Spaghetti All Ubriaco, "Drunken Spaghetti"
Ingredients:
2 quarts water
2 quarts inexpensive (but tasty and drinkable) red wine, plus 1 cup for the pan
1 lb. thick spaghetti or linguine
2 fat cloves of garlic, or four small cloves
2 tablespoons butter, salted or unsalted
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Peperoncino or dried red pepper flakes to taste (optional)
1/4 cup chopped, flat-leaf Italian parsley
Add the water and red wine to a 6-quart stock pot and place it over
medium-high heat. Season the liquid generously with kosher salt and
cover the pot to bring it to a boil.
In the meantime, peel the garlic and slice it. Place the butter and
olive oil in a saute pan large enough to fit the pasta and place it
over low heat to slowly melt the butter.
When the water and wine come to a boil, add your spaghetti; stirring
as needed to engulf the pasta in the liquid. As the spaghetti cooks,
stir it often to prevent it from sticking.
Add the garlic to the pan and wait for it to come to a sizzle. Add the
optional peperoncino for some heat, if you like and stir the garlic,
keeping the heat low to prevent it from scorching
When the garlic is toasted pale and sizzling, add the additional cup
of red wine and a generous splash of the pasta cooking water to the
pan and turn up the heat until the liquid simmers.
Test the spaghetti for doneness; when it is al dente, transfer it to
the saute pan along with the parsley. Keep cooking the spaghetti in
the juices, tossing and shaking the pan until the liquid is absorbed.
The pasta is delicious without grated cheese, but you can grate a bit
of Pecorino Romano or Parmigiano-Reggiano over the top if you like.
Extra tips:
If you can't find fresh parsley, dried is fine.
Definitely don't pour the nicest red into the pot. I used a $15.00
2007 bottle of Thierry & Guy FAT bastard Cabernet Sauvignon, which was
perfect.
I would recommend using linguine.
The salt used in the water when cooking the pasta was more than enough
for me (I didn't need to add any later).
Be sure to stop cooking the pasta when it is al dente (it still needs
to be able to absorb the wine, butter, and oil sauce).
In step 6, I did not drain the pasta, but rather moved it to the sauce
pan with a ladle in order to transfer some of the salt-wine-water bath
as well.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
4 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 cup milk
**You can also add currants, raisins, dates or other dried fruits to the dough.
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 425¡F.
In a large bowl, combine butter and flour with a pastry blender or
fingers until crumbly. Add baking powder, salt and sugar.
In a separate bowl, beat egg and milk. Mix into dry ingredients to
make a dough. Turn onto floured surface and roll to one inch thickness
or pat carefully with hands. With a cookie cutter or the bottom of a
drinking glass, cut dough into 2 inch rounds. Place on a greased
cookie sheet, about one inch apart and bake for 15 minutes.
Ingredients:
2 cups canned sweetened condensed milk (21 ounces)
2 cups crushed digestive biscuits
10 teaspoons butter, softened
3 large bananas (or bananas to taste)
1 1/2 cups chilled heavy whipping cream
1 tablespoon packed light brown sugar (optional)
1 dark chocolate bar of your choice
9 inch glass pie pan
roasting pan
pie plate (that will fit in the roasting pan)
Preparation
Make sure you have an oven rack set in the middle of your oven and
pre-heat 425F.
Safety first! :)
There are other ways to make the toffee filling, but this one is the
safest bet. Pour all of the condensed milk into the pie plate that
will fit inside of the roasting pan and stir in a generous pinch of
salt. Cover the pie plate with foil and crimp the foil tightly around
the rim. Put the pie plate in the roasting pan, then add enough
boiling-hot water to reach halfway up side of pie plate (make sure
that the foil is above water). Bake, refilling the pan to halfway with
water about every 40 minutes, until the milk is thick and a deep
golden caramel color, which will take about 2 hours. There are
variations on this method, which are all available online. ÊRemove the
pie plate from the water bath and transfer the toffee to a bowl.
Chill the toffee, uncovered, until it is cold, which will take about 1
hour.
While the toffee is chilling, grease the 9 inch glass pie pan with
butter and lower the oven to 350 F. Crush the digestive biscuits and
mix them with the melted butter, then press the mixture along the
bottom and sides of the glass pie pan to form the crust. ÊPlace the
crust filled pie pan in the oven for 5 to 8 minutes.
When the toffee has chilled and the crust has been removed from the
oven, pour all of the toffee into the pie. As the toffee settles,
slice the bananas. You can use as much or as little banana as you
like, but should know that it is a nice way to cut the extremely sweet
taste of the toffee. Then, place the bananas on top of the toffee.
Whip the cream with the brown sugar (brown sugar optional) until it
holds soft peaks and then spread it on top of the pie. Shave as much
or as little dark chocolate on top of the pie as you would like, and
enjoy!
Chicken Curry
Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds chicken, boneless and skinless
2 teaspoons cumin
4 teaspoons flour
2 tablespoons oil
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
1 medium onion, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
1/4 cup heavy cream
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 1/2 tablespoons curry powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Directions
Cut chicken into 1 inch cubes. In large skillet saute the chicken in
oil until golden brown. Remove to paper towel to drain. In the same
skillet cook the carrots until they are almost done, then add the
onion and saute until it is soft. Then add the curry, cinnamon and
cumin and stir to coat. Add the flour, stir, and let cook for 30
seconds. Next add stock and stir until thick. Return the chicken to
the skillet, add the peas and cream, and simmer for a few minutes
while the flavors mix and the peas cook. Stir well and cook until
everything is hot. Season with salt and pepper. Serve over rice
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