Archive for the ‘P’ Category
my urkel moment: did i do thaaaaaaaat?
A while back, Pumpkin at From my Swiss window wrote about how she washed a cell phone because she forgot to double check her husband’s jeans before throwing them in the washing machine. I agree with her, by the way, that the boys are taking their fate into their own hands by not cleaning out their pockets first.
Anyway, it reminded me of how just two days after P *finally* went down to the comune to get his new carta d’identita (Italian ID card) we had a little accident here ourselves:
Our ID cards are only paper, you see, so when washed, the ink from the writing on the left side *will* bleed onto the photo on the right. Just in case you wondered.
OOPS!
What’s your biggest or latest OOPS?
Please share in the comments and make me feel less like Steve Urkel!
Buon weekend!
What’s Cooking Wednesday: Fried Eggs with Red Onion and Cheese
Finally, finally the ridiculously hot temps have given way to a bit of fresh air and cool breezes! I wore pants yesterday people! And I didn’t sweat!
So does that mean that I marked the occasion with a triumphant return to the kitchen after weeks of cold salads?
Eh. Not really, no.
This week’s What’s Cooking Wednesday is a staple around here because it’s fast, delicious and filling–and although yes, I do have to turn the stove on, it’s only for a few minutes, so it’s not so bad.
Now let me say that I’ve had plenty of fried eggs in my life, but I have never had them as tasty as when P makes these for me. In our house, these are Uova alla Pablo (and yes, these are *our* eggs from our chickens) but you can call them:
Fried Eggs with Red Onion & Cheese
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 eggs
- One small red onion, sliced
- Salt and pepper to taste
- One slice of cheese (Kraft is good), torn in pieces
1. Heat olive oil in small nonstick frying pan over medium heat.
2. Add sliced onions and sauté for about a minute, until just starting to turn translucent.
3. Crack eggs open over the onions and season with salt and pepper.
4. Let cook for a few minutes. When white is half-cooked, put torn slices of cheese over the yolks and elsewhere and let melt.
5. Once all the whites of the eggs are no longer slimy, remove from heat and serve hot with crusty Italian bread.
Buon appetito!
love thursday: hand-picked centerpiece
Hand-picked by P, of course, and then given to me . . . just because.
Aren’t these the best kind of gifts? The “I thought of you when I saw this” kind?
I know Mary agrees with me.
Happy Love Thursday everyone!
love thursday:
tokens of love
Like most gals, I love getting gifts.
P’s not the best at giving “real” gifts even on birthdays and holidays, but lucky for both of us, I love gifts the most when they are out of the blue and for no reason at all other than “I was thinking of you” like this seashell:
Because P remembers that “conchiglia” means “shell” in English…
Seashell…Mi-chelle…get it?
Happy Love Thursday everyone!
What’s Cooking Wednesday: Pennette alla boscaiola
Drawing inspiration from Cherrye’s recent Pazzi for Porcini post, this week’s What’s Cooking Wednesday dish is Pennette alla boscaiola, pasta with porcini mushrooms, pancetta, and heavy cream. It’s supposed to have prosciutto cotto (cooked ham) in there too, but I got to the store too late and the slicing machine was already cleaned. Next time.
You should know that P and I both love mushrooms. He loves them so much that he goes out looking for them. He’s brought me itty bitty ones like this and monster ‘shrooms like this:
And on *really* good days, he makes my kitchen table look like this:
All the above photos are from the fall, prime mushroom picking time. For this recipe, I used dried porcini, which are truly lovely, especially since you get the added bonus of using the liquid you used to reconstitute them.
In fact, from the original recipe (in Italian), I cut out the butter and used liquid from the porcini instead. This dish is a *big* winner in our casa. So fast, easy, and delicious . . . a new favorite!
Pennette alla boscaiola
(Penne pasta with porcini, pancetta, and heavy cream)
- Dry pasta (I recommend penne/pennette or tagliatelle/fettucine) for two
- 30 g (about 1 oz) of dried porcini mushrooms
- 1/2 to 2 cups water to reconstitute mushrooms
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 150 g (about 5 oz) of pancetta, diced
- 200 ml (about 3/4 cup) heavy cream
- 50g (about a 1/4 cup) of grated cheese
- Salt to taste
1. About an hour before you’ll start cooking, put dried porcini in bowl and cover them in water.
2. When you are ready to cook, put the pasta water on to boil.
3. Use a fine strainer to drain mushrooms, placing another bowl beneath the strainer to catch the water; you’ll need it. If you want to chop the porcini into smaller pieces, do so now; I just leave them as is.
4. In a pan large enough to hold the pasta as well, heat oil over medium heat and then add onion. Let sauté for a few minutes until starting to turn translucent.
4. Add pancetta and let cook for a minute or two.
5. Add mushrooms, about 6 tablespoons of the porcini water, and salt and let cook on low-medium heat for about 15 minutes. If you see that it’s starting to get dry, add porcini water as needed.
6. In the meantime, prepare the pasta so that it’s still rather al dente (it will cook some more with the cream) and drain.
7. Test porcini mixture for salt (if necessary, add more), and then add pasta to the pan, giving it a few turns with a wooden spoon to combine with the pancetta, mushroom, and onion mixture.
8. Make sure the pan is on low heat and add cream, stirring to combine everything.
9. Sprinkle in cheese and stir until mixed in well.
10. Serve hot with extra grated cheese.
Buon appetito!
Michelle Kaminsky is an American attorney-turned-freelance writer who lived in her family's ancestral village in Calabria, Italy for 15 years. This blog is now archived.
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