Pasta Puttanesca

Mmmmm, this is the first of many, many, many times I will be making this recipe. In fact, I think I'll make it tomorrow! I have never had Pasta Puttanesca before. Honestly, I've never even heard of it before. That is until the "culinary super man" Mark Bittman posted this recipe on his blog. I knew I had to try it because he went on about the fantastic flavors...and I'm coming to realize that Mark Bittman's food opinions are to be trusted.

This recipe has been churning in my head for the last few days. Tonight I wasn't sure what to make. I knew I had all the ingredients for this recipe (don't ask me why in the world I had a can of anchovies, but I did!!) so I figured that I'd give it a try.

First, some details. I have read several times recently that when a recipe calls for canned tomatoes, that it's a must to use San Marzano tomatoes. Foodies go on and on about them. I thought it might be just one of those food snob things until I read in "How to Cook without a Book" the reason why they are better. They are packed with less seeds, so the end taste is less bitter. It was worth a try, so I picked up a couple cans of them recently. My jaw dropped when I looked at my receipt and saw that I paid $6 per can!!!! So here was my chance to use them, and I must say that I get it. The difference in flavor is subtle but definitely there. And I am now learning that the difference between an "ok" cook and a "good" cook is due to the subtle choices that are made through the cooking process. After tasting this recipe with San Marzano tomatoes, I can definitely say it's worth paying 3 times as much for these tomatoes.

This recipe couldn't be easier. It's simple to make but the flavors are so complex. I highly recommend it. One thing I'll change next time is that I'll put 1 less shake of the red pepper flakes. A little goes a long way with those things. I did 4 shakes tonight and it was right on the border of being a little too spicy.

And a funny side note is that after Cory read my last post about his lack of enthusiasm towards my new facination with becoming a better cook, he was annoyed. He thought I portrayed him as a Neanderthal! We had a couple laughs about it but now he takes his position as food critic seriously. He gave me very good feedback tonight. He didn't just say "it's good". He offered more explanation. He said that it is very flavorful, he likes the olives, and he can see why it has such an interesting story behind it (you need to read Mark Bittman's post to understand the story!)

After looking at the photograph of my plate of food, I can assure you that it tastes better than it photographed!!!

Here is the delicious recipe...please try it and tell me what you think of it:

Pasta Puttanesca
Yield 3 to 6 servings
Time 30 minutes

Start the sauce while the pasta water is coming to a boil; finish it while the pasta is cooking. Add a salad and a loaf of bread and you're out the door to your evening's activity, whatever it might be.

Ingredients
Salt to taste
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 or more cloves garlic, lightly smashed and peeled
3 or more anchovy fillets
1 28-ounce can whole plum tomatoes
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/2 cup pitted black olives, preferably oil-cured
2 tablespoons capers
Crushed red pepper flakes to taste
1 pound linguine or other long pasta
Chopped fresh parsley, oregano, marjoram or basil leaves for garnish, optional

Method
1. Bring pot of water to boil and salt it. Warm 2 tablespoons oil with garlic and anchovies in skillet over medium-low heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until garlic is lightly golden.
2. Drain tomatoes and crush with fork or hands. Add to skillet, with some salt and pepper. Raise heat to medium-high and cook, stirring occasionally, until tomatoes break down and mixture becomes saucy, about 10 minutes. Stir in olives, capers and red pepper flakes, and continue to simmer.
3. Cook pasta, stirring occasionally, until it is tender but not mushy. Drain quickly and toss with sauce and remaining tablespoon of oil. Taste and adjust seasonings as necessary, garnish with herbs if you like, and serve.

Source: The New York Times

It Tastes Like A Chalupa

Here's the dilemma that I face when trying to become a better cook... my husband honestly doesn't care. He is just happy that I cook for him at all. He honestly doesn't mind that it's not always great. I see this as a good thing and a bad thing. It's good because I really don't feel any pressure from him. He is just as happy when I serve a packaged meal from Costco as his is when I make something from scratch. He actually likes prepackaged meals better because it is so easy. However, his indifference towards me being a better cook is bad because he really doesn't care if a meal is healthy, low-fat, no preservatives, etc., which are all things that are very important to me. He just wants something to fill his belly regardless of the ingredients. This attitude also includes restaurants. When trying to think of restaurants to go to for dinner, I think of places like Chili's and he thinks of Jack in The Box. When I ask him if there is anything that he wants me to cook for dinner, he ALWAYS says "meatloaf". Yes, he's a simple guy. The only times he has ever really complimented my cooking is when I make very stereotypical comfort food recipes such as meatloaf, pan fried chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy, etc.

