Arancini (3)

Arancini, again. This time, with me learning! In a fry-pan:

dash olive oil

1 c. Arborio (long grain) rice

chicken bouillon

chopped onion

chopped spinach

chopped red & hot peppers

fresh basil

salt & pepper

And add 2 c. water intermittently as the rice dries out.

Stir, sip, stir, and fret, until the rice is done!

To prepare, make golf-ball sized balls, and stick a dice-sized cube of any pungent, delicious cheese into the middle. We used Parrano -- a beautiful parmesan-gouda mix.

Then roll them in:

1. flour

2. beaten egg

3. bread crumbs (we used Panko)

And then you get your boyfriend ("what?!") -

to fry them into a deliciously filling package.

Beet Greens & Eggs

A Friday.

I took a sick-day and worked-worked-worked until exhaustion set in. Our house is beginning to look lived-in!

And so beauteous, and.....oh, I cannot even describe how joyous I am about the entire thing.

There is a small (and friendly!) farmstand on my drive home from work, and I often feel inclined to stop there and get something. So tonight: steamed beet greens with eggs (sourdough bread and gouda cheese and relaxing beverages not shown).

Eggs in a (Basket)?

Today Bean happened upon an Argentinian delicacy; grilled whole vegetables with eggs inside of them. He chose green pepper, and I tomato -- both of us love one and hate the other (can you guess which is which?).

Hollow out, crack an egg in, and plop it on the grill. We had no idea what to expect.

The tomato descended into a fit of instability, and the peppers (though they held up well) were charred inedibly.

I am glad we tried it out, but I doubt we shall ever repeat.

Baked Mac & Cheese

While still only halfway through the work day, Simon announced that he had bought this cheese at a local gourmet food shop (snobs, snobs, snobs). It was called Tintern, and is an aged cheddar cheese made by Welsh monks that is stuck all over with chives and shallots.

While 1/2 pound of pasta (we used gemelli) is cooking, melt 3 tablespoons of butter in a saucepan. When it's smooth, whisk in:

3 tbsp flour

1 tbsp mustard powder

and move around for a few minutes. Then add:

3 c. milk

1/2 c. onion, diced

some paprika

Simmer for 10 minutes.

Then, have your beloved boyfriend

dice up tons of cheese (the chive-filled, and some sharp cheddar); 12 oz. total:

(and do not forget to sample it)

And add 8 ounces to the milk mixture. Mix in the cooked pasta, throw it in a dish, and top it with the rest of the cheese.

And bake at 350 degrees for half an hour; add bread crumbs. We thought it would be more solid, and afterwards I felt as if I were being dragged down by an inordinate amount of mass, but....it was pretty good.

Stuffed Tomatoes

Simon had determined to go to a Magic the Gathering tournament (you heard me) tonight, and consequently I had planned to take my sketchbook and find someplace that served delectable sushi in which to spend the dinner hours.

However!

As was foreseen, Simes wimped out, so we made separate suppers again at home. I was in fact quite excited about this one. We went to the grocery first, where I acquired tomatoes, and a bottle of vermouth in a simply beautiful bottle.

So:

1. Saute spinach and parsley in olive oil.

2. Scoop into a hollowed-out tomato (unripe!) or two.

3. Crack an egg on top.

4. Top with feta cheese!

Bake in the oven (400 degrees) for about 1/2 hour. Mine was still a bit shaky when it came out, but I did not want to upset the balance of disgustingly-burnt yolk to runny whites.

Here's a view of the half-eaten blob. It was better than I expected it to be; a very simple and satisfying combination of tastes.

HOMEMADE PASTA!

We watched a few videos to mentally prepare ourselves for the endeavor. Then, ignoring most of the advice, here's what we did. Plop:

1 1/2 c. flour

sprinkle salt

in a pile on the counter. Make a lil' well, and crack two eggs into it. Whisk up the eggs a little with a knife, and slowly mix in flour from the edges until the mess is controlled enough to use your hands. Then, keep adding in and kneading flour until a stiff-and-springy ball is formed. This may not require all of the flour; we had quite a bit left over. Then, knead the ball for about ten minutes. When it's nice and elastic, and a uniform yellowish color, put it in a bag and let it rest away for 20 minutes.

Now the real work starts! With no pasta machine, we rolled out the pasta by hand, and therefore couldn't get it too thin, but it was still under a millimeter. When you're satisfied with the thickness of it, roll it into a loose coil and slice into small strips. This gives you a fettucine-sized pasta. Quite obviously, the pasta can be cut into any shape, length or thickness you see fit!

And then simply stick the pasta in some boiling water; cook it for less time than store-bought pasta of a similar size, because of its freshness.

Rarely has any meal been so satisfying to prepare, and so scrumptious. I mixed the thick (oh-so-thick, but upliftingly un-rubbery) pasta with steamed asparagus, tomato, grated Romano cheese, and pesto, and a rum & coke for good measure.

Green Eggs! (No Ham)

Sometimes our chickens do this. Green vs. pink, but they both taste good.

Late Dinner

Class ended at 10 PM again; I'm sure whoever scheduled that winner is chuckling quietly with their hot cocoa right now...

But the point is, I had to have dinner. Bean has been strangely motivated lately in the bread-making department, so I used up our old spinach and an egg (and a fresh basil leaf and salt and pepper and butter) and made a scrambled egg mess. On top of the bread went Provolone cheese and spinach.

And it was damn good.

As soon as this was over I spent too many minutes making this card for my Nana; I'm going home for her birthday festivities this weekend, and for some hardcore fiddle playing with the gurls in Amherst.

Good eggs are better than bad eggs.

I walked home from class, disproportionately weak from hunger, daydreaming about delicious foods with which to fill myself for lunch. When I got home, I realized I had a whole head of fresh, bright-green broccoli to use up.

I put about 2 cups of broccoli on to steam while I scrambled up 2 eggs in a bowl with some milk, salt and pepper. Cooked those; threw in some feta cheese and a diced mushroom, and added the still-crisp broccoli.

And then wolfed that baby down! It's amazing how much fresh vegetables make you feel good.

More like dreggs...

I attempted to deviate from my usual refreshing breakfast of cereal and cold cold cold milk by using up some of the farm-fresh eggs my Mother instructed me to take back to school with me. A good idea, I thought, would be to fry up one of those suckers, and while doing so toast an old, almost-stale piece of sourdough bread topped with sliced mushrooms and feta cheese.

However, the egg looked like roadkill; the bread was (as mentioned) old, and the mushrooms lent a strange flavor. There weren't even any good pictures to show for all my trouble.

Mocha Blend

Here in Troy, there is a little cafe called Mocha Blend. Sometimes, upon waking, Bean and I can hear it calling to us faintly, from where it waits squeezed in between the Pricechopper and Insurance Agency. An unlikely place for a quaint little warm-colored breakfast, but it is always a delicious one. Although their breakfast selections are limited (they are far better equipped for lunch), the egg-and-cheese on a croissant is the tastiest thing on this earth. It is perfectly cooked every time, flaky and crisp and tender all at once and in all the right places.

Also, their coffees are gigantic, which will make me love any place. Even the crumbs look good...