Goat Cheese Pappardelle with Pecans, Mushrooms, and Basil

I had a total blast yesterday with friends and fellow food-lovers The Bells as we headed up the dark interstate late last night to see Serenbe Playhouse’s “The Sleepy Hollow Experience.” We got to Serenbe a little early and decided to sample some drinks and desserts at The Hil, which has been featured in Southern Living, Bon Appetit, and Food & Wine among many other publications. While enjoying a lovely chat with the chef-owner’s delightful mother in the bar, we tasted the infamous bourbon pecan tart (I enjoyed it with an amaretto coffee, myself) that had an almost croissant-like crust.

heavenly

The play was delightful: eerie without being spooky and humorous without being campy, and good for all ages. The only downside: it was about 30 degrees and the entire experience was outdoors. This morning I awoke , after getting home at about 2am, to a raging headcold that shattered any plans of productivity for the rest of the day. This includes, of course, the regularly scheduled weekend grocery store run. Hungry and without much in the way of leftovers in the fridge, I scavenged what I could find for a warm, soothing pasta dish.

the fruits of my ransacking!

“Ok, cool, this looks normal. I can totally do this! Pasta, lemon, pecans, goat cheese, fresh basil, and WHAT THE HOLY HELL IS THAT ON THE END?”

I know. Trust me, I know. This, my friends, is a Lion’s Mane mushroom, supposedly one of the healthiest mushrooms you can possibly consume. I picked it up along with some baby shiitakes at the Mulberry Street Market this week from the delightful Jonathan of Sparta Imperial Mushrooms (actually, I inquired about it purely out of interest and he very generously threw one in with my shiitakes as a sample; what a guy!). Fresh mushrooms are in their ideal state of being when sauteed very briefly in only a tiny touch of butter. The mushroom itself has an amazing flavor that comes out when cooked and you don’t need to ruin it by making it mushy or throwing it in with a bunch of other stuff.

I cooked my pappardelle quickly (4 minutes tops, guys, this stuff is fragile) and tossed it with the goat cheese, a ladle-full of pasta water to thin it into a sauce, lemon zest, and the juice from half the lemon. I chopped and toasted the pecans, and also roughly diced and cooked the mushroom over high heat in a cast-iron skillet with a little bit of butter. The mushroom bits got crunchy and browned, and almost reminded me of lump crab meat in the end. I topped the pasta with these and some fresh shredded basil. Comfort food to the extreme, and I never even had to take my fleece socks off!

sigh…

Car-beer-nara: A Lesson in Spontaneity

I love my new job. Love love love love it. But I am currently keeping my head just above water in the catch-up game. Add to that the fact that I am moving at the end of the month and you’ve got one stressed-out lady, so I haven’t been able to cook as much as I’d like. I was invited to a local chefs’ dinner this evening, but I didn’t get home until 7 and I was a little bummed about missing it. The theme was Italian and it got me in the mood for pasta, so I decided to try a favorite of mine: carbonara.

Carbonara is a bacon, egg, and cheese pasta dish (no cream traditionally, contrary to what a lot of fake-o Italian restaurants will try to pass off as carbonara). How could you NOT like it?? Any long pasta will do but I used my personal favorite, which is pappardelle (a very thin, wide egg pasta). Usually you would deglaze the bacon pan with a stock or wine, buuuuuut this was very last minute and I realized too late that I didn’t have either. What I thought was chicken stock in my fridge was actually seafood stock… no bueno. Enter the beer! I am very pro cooking (and baking!) (and drinking!!) with beer, so I improvised with a bottle of Liberty Ale I had in the fridge. Winning! I’m gearing up for Macon Beer Fest on the 24th, so beer is ever present in my fridge.

• 2 or 3 strips thick-cut bacon (I’m a huge fan of the Black Forest bacon from Fresh Market), chunked
• 1/2 cup finely chopped Vidalia onion
• a bottle o’beer (light, not too hoppy)
• 1 cup grated parmesan
• 2 egg yolks
• black pepper to taste
• pastaaaaaaaaa

Cook up your bacon in a skillet that will be large enough to accommodate all the pasta in the end.

gratuitous bacon shot

Once a suitable amount of fat has been rendered, throw in your onions and soften them for a few minutes. Add the beer, scrape up all the bacon goodness from the pan, and bring to a boil. Let it reduce by about half.

Cook your pasta to your liking. Add the pasta to the bacony sauce along with a bit of the pasta water to bind it all together. Remove the skillet from the heat and quickly stir in the yolks one at a time. The heat from the pasta will be plenty to cook them appropriately. Mix in the cheese and black pepper, and plate it up! Save room for seconds…

Cheers!

Also, in a food related flashback, on Saturday my friends Stacey, Molly, and I hit up one of our favorite establishments (Dovetail, holla!) for a much-needed ladies night. Please look at this quail risotto. Thank you.

Minty Avocado Pasta, plus, The Sourdough Saga Returns

To put it plainly, I adore avocado. I used to hate it, but then I found so many different simple ways to turn that delicious fatty flesh into the best of all things. On sandwiches, in salads, or just drizzled with a tiny bit of good olive oil and some sea salt. This time, I am taking advantage of the avocado in a totally different way.

I was looking for a nice summery fresh pasta recipe that didn’t involve tomato- or cream-based sauce. Not a huge fan of either, to be honest. This is kind of like making a smoother version of guacamole and throwing it on pasta, which I admit doesn’t immediately sound appetizing. BUT IT IS! Also, I ticked this recipe as being paleo-friendly. And yes, it does involve pasta, which is so completely non-paleo. Absolutely everything that goes into the sauce is, though, and you can find some nice mostly-veggie pastas out there if you like to cheat a little. Or you can go whole-hog and just buy some Paleo Pasta. It does exist. Google it. But since I’m not actually paleo, I used Mueller’s Hidden Veggie thin spaghetti. Mmmmm.

Ingredients (for 2 healthy-sized servings)

• 2 Hass avocados (if you’re using a larger variety, you could probably get away with 1)
• zest of 1 lime
• 1 tbsp. lime juice
• 3 cloves fresh garlic
• half a jalapeno, seeded and chunked (be careful, use gloves)
• sizable handful of fresh mint leaves (you could also use basil, but I kinda like the minty sweetness here)
• 1 cup baby spinach
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. white pepper (again, optional, but I like it and I have a lot that I need to use up)
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• pasta of your choice, cooked to perfection
• grape tomatoes, both red and yellow for color if you can find them, halved

This is quite magnificently the easiest thing ever. Throw all of those ingredients (except the pasta, duh, and the tomatoes) in a food processor (or a blender if you don’t have one, but it won’t be nearly as smooth and I would recommend chopping things first to get a more even distribution).

WILL IT BLEND??

Turn it on. Turn it off. You should now have a smooth and creamy paste. Adjust any flavors you think are missing – more salt, lime, whatever. Then toss it with your pasta! You can also wilt some additional spinach leaves and mix those in for a double-dose of leafy greens, plus those beautiful little tomato gems. Then get your fork and start a-twirlin’. As you can see, I also threw some grated parm on top (not paleo). Not sure how I felt about it. The pasta really didn’t need it. I think it was more habit than anything.

Oh yes, ma’am.

And my sourdough starter is still alive!! At around Day 6, it started to get soupy and gloriously gassy.

*burp*

It’s about ready to use now, I think. I just have to find a good chunk of time to commit many hours to letting bread rise and be ready to bake right after. It’s really quite amazing how much this thing has changed in a little over a week.

From this…

…to this!

Totally cool, right? I told you. SCIENCE!