The Bitch Lied...

The cover of Everyday Italian says (and I quote) “125 Simple and Delicious Recipes.” Giada, with all due respect, you are a dirty rotten liar. There are indeed 133 recipes in Everyday Italian and I have cooked my way through just 21 of them.

Though I feel deceived, I’m actually way ahead of schedule. To make it through the last 112 recipes, I will have to average a little over two dishes per week. Totally doable, right?

But word to the wise- before starting a yearlong quest to cook your way through an entire book of Italian recipes there are several questions that should be addressed…

1. In your general vicinity, just how many grocery stores, convenient stores, specialty grocers or any other foodstuff bearing locales are there?

2. Just how much do you like pasta?

3. Will family/friends/loved ones begin to despise you when you say, “no we can’t order Chinese tonight, I absolutely have to make Endive and Frisée Salad with Blood Oranges and Hazelnuts.”

4. Is your freezer large enough to hold the leftovers that will eventually accumulate when cooking large Italian meals for a single person?

5. Are you out of your fucking mind?

I apparently did not take these into consideration. But cooking (and blogging) my way out of cubicle ennui has been more often than not a complete delight. And as I close the first month of my own deranged project, I feel fantastic! So thank you for reading. Write you next month. 

Organic Heaven...

Have you ever had such an off day that you literally have to look down before leaving your house to make sure you remembered to put on pants? Yeah, yesterday was that day.

Maybe it was lack of sleep or feeling a cold coming on or eating way too much garlic but from the moment I woke up topless (I guess I remove clothing in my sleep now?) I knew that Wednesday was going to kick my ass.

Blow number one came at the Dunkies drive through at 8:45 in the morning. “Sorry Meees, chai macheeene es brokeeen. Want sometheeeng else?” No, a medium vanilla chai was absolutely necessary. Luckily I live in New England where there’s a Dunkin Donuts positioned conveniently every five minutes from the last. Barely late for work with chai in hand, an older woman with glasses the size of hubcaps stops me at the door for an endless chat. Almost daily our office building gets confused for the eye doctor next door by the elderly. Understandable really. I mean they’re going to the eye doctor for a reason.

So now ten minutes late with a cold chai I sit down to an inbox full of emails, a blinking message light and a toppling pile of job jackets. We’re a week away from ad close for five magazines and for those of you out there that don’t know the publishing industry, just envision this week as the seventh circle of hell- only instead of boiling blood and blasphemers it’s contingent clients and screaming sales reps.

By the time the sun sets and the streetlights flicker on outside my cubicle window, I’m utterly exhausted. If it weren’t for the “office birthday cupcakes” I probably would have crashed hours ago. I run to my car through the frigid night air and practically burst into tears as I watch my publisher hop into her Beemer and peel off to the airport for a week long vacation in St. Barts. Sometimes I hate Connecticut.

I decide that the only thing that could possibly cheer me up is a shopping spree at the fancy organic market in Westport. This market is so beautiful it almost makes me more beautiful- literally. I think it’s the lighting or something.

Anyway, I walk in and am immediately greeted by an aroma of hot apple cider that I follow to a rustic old table with a carafe and sample cups. I’m instantly warmed and forget entirely about my off day- like an apple lobotomy.

I sniff my way through barrels of coffee beans, I drool over tubs of candy, I fondle drums of seeds and nuts until finally I notice rich WASPy women with bodies by Winsor Pilates start staring at the crazy lady on her fourth cider sample roaming the aisles without a shopping cart.

OK, let’s get busy! In the dead of winter, who wouldn’t want to be reminded of fresh spring vegetables or grilling out on warm summer nights? GDL’s Grilled Vegetables it is! I load up on bell peppers, squash, mushrooms and asparagus. My rainbow of veggies are carefully placed in a crisp, sturdy paper bag and I leave my organic heaven on cloud nine.

The vegetables are oiled and seasoned and then grilled to perfection. GDL recommends using the leftovers on sandwiches or in salads, which is just what I did for lunch today. With snow piling up outside my window, grilled colorful vegetables were the perfect dish to remind me that there will be good weather, good workdays and good food to come. 

Crostini & Panini...

I’m an American. So I call multiple toasted sandwiches “Paninis” like the ignorant barbarian I am. However, “Panino” is the singular small stuffed bread roll and “Panini” is the multiple of these usually grill-pressed sandwiches. Same thing goes for “Crostino” which is a small piece of toast topped with a spread and the plural is “Crostini.”

