MasherCakesPlainOl’PastaandRadicchiowithBaconVinaigrette!!

*Gasps for air*

Ok… this entry covers three different nights and three different meals. Catchin’ up!

Here we have Masher Cakes… these were actually NOT featured in the “This Spud’s for You” episode! These were added into the book specially… so top-secret recipe you only get if you’re a privileged book owner (which you should be!) AB says that if he’d had more time in the episode, he would’ve added these into the show. I gotta say… they were like a more refined version of the Latke. And anything compared to a Latke is automatically good.

Here you can see them at the outset (Blobs of mashers… basically). They were then dredged in special secret ingredients and fried into perfection! We enjoyed them with one of our many repeats of the pan-seared rib eye steak with cognac pan sauce. Mmmm.

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Next we have Plain Ol’ Pasta!

I went about this pasta for a mid-afternoon lunch.

One of my favorite things about this book is his little “factoid” columns which (like in the show) share tidbits, explain theories, and dispel or prove cooking myths. I love this about the show, and seeing the man’s ramblings in print actually gives you more time to ponder them and consider their relevance within the preparation process. This recipe shared some insight on many pasta faux pas. AB addresses the “salt makes water boil faster” myth. Though AB does not share this, I remember it from chemistry class: In fact salt does bring up the temperature of the water… by a whopping two degrees! So big whoop… if this makes it noticeably faster for you, than hooray. But chances are, it won’t. AB does say that while it does not necessarily hasten the process, but it is absolutely necessary for the flavor!

Speaking of salt, has anyone gone so far as to order AB’s little Kosher Salt container from his website? I’m thinking of doing this… I just love that little thing… does anyone have it and like it/ not like it?

Used fancy noodles I got as a holiday gift from a student

Pasta, salt, garlic, olive oil, blue cheese! Voila!

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Aaaaand finally for this entry… Radicchio with Bacon Vinaigrette!

Can’t go wrong with bacon… no sir! I had to make a rather glaring and depressing substitution for this one (which is why I hope to try it again). With the menu for the evening already completely planned… Ashley leaves work, goes to grocery store No 1: no Radicchio. Goes to grocery store No 2: no Radicchio. Wades through snow and goes to grocery store No 3: sensing a pattern? At this point, Ashley clearly needs a drink and is not at all in favor of braving the now swirling snow to find a 4th store that will inevitably, as it seems, not have Radicchio. It’s Radicchio-lous! (Worst pun eveeeeer!) So… I gave up and bought some Swiss Chard. It was still delicious, and I got to keep some of my sanity. AB, I hope you forgive me for this one.

In regards to the recipe… excellent! That Vinaigrette was fantastic and I plan to use it quite often! I liked it even more than the one I made for the Panzanella Salad (upcoming entry) or the one I made for Veni Vedi Vinaigrette (also upcoming). Bacon just trumps all… I have to say. It could be the best recipe in the world, but if you put it up next to something that has bacon… well, no contest. But in what universe would the best recipe in the world not include bacon in the first place? Ok, now I’m rambling.

I loved that he suggested taking the bacon pieces used to cultivate the bacon drippings for the dressing, and crumbling them on top. Why waste all that glorious bacon? Now, I will have to challenge the genius of Jim Gaffigan on this one a little… he stated that Bacon Bits are the “fairy dust” of the food community (well, yes) and turn a salad into a game of “find the bacon in the lettuce” (not always so). Now, while that would ordinarily be true, this time the greens were dressed in some lovely ‘bacon-dripping-and-other-stuff’ vinaigrette which made excessive searching for bits completely unnecessary! What a wonderful loophole!

The greens were accompanied by my first pressure cooker experiment! My brother and sister so wonderfully got me a pressure cooker for Hanukkah, and I’ve since become obsessed with it. Tonight we made pressure cooker spaghetti. Man it was good… since then I’ve made several variations of this and tried 2 types of risotto with it. Soon I will need to make some of AB’s pressure cooker recipe!

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