Summer Vegetable Pasta

Ok, ladies and gentlemen. I know what asparagus does to some of you, and I have the same problem. But I love it, and wouldn't give it up for the world.

This pasta is simple, so I won't adorn this post with a lot of photos, either.

Ingredients
3 cloves of garlic
1 red onion
Bunch of asparagus, bases cut off and cut into thirds.
1 bell pepper
3 or 4 tomatoes
Basil
Olive Oil
Sweet/Bell Pepper
Salt
Hard, Salty Italian Cheese (I usually use Parmesan, but for some reason the only Parm at the store today was $7.00 for a tiny piece. FroGro had some Pepato that was just as delicious and half the price of their Parmesan).
Pasta (I used orechiette)

Method
1. Mince garlic and chop onion, sautee until cooked but not brown.
2. Precook the asparagus for about 1:30 minute in the microwave, then add to the pan with the onion and garlic.
3. Start boiling water for pasta, and cut the bell pepper into bite-sized pieces.
4. Add the pepper to the pan, chop the tomatoes and basil.
5. Add olive oil if necessary.
6. When water is boiling, add pasta and cook. Orechietti take about 10 minutes.
7. After pasta has cooked, drain and add a bit of olive oil to keep pasta from sticking.
8. Turn down temperature in the frying pan and add tomatoes and basil, salt and pepper. Cook just slightly, for about three minutes.
9. Plate the pasta, then the sauce, and grate the cheese on top of it.

Marinated Caprese

For lunch today I made a variation on a Caprese Salad that normally consists of Mozzarella, Basil, Tomato, and Olive Oil arranged artfully on a plate in a sort of card-flipping-trick fashion.

This one, however, is a more eclectic version that Ben showed me how to make last summer; he in turn learned it from an old Italian grandma he lived with for a few months one summer. I love it, and not just because it has balsamic vinegar and onions which intensify the flavor, but because it keeps well for a number of days (in the fridge), and if you're very careful, the olive oil and vinegar and salt leech out liquid from the tomatoes and gain fragrance from the basil and onion, making a wonderful salad dressing that you can use after the cheese and tomatoes themselves are gone! For a packrat like me, the idea that part of a meal I make on Saturday could live until next Saturday makes me squeal with glee.

You'll need:

Plenty of fresh basil
Two small balls of mozzarella
Four or Five tomatoes, depending on size
One red onion
Balsamic Vinegar
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper

The directions are simple. Cut everything up into similar-sized pieces (mixed food, like macaroni salads and stir-fries, are supposed to be more aesthetically pleasing when the ingredients have some sort of internal coherence or something. I don't know if this is really true, but it makes it a lot easier to eat, and that's what I like about it), drizzle on a good glog of olive oil and a helping of balsamic.

I know, I know. The "tender flavor" of mozzarella is supposed to be coddled and cared for rather than covered with loads of pepper and vinegar. "Bah!" I say! In this recipe, the delicateness doesn't so much disappear as it does put on a beautiful ball gown and go out dancing. In loads and loads of delicious Juice. Mmmm...

Kiwiburger

After going into overdraft on my Lloyds' account due to a Gourmet Burger Kitchen version of this very burger--and consequently owing the bank upwards of £400--and after a move into my new apartment that left me a) tired, b) longing for red meat, and c) eager to try out my new kitchen, I decided to try this complex-tasting yet simple-to-assemble burger.

A warning, though: at almost six inches tall, it's almost impossible to eat without a knife and fork. Still, if you can wrap your mouth around this sweet and tart mound of protein and veggies, you'll never go back to a normal cheeseburger ever again...

For one burger, you need:
1 hamburger patty
2-3 slices of pickled beets, sliced about 1/4 inch thick
1 slice of pineapple, about 1/2 and inch thick
Cheddar cheese (enough to cover one bun)
1 egg
1 slice of tomato
1 hamburger bun (I used a challah roll because I had it on hand, but a crusty sourdough roll is ideal for this hulking sandwich)
Salt and Pepper and Mayo and Ketchup to taste

1. Begin cooking the hamburger patty in a frying pan on medium heat. Salt and pepper both sides of the burger and squeeze out some of the juices as it's cooking.

2. Cut the pineapple, beets, and tomato into the appropriate sizes if you haven't done so already. I only had a whole pineapple in my kitchen and was afraid I wouldn't be able to hack it (literally!), but my large Dehillerin knife was up to the task!

3. Place cheese on bottom of half of bun and microwave for about 30 seconds, until melted.

4. Depress the pineapple slices into the cheese--this will keep them from slipping quite as much.

5. Just before the burger is done, fry an egg in the same pan, salting and peppering to taste. Flip it, and cook until the yolk is runny, then tip it over onto the hamburger and put the burger on the pineapple. The stack is getting taller...

6. Carefully place the beets and tomato on top of the egg, and the bun on top of them. If the yolk breaks, even better! This isn't a delicate sandwich, so you might as well get used to it early on!

7. Ketchup up and eat away!

Authentic Spanish Paella

Inspired by a recent viewing of 'Posh Nosh' and the purchase of an unseasoned paella pan from E. Dehillerin, we recently turned our attention to making an authentic Spanish paella. This traditional dish from Valencia begins with rice, saffron and olive oil; the garnishes are cooked along with the rice in a pan called a paellera--hence the name. Although original ingredients included chicken and snails or frogs and eels, the dish took on different flavours as it became popular throughout Spain. At first we were guided by two recipes from the large Phaidon cookbook, 1080 Recipes, by Simone and Inés Ortega. At CAq we know that budgets are tight and seafood is expensive, so here's our attempt at an economical version of this traditional dish completed with shrimp, mussels, chorizo, and vegetables.

Plan a-head
Like it or not, a good paella calls for (at least in part) a seafood stock. If you have the time to shell your own shrimp or can find a merchant that will sell these to you and create a stock this way, go right ahead. We went down to the local fish monger (who had cleaned out all of his shrimp detritus) and he suggested boiling a fish head in salted water for 1.5-2hrs. Since fish heads make a stronger stock than simple shrimp, this was more than enough time for 2L of seafood stock. Although the smell was pungent, the flavour of the stock was suitable for a paella. After the allotted time, remove the head and strain the stock through a cheesecloth to remove and fish parts and scales. Combine with a chicken stock either freshly prepared or from boullion. Keep warm. [If you aren't wedded to the idea of authenticity, chicken stock will work just fine.]