Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Scarpetta's Pasta with Tomato Sauce drizzled with Garlic-Basil Oil

I have been meaning to make this dish since last year when the Boobs4Food ladies kept talking about it on their Twitter page. Luckily, Steamy Kitchen has the recipe and she talks about how this dish is quite expensive. Since I have never been to a fancy restaurant that serves small plates and the ingredients list looked like I can get them at the farmer's market, I decided to give it a try... about half a year later (yeah, desserts got in the way).



Recipe found here
Notes:
  • Peeling the tiny tomatoes = nightmare. 
  • Try with cheese next time. not too sharp since this sauce is really light
  • Try using garlic olive oil and brown the garlic first. Steep with the basil later to avoid burning.
  • Use stronger-tasting garlic next time.
  • Remember that the cooking times on the pasta box is just an estimate!
  • Be prepared to wash a lot of dishes.

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Marcella Hazan's Tomato Sauce with Onion and Butter

Today was quite an eventful day. Went for a couple of job interviews, ran after the bus and missed it by 3 seconds. Then, went to a panaderia and asked which ones of their treats have custard inside and I guess the seller didn't really understand what I said so I just picked a random filled-looking pastry hoping that it has custard inside. It has! woohoo! no pic since it's already in mah belly.

I wasn't really in the mood for something heavy for dinner so just decided on some pasta. Boil and simmer, how awesome is that?

I tried this pasta for today and it's super long compared to the local ones. The taste is quite nutty and for the great packaging and taste, I wish that it's something you can find in regular supermarkets and not just specialty ones.

Recipe over at steamykitchen.com

So basically it calls for yellow onion, tomato sauce (used San Marzano because they are awesome and don't have that metallic taste) and butter (darigold, of course :) )

Notes:
  • this pasta sauce is light and refreshing but you can definitely add some roasted meats on the side if you want. mmm shrimp!
  • the cheese I used wasn't sharp enough. quite disappointing.
  • the salted butter wasn't salty enough so I added a bit more.
  • i wonder how it would taste like with basil and mozzarella?

It is really simple and it's a recipe I'm considering using when I participate in the upcoming Hunger Challenge 2011.

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Almond Shortbread Cookies

Wow! I am finally using this for the first time. I've been meaning to write an entry a while back but for some reason, I could not start until I figure out the right name to use for this blog.  I'm still not sure what to name this so I'll just focus on the recipe testing since my table is overflowing with cookbooks.

I'm not good with introductions so let's just say that I was a nutrition student who likes desserts. Yeah, crazy huh? Totally decadent kouign amann oozing with butter and crusted with sugar. Uh huh yeah.
Oh and I can't really taste or critique any savory foods I made. It has to be made by someone else.
I was in cooking class for a bit but left shortly after I realised this problem.

The good thing is that I do not have any problem with desserts! Whee!

I had some butter and almond meal in the fridge that has been waiting for my attention so I decided to combine them together and make this


Almond Shortbread Cookies from Joy of Baking


Notes:
  • Used an 8x8 glass pan and lined it with parchment paper without greasing it.
  • Forgot to score it and cut while warm but managed to cut it into pieces without breaking the tips
  • This shortbread is completely different from the ones I had before that felt like lead weight in your tummy. It's light and crumbly.
  • I forgot to add the vanilla extract. Will try with almond extract next time.
  •  Play with the flour proportions next time.

This will most be my online resource for recipes that I tested and intend to keep or not to keep.  I do not know how to make recipes from scratch but I enjoy modifying recipes. The pics I take may not be extraordinarily pretty or appetizing but then I tend to focus on taste more than looks.