Dead Batteries and Thai Peanut Noodles

Make these noodles! If you are a visual person like me, seeing a picture of the recipe you are about to try is an important factor in deciding whether or not to make it. I love pretty, colorful food. I eat with my eyes as well as my mouth. so, that being said I totally suck for not having a final product picture to provide with this fantastical peanutty pasta-y recipe-the camera yelled, "CHANGE THE BATTERIES" at me just as I snapped the completed dish's pic. DOH! I thought there might be a slight chance that it saved that final snapshot-but no, it did not.


Ah well, trust me-this is good stuff. I was able to snap a few pics during the preparation so maybe that will help you food voyeurs out just a little bit.


Thai Peanut Noodles from Epicurious.com

8-10 oz. linguine or flat rice noodles
8 green onions
3 small garlic cloves
1 T. fresh ginger, peeled and grated
2 medium carrots
1/2 large red bell pepper
2 T. sesame oil
1/4 c. honey
1/4 c. creamy peanut butter (I used crunchy peanut butter)
1/4 c. soy sauce
3 t. unseasoned rice vinegar
1/4-1/2 t. red pepper (optional)
1/2 c. mung bean sprouts
1/3 c. chopped peanuts (I used plain, unsalted)


Whisk together honey, peanut butter, soy sauce, vinegar and red pepper and set aside.




Cook the pasta according to package directions until al dente. Julienne the green onions, carrots, and bell pepper; and mince the garlic. Heat the sesame oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the carrots, saute for a minute or two, then add the garlic, bell peppers, onions, and garlic. Saute until crisp tender.





Add the liquid ingredients and heat through, stirring gently.




Then add the pasta and toss until coated.
Garnish with the chopped peanuts and bean sprouts...and eat. MMMMM.

Penne Wise Pumpkin Pasta-Sans Penne

Do you have any favorite pasta shapes? Or any shapes that you just don't like? I love orzo (who doesn't right?), rigatoni, tortellini (but that's probably due to the lovely cheesy filling), angel hair and radiatori. Orzo has an almost melt in your mouth texture when you eat it and rigatoni and radiatori really hold onto thick chunky sauces well. Angel hair has a nice lightness to it. On the other hand-I don't like rotini or fusilli. Something about its shape gives it a texture that I don't enjoy all that much. I'll eat it-but I definitely don't prefer it.

Last night I used some radiatori pasta to make Rachel Ray's Penne-wise Pumpkin Pasta recipe that I found on the Taste and Tell blog I've been food gawking at lately. I didn't have any penne and I knew that the little radiator shaped pasta curls would hold onto chunks of a pumpkin based sauce nicely.

I was excited to try this dish because anything with pumpkin in it is a winner for me. I love what pumpkin can do in both sweet and savory dishes. Hmmm...I think I'll try a new pumpkin recipe and post it here each week up until Thanksgiving.

Speaking of Turkey Day...what better to pair with pumpkin pasta then some sage and onion turkey meatballs? I didn't follow any real recipe for the meatballs, just threw ground turkey, bread crumbs, sauteed onions, sage, black pepper and salt and egg and a little thyme together and baked the meatballs. The kitchen still smelled like turkey day after I cleaned up and went to bed last night. Mmmm.

I like this-I think I added a little more Parmesan than the recipe called for and I also didn't use the cream that the recipe called for. I had about a 1/4 cup of half and half on hand and then added some skim milk to get the 1/2 cup of dairy required for the recipe. I don't think this hindered the recipe at all. It was still tasty. I also had to sub dry spices for the fresh and onion for the shallots because that's what I can afford right now.

I have to say -if you are looking for something with bold flavor-this isn't the dish for you. It was a light and mild flavored pasta dish-but I find that to be pretty normal for most savory dishes that are pumpkin based. There always seems to be a light freshness about them. I will definitely make this again.

