How To Cook Pasta

So pasta is the fall back meal. Always good in a pinch and pretty cheap. But I discovered (late, as usual) that it really does matter how much water you use and that adding oil isn't really necessary.

I came across a pretty handy article in the March 2008 issue of Cooking Light that outlines the simple steps in making pasta.

For Dry Pasta:

1. Cook the pasta in plenty of water. Use one quart of water per two ounces of uncooked pasta, and choose a pot that larget enough to prevent crowding (keep this in mind when buying your one pot)
2. You can add salt to water if you think you'll need it for the taste, because ultimately, your sauce determines how much salt you'll need. You can also try adding a little bit of lemon juice to give the pasta a little flavor
   
3. Before you start boiling the water, make sure to have ready your colander ready so you can whisk the pasta off the stove when it's time
4. You should add the pasta when the water is at a rolling boil and cover the pot. Uncover the pot once the water returns to a boil. To make sure you make the pasta al dente, look at it closely and taste it; it will still have a white core and not be tender when you bite it
5. When draining the pasta, you can save some of the starchy water and can add it to the sauce later
6. Lastly, don't follow the time listed on the box too well, check the pasta about 3 minutes before the time listed
   

For Fresh/Frozen Pasta:

1. The above steps for fresh pasta, but keep in mind that fresh pasta will cook in as little as 3 minutes, and frozen pasta will take around 5-8 minutes
   

The Weekend Meal: Ravioli With Sauteed Zucchini

Being a vegetarian for a weekend isn't terrible, this meal, using cheese ravioli, should help ease the one day transition. Save the animals (for a day or two at least):

Serves 4

• 1 20 oz package of fresh cheese ravioli (you can also use frozen ravioli)
• 3 small zucchinis, thinly sliced into half circles
  
• 1 large sweet onion, sliced
  
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
  
• Some Parmesan
  
• Olive oil
  
• Salt

Cook the pasta according to the package. While the pasta is cooking, heat the oil and add the zucchini, onion, and garlic. Cook until the zucchini is tender (about 8 minutes)


When the pasta is done, toss the pasta with the vegetable mixture:

And you're done! Serve with a little Parmesan sprinkled on top. Very yummy, very easy, very quick.

If you have leftovers, I suggest storing the ravioli and the vegetable mixture in different containers. To heat up, toss them quickly in a pan.

Ta da! You just saved a cow or chicken.

Just Desserts: Sugar Cookies

There's nothing like a sugar cookie. It can be really plain, or you can jazz it up with sprinkles or icing. Instead of butter, these cookies use vegetable oil.

Sugar Cookies (makes 30-40 2.5 inch cookies)

• 2.5 cups all purpose flour
• 1.5 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
• 1 cup sugar
  
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• Extra sugar for sprinkling

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and pre-heat the oven to 375.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg. Set aside.

Combine and blend the sugar and vegetable oil. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each egg. Add the vanilla.

Mix in the flour mixture with the sugar mixture, making sure they are well combined.

Form the dough into .5 inch drops with tablespoons and place them on the cookie sheet, about 1 inch apart. Sprinkle the drops with sugar. You have the option here to make cinnamon sugar and use that instead of plain sugar. The brown cookies below are sprinkled with cinnamon sugar.



Bake the cookies for about 11 minutes, until they are brown around the edges.

Once I ran out of vegetable oil and made these cookies with olive oil. They were like grown up sugar cookies and tasted great with coffee or tea. Give it a try.

The Weekend Meal: Slow Cooker Meatloaf

Disclaimer: Before this meal, I never had meatloaf. That said, this experience made me heart meatloaf. This recipe uses a slow cooker and a food processor, two of your essential kitchen appliances.

Slow Cooker Meatloaf (serves 4-6)

• 1.5 lbs. ground round beef (you can also use ground chuck or sirloin, depending on your budget and fat content)
• 1 8 oz can mushrooms (or 1.5 cups of fresh button mushrooms)
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella (whole milk or part-skim, chef's choice)
  
• 2 slices of white bread
• 2 large eggs, slightly beaten
• 1/3 cup chopped pepperoni
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• 2 tablespoons ketchup
• 1 teaspoon salt

Tear the white bread in large chunks and pulse in the food processor until they look like bread crumbs. Place it in a different bowl. Pulse the mushrooms, and pepperoni in the same manner until they are finely chopped. Put these in the same bowl as the bread crumbs.

Combine bread crumbs, mushrooms, and pepperoni with the cheese, beef, eggs, salt, and garlic powder. Mix gently with your hands. (I know, looks gross, but just wait for it).


Place in the slow cooker, form into a loaf and brush the top with ketchup.

Set the slow cooker on HIGH for one hour, then low for about 4, until the meat is cooked through.

I served it with potatoes and sweet peas, but you can also make meatloaf sandwiches.

