Sunday, October 21st, 2001
I AM 59% PUNK.
The intelligent punk. Tuff and Smart. I
may be able to maintain a train of thought
long enough… What the fuck was I talking
about?
Take the PUNK/POSER Test at Fuali.com!
Archive for 2001
Gnocchi ricotta (recipe)
Friday, October 19th, 2001Gnocchi are essentially Italian dumplings generally made with potatoes. You may not be aware, though, that you can also make them with cheese. I am currently eating gnocchi ricotta with marinara, and it's quite excellent. Here's the recipe:
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 cups flour
- 15-oz container of whole milk ricotta
- 2 eggs, beaten
- marinara sauce (recipe to follow)
- olive oil
- salt and pepper, to taste.
If you're making the marinara from scratch, have it ready before you begin making the gnocchi.
Place flour on a clean surface and make a well in the middle. Mix in eggs, ricotta and salt and pepper and knead into a dough. Continue kneading gently for a couple of minutes, adding flour if necessary.
Once the dough is dry to the touch and soft and springy, break it into a few balls about the size of your fist. Roll them out into long strips and cut the strips into 1/2 inch pieces (the size of the strips doesn't matter much, so long as they're not too thick and approximately the same size).
Start heating your marinara, and put a pot of water on to boil. Once the water is boiling, add the oil and gradually add the gnocchi. You can cook them in batches if your pot is too small. When the dumplings rise to the surface of the water, they're done. Carefully scoop them out with a slotted spoon or spatula, drain them and add them to the marinara. Saute in the marinara just until the gnocchi are covered in sauce and serve topped with parmesan.
There are a number of alternate methods here. The simplest is to skip the marinara altogether — drain the gnocchi, place them in a bowl, and add butter, salt and pepper. My favorite variation, though, is the lasagna method. After the gnocchi are done and coated with the sauce, place half of them in a casserole dish. Cover with a layers of spinach, parmesan and mozzarella, then add another layer of gnocchi, etc., until you're out of ingredients. Make sure the last layer is cheese. Bake for about 10 or 15 minutes, and you have a killer dish.
pasta alla carbonara (recipe)
Thursday, October 18th, 2001This is one of those deadly-but-tasty dishes that has all the characteristics of classic working class food — high-calorie, high-protein food made from cheap ingredients. This is my variation on carbonara.
Ingredients:
- 4 slices unsmoked bacon
- 2 eggs
- enough pasta for 2 people*
- about 1/2 cup grated parmesan
- 3 cloves garlic, finely minced
- dash paprika
- pinch crushed red pepper
- salt and pepper, to taste
While pasta is cooking, prepare bacon in a skillet with garlic. The bacon should be cooked on low heat for a long time in order to maximize quantity of drippings. Stir in paprika and pepper.
Beat parmesan into eggs. When pasta is cooked, drain and quickly add contents of skillet (drippings and all). Add egg mixture and stir vigorously (the hot pasta will cook the egg). Add salt and pepper if desired, and serve with grated cheese.
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* carbonara works best with a thick pasta, like fettucine, or a shell-type pasta, like penne.
port pears (recipe)
Sunday, October 14th, 2001This is one of those easy-yet-fancy desserts that seems to especially delight in winter — if you can get the pears, that is.
Ingredients
- about 2 cups port wine or other sweet wine
- orange zest
- 2 pears
- mint leaves
Place the zest and wine in a deep pan (preferably glass or ceramic). Peel, halve and core the pears, and place them in the wine mixture. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer; simmer for about half an hour or until the pears are done (a knife passes effortlessly into them).
I prefer port pears cold, but you can serve them hot as well. If you plan to serve them cold, cool the sauce and spoon over the pears, then garnish with mint leaves.
Names
Sunday, October 7th, 2001'Tragedy' never seemed right to me, nor did 'attack' or any of the other media-touted terms. Prime Minister Blair just used the word I was looking for: atrocity.
