Shane was in charge of dinner last night, since my presence was requested by a certain little person for the three-hour duration of evening gymnastics practice. I brought the baby to the gym. As Shane says “He wants what I a’int got.”
Shane led me to believe that we’d come home to a table-full of plastic takeout containers. I sure was delighted to find Penne with Anchovies, Garlic and Grape Tomatoes instead. Not only that but a nice endive and yellow pepper salad.
Go Daddy.
I was placing my Fresh Direct order when Rose sauntered over and asked me to order salmon. It was kind of a funny request coming from her, so I assumed she was feeling fatty-acid depleted and ordered some up.
This salmon baked in parchment recipe is a favorite. I happened to have some leeks and white wine in the fridge so it was the perfect choice. When I don’t have leeks and wine, but I have lemons and basil, this other salmon baked in parchment recipe is the one I make. They’re both good, quick and easy.
For those of you who have not forsaken gluten and dairy, man-oh-man do I have a recipe for you. Creamy One-Pot Spaghetti with Leeks is a creamy, delicious treat. One pot, 30 minutes, wonderful.
It’s another one of those pasta cooked like risotto dishes. Meaning, you add the dry pasta to the sauce so it absorbs all the creamy goodness and flavor while it cooks, making the pasta extra wonderful in taste and texture.
Fans of, wheat pasta, dairy and fat, try this recipe asap. With a simple green salad. Perfect!
• Creamy One-Pot Spaghetti with Leeks •
from Food & Wine
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
5 garlic cloves, minced
3 scallions, thinly sliced
2 leeks, white and light green parts only, trimmed and thinly sliced
1 medium shallot, chopped
1 anchovy fillet, drained
Pinch of crushed red pepper
1 pound spaghetti, noodles broken in half
3 3/4 cups chicken stock
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more for seasoning
2 tablespoons chopped chives
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, plus more for serving
In a pot, heat the olive oil. Add the garlic, scallions, leeks and shallot and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until the leeks are softened, 6 minutes. Add the anchovy, crushed red pepper, spaghetti, stock, cream and the 1/2 teaspoon of salt and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and cook, stirring, until the pasta is tender and a sauce forms, 11 minutes. Stir in the chives and 1/4 cup of cheese; season with salt. Serve the pasta with extra cheese on the side.
It’s Shane’s birthday today. If you ask him, he’s 47 years and 365 days old.
Shane was very specific with his birthday dinner request. Steak, sautéed mushrooms, oven fries and iceberg lettuce wedges with blue cheese dressing. For dessert he wanted moon pies, which are actually whoopie pies that we misnamed a long time ago.
Shane loves babies and I think it made his birthday extra special this year to have one around again. He’s pictured below on his birthday, with Sid (left), and 6 years ago with Rose (right). The moon/whoopie pie recipe follows.
• Whoopie (or Moon) Pies with Cream Cheese Filling •
from Martha Stewart (with a different filling)
makes about 12
For the pies:
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch process)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup vegetable shortening (yup, Crisco)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed dark-brown sugar
1 large egg
1 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
For the filling:
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 block cream cheese (8oz)
3/4 lb confectioner’s sugar, sifted (you can eyeball this if you don’t have a scale – buy a 1lb box)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside. Sift together flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt into a small bowl; set aside. If you’re lazy about sifting, you can just mix it pretty well with a whisk, if your cocoa isn’t clumpy, it will be fine.
Add butter, shortening, and sugars to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; cream on high speed until smooth, about 3 minutes. Add egg; beat until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add half the flour mixture, then the milk and vanilla; beat until combined. Add the remaining flour mixture. Beat together, scraping down sides of bowl with a rubber spatula as needed.
Drop 12 slightly rounded tablespoons of batter 2 inches apart on each baking sheet. Bake the cookies in the upper and lower thirds of oven for 10 minutes; switch the positions of the baking sheets, and rotate each one. Continue baking until the cookies spring back to the touch, 2 to 4 minutes more. Do not over-bake, these will get dry very quickly.
Remove from oven; let cookies cool on baking sheets, 10 minutes. Transfer with a metal spatula to a wire rack; let cool completely. Meanwhile, line a cooled baking sheet with a new piece of parchment; repeat process with remaining batter.