Penne-Wise Pumpkin Pasta

1 pound whole-wheat penne

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

3 shallots, finely chopped

3 to 4 cloves garlic, grated

2 cups chicken stock

1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin puree

1/2 cup cream**

1 teaspoon hot sauce, to taste

Freshly grated nutmeg, to taste

2 pinches ground cinnamon

Salt and black pepper

7 to 8 leaves fresh sage, thinly sliced plus more, for garnish

Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Directions:

Heat water for pasta, salt it and cook penne to al dente.
Heat the oil, 2 turns of the pan, over medium heat.

Add shallots and garlic to the pan, saute 3 minutes.

Stir in chicken stock and combine with pumpkin, stir in cream then season sauce with hot sauce, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt and pepper.

Reduce heat to medium low and simmer 5 to 6 minutes more to thicken.

Stir in sage, toss with pasta with grated cheese, to taste.

Angel Hair Pasta with Red Pepper Pesto

Once again I fell off my meal plan bandwagon...I was supposed to be making a couple of new dishes-Turkish Chicken thighs and Curried Baked Brown Rice and Lentil Pilaf-but I rummaged through my freezer and found the chicken thighs I *thought* I had were non-existent. So for a short on time adjustment I pulled out some salmon fillets and figured I'd just grill them on the Georgey and browse some blogs for a side dish recipe while at work.

Can I just say, Gawd I love the food blogging community?! There are so many creative and amazing foodies out there and they've become such a great resource and source of entertainment for me. While browsing I came upon a blog called La Mia Cucina that I decided to add to my favorites because I really relate to her love of cooking and her sense of humor.

Through her blog, I read about a blogger who had recently passed. It was touching to read all the comments on her page from all of her food blogging friends. What an odd thing our Internet is-its almost ghostly in a way-these little biographies we will leave behind for our children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. I don't know why it seems so different than writing a book or a diary-but it does. Its a strange feeling of some sort of ongoing spirit. I can't really describe it...

Anyway-I decided to browse this woman named Sherry's recipes and make one in honor of her. Weird I know, but I just felt like I wanted to. She had recently made a simple dish of Angel Hair Pasta with Red Pepper Pesto that was perfect. I had all of the ingredients on hand thanks in part to my little garden! YAY! And...it involved pine nuts and I do love me some pine nuts.



Aren't the veggies pretty? Its so nice to just go out on the deck and pick what I need-rinse it off and use it. (I used the cucumber and the green pepper for a salad to go with my pasta)

Part of the recipe called for roasting your own peppers-and although I've seen it done before-I have never taken them time to do it myself. I'm a little freaked out by fire-but I chose a gas stove for my house-go figure...I'm just full of contradictions. Its sort of who I am. I think I rushed the charring a bit and they could have been charred a bit more-because I had a bit of a hard time peeling them.


Sans roasting the peppers-this recipe takes maybe 20 minutes total from start to finish to complete. Nice and easy and it tastes great too. Thanks to Sherry for sharing this great recipe with all of us!

Sherry's Angel Hair Pasta with Sweet Red Pepper Pesto

3 medium red bell peppers or bottled roasted red peppers

1 tablespoon pine nuts

1 small garlic clove, smashed

1/4 cup basil leaves, plus 2 tablespoons chopped basil

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Salt and freshly ground pepper

1/2 pound angel hair pasta

1/2 cup grated pecorino cheese

1.Roast the red peppers over a gas flame or under the broiler, turning occasionally, until charred all over. Transfer the peppers to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let cool. Peel, core and chop the peppers.

2.In a small skillet, toast the pine nuts over moderate heat until golden, about 4 minutes. Let cool.

3.Transfer the peppers and pine nuts to a blender or food processor. Add the garlic and whole basil leaves and blend until coarsely chopped.

4.Add the olive oil and cheese and puree to a chunky pesto. Season with salt and pepper.

5.In a large saucepan of boiling salted water, add the pasta and cook until al dente. Drain and cool slightly under running water.

6.Transfer the pasta to a bowl and toss with the pesto. Season the pasta with salt and pepper.

7.Top with the chopped basil and pecorino and serve at room temperature.