pasta with peas, cream, parsley, and mint

The perfect stovetop dish for a warm summer evening. Be sure to use fresh grated Parmesan instead of the cheap stuff in the plastic canister--it makes a world of difference in the finished product.

Pasta with Peas, Cream, Parsley, and Mint
recipe courtesy of Bon Appétit

Ingredients:
1 16-ounce package large shell pasta or elbow pasta
1 1/4 cups heavy whipping cream
1 16-ounce package frozen petite peas (do not thaw)
2 1/4 cups freshly grated parmesan cheese plus additional for serving
1/4 cup chopped fresh mint
1/2 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley, divided

Directions:
Cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until just tender but still firm to bite, stirring occasionally. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup pasta cooking liquid. Return pasta to pot.

Meanwhile, bring cream to simmer in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add peas and simmer just until heated through, 1 to 2 minutes. Add 2 1/4 cups cheese and stir until melted and sauce thickens slightly, about 1 minute. Stir in mint and 1/4 cup parsley.

Pour sauce over pasta and toss to coat, adding pasta cooking liquid by tablespoonfuls if dry. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer to bowl. Sprinkle with remaining parsley. Serve, passing additional Parmesan alongside.

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pretty in pink

Pink Cookies

recipe courtesy of A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes from My Kitchen Table by Molly Wizenberg

Ingredients:

Cookies:

3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup powdered sugar, sifted

3 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Frosting:

8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

6 tablespoons (3 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature

3 cups powdered sugar, sifted

1 1/4 teaspoons kirsch, or more to taste, or a capful of cherry extract

Red food coloring

Directions:

To make the cookies, combine the butter and powdered sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, and beat, first on a low speed, and then slowly increasing to medium, until light and fluffy.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour and salt, and whisk well. With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, beating until the flour is just absorbed. Add the vanilla and beat well to incorporate. Lay a sheet of plastic wrap on a large, clean surface, and turn the dough out onto it. Gather the dough into a ball, press it into a thick disk, and wrap well. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone liners.

On a clean, floured surface, roll the dough out to a thickness of 3/8 inch. (If you don't have a lot of room, cut the disk of dough down the middle, and work with only one half at a time, leaving the second one in the refrigerator until ready for use.) Using a cookie cutter, cut the dough into whatever shapes you would like. 

Place the cookies on the prepared baking sheets, spacing them 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake them one sheet at a time, keeping the second sheet in the refrigerator until the first one is done, for 16 to 20 minutes, or until the cookies are pale golden at the edge. Do not allow them to brown. Transfer the pan to a wire rack, and cool the cookies completely on the pan.

To make the frosting, combine the cream cheese and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on medium speed until smooth. Add the powdered sugar and beat on low speed to fully incorporate, then raise the speed to medium or medium-high and beat until there are no lumps, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Add the kirsch and a couple of drops of red food coloring and beat well. The frosting should be a pretty shade of pale pink. Taste, and if you want more cherry flavor, beat in a bit more of the kirsch. Generously spread onto the fully cooled cookies.

Stored in an airtight container, pink cookies will keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, or you can freeze indefinitely.

Yield: 20-24 (3-inch) cookies

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a (hot) hiatus

Right around the beginning of June my air conditioner decided to call it quits. I can't complain, really--the thing was five years old, purchased on end-of-season sale back when I first moved to New York. It had a good run. And since I'm moving in a couple of weeks (the other reason for my absence? Apartment-hunting in New York sucks!) I decided to go it without A/C for awhile. No sense in buying a new window unit until after I move, I thought. I could make it a few weeks.

Well, I tried. 

Last weekend, after a valiant, almost pioneer-like attempt, I finally caved and bought an air conditioner. The home appliance stores all had a 7-10 day wait for installation, but thanks to Google and Air Conditioner by Vlad, I'm nice and cool once again. Good news for me, and good news for my reader(s?) too, since I am once again free to use my oven without the risk of baking myself in the process.

A few small positives did come out of my month without A/C:

1) To compensate for actual cooking, I finally got around to tackling a few foodie-type books. I devoured Molly Wizenberg's A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes from My Kitchen Table in a matter of hours, and am excited to try out a few of her recipes in the very near future. And I'm halfway through Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential Updated Edition: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly (P.S.) Both had been sitting on my bookshelf for months, and without the a/c debacle, it might've been another year before I actually got around to reading either one of them.

2) I got a good lesson in how most "real" New Yorkers supposedly live--eating takeout, using the microwave, and making simple (and boring!) stovetop-only meals. With temps inside my apartment pushing 90 degrees, I can't even imagine how hot my tiny studio would've been if I'd attempted to, say, make a pizza. If nothing else, being temporarily relegated to pasta, salads, and Japanese delivery for dinner definitely gave me a newfound appreciation for my ability to cook!

So that's it. I was hot, I was gone, I'm cool, and I'm back. My cooking (and posting) might still be sporadic for the next couple of weeks, as I deal with packing and unpacking and all of the other fun stuff that comes along with moving. But I'm looking forward to my new kitchen, and all of the culinary possiblities that come along with it.

