Kitchen3N

Recipes and food fun from Apt 3N

Salsa all’Amatriciana

IMG_2587It’s Ramadan. The days are long. Brain cells hardly get enough glucose to function throughout the day. You would think after breaking our fasts in the evening, we get a second wind and can be productive. Not the case here. Usually after iftar, my husband and I try to make the most of the 20 or minutes we have together post-kids-bedtime and pre-taraweeh (nightly prayer). Yet even after he leaves for the masjid, I find myself completely unable to do ANYTHING productive. That includes the dishes. I don’t know why this year’s fasts has left my brain and body completely depleted (any md’s/rn’s/nutrionists feel free to chime in). IMG_2538But my dear friend Amreen has been requesting this recipe from the very first time I made it for her back in college. And I, being the jerk friend that I am, have neglected to share it until now. So, on Friday, with bacon, tomatoes and sidekick Moury in hand, whipped up this old favorite.  IMG_2546This recipe is actually from my very first cookbook purchase in high school: Giada’s Everyday Italian. I know I’m always singing Ina’s praises and yes, her show really informed my current culinary outlook. But it all started with Everyday Italian. From Giada, I learned how to make my very first marinara sauce. Shrimp Fra Diavolo. Balsamic Roasted Chicken. Eggplant Caponata. Favorites that I use time and again – and they all come from this book. I can’t say as much for her follow up cookbooks, but this is definitely one I can vouch for. IMG_2557Any Roman reading this will gasp at my bastardization of their beloved Amatriciana sauce – a pancetta/onion/garlic/tomato sauce  except with halal beef bacon in place of the pancetta. I’m sorry! This is just the best we can do! The fat from the bacon balances well with the sweetness/acidity of the tomatoes. So you neither feel like you’re eating a really greasy pesto, nor a flat lined marinara (let’s face it, marinara just isn’t that exciting unless doctored up with some crushed red chili flakes). 
IMG_2576My old, and I mean old (seriously, friends for 13 years now?), friend Moury was with me in the kitchen. And contrary to our last cooking experience, I wasn’t a total tyrant. She took all these photographs for you guys. And since I haven’t been doing any day time eating, these are the only photographs I could manage for this post. IMG_2586So, bacon and pasta lovers rejoice! The perfect marriage of the two is in this dish.

Recipe from Giada De Laurentiis’ Everyday Italian

Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 6 ounces pancetta or slab bacon, diced
  • 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves (I used 3), minced
  • pinch of dried crushed red pepper flakes (I would go with a generous pinch)
  • 1 (28 oz) can tomato purée (I used just over 1.5 lbs fresh tomatoes, blanched then peeled)
  • 1/2 tsp salt plus more to taste
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper plus more to taste
  • 1/2 cup grated Pecorino (I had none, so I just added some julienned basil)

Directions

  1. In a large, heavy skillet heat the oil over medium high heat. Add the bacon or pancetta and cook until the fat is rendered – about 8 minutes. Add the onion and cook for an additional 5 min. Add garlic and red pepper flakes and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
  2. Add the tomatoes, salt and pepper and reduce the heat to medium-low. Allow the sauce to cook, uncovered for 15 minutes. Stir in the cheese (if you have) and salt and pepper to taste.
  3. Serve with 1 pound of cooked pasta (spaghetti or bucatini).

Julia Child’s Ratatouille

IMG_1558So, I’ve renamed my blog! Kitchen3n.com is now your source for traditional Bangladeshi as well as updated American and Mediterranean recipes. Please spread the word!IMG_1549Also, we have a winner for our giveaway! Congratulations to @DistractedDebra on winning the $50 gift card to Sur La Table! Happy shopping!IMG_1550It wasn’t going to be long before I posted something from my copy of Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking (thanks to the hubby for the perfect birthday present!). My first attempts were some of the omelettes, the techniques for which she describes in painstaking detail. I had always heard that eggs were to be cooked low and slow…but she cooks them over very high heat for just a few seconds. And with all kinds of jerking, shaking and flipping action. All of which I failed at, miserably. So, I tried my hand at the ratatouille. Mainly because I had most of the ingredients on hand (a little short on the green pepper so I subbed red pepper). Also, I’d never had ratatouille before and seeing as how I LOVE eggplant, didn’t mind trying it a new way. IMG_1571And yes, that is a ruler you see in the previous picture. She is very specific about cutting the eggplant and zucchini into 3/8 inch slices (if my zucchini looks funny, it’s because TJ’s ran out of regular zucchini and only had baby zucchini left). The total cooking time was 1.5 hrs (active). I’ve never spent that amount of time on a vegetable casserole. But I wanted to do something by the book, and I wanted to make sure I did it just right. I didn’t by the way. In the final cooking, after the vegetables are layered and are set over a low heat to mellow out for ~20 minutes, she says to take care not to scorch the vegetables on the bottom. I scorched the vegetables on the bottom. Like many others, I will probably be making my ratatouille in the oven from here on out. The main flavorings come from the slow stewing with the tomatoes, a little bit of parsley and garlic. I would probably remake in the summer, when the tomatoes are at their ripest and have a lot to offer to the dish.