OK, the Italian grammar lesson is over. Moving on…

Last night I cautiously made GDL’s Italian Egg Sandwich. I say ‘cautiously’ because I have never in my life made an egg any other way than scrambled or hard-boiled. Nor have I eaten one any other way. I, like Julie Powell, thought that fried eggs would be greasy and slimy and cooking them would be an even bigger challenge so I set aside three to make this one-egg crustino. But low and behold, I pulled it off without a hitch. I guess it’s not a huge accomplishment. It’s basically a dropped egg on toast with a spoonful of marinara sauce and a sprinkle of Parmesan. But last night it deserved a small round of applause from my small self in my small kitchen.

Above the recipe in Everyday Italian, GDL writes a cute personal note to me saying, “This breakfast sandwich has been passed down through our family: My grandfather used to make it with my mom, and she would make it with us. Now I’m passing it on to you.” Aw gee, thanks Giada, it's dee-lish!

Staying on the crustino/panino bandwagon, I came home for lunch today and made Panino Alla Margherita. The Italian version of a BLT, which I’ve always called a TBM- tomato, basil & mozzarella. Here’s a little culinary history lesson courtesy of Ms. GDL- Anything made using the colors of the Italian flag (red, white and green) is known as 'alla Margherita.' This goes back to 1889, when the royal palace asked the locals to make pizzas for Queen Margherita with her three favorite toppings tomato (red), cheese (white) and basil (green). It’s the tricolore of the Italian flag! Viva Italiano!

I used the last of a baguette so I guess what I made was technically teeny weenie Panini. But it was just as delicious in diminutive form.

So in closing, can I just say that crusty bread drizzled with olive oil and toasted on a grill pan has quickly become one of the great loves of my life? Shhh, you had me at “sizzle!”

Getting Saucy...

I rarely get weekends entirely to myself lately. Between traveling to Virginia and having friends visit me in Connecticut and seeing family, there are few weekends when I blissfully have nothing to do. This weekend happened to be one of those rare occasions so I decided to commit myself to making several of the tomato sauces in Everyday Italian.

Saturday was spent running around doing errands including a trip to the grocery store (they are beginning to know me by name there) to stock up on everything I’d need to make GDL’s Marinara Sauce, Tomato Sauce with Olives and Vodka Sauce. I had every intention of waking up early on Sunday and getting straight to work on my sauces but a gray, rainy morning was too good to pass up. I slept in and woke up only to spend the remainder of the morning in front of CMT with a pot full of coffee and a coffee table full of glossy magazines.

By two o’clock I was so well rested and amped up on caffeine that I darted into the kitchen and started chopping vegetables like a karate kid on crack. GDL says that her Marinara Sauce is so versatile that she doubles the recipe and freezes it to use later. I thought it wise to do the same. Not to mention, it was the base for the other two sauces I was attempting that afternoon.

So four celery stalks and carrots, four garlic cloves and onions, two nicks, one losing-a-finger-close-call, and countless onion tears later I was ready to throw everything in the pot and add the canned crushed tomatoes. As the sauce simmered, I turned on my DVD player and spent the afternoon with Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck pretending I was on a Roman Holiday.

An hour later, the sauce was thick and gorgeous and my little apartment smelled divine. I ladled the sauce into several two-cup containers for the freezer, set aside three cups for the Vodka Sauce and left 4 cups in the pot for Tomato Sauce with Olives. As previously stated, I’m not a fan of olives. I want to be. It seems like something I’d like. But alas, I have not developed a taste for them. So I sautéed the olives in oil and red pepper flakes half-heartedly.

Combined with the Marinara Sauce and a lot of basil, the olive sauce wasn’t half bad. But on to my grand sauce finale- Vodka Sauce! I’ve always been a fan of this creamy sauce but never did it occur to me how much actual booze was in it. For three cups of Marinara Sauce you add one cup of vodka. Standing over the simmering mixture, I had flashbacks of my twenty-first birthday party and that dreaded night at Mohegan Sun when I’m sure I drank all the vodka on premises.

After ten minutes I was supposed to add the heavy cream, Parmesan, spices and that’s all she wrote but I took a quick taste test and… hello I’m drunk. Isn’t the alcohol supposed to burn off or something? I didn’t think Giada wanted to get me hammered so I figured I’d let it simmer ten minutes longer and up the heat a bit. Just two minutes later I heard a sickly burping noise coming from my kitchen and ran in to find my stovetop and page 67 of Everyday Italian looking like they spontaneously burst out in a saucy case of the chicken pox. OK, no more heat. Half a cup of heavy cream, Parmesan, seasoning and it looked just like my jarred Classico and… tasted even better. GDL says it looks like a heavy dish but “the vodka kicks in and heats up the back of your throat to cut through the heavy cream.”

And I’m not even hung over. 

Indulgences...

