Another thing to do with tinned fish, it does take longer than stated

I'm feeling rather pleased this week. This recipe as quite a find (I'll get into timing in a bit) and I found it when I was searching for something else (which I now forget). I chose to make it for two reasons: One, I had everything in the pantry. Two: It intrigued me because I don't always see recipes that use a considerable amount of shallots and Three: I wanted to see how the anchovies did with the sweetness of tomato paste.

Pretty damn well, I'm happy to say.

Our ingredients list (easily halved for those of us who live solo #StudioLiving)

• ¼ cup olive oil
• 6 large shallots, very thinly sliced
• 5 garlic cloves, 4 thinly sliced, 1 finely chopped
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper (taste often and adjust as necessary)
• 1 teaspoon red-pepper flakes, plus more to taste (I used more, which will not surprise anyone)
• 1 (2-ounce) can anchovy fillets (about 12), drained (I had a jar of Bellino and used those. Solid choice. Use your favorite whatever its container)
• 1 (4.5-ounce) tube or (6-ounce) can of tomato paste (about 1/2 to 3/4 cup) (Here's another happy thing. A whole can of tomato paste! Much cheaper than a tube of the double-concentrated, though I always have that around for those recipes that one just on Tablespoon)
• 10 ounces pasta (I had radiatore. I think farfalle would also work, a recommendation for occasional guest Ny. I love long pasta like the buccatini on Alison Roman's page, but my stove is rather small to handle the big pot needed)
• 1 cup parsley, leaves and tender stems, finely chopped
• Flaky sea salt

 Directions

1. Heat olive oil in a large heavy-bottomed Dutch oven over medium high (I actually used a saute pan, I usually do for pasta sauces). Add shallots and thinly sliced garlic, and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the shallots have become totally softened and caramelized with golden-brown fried edges, 15 to 20 minutes. 

Okay, here's where I get cranky. This is a bit too hot of a pan, IMO, and a bit too short of a time frame. I did this over medium heat, stirring every 1-2 minutes and occasionally taking a sip of wine. It took me closer to 40 minutues (and an episode of The Leviathan Chronicles podcast), but I got the shallots nice and brown and the kitchen smelled fabulous. 

2. Add red-pepper flakes and anchovies. (No need to chop the anchovies; they will dissolve on their own.) Stir to melt the anchovies into the shallots, about 2 minutes.

This took about seven minutes. I recommend smushing the anchovies a bit to help distribute them evenly from the get-go.  I also needed to deglaze the pan with a splash of the chardonay I was drinking when too much was sticking to the bottom of the pan. 

3. Add tomato paste and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring constantly to prevent any scorching, until the tomato paste has started to cook in the oil a bit, caramelizing at the edges and going from bright red to a deeper brick red color, about 2 minutes. (try closer to 6) Remove from heat and transfer about half the mixture to a resealable container, leaving the rest behind. These are your leftovers to be used elsewhere: in another batch of pasta or smeared onto roasted vegetables, spooned over fried eggs or spread underneath crispy chicken thighs.

4. To serve, cook pasta according to package instructions in a large pot of salted boiling water until very al dente (perhaps more al dente than usual). Transfer to Dutch oven with remaining shallot mixture (or a skillet if you are using the leftover portion) and 1 cup pasta water. Cook over medium-high heat, swirling the skillet to coat each piece of pasta, using a wooden spoon or spatula to scrape up any bits on the bottom, until pasta is thick and sauce has reduced and is sticky, but not saucy, 3 to 5 minutes. (The swirling looks cool if you want to show off, but really isn't necessary.) 

5. In a small bowl, combine parsley and finely chopped garlic clove, and season with flaky salt and pepper. Divide pasta among bowls, or transfer to one large serving bowl, and top with parsley mixture and a bit more red-pepper flakes, if you like.

Max Comfort Food: Herbed Potato Soup

Sundays are great for comfort food and it's been cold and snowy and I had some kind of bug last week. Covid-19 test was negative happy to say.

As a cancer survivor (I still feel odd saying that, since I was caught early and didn't have it that rough) I was urged to move to a vegetarian diet, which I find hard to stick to for more than a few days. Some advice I've seen even suggested vegan, but while I can do that for a meal or two, it's not a lifestyle for me.

The potato soup recipe I found on the Dana Farber site is the basis for this--heavy on the vegetable broth, light on the cream, but my full ingredient list went like this: (you will need a blender)

• 4 Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into pieces, no bigger than an inch
• 3 leeks, washed, cut in half lengthwise, washed again, sliced, then rinsed one more damn time
• 1 baseball-sized onion, chopped 
• 1 large shallot, chopped 
• 1 bulb of garlic, roasted (don't have time to roast? I would guess 5-7 cloves if you consider garlic  a vegetable or 3-4 if you consider garlic a condiment)
• 4 cups vegetable broth (low sodium if you wish)
• 2 cups chicken broth (low sodium if you wish)
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 heaping Tablespoon of Herbs de Provence (no I didn't blend my own, but I likely will at some point)
• 1/4 Cup cream
• 1/4 Cup milk

Optional garnishes:

• Chopped cooked bacon 
• Chopped green onions
• Sour cream
• Shredded mild cheese. I used a Gouda.