Not to say that it wasn’t tasty. You can definitely taste all the TLC (tender loving care) that went into its preparation. I would probably add a bit more seasoning next time (increased salt and pepper, perhaps some herbs de provence, more garlic). I’m not sure how it’s traditionally eaten in France, but it was fabulous alongside a piece of baguette and yes, you guessed it, even rice.

From Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking

Ingredients

  • 1 lb. eggplant
  • 1 lb. zucchini
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 4 tbsp olive oil
  • 1/2 lb thinly sliced yellow onions
  • 2 sliced green peppers or 1 red, 1 green pepper
  • 2 to 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 cloves mashed garlic
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 lb. firm, ripe, red tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and juiced (you can also use whole, peeled tomatoes in a can, just cut them across and squeeze gently to dispose of seeds and excess juice)
  • salt and pepper
  • 3 tbsp minced parsley
  • salt and pepper to taste

Directions

  1. Peel the eggplant and cut into lengthwise slices 3/8in thick, 3in long, and 1in wide. Prepare the zucchini similarly. Sprinkle the vegetables with salt and arrange on a wire rack over a baking sheet to let the excess moisture out (about 30 minutes).
  2. Heat up the olive oil in a 10 to 12in skillet over high heat. Fry the zucchini and eggplant, one batch at a time, for about 1 minute on each side until golden brown. Set aside.
  3. Add more oil to the pan and sauté the peppers and onion until soft (about 10 min). Add the garlic, salt and pepper to taste.
  4. Slice the tomatoes into 3/8in strips. Place them atop the peppers and onion. Salt and pepper to taste. Cover and cook over low heat for about 5 minutes. Then, uncover and baste the vegetables with the juices rendered. I turned off the heat at this point, which is why my ratatouille was saucy, but the original recipe directs to cook until all the liquid has evaporated.
  5. Layer the casserole in a cast iron or other fire proof casserole dish (2.5 qt): 1/3 tomato/pepper/onion mixture and 1 tbsp parsley, then half the zucchini/eggplant. Followed by another 1/3 tomato mixture and 1 tbsp parsley. Then the rest of the zucchini/eggplant. Finish with the last third of the tomato mixture and last tbsp of minced parsley.
  6. Cover and cook at low heat for 10 minutes. Uncover and cook for an additional 15 min, basting occasionally with the juices rendered. Adjust salt and pepper to taste.

Spaghettini with Cherry Tomatoes

By now you all know that consistency is NOT my middle name. I offer, not as an excuse, but as a simple explanation for my long absence the fact that I am just about to pop this baby out (of course that means posts will become even more intermittent once I am a fully sleep deprived zombie/mother of two). I have been relying on a combo take-out, mom’s cooking and trader joe’s prepared meals to get by.

Nowadays, when I do find pockets of time when the stars align (I’ve got energy, the grandparents have taken the little one out), I look for recipes that are less involved, requiring fewer dishes to clean. I’ve seen many permutations of the thin-pasta-with-cherry-tomato-based sauce, including some from my favs (Giada’s linguine with shrimp, cherry tomatoes and asparagus or Ina’s summer garden pasta). I try not to be as pour-happy with the olive oil as Ina, and compensate the sparseness of the ingredients with the slow, careful nurturing of the complimenting flavors: garlic and red pepper flakes. Come to think of it, it is really a twist on the italian classic spaghetti con aglio, olio e peperoncino (spaghetti with garlic, olive oil and red pepper flakes).

Whatever it resembles, wherever it came from – it’s good. Try it.

Ingredients:

  • 1 pound spaghettini (or any other long, thin pasta)
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 3 garlic cloves
  • 1/2 tsp chili pepper flakes
  • 1 lb cherry tomatoes
  • 1 tsp salt (or more, to taste)
  • 1/2 cup grated parmesan
  • handful of basil

Directions

Cook pasta al dente according to package directions. Set aside in a big bowl while reserving some pasta water.

In a large skillet, heat up the olive oil over low heat. Slice the garlic and add to the oil, letting it infuse. Discard when the garlic becomes fragrant, but not brown. Increase the heat to medium and add the cherry tomatoes, red pepper flakes and salt to the garlic infused oil. Cook until the tomatoes are just bursting (about 5-7 minutes). Add in the cooked pasta, parmesan and julienned (rolled up like a cigar and sliced thinly) basil all into the skillet. Give it a big toss. Add a ladle or two of the pasta water to help bring everything together.