foodie nyc

Aglio Oilio, Bastardized

By now, you've read enough about the simple, traditional pasta we always have on Christmas Eve.    Olive oil, garlic, peperoncino, parsley and parm regg make up the dish.   Despite all of the adventures I like to take with ingredients, I can rarely muster the nerve to mess with this dish.

But as part of the post Kate Nash dinner, I said screw tradition. 

The concept and technique for the dish remained the same, but the ingredients were turned upside down.   I started with olive oil in a pan, but rather than infusing with garlic and peperocino, I went with garlic, smoked paprika and a dash of ground cardamom.   After a handful of parsley, the oil stays on low heat for all of the flavors to come together. 

After cooking the pasta to the point of almost al dente, it's added to the oil to cook just a bit more to immerse itself in the flavored oil.   To take this bit of heresy to another level, I finished the dish with grated 5 year old aged gouda instead of the traditional parm regg.   

The smokey, fragrant oil was intense, flavorful and earthy.   I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the aged gouda in the pasta.    It lent the same nutty, salty flavor of the parm regg, but the caramel flavors were an interesting twist. 

Cocoa Cardamom Cumin Chicken Wings

It's almost embarrassing that this dish was inspired by garlic, ginger soy marinated chicken wings at Japanese restaurant Kasadela.  (For those of you keeping score, this is my second post inspired by a meal there.   You should go...and I should go back!).

Embarrassing in the sense that I wanted to stick to the flavors I enjoyed at Kasadela.   A moist, wet marinade that exploded with flavor in every bite.   But there's something about me that just wants to take an idea and run with it rather than re-create it.

I have been on a recent ground cardamom kick, generally for the first time  in my life.  Powerful yet fragrant, used in relatively restrained proportions and with earthy flavors, it's truly a phenomenal spice.    I immediately thought cocoa would be an excellent match for cardamom, as would the earthiness of cumin.   

I wish I could give you proportions, but I had people over, we were drinking lots of wine and generally being rowdy.    For the first time in a while, I had a camera.   So I did what I had been doing every time I used to cook, take pictures for you (and my memory, I suppose).  I guess I'm saying that proportion memory was not a priority.

I chose not to fry the wings, which was mainly because I didn't want to burn the rub, particularly the cocoa.   I roasted them at 350 then 450 to finish.   They were juicy, bursting with earthy flavors and generally delicious.   In retrospect, I would have given them a brief fry to finish rather than turn the oven heat up, just for that extra crispiness.   But otherwise, they were eaten relatively quickly by my rowdy friends.    Always a good sign....

Ham Hock Soup, Pastina, Yellow Foot Mushrooms

I had one of my first major cravings to braise in a long time last weekend.    That's odd behavior for me, considering I seem to rush to braise the first time I feel a nip in the air.   

But so far, it's been all about soups this winter season.   There are a few reasons for the change in course.   The first is that I've been told frequently that my soups are one of the best things I'm making these days.  There seems to be some truth to that,   so why mess with a good thing?

The other big reason is that I rarely get my plan together for cooking four hours before I'm ready to prepare dinner.   The comfort food that falls second on my list after braised meats is a flavorful soup.  So instead of braising,  I'll poach a whole chicken for a brodo that reminds me of Italy, simmer mushrooms for a mushroom stock, experiment with veggie and ginger stocks...the varieties are endless.   I recently had a duck stock at Momofuku that I loved, so I need to work that into the mix. 

One of the stocks that's been part of my arsenal for years is a smoked ham hock stock.  I love the smoky, intense pork flavor especially within a clear, unfatty broth.   I posted my recipe for smoked ham hock stock before - it requires little effort and can basically simmer on the stove while you read the paper, watch football or declog your shower.  (Sorry, inside joke.)

You've heard everyone say that homemade stocks are a thousand times better than anything you can buy.   For once, everyone is right - the flavor isn't even comparable in my opinion.  But another major benefit of making stock, in fact one of the most important benefits, is the abundance of good eating that will follow.   It's like the a culinary gift to yourself that keeps on giving.   

For instance, this ham hock stock was used to make a soup with pastina, sausage, yellow foot mushrooms and rosemary.    After a night of leftovers, the stock made an appearance in a green curry and mussel soup, similar to the one I've posted here.     Another thing I like to do after work is to just reheat some leftovers in the soup.    I recently had some leftover brussel sprouts, rice and peas in the fridge - nothing originally intended for soup.   Just a few ladles of the stock turned them into a quick dinner that left me wondering why I wouldn't always have stock in my fridge.    Oh wait....I do.    Nevermind.