Until then...

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...make lemonade

Life's handed me a couple of (metaphorical) lemons in the past few weeks, so yesterday I decided that I might as well put a cliché to good use and attempt to make some (actual) lemonade. Simple and delicious! I found a recipe online and followed it exactly.  

 

   

Old-Fashioned Lemonade  
recipe courtesy of allrecipes.com

Ingredients:
6 lemons
1 cup white sugar
6 cups cold water

Directions:
1. Juice the lemons to make 1 cup of juice. To make your labor easier, FIRMLY roll the lemons between your hand and counter top* before cutting in half and juicing. 

2. In a gallon pitcher combine 1 cup lemon juice, 1 cup sugar, and 6 cups cold water. Stir. Adjust water to taste. Chill and serve over ice.

*This was a very helpful tip! 

 

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better times, noodle salad

A few nights ago I made my second, slightly more successful attempt at an Asian noodle salad. This time I used a recipe I found online, instead of coming up with one myself. And once again, the results looked pretty...

...but still weren't quite what I was hoping for. This recipe included both peanuts and peanut butter in the sauce. I don't mind a Reese's Cup every now and again, but I don't love peanut butter, and making a whole meal out of it turned out to be a bit much. 

On the upside, I discovered a great Thai chili sauce in the Asian Foods aisle at Fairway. The recipe called for Sriracha (which I'm still looking for--anybody know where I can find it on the Upper West Side?) This version is made by Roland, and is my new go-to condiment for everything from hash browns to scrambled eggs:

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minty magic

It's been a grey, rainy couple of days in New York. With chilly winds and temperatures in the 40s, mid-May has been feeling an awful lot like March. (I guess this is payback for those late winter days that were so warm I needed to run the air conditioner, right?) Amid all of this nonstop dreariness, I found myself very much in need of a pick-me-up. I needed chocolate.

It just so happens that I'd been scouring the web in search of a great noodle salad recipe (to replace my awful improvised attempt!) and had bookmarked a brownie recipe that I simply had to try, so this afternoon I decided to give it a whirl. And trust me, this recipe does not disappoint.

A few notes: I like the mint, but it might be fun to experiment with other flavorings (cherry, coconut) in the frosting layer instead. Also, cut these brownies into small squares, because they're very rich. 

Mint Brownies

recipe courtesy of Our Best Bites

Ingredients:

Brownies:

4 squares unsweetened baking chocolate (4 ounces)

1 cup butter (2 sticks)

4 eggs (I used three, since I like my brownies fudge-y and not cake-y)

2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/4 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Frosting:

2 cups powdered sugar

4 tablespoons butter, softened

1 1/2 teaspoons peppermint extract

1-2 tablespoons milk

Green food coloring

Chocolate Glaze:

6 ounces semisweet chocolate chips (I used milk chocolate, since I had it on hand)

6 tablespoons butter

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9x13 inch pan with foil, making sure the foil extends over the edges by at least one inch. Lightly spray with non-stick spray and set aside.

Chop both unsweetened chocolate and two sticks of butter into chunks and place together in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring in between, until just melted and smooth. Set aside to cool, stirring occasionally. 

With an electric mixer or stand mixer beat eggs, sugar, and vanilla for 2 minutes. While egg mixture is beating, measure out flour and combine with baking powder. While mixer is running, slowly add melted chocolate and beat to combine. Turn beater speed to low and add in flour by spoonfuls. Mix just until combined. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 20-30 minutes or until a knife poked in center comes out clean.

Cool completely on a metal rack. When brownies have cooled to room temperature, prepare frosting. Combine all frosting ingredients, starting with 1 1/2 tablespoon of milk, and beat until light and fluffy. Add more milk by teaspoonful as needed. Spread frosting evenly over brownies and then place brownies in fridge to chill. 

While brownies are chilling prepare chocolate glaze. Place chocolate chips and 6 tablespoons butter in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring in between, until just melted and smooth. Set aside to cool for about 15 minutes and then carefully spread on top of the frosting layer. Return pan to fridge to cool. When chocolate has hardened, use edges of foil to remove entire brownie from pan. Cut into squares and serve.

 

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good times, noodle salad

While visiting family a few weeks ago, I tried the delicious Sesame Noodle Salad at McKenzie Brew House in Malvern, PA. A blend of lightly sauteed vegetables, cashews, cilantro, and thin noodles in a sesame vinaigrette, it was the perfect lunch for a warm spring afternoon. And of course, the first thing I wanted to do when I got back to New York was to recreate it at home. I used lots of fresh ingredients--zucchini, red peppers, carrots--and improvised a sesame-soy sauce by combining a couple of recipes I found online. The finished product looked really pretty...

...but unfortunately, it didn't taste anything like the original. My version was way too earthy (I think due to too much sesame oil?) and not nearly as flavorful as I'd hoped, with a bit of a funky aftertaste. Plus the vegetables and cashews got soggy after just a few hours in the fridge, making it less than ideal for next-day leftovers. 

Better luck next time, I guess.

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