Boxcar Kitchen - Pasta perfect

Tastes like home

esther — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 16:03:00 +0100

When I saw today's event for Dishes of Comfort organized by Cream Puffs in Venice and Viaggi & Sapori, I knew exactly what I was going to make.

My mother is an awesome cook. I know that everyone makes this claim but very few can prove it. While growing up, our house was THE house to have dinner at especially with my brother's friends who just happened to arrive in gaggles around dinner time.

While my family boasts many secret recipes, my all time favorite food of comfort has to be macaroni & cheese. Granted, it is not the most fashionable dish out there but it is warm and simple and when it's homemade it can't be beat. Plus, it includes both of my favorite childhood food groups: cheese and pasta! What is not to love? I could also always be assured that no stray green smelly vegetables like brussel sprouts would find their way onto my plate either. Mac and cheese was always accompanied by homemade pickled beets. The tangy red beets cut the creamy cheese at just the right angle.

Recently, my mom shook things up a bit and switched recipes. (Gasp!) I was skeptical when she told me, I secretly mourned a childhood favorite that is now but a fading memory. Once I tasted the new rendition, it was full steam ahead!

Today, the obligatory cooks test was a success and just as good as moms. Now if only I had some pickled beets, it would really feel like home.

Note: Fontina is not the easiest cheese to find in France. I found it at my neighborhood Italian specialty store and when I asked for it, the owner was tickled and said that only the real connoisseurs know and have fontina. I felt privileged to be a part of the club and left the shop with a smile and a 12 euro hunk of cheese. A small sacrifice to pay for comfort.

Fontina Macaroni and Cheese (from Giada de Laurentis)

2 oz salted butter
1/4 cup flour
2 cups 2% milk
1/2 cup grated fontina
Pinch fresh nutmeg
Sea salt and pepper
1/2 pound pasta (I used whole wheat chiocciole)
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 tablespoon butter

Start a bechamel sauce by melting butter and adding flour to create a roux. Once the roux thickens continue stirring and gradually add milk. Stir constantly and bring to a simmer over medium heat. This should take about 10 minutes. When the sauce is thick enough to generously cover a spoon, remove from heat and add nutmeg, salt, pepper and half the fontina.

Add the sauce to cooked pasta (al dente).

Combine remaining melted butter and breadcrumbs. I made my own from some whole wheat I had on hand.

Pour pasta mixture into a baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining fontina and breadcrumbs. Bake for 20 minutes at 220°C (425°F)

1 vegetable, 2 vegetable, 3 vegetable, 4

esther — Fri, 29 Sep 2006 18:44:00 +0200

With only one vegatable holding out, this is pretty close to perfection. I have this 'thing' about 5 vegetables a day. I know I'm not the only person on the planet that does. I mean, even Paris' mayor's office has billboards all around the city reminding us all to eat 5 a day. The thing that separates me from everybody else, well one thing that separates me from everybody else is how much I like to talk about it and just how excited I can get. I get such a thrill trying to squeeze all five into one recipe and I'm not just talking regular old vegetarian style. I like to sneak the veggies in there so that my husband can't even detect them and then, BAM!!! I lay it on 'im.

This veggie lasagna is actually one of his favorites. The problem is that I find it physically impossible to make a small lasagna for two people. I've tried but it just doesn't happen and we end up turning into Garfield. Needless to say, all our dinner guests have had my vegetable lasagna at least once.

Layers of ricotta/parmesean/asagio/fresh spinach are interposed between layers of satuéed zucchini and onions and this time I added a layer of oven roasted yellow peppers which really set up nicely. Sometimes I make my own sauce but this time, since time was short I 'doctored' up a few jars with crushed canned tomatos, garlic and basil from my window garden.

We still had leftovers but just enough for one more night and a sliver for breakfast.

Like water for chocolate

esther — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 13:01:00 +0200

Chocolate penne, fresh tomato ragout with ricotta and basil

I remember my sister lending me Like Water for Chocolate from her library stack years ago. I devoured the book and was completely absorbed by its world of food, passion and fantasy. It was also the first time I had ever read about chocolate as a savory dish. Later on, I tested first hand the delicious combination of spices and chocolate over meat but I've never really broached the subject myself until I found this cacao pasta a few weeks back. I was out shopping for a birthday present and instead I left the store with nothing but two packages of chocolate pasta.

My initial idea for these chocolate penne was to serve them with sautéed zucchini, lardons and big generous chunks of parmesan. However, after my two week long zucchini fest, I was feeling a bit overwhelmed by my friend the courgette.

I had stocked up on big juicy heirloom tomatoes over the weekend after a trip out to Gally and decided to make a simple sauce. I was happy to discover that the pasta was a lot chocolaty-er than I had expected and it produced this great smelling chocolate colored pasta water that I almost felt guilty about pouring down the drain. I barely cooked the tomatoes and topped the whole things off with ricotta and my window box basil. If only it didn’t cost three times as much for a quarter of the amount of regular pasta.