Heat the olive oil in your stew pot on medium high heat until a drop of water spatters when you toss it in. Add your onions, leeks, and shallot (plus the garlic if you're cooking it from raw). Stir frequently until the onions are translucent. Add the salt and the Herbs de Provence, stir some more until the herbs are evenly distributed to your eyes.

Add your broth, roasted garlic if you're using, and your potatoes. Stir well, then add the pepper because you forgot it earlier (it can go in with the other spices). Bring to a boil. Turn heat down to medium-high so it's still bubbling, but the bubbles are small. If the bubbles are bigger than an American dime, turn the heat down. Cook uncovered for 30 minutes, stirring every few minutes. In between stirring, clean the counter, and prep your garnishes. 

After the 30 minutes is up, check to ensure your potatoes are soft. 

Now the fun stuff. How do you like potato soup? Smooth and creamy? Chunky? I like mine mostly smooth with all the aromatics blended in, but with a few chunks of potato found here and there.

I use a stick blender, but a conventional blender works fine as long as you're blending in small doses, say a Cup (8 oz) at a time. If you like it chunky, just blend half. Ladle into bowls, garnish as you wish. I also topped mine with some additional black pepper for the picture. 

The recipe can easily be adjusted for vegetarians or vegans. All vegetable, various substitutes for sour cream and cheese. The Dana Farber site had coconut milk as an option.

I also had some rosemary crackers on the side while I ate. Decidedly comforting, very tasty, and flexible. Color me pleased.

Questions? Comments? Happy to hear them. See you soon!

Not Dead Yet or Chick pea pasta doesn't always photograph well

 Hello everyone. I hope you're doing okay. The pandemic has been calling for a lot of comfort food, though I haven't been really happy with a lot of the things I've been cooking of late until today. That is why you haven't heard from me in a while

I try to shop sales and this week, I lucked out to find some chanterelle mushrooms at a reduced price. Then an idea popped into my head to bring out that buttery flavor and mouthfeel and I came up with this:

• 4 oz bacon chopped into 1/2 -inch pieces (pancetta could also be used here)
• 8 oz dry pasta I recommend orchiette or something that will hold a creamy sauce. Shells could work, though when peas get caught in shells, they kind of look like eyeballs. That might not amuse everyone at your table.
• 1/2 Cup heavy cream
• 6-7 ounces green peas--I used canned 'very young' ones. They're nicely tender. If you're using frozen, I recommend thawing first and draining off excess water.
• 4 oz chanterelle mushrooms, chopped into 3/4 inch pieces
• One big shallot or two small ones, diced into 1/4 inch pieces (the big one was too big to enclose in my hand)
• 1 Tablespoon butter
• 3 oz Grana Padano cheese, grated. Parmesan works here, but Padano is more affordable much of the time. 
• ground black pepper to taste

Rinse the mushrooms, pat dry with paper towels. Chop them into 3/4 inch pieces or thereabouts. Throw them in a colander and rinse. Since chantarelles have that fluted fluffy top, it's easy for dirt to be missed on the first rinse. Shake the colander up and down a few times to get more water out. Put them on a plate with paper towels.

Cook your bacon to desired crunchiness. I've always found it useful to start cooking bacon on low heat and then bringing it up slowly to medium/medium high. Remove from pan onto paper towels. Drain the fat, but don't wash the pan. Turn the heat to medium-low.

Melt butter and put in your shallots, stirring constantly until they begin to turn brown. You might want to have a glass of your favorite beverage handy during this step, this takes a while, but it's worth it.

Once your shallots are brown, add the mushrooms, stirring constantly for about two minutes. Slowly add the cream, then the peas, and keep stirring for another minute, then toss in your bacon.  Gradually stir in the cheese until it's absorbed.

Put the heat down to low and cook your pasta. Stir every once in a while. You're going to get a light red/brown because the bacon will color the sauce.

Drain your pasta. Add it to the sauce, stir well. Have pepper handy so it can be added to taste. Makes 3 servings.

The pictures I tried to take really didn't show off the ingredients, so we'll have to do without this time.

Note that there isn't any flour in the sauce. You really don't need it, it will thicken up of its own accord. If you're not eating a wheat pasta, this recipe is gluten-free.

This recipe is pretty flexible too. Easy enough to double if you want to cook a pound of pasta. The chickpea pasta I like comes in 8 oz boxes. 

I had a lot of leftover peas--it was a 15oz can. I threw the bulk of them in some leftover Indian food that will be eaten tomorrow. Not sure what to do with the rest. 

Next up: Cocoa Corner