Necessary?: The Orange Peeler

I'm on the fence about the orange peeler. On the one hand, it makes it so easy to start peeling an orange and you can avoid all the orange gunk under your nails. Also, it is a very small utensil.

On the other hand, once you start peeling the orange, your hands still get all sticky. Does something this small warrant so much internal turmoil??

The Weekend Meal: Tonkatsu

Who doesn't love fried things? Tonkatsu is fried pork cutlet usually served over cabbage, but I prefer some kind of starch or carb with some veggies. I find the veggies make me feel better about eating fried pork.

Tonkatsu:

• 4 thin sliced pork loin chops (seriously, thin. if you are using chicken and want to save some money, you can buy regular chicken breast and flatten it yourself by wrapping the piece in cling wrap and rolling over it with a rolling pin or something comparable)
• 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 3/4 cup panko (Japanese style bread crumbs. They're coarser than regular bread crumbs)
• Enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan (about 1 inch)
  

Heat the oil and set up the dredging station: flour, egg, panko.

Coat the pork/chicken in that order. Cook until brown, crispy, and delicious.

Snacking 101: Hummus

Time to use that ever handy food processor. I have one that's slightly large, with a whole bunch of extra parts that I don't know how to use, but any food processor will do. The easiest thing you can make with your food processor is hummus:

Makes 6-8 cups of hummus
2 15.5 oz cans of chick peas (drained)
2 garlic cloves
1 teaspoon of lemon juice (the squeeze bottle kind or fresh, whatever)
3-4 tablespoons of olive oil (enough to cover 1/3 of the peas with oil)
Salt to taste

Note that I did not add tahini. The taste isn't for me, AND it's expensive. Anyway:
Throw the garlic in the food processor, followed by the chick peas:



Add the oil, lemon juice, and salt. Turn on said food processor until it looks like this:

That's it. You have hummus. I served mine with the homemade tortilla chips and olives, and made a monster:

Guest Galley Kitchen

I make tasty meals, but some galley kitchen meals deserve special recognition. Meet the very first guest galley kitchen meal:



Some stipulations: she has a full sized fridge, and most of those things are pre-made, but a really impressive spread. The salad is arugula, fennel, with pommegranate seeds, with the option of topping it with proscuitto. All the cheese and quiche is from Murray's Cheese Shop. However, she did make overnight French toast, for which I will post the recipe shortly.

Imagine putting that together on very little counter space. That deserves some recognition.

Kitchen Gadget of the Week: Lillian Vernon Seam Cover

Food falling between your tiny stove and your tiny counter? Afraid of critters? These seem like weird problems, but living in Manhattan, I will try anything to keep furry and/or multi-legged creepies out of the apartment. Enter, the Lillian Vernon seam cover. It's exactly what it sounds like (and don't mind the dirty stove, cleaning day is Sunday):


Long live silicon! Miss Vernon states that the cover is "heat/warp/melt resistant." I've had it for a few months, and there's no sign of melting yet, which is commendable considering it is a gas stove.

Available at Lillian Vernon.

Homemade Tortilla Chips

Yes, tortilla chips. I found myself with about 1.5 pounds of little flour tortillas and a full jar of salsa. Logical conclusion? Homemade tortilla chips.

I cut them into quarters, and first tried to fry them. That took too long, as I only have one pan (see: The Essentials post). So I ended up baking them on a cookie sheet. Really simple: oven at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Repeat until you no longer have left overs. They look pretty cool too:



I think the benefit to this is being able to put less salt on the chips, and, maybe experimenting with those flavored tortillas. Think about having sun dried tomato tortilla chips. Yum.

Faking Pricey Ingredients

With a small kitchen comes a small budget. I recently came across a pretty handy list from the February 20 issue of All You (I read it because it was around, don't judge), listing replacements for expensive ingredients.
Below for your thrifty pleasure, the complete list:

• Red wine: pure cranberry juice
• White wine: white grape juice or apple juice
• Mascarpone: cream cheese mixed with some heavy cream
• Buttermilk (1 cup): 1 cup milk and 1 tablespoon lemon juice or vinegar-let stand for 10 minutes (This sounds weird to me, and I would be curious to see if it actually works)
• Creme fraiche (1 cup): 1/2 cup sour cream mixed with 1/2 cup heavy cream
• Edamame: green peas or black-eyed peas
• Maple syrup: brown sugar with a little water
• Molasses: honey
• Cake flour (1 cup): 1 cup all purpose flour, minus 2 tablespoons
• Macadamia nuts: Walnuts, almonds or cashews (I would use more of the substitute nuts, as they are not as rich tasting as macadamia nuts)
• Fresh herbs (1 tablespoon): 1 teaspoon dried herbs
• Allspice (1 tablespoon): 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 tsp nutmeg, 1 tsp ground cloves
• Unsweetened chocolate: 3 tablespoons cocoa powder, 1 Tbsp unsalted butter per oz.

I wonder if these actually work?