ahead of me ... whch I need to somehow fit into the time remaining (the house hunting slowed down the start of my work day). Off I go - with Autumn: Osage County waiting at the end of my day. Yay!
webcowgirl: (HotTomato)
Well, in what is doubtlessly the most exciting article to hit the New York Times in weeks (looks like election season is well and truly over!), the secrets of making perfect gravy are revealed. Now, making perfect gravy is one of my superpowers, but I don't consider it a loss for this knowledge to become more widely disseminated. Key element: "one tablespoon of fat to one tablespoon of flour to one cup of liquid will make gravy." They've also got a nice article about good side dishes, which is always the element I fuss over every year. Of course, this year I'm not cooking Thanksgiving, so I don't have to worry about finding the ingredients to make sweet potato gratin with orange zest ... though, who knows, maybe I should.

Meanwhile, the NY equivalent of an Oyster card has been used to get a man out of jail as its verified his alibi. As near as I can tell he's been in jail since May, so this is a really good thing.

In other "which news is most interesting or useless" we have an article about teenagers socializing on the internet as well as Project Runway, when will it return (critical news this!). And finally, happy people spend less time watching TV, but it doesn't seem to be a causational thing.
webcowgirl: (Morning cuppa)
Boy, it's quiet in here today. I don't know if the girl who was sitting next to me will even come back, ever. It's ... disturbing.

Last night I tried my hand at paella, as I wanted to do something with the chorizo I'd brought back. I was mostly inspired by a recipe on Cooks.com, but if you know what I like to eat (i.e. no seafood and no asparagus) you can see where I had to change it a bit. This chickpea and chorizo paella looked tastier (quadruple the spice level), but I was convinced by the use of both ham and pork shoulder to go with the Cooks.com recipe instead (though I liked the "quick" element of the chicken and chorizo recipe on Epicurious). Ultimately my paella had onion, bell peppers, green beans, the three porks, white wine, parsley, garlic, saffron, and cayenne pepper (about a teaspoon) as well as the chicken sauce, and it was DEELISH. Key elements: add all liquid at once (unlike risotto); bake after initial add of liquid (makes a nice crust on top).

And now it's off to the Haunted Holborn walk, and tonight we're going to see an election year play, Now Or Later.
webcowgirl: (HotTomato)
I told [livejournal.com profile] wechsler I wanted to make a chicken or duck for dinner tonight, his pick (J is off at a meeting up north).

I came home to find a chicken, a lemon, and some garlic waiting for me. There was also some "lemon thyme" in a bag.

I dug around for inspiration ("What am I supposed to do with the thyme again?") and did this:

Wipe the thyme heavily (breaking bits off) on the chicken
Cut the lemon in quarters, squeeze most of the juice out, then shove the quarters into the chicken
Break off several cloves of garlic, peel (etc), then jam about six of them in little holes in the chicken, under the skin
Shove a giant clove of somewhat squished garlic in the chicken
Stuff half of the bunch of thyme in behind the lemons and jam another handful in the neck
Crumble some sea salt on the chicken
Heat honey in a pan, add the lemon juice, mix together and pour over the chicken, now sitting in a roasting pan (in my case an Emile Henri casserole dish)
Bake at 350/375 until thigh measures 175 (180 C for the oven, and I cooked with the fan on)

Conclusion: delicious. The honey glaze carmelized and made it all just perfect, and it looked fantastic. (Pan drippings went mostly black so there was no gravy to speak of, but I did make a bit more of the honey/lemon sauce and thinned it with the juice that came out of the bird while it was sitting on the platter.) I even pulled the wings off and ate them - they'd been soaking in the honey/lemon stuff for a long time and picked up OH! the best flavor.

Man, I sure wish I could have [livejournal.com profile] irrationalrobot and [livejournal.com profile] wordknitter for this sometime.
webcowgirl: (HotTomato)
Pisto Manchego? Apparently it's "a savory mixture of summer squash, onions, garlic and tomatoes usually cooked down until the squash falls apart." I think I'd like to make it for dinner tomorrow ...
webcowgirl: (Default)
I've been making a lot of pasta recipes with raw tomatoes this summer, but this recipe in the New York Times for pasta with raw tomatoes and arugula looks delish ... perfect for hot weather! I think I'll give it a try this weekend. Basically, chop tomatoes and arugula, put on pasta, and there you have it! Here are the details:

1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved if small, quartered if large
1 plump garlic clove, minced or put through a press (more to taste)
Salt to taste (I like to use a very good coarse sea salt or fleur de sel for this)
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar (optional)
1 cup arugula leaves, coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon slivered or chopped fresh basil
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3/4 pound fusille, farfalle, or orecchiette
1/4 cup freshly grated ricotta salata or Parmesan (more to taste)

1. Combine the cherry tomatoes, garlic, salt, balsamic vinegar, arugula, basil, and olive oil in a wide bowl. Let sit for 15 minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings.

2. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil. Add a generous amount of salt and the pasta. Cook al dente, until the pasta is firm to the bite. Drain, toss with the tomatoes, sprinkle on the cheese, and serve.
webcowgirl: (HotTomato)
Look at the picture accompanying this New York Times article about ricotta - and you will see what I'm having for dinner. (Note to vegetarians - this could be easily made without bacon.)

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