Cooking For Pleasure!

A friend of mine who writes an excellent blog; http://ourextraordinarylife.wordpress.com/ does something pretty cool that she calls “Thrifty Thursday”.  On Thursdays she posts a recipe, a money saving recipe, that she and her family have enjoyed (well, sometimes its most of her family).  It got me to thinking how much fun it would be, and hopefully helpful, to occasionally post some of my favorite recipes.  That’s the plan, but before I do that I want to “talk” a little bit about this whole cooking thing.

My mom was/is a great cook but she had a few choice meals that she would make over and over again without much variance.  Part of that was due to her lack of desire to be adventurous and partly because of the cost of feeding a family of 5. I did a little cooking as I grew up, but it was not until I left home that I realized my love (okay, extreme desire) for cooking.  The first time I made yeast bread and tasted its warm, soft, fragrant yumminess right out of the oven (something you shouldn’t do…let it cool a little) I was hooked.  The absolute delight of tasting fresh ingredients, brought together in a way that you can never get from a box, was like Dorothy stepping from her Kansas farm house into Oz.

Some people cook because they have to, some because they want to, and I even know people that don’t cook at all.  I figure if it’s working for you that’s great.  But there is a difference between cooking because we need to eat and cooking to enjoy the magnificent color, enticing aroma, and explosion of manifold layers of flavor that is, or should be, cooking.

So before I share recipes with you let me give you a small list of thing that I have found to be essential to have in my pantry.  This could be helpful if your desire is to make cooking more than just a chore, or something that you need to do.  The emphasis is on small list because half the fun is finding out for yourself what you and your family like, besides, you might not enjoy the same style or flavors as I do.

I always make sure I have some really good extra virgin olive oil (EVOO).  Yes, this is on the expensive side, but worth every drop.  Save money somewhere else if you have to.  The EVOO should be from the “First cold pressing”.  If the label doesn’t say that, it isn’t.  Along with the EVOO, make sure you always have some really good Parmesan cheese, not the stuff in the green can.

Have fresh garlic and herbs on hand.  It isn’t hard to grow your own herbs in a pot, in your kitchen.  Dried herbs are great too and will do just fine when you can’t get (or afford) the fresh ones.   Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper are a must.   Having a variety of nuts (and I don’t mean family members) around is not a bad idea.  You can and should store them in air tight containers.

Fresh lemons are another very important ingredient to have on hand.  “Cook’s Illustrated” magazine did a test a few years ago about storage of fresh lemons.  They determined that if you keep them in a plastic bag, as air tight as possible, in your crisper, they will stay fresh longer.  I know mine do and I buy a lot of lemons.

Lastly for today, make sure you have some really good pasta, several varieties, like spaghetti, penne, orzo, fusilli, and pappardelle.  And I am going to be firm about this, it does matter what brand of pasta you buy.  I buy Barilla or sometimes Dicicco.  Just like the EVOO, these are a little more expensive than other brands, but oh they are so worth it.

Okay here is one of my and my family’s favorite recipes.  We’ll “talk” more food again sometime.

Three Garlic Pasta

Ingredients:

• 1 head garlic
• 8 garlic cloves
• 1 lb spaghetti
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3/4 cup dry white wine
• 1 cup loosely packed fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• salt & freshly ground black pepper
• parmesan cheese, for grating

Preparation of Three Garlic Pasta:

1. Preheat oven to 425°. Wrap garlic head in foil, or place in garlic roaster; roast until soft and golden, about 1 hour.
2. Let cool, trim tip of head; squeeze out cloves, using back of knife. Transfer to small bowl; set aside.
3. Cook pasta until al dente. Drain, and run under cold water to stop cooking.
4. Thinly slice five cloves of unroasted garlic. Finely chop remaining three cloves. Heat oil over medium heat in large skillet. Add sliced garlic; toast until golden and crisp.
5. Remove garlic with slotted spoon; set aside.
6. Add chopped garlic; sauté until translucent, about 1 1/2 minutes. Add roasted garlic and white wine; let simmer about 3 minutes. Add pasta, parsley, red pepper, and salt and pepper to taste; toss.
7. Serve sprinkled with toasted garlic slivers. Grate Parmesan over each serving.