So the reality of my goal to become a better cook is that I am doing it strictly for myself (which honestly is the best reason in the world to change something about yourself), I am doing this only for my own personal growth and happiness. But in order to become a better cook, I really need honest feedback. If I had more than my indifferent husband, my 3 year old, and my 8 month old to ask for feedback, I would. But I don't. That's the group of people that I cook for. Since my 3 year old would always rather have Mac n Cheese than what I am serving, his opinion doesn't count. My 8 month old is still eating baby oatmeal, so her opinion doesn't count. That means that it's all on Cory to give me constructive criticism. This is where the problem lies. He doesn't care...except when it's a meal that reminds him of fast food.

Last night I made Turkey Tacos. I used all my usual ingredients except for one thing: I made the taco shells with a new VERY YUMMY find, Mi Abuelita Bonita Tortillas Sonora Style Green Chili Corn Tortillas, and I must share with you Cory's priceless reaction. About 3 bites into the meal he said "mmmmm, you hit this one out of the park. These taste like Chalupas!" Now I can assure you that he didn't mean the authentic Chalupas that you would eat in Mexico. No, he meant that I made a delicious meal because the tacos tasted like Taco Bell Chalupas. Oy...I guess the bright side is it's a good thing that I don't feel any pressure to create culianry masterpieces. My critic has pretty low standards!


I do have to say that the tacos were delicious, and if you ever have the chance to buy these tortillas, do it...you won't regret it!

The turkey meat was seasoned wonderfully. I sauteed 1/4 onion then added the crumbled meat. I added taco seasoning, garlic powder, a spice from Tastefully Simple called Salsa Salsa, and then I also added some prepared salsa. Served it with Cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, olives and sour cream. The side dishes were black beans and Green Giant Mexicali Corn. This was a very satisfying meal.

A Turn for the Better!

Yep, things have improved. My rotten luck came to an end (thank God) since my last post. I made the Turkey Stuffed Peppers that I spoke of and they were delicious! Cory and I even fought over who got the last one! My 3 y.o. ate them with with a big "mmmmmmm" after each bite! I have made stuffed peppers in the past and was never happy with the pepper. I always felt that it wasn't cooked enough. This recipe has a different technique than I haven't used before. It calls for broth in the pan surrounding all the stuffed peppers. You then cover the pan with foil (or a lid in my case) and it actually steams the pepper to perfection. It was cooked exactly how I like! I used a wild rice/whole grain blend instead of white rice so my mixture was much crunchier than if I would have used white rice, but it was still very good. Next time (oh yes, there will be a next time) I will add corn and black beans to the mixture. Sorry, but we were so hungry I didn't want to waste time taking pictures!! Visit Gina's site and see her beautiful picture of this delicious dish!

Today was definitely "soup weather" so I made a Potato Leek Soup recipe that I found on Recipezarr.com. I modified it with half chicken stock/half water and added some seasoning salt.
I thought the soup was good. Not the best soup I've ever had, but definitely good. Cory, on the other hand, wasn't as thrilled about it. I believe his exact words were "what stinks?" I take this with a grain of salt because he doesn't really like onions, and leeks would fall into the onion category for him.

For me, one of the best parts about the holiday season is pairing turkey and cranberries. It's a flavor combination made in heaven. I made a wonderful batch of cranberry sauce.

This recipe was also from Recipezaar and it had a simple twist to the traditional cranberry sauce recipe. You substitute orange juice for the water. It gives it another layer of flavor that pairs nicely with the cranberries. Once the cranberry sauce was set, I built my wonderful turkey and cranberry sandwich. Served next to my Potato Leek soup it was a great meal in my opinion!The most exciting part about making the Potato Leek Soup was I got to use my new Kitchen Aid immersion blender!
Yep, the experience of having hot soup shoot up through the vent hole of the blender led me to make a new purchase...a very handy Kitchen Aid immersion blender! It works like a champ. Cory was thrilled about this purchase because it is the perfect tool to make milkshakes with...which he wasted no time in testing out!
Cory's creation:

Abysmal...

