Showing posts with label pasta. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pasta. Show all posts

Monday, July 11, 2011

The "Louis Doesn't Like Red Sauce" Pasta (with Meatballs)


If anyone can understand a kid's qualms about food, it would be me. Terrified of mushrooms and partial to creating a hot dog/Kraft macaroni and cheese mutant, I was a very picky eater. My little brother Louis, out-of-this-world trumpet player and sarcasm whiz, is obviously following in my footsteps. To save him from an all-day Jazz and Blues festival our dad goes to every year, we spent a Sunday lounging in his Playa del Rey apartment utilizing his flat screen, blu-ray player (him) and spacious kitchen (me).

Since Louis and I are twelve years apart (11, 23), I often find myself lamenting his lack of movie education. After suffering through The Diary of a Wimpy Kid II at his request and his required  trumpet practice, I informed the snarky pre-teen that we were going to watch a classic from my childhood: The Fifth Element. As Louis marveled in the special effects ("How can this movie be fifteen years old?!") and sat entranced by the comic stylings of a young and trim Bruce Willis, I set to work on his dinner.


Friday, June 10, 2011

Travel Tastes, New Orleans: A Mano

When I spent a week in New Orleans, I tried to stick with the regional cuisine as best I could, stuffing myself to capacity at the festival booths and even taking a 3 hour Cajun cooking class at the New Orleans School of Cooking. Despite my best efforts, I somehow found myself  yet again at an Italian restaurant for dinner with my dad before another night in the French Quarter. 

Most Italian restaurants in New Orleans have a Cajun-kick to them; spicy cream sauces, grilled shrimp or sausage. Though A Mano had all these things, it is run by one of the city in the bayou's favorite chefs Adolfo Garcia (Chef & Owner of A Mano, RioMar & La Boca) and Joshua Smith. Inspired by both Latin and Italian flavors, A Mano serves central and southern Italian dishes from local and sustainable purveyors. 

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Healthy Eats: Fettucini Alfredo with Spinach & Mushroom


At dinner the other night, my precocious little brother Louis asked me, "Why does it take adults so long to order?" I thought about that for a moment. When I was his age, the three main meals I accepted without a fuss were mac&cheese, spaghetti with meatballs and chicken tenders. I was not adventurous with my palette, nor did I find any reason to listen to my parents when they told me that I would like something new. I told him that as you get older, your tastes expand and so more items on the menu seem appealing. For example, I am currently addicted to mushrooms of any sort, so I took several minutes debating over my usual pick of pasta (carbonara, bolognese, amatriciana) or grilled veggies. (I ended up with the latter... summer is approaching!)

There is still the little kid in me that craves those rich, fattening meals I adored as a skinny-minnie string bean. (No, really. My family nickname was "Noodle".) Unfortunately, I can't scarf down high-calorie pasta the way I used to. Last night Quinn requested Fettuccini Alfredo for dinner, and I set out to make a lighter version -- while still retaining that abundantly creamy flavor.

Monday, May 16, 2011

Travel Tastes, New Orleans: Jazz Fest Food Booths


One of the main reasons I ventured to the New Orleans Jazz Fest was to stuff myself to my hearts’ content with Cajun & Creole cuisine. At the fairgrounds where the festival is held, several areas are lined with food booths boasting such delicacies as alligator pie, stuffed shrimp and crawfish monica. I wolfed down other treats (gumbo, jambalaya, broccoli pies), but those three were my picks of the trip.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Iron Chef Potluck #1, Volume 4: Jodi's Gnocchi with Spinach & Peas & Ted's Baked Sweet Potato Fries



Jodi and Ted are not only the cutest couple possibly ever, but they both came to the potluck bringing their A-game. Fortunately for our kitchen space, they brought their dishes already prepared, but unfortunately for ME, I don't know exactly how they made them. However, I do know this: they were absolutely divine.

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Carbonara Nirvana (Iron Chef Potluck #1, Volume 3)


There are times when I chide myself for my constant out-pour of affection and appreciation for all things Italian. Sometimes I wonder if the ingredients and cuisine there are in fact better than what we have here in the US, as I often claim. This weekend was not one of those times.

Sure, it can be annoying to hear my undying love for Italian Parmesan or my quest to fine-tune my favorite Roman dishes. But such obsession lends to perfection, and on Saturday I think I finally reached carbonara nirvana.

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Sausage and Broccoli Rotini with a Garlic Cream Sauce

Ok, ok. So I finally went grocery shopping under the guise that I would start whipping up some delicious and healthy cuisine for this blog. You might notice the sinful amount of cream in this dish and wonder, how is this healthy? Short answer: it's not. I'm sure I'll get around to it, as bikini season is nearly year-round in LA-LA land, but for now you'll have to be satisfied with a pasta smothered in garlic-cream sauce. Hey -- at least there's broccoli!

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

My Everest: Butternut Squash Lasagna

As I mentioned in my last post, I have been scouring Jonathan Gold's list of the 99 best restaurants in Los Angeles (2010). This led me to a transcendent culinary experience that I now talk incessantly about to anyone who will listen, along with a failed attempt at recreation: butternut squash lasagna. 

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