After a slight hiatus over the holiday month of December, I'm back to blogging and hungry for more! Tonight, rather than bombarding my internet audience with a lengthy New Years Resolution sermon (don't you worry, that one's coming eventually), I'm easing my way back online with a tasty winters meal.
Now I will be the first to say, I'm no master in the kitchen. In fact, I'm usually more than happy to be acting as prep-cook, clean up crew and general entertainer rather than head hancho. That being said, I'm learning to love cooking... well, baby steps at least :)
For Christmas Jeremy got me Bi-Rite's cookbook. Bi-Rite is an innovative, popular local market in the Mission and they are known for having great everything... in their words, they are a "beacon of sustainability, seasonality, community and educated staff..." One can imagine, shopping at Bi-Rite is an amazing experience, even for those of us that can at times feel overwhelmed with the chore of cooking and kitchening.
For tonight, we made "Delfina's Spaghetti"from this cookbook and it turned out magnificently. I have a few thoughts before I elaborate on the recipe:
- Before starting a cooking project, read the
whole recipe... this includes not just the ingredient list (hallelujah if you have everything -- off to a great start!)... but make sure to check total cook times, equipment required and techniques needed. (Thus dinner at 10pm part-- no one like that ambush half way through the recipe - what, a surprise 45min! gah!)
- Clean as you go - it not only saves a ton of time and energy when you're in a food coma after a meal, but its a decent distraction while your waiting for that huge pot to boil.
- Ask for help if you need it. I was tempted to "to it all by myself" in order to present a fabulous meal at the end, but eh, it's much more fun as a team, particularly if there is heavy lifting of boiling liquids involved.
- Go for it! Even if it seems challenging, food is always rewarding. Its ok if it isn't perfect, or it takes longer than expected -- its more important to be unintimidated by the kitchen and adventurous in your attempts!
OK... now for the fun details!
Delfina's Spaghetti (abridged): from Bi-Rite's cookbook (serves 2-3) -- the trick is to finish cooking the pasta in the sauce for the last few min. of cooking - yum!
Cook time: about an hour
Ingredients:
1 (28oz) can of peeled whole plum tomatoes
3 Medium cloves of garlic
Kosher salt & Fresha peppa
1/4 c extra-virgin olive oil
pinch chile flakes (to taste)
17 Large Basil leaves (we didn't have these, but whew sounds good!)
8 oz of Spaghetti or Pasta
Parm
Stuff to have on hand:
Large deep skillet
Big deep pot
food processor
- Open the can of tomatoes and de-seed the tomatoes over the can. Place the tomatoes into a bowl and break them up a bit with your hands. Strain the seeds out of the juice and add that to the bowl as well (toss the seeds out).
- Chop garlic coarsely and add it to the oil in a hot large skillet (our cast iron worked marvelously). Cover and let cook slowly over med. heat without letting them get to brown or toasty (5-6 min). Add the tomatoes, juice, chile flakes, 1 1/2 c of water, 1/2 tsp of salt and a few grinds of your fresh ppeeppaa. Bring to a boil then simmer for 45 min. I repeat... 45 min. (I saw this detail after it was already 9and we were ready to eat... oops!)
- After the sauce has been reduced to "a scant 2 cups", blend/pulse in a food processor 1/3 of the sauce then add the pureed mixture back into the pan with the rest of the sauce. Tear basil leaves into sauce.
- Bring a LARGE pot of slightly salted water to boil. Add pasta, cook 6 min. and drain. Save at least 1cup of the cooking water. Don't overcook at this stage!
- Put the sauce in the same pot as the pasta, add pasta and about 1/2 - 3/4 of the cooking water back into the pot and bring to a rapid simmer. Cook, stirring frequently, until the pasta is al dente, the liquid is completely absorbed into the pasta, and the sauce is reduced to a very thick puree, about 5-7 minutes longer. (Adding more of the cooking water if need be to get the pasta to al dente). Cooking the pasta in the sauce not only thickens up the sauce, but also lets the sauce cook into the pasta. According to Delfina Chef Craig Stoll, "the last bite of pasta should bring the last bit of sauce with it."
Taste and season with more salt if needed and top with parmigiano. Eat up because it might already be 10pm!
We also roasted up some seasonal winter root veggies: onion, heirloom carrots, red pepper, parsnips, watermelon turnips, romanesque cauliflower (ie. the psychedelic ones!), and garlic. Paired with an toasty Acme baguette, we were all set for a cozy night at home!
Filled and ready to resolute for 2012 :)
Happy New Year - many beautiful, inspiring adventures in store!
-- Lydia