Yes...that's the word that sums it up...abysmal. That is how I would describe my recent luck in the kitchen! I've been pressed for time (as we all are this time of year), so I've gotten a little absent minded while cooking. I have burned more stuff in the last week than I have burned all year!!! But the bad luck goes far beyond that. Last night I made a loaf of beer bread. I've made beer bread about 5 times in my life and every time it's been flawless (I mean, come on, even the most unskilled cooks can pour a can of beer into a mix and then put it in the oven!!) But I decided to follow the "Optional Recipes" on the side of the box. I added sparkling cider instead of beer, a chopped apple, cinnamon and pecans to it. It was the strangest tasting loaf of beer bread ever. It kinda tasted rancid. At 1st I thought it was the pecans that ruined it, but now I am certain that it was the cider.

Oh, and then today I needed to blend a soup and the soup shot up out of the tiny vent hole in the blender lid. BTW, in case you were wondering, that little tiny hole that is the size of the tip of a pencil can release enough liquid to cause this frazzled cook to clean up for about 10 minutes! And just to add insult to injury the cooking gods decided to get a good laugh at my expense and make the soup way too peppery to fully enjoy!

Ugggg. But on a wonderfully exciting note, I found a really great blog called Gina's Weight Watcher Recipes. Since I am following Weight Watchers (I say that with a crooked smile since my fingers are still sticky from the rice crispy treat I just ate!!!) I love finding flavorful and interesting recipes that still stay true to my weight loss plan of choice!

BTW, the soup recipe that shot up through the blender hole today was the Cauliflower Soup recipe from Gina's website. I'll definitely make it again, I'll just tone down the pepper! Tonight I am making the Turkey Stuffed Peppers recipe for dinner...wish me better luck!!

I'm still here!

OK, it's been a while since I posted. Lots going on I guess. Anyways, I do have some updates: I successfully completed my challenge of not eating out for an entire week. In fact, I was so successful I decided to extend it. I made it 10 days without eating anything besides food prepared at home! Yey!

On to more great news, I had a revelation...remember how I said that I would love to be a cook like my friend Chrystal where she is able to totally throw things together without following a recipe and they turn out delicious every time? Well, it occurred to me that if that's the type of cook I want to be, then I certainly won't get there by trying to follow a bunch of recipes from various websites and cookbooks. I should learn the fundamentals of cooking so that I can have the confidence to open my fridge and create a wonderful meal without a recipe at all. I did a little searching and I found two great books. The first is called How to Cook Without a Book by Pam Anderson (no, not Baywatch Pam Anderson!) and the second is called The Improvisational Cook by Sally Schneider. They are EXACTLY what I need. They go over the fundamentals of cooking, what flavors go well together, and the essential ingredients that every great cook should have on hand at all times. There is also a plethora of recipes in these books. Check these out for yourself when you get a chance...here are the links:

Our dinner tonight was Chili (thank you Amanda) & cornbread. As I was preparing the box of Jiffy Corn Bread mix, I decided to try to spruce it up. Trust me, I realize that this is no culinary feat...this is just a spruced up recipe that I thought I would share with you!! I basically just added a can of diced green chilies and some fat free feta cheese and then sprinkled the top with seasoning salt. It just gave the cornbread a nice added kick and complimented the chili perfectly.

Farmers' Market Bliss

If you start with mediocre ingredients, you'll end up with a mediocre meal (we've all heard the saying "garbage in, garbage out".) But when you start with fresh, good quality ingredients, you've just upped your odds on creating a flavorful and delicious meal. Since deciding to become a better cook I've been going to the farmers' market at Sunrise Mall. I have bought fresh produce, fresh eggs as well as a beautiful perennial herb garden.

I thought about signing up for a local CSA, but I just don't think that's for me at this stage of the game. The loss of control over what produce I will get kinda intimidates me! At this point I would rather pick and choose the items that I am comfortable cooking. Shopping at a farmers' market is just my speed. It feels good on several levels: 1) I am getting fresh items that are in season. 2) By buying from the small farmers directly I am helping to sustain a group who's dedication to their trade leads them to a life of very low wages. 3) I am helping to reduce my carbon footprint. This is a point that I never considered until recently. I never considered how much better it is for the environment to shop locally until I heard a report that laid it out for me. Buying tomatoes from someone who grew them 20 miles from here is much better than buying from someone who grew them 500 miles from here...thus having to truck them across the state to get them to my local grocery store. Duh!!!!

For all these reasons, I just get a warm fuzzy feeling as I stroll up and down the row at my local farmers' market, and I am looking forward to many Saturdays spent there.

So what's your favorite part of your local farmers' market?