After a completely horrid day of work yesterday I decided it was time for an evening of indulgences. I stopped at Whole Foods and picked up a dozen eggs, dry Marsala, strawberries, whipping cream and a bag of chocolate chips. That’s right- we’re making a GDL dessert!

If there’s one thing I can do in the kitchen it’s bake. Desserts have always been my thing. I have inherited the talent (along with stacks of recipes) from my mum and grandmother. But Chocolate Zabaglione (which I still think I’m pronouncing incorrectly) isn’t exactly baking. It’s more like cooking sweetly.

You start by simmering the cream and adding chocolate chips in a saucepan until it’s shiny and smooth. Then you separate eight egg yolks in a large metal bowl, add a lot of sugar and a lot of Marsala and whisk constantly over a double boiler until your arm falls off or the mixture reaches 160 degrees- whichever comes first. Then you fold the melted creamy chocolate into the thick eggy mixture and spoon it over strawberries.

But mine didn’t exactly look like the elegant photo in Everyday Italian. Mine looked like frothy egg yolks with a brown hue- not the most mouth-watering dessert. I was almost ready to give up on it entirely but after doing the dishes, I gave it one more stir, dipped a strawberry into it, said a quick prayer not to get Salmonella, and miraculously… it was pretty f-ing good! Very thick and chocolaty with a sweet and tangy kick from the Marsala. Yum.

I drizzled a ladleful over a small bowl of strawberries, poured a large glass of wine and drifted off into a harmonious haze in front of reruns of The Office. My own office worries were miles away… until today that is. Argh. Happy Friday everyone!

A Petite Powerhouse...

I’ve been feeling very connected to Giada De Laurentiis lately. Wonder why. Maybe because I’m spending my days writing about her recipes, planning out her recipes, shopping for food for her recipes, running around buying kitchen utensils and gadgets I realize I don’t own when I go to make her recipes. The woman is definitely on my mind.

Prior to a week ago, the only connection I had to GDL was the fact that Giada at Home was conveniently on the Food Network during my lunch break. I’ve always loved the look of her show- the gleaming kitchen overlooking the ocean, the fresh beautiful foods and Giada’s clean, confident presence.

I do, however, on occasion roll my eyes at her cooking with cleavage or the goofy giggling faces she flashes the camera. (I mean, who gets that excited over mascarpone cheese?) But despite her quirks, Giada has found her way into my kitchen and my heart. And my affection may be growing to obsession status. I read about some of her “favorite things” on her website and then found myself requesting her signature OPI Bubble Bath polish at my nail salon. Um, hello, I’m a red flag, nice to meet you!

But seriously, in Julie Powell’s blog she wrote about her growing love and connectedness to Julia Child through her project and I have to agree wholeheartedly.

Now on to recipe number 14- Cheese Tortellini in Light Broth. I have never boiled pasta in broth rather than water and as the frothy, yellow cloudy bubbles boiled up and popped before me in the pot, I had my reservations. But poured into a deep bowl and sprinkled with Parmesan, pepper and parsley the dish was as warm and comforting as chicken soup and a big cozy blanket. I imagine round Italian mamas serving this to their cold-stricken children in Italy. “Mangi bambino!”

Ziti with Asparagus for Two & Vegetarian Lasagna for One…

In yesterday’s novel of a blog post, I neglected to mention that I cooked another GDL meal on Saturday night for Jared and me. Ziti with Asparagus, Smoked Mozzarella and Prosciutto turned out to be one of the fastest dishes I’ve ever cooked (aside from my college regiment of instant mac and cheese of course).

The ziti boils for just five minutes before adding the asparagus pieces. In just two more minutes it’s practically done. Just add garlic, salt and pepper and bits of smoked mozzarella to the hot pot so the cheese gets gooey and presto! I made Jared add his Prosciutto to his own bowl as to not taint my vegetarian dinner. I do have to admit that his bowl looked significantly more interesting with the bright red Prosciutto mixing in the white ziti and bright green asparagus. However, the thought of a hanging two-year-old salted pig’s leg crushed any jealousy toward my boyfriend's dinner immediately.

Last night was happily meat free for me. I made GDL’s Individual Vegetarian Lasagna. When cooking for one, a recipe titled “Individual” is a welcomed one. I’ve never made a lasagna on my own before but was fairly impressed with my results. Giada recommends a lot of different vegetables for a variety of textures and flavors but I did omit several that were not easily found (or on sale) at Stew Leonard’s last night.

The only thing I would do differently is let it set longer before attacking it. By the time I got home from Stew’s after work and the gym and prepared the lasagna, I was positively ravenous. With one stab of my fork, zucchini and asparagus and pasta noodles retreated to the edges of my dish and the sauce spewed throughout the plate leaving me with a little bloody vegetable battleground. Ironically violent for a vegetarian night.