Pastabilities. The master thread....

Epicurean Exploits - Food and Recipes
21

Nosy! I think that was the night I was killing babies: 2009 EMH Black Cat (regular) and Jeff Lewis’s 2009 Cabernet from George III (sorry, I can see the label with the cards, but the actual name escapes me. I think you posted on this recently). They both held up extremely well over 3 nights, and it was fun comparing the two.

22

I had Jeff’s wine last week (or was it two weeks ago?); House of Cards. Only a matter of time before I bug him to sell me some. [cheers.gif]
Time for another CLONYC, no? :slight_smile:

Next month we host Elizabeth Marston and Steve Pride.
God, I love March. [cheers.gif]

23

Yep - time to plan a trip to NYC!

24

Commercial, dried semolina pasta - which I consider to be superior to fresh for many dishes, and in this case it’s carbonara.

25

It’s Sunday! here we go.
(Pasta shape & wine still undecided yet.)

more to come…

26

Mike…

You know it was coming… [wow.gif] … but I’ll refrain

What’s in the Braciole?

Paully

27

Has anyone tried Safeway Select dried pasta? It says it’s imported from Italy and is labeled “bronze cut” - not sure if that has any real meaning. It looks very nice, similar rough texture to artisanal pastas. I tried the spaghetti last night and thought it was fairly good, though it didn’t have the consistency of texture that the really good ones do. I might have slightly overcooked it so I will try again.

I also tried Safeway’s “San Marzano Style Tomatoes” since they didn’t have the real thing. They should at best be labeled “San Marzano Shape Tomatoes.”

28

29

Hey Mike,

That looks delicious!

Question…is there any particular reason you cook the meatballs in an oven on a rack? I usually brown them in a pan and then toss them in the tomato sauce to finish.

Cheers,
Brett

30

Hi Brett, lately I have been trying to ‘skip’ the fry if possible. not for any health reasons mind you but I just don’t see a difference in a Sunday sauce. 375F for 35 minutes gets them juicy and brown.

31

Got it, thanks!

I’ll give this method a spin this weekend since I’m making spaghetti and meatballs for my son’s Birthday dinner.

Cheers,
Brett

32

You can push it more to like 400, but I would watch it closely. Pink middles are not such a bad thing when their future has a long cook out in it…

33

IIRC Americas Test Kitchen does it this way.

BTW I am making that salmon pasta this week. The cook time seemed border line long but I am trusting your results.

Jason

34

FWIW…

Some people put their meatballs in raw!!

Cheers

35

Indeed they do.
As a personal preference I would rather have the beef fats mostly cooked out onto a pan or into the fry-pan than in my sauce.
I dislike an oily sauce. [cheers.gif]

36

Good to know, I’ve got that book too.

37

Made this last night but didn’t have panna cream. I did throw in a scoop of greek yogurt and small sprinkling of Parm-Reg. It was a major hit.

J

38

Making lasagna tonight and in making the dough (using a 9 to 6 ratio flour to egg) I was a bit short on the egg (5 1/4 oz needed 6 oz) so I added 3/4 oz EVOO, the flour was Caputo “00” Kneaded nice and smooth but was wondering if the EVOO would change the pasta beyond the texture of the dough?

39

Probably Mel, your going to effect the elasticity of the dough!!

Which would effect the thinness of how well it rolls!!

Good luck

40

Glad to hear it. [cheers.gif]