To make the filling, in the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and cream cheese with the paddle attachment. Add the sifted confectioners sugar in two batches, mix until smooth. Add the vanilla and mix to combine.
Spread 1 heaping tablespoon of filling on flat sides of half the cookies.Top each with one of the remaining cookies, flat side down, and gently press together. Enjoy! These are best eaten they day they are made.
How is it possible that I’ve been alive for 42 years and never learned that Thai curry is a cinch to make? This evening, I happened to glance at the back of a can of Thai coconut milk, the recipe I found there was my inspiration. On the back of the can!
Rose whined “Awww, this is restaurant food.” Because at the moment she finds takeout food to be utterly abhorrent. I took the restaurant comment as a compliment. Shane’s rave review was “really good.”
You know, for the Irish.
Remember last year’s weekend with our friends the “Drews”? This years was equally fun. See photo captions for more on dinner, friends, and making maple syrup!
Our friend Gail brought us some spinach, sausage and polenta lasagna that her husband had made a little too much of. It’s one of the wonderful things about living in our neighborhood, you always bump into someone you know on the street. Sometimes you have a spontaneous play date, or you’ll remember you have some outgrown kid clothes for them or they for you, and sometimes they offer to bring you dinner!
Polenta lasagna, what a clever idea. Gail is gluten-free, so the polenta takes the place of pasta in the dish. It was a revelation to me that corn is not a gluten food.
I found the lasagna utterly delicious (even though I only ate the non-sausage parts) but Rose was not a fan. We made sure she tried each part of it twice. “Come on, you love sausage!” “Okay, then try the polenta part.” “The cheese?”
Eventually we had to accept that this delicious dish was just not for her, and sent her off to the kitchen to find something to eat.
“Is Pirate Booty a good dinner?” “How about bread and butter? Is bread and butter a good dinner?”
She finally settled on peanut butter and jelly. We told her she had to make her own sandwich, which she’s never done before. I know she’s probably the only non-allergic 6 year old in the world who’s never made her own pb&j. There are certain things that fall through the cracks when you have an only child, and don’t really need them to be all that independent.
Watching her make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich was one of the cutest things I’ve ever seen. Dutifully and on tip-toes, she cut the crusts off the bread in little half-inch increments. She “washed” the knife between the peanut butter and the jelly. She tried her very best to make the sandwich symmetrical. She left the loaf of bread on the floor when she was done.
Here comes independence.
We’ve been having a lot of soup lately because Shane has a wicked bad cold. Such a bad cold that he actually requested soup, more than once!
The first soup (pictured above) was a broth similar to Tortilla Soup, plus rice, chick peas, roasted corn and cilantro. We had it two nights in a row.
The next soup was Beluga Lentil Soup, from the Dinner A Love Story book. We had it with steak and pasta and I don’t think anyone but me actually ate it, but it really is an excellent soup. It also looks really pretty while you’re making it.
Before the soup, there was pork tenderloin which I marinated in bourbon, maple syrup, ginger, garlic, soy and who knows what else. I had poor, sick Shane cook it, because I never could figure out pork. Here it is with pasta and baby kale salad. I know it’s not soup, but I want to document it so we remember the marinade.
Stay well everyone!
Totally slacking on the blog this week. Sorry folks!
So far, we’ve had that new baked chicken dish, made with Cannelini beans, so that I didn’t have to make a separate vegetarian meal for myself (pictured above). Served with braised fennel, which is a nice thing to serve it with.
Also, Shane’s Famous (genuine Italian approved) Pasta alla Carbonara (pictured below):
The highlight for me, was my date with Rose. She was craving some dedicated mom time, and a dinner date seemed like a good plan. I took her around the corner to Arunee Thai and ordered her a Shirley Temple (RIP) and way too much food.
It was great to catch up with Rose. I learned all kinds of new things about her. She likes edamame, she loves exposed brick, and she’s crazy about cops! She doesn’t want to be a cop when she grows up though, because it doesn’t pay well enough.
She spent a good amount of time trying to tie her cherry stem in a knot with her tongue, like Auntie Jenya does. And when that didn’t work, she tried tying it with her fingers. Finally she threw in the towel and made a list of all the kids who were absent from school on Tuesday due to a stomach virus. Good times.
