My Obsession with Absorption

I can't stop making absorption pasta (Alice and my work friend call it "your self-absorption pasta"). It started one night in the beginning of June, and maybe it was because it was THAT night in June, but ever since that first time, I just can't get enough. After a week away from home, it was the dish I most wanted to return to--for a change it wasn't something I could buy at a restaurant, or something someone else could make for me--nope this dish is all mine.

It started with the recipe from chocolate and zucchini. And then it progressed. It is the first really good recipe in what I hope becomes a large repetoire of dishes that I love (no I have not made it for anyone yet, but I will as soon as I find someone deserving). I started with penne and water. Then I moved to penne with chicken stock, then penne cooked with the water that was leftover after reconstituting morrells for the pasta. First I added sauteed mushrooms and onions or shallots, and tomatoes and I sauteed the extras in olive oil, then in butter, and I always topped the pasta with sea salt and parmesan.

Finally, I have perfected recipe. I use my new favorite pasta shape, Percatelli, I sautee it in a little olive oil, then add just enough chicken stock to cover the pasta (Swanson organic), and then put the lid on the pot and cook it over a low heat. While this is going on I heat up some butter (okay a lot of butter) and sautee whatever fresh veggies I have on hand (currently, given the season, zucchini, tomato, and always onion). When I have decided that the pasta is fully cooked I make sure that there is still at least a half an inch of broth in the pan and stir in the sauteed veggies (if I am using tomato, I don't saute them in the butter I add them at this stage). Once everything is heated through, and there is enough liquid, I crack an egg into the pot and stir it in. The liquid is hot enough to cook the egg, but there is enough liquid so that when combined with the egg it creates a sauce (instead of a cooked egg). Then the pasta goes into the dish, I grate fresh parmesan over the pasta and it combines with the egg broth sauce, and the result is so satisfying.

So simple so good. I feel like cooking this dish for others will be like bestowing a special gift. I just hope they realize how lucky they are (imagine me giggling devilishly here).

Introducing You to My Favorite Characters

Night photos are fun.

What a weekend . . . .

Another weekend full of action and no cooking . . . sigh. Friday night I went out to Tides Seafood. Earlier in the week the special of the day at the work cafeteria was lobster roll and not unsurprisingly, it tasted pretty much exactly like what you would expect an $8 dollar work cafeteria lobster roll to taste like. So I was quite excited to have an opportunity to try a new and yummy lobster roll.

Tides is a tiny restaurant on the Lower East Side. To give you a sense, as I walked up to the restaurant, I saw the kitchen staff hanging out outside, and later when a group ordered, the waitress put her head out the door and said "they ordered," to bring the staff back into the kitchen. What the restaurant lacks in size in more than makes up for in design. The ceiling looks like a see anemone or coral, the sink in the bathroom features a tub full of rocks and when you turn on the sink the water flows down the mirror--definitely the best bathroom I have been in (and this says a lot since when I was little pretty much the highlight of any restaurant visit was a trip to check out the bathroom--yep she was an odd one).

On to the roll--it was good (though not great). There was a bit too much mayo (and I love mayo so that says a lot), and it was served on a split-top brioche roll. The use brioche was just gilding the lily, I think the sandwich just tastes better on a split top white bread roll--especially with all that mayo, the brioche was a little too much. I'm not saying I wouldn't be happy to eat it again, but I don't think it is going to replace Pearl's as my favorite.

Saturday included a trip to Six Point Craft Ales Brewery for a tour and tasting, which I highly recommend (see pictures of yummy beer, Geordie running towards an empty factory, and what beer is made from above).

A Fit of Life Confusion

At the end of May beginning of June I was not in a happy place. I had a fit of what am I doing with my life, what does it all mean where am I going. And as often happens when I start thinking this way, I didn't so much come up with a life direction as much as just get really anxty and anxious. So I booked a flight. And holy crap I was headed to Scandanvia by myself.

I had a blast. I ate two meals at top restaurants (one in each city, Noma in Copenhagen, and Pontus at the Greenhouse in Stockholm), and had a number of other delicious meals from smaller places (including a really great fried herring cart in Stockholm and am amazing Sandwich place called Skillpaden in Copenhagen) and saw some beautiful sites (Louisiana museum might just be the coolest modern art museum ever, and Modern Museet and Grinda in the Archipegalo).

The sky was blue and cloudless the whole time and the temperature was perfect. Mostly I surprised myself by not freaking out about being on my own. Which is a good thing, because it's a big world out there and I would like to see more of it, and yes I would love to share those experiences with someone else, but it's nice to know that I don't have to wait.