Caliente!!

Forgive the cross-cultural reference in the title, but I don't know how to say "spicy" in Italian. Unfortunately, I won't know how to say it for awhile considering my crazy schedule for next semester won't allow me to take Italian :(

Tonight I explored another tomato sauce...Spicy Tomato Sauce! According to Ms. Di Laurentiis, this sauce is also known as "all'arrabbiata" which translates to "in the angry style." It's an angry sauce. Mine wasn't quite as hot as I may have liked it, but it packed a nice punch. And this is how I made it.

I started by sauteing some chopped onion and garlic for about three minutes in some EVOO. I've gotten very good at trying to keep my hands garlic-smell-free and am proud to say that despite the enormous size of the clove I used, my hands only smell like my Lime Basil kitchen soap :) I next added some chopped black olives, capers, salt, and crushed red pepper flakes.

I tried not to go overboard on the red pepper flakes, but I think my sauce could have used more. I would classify it as a "mild medium" sauce. I could've kicked it all the way up to "hot," but I didn't want to overpower the other flavors the first time making it.

Next, I added some crushed tomatoes and let the sauce simmer for about 20 minutes while I cooked some penne. I use spaghetti or angel hair pasta more often than any other form, so I had forgotten how much longer it takes to cook other types. Luckily, I started cooking it early enough that it was ready at about the same time as the sauce.

As I said before, the sauce wasn't as spicy as I would have liked, but it was great nonetheless. The tomatoes weren't overpowered by the red peppers and the olives and capers made it a little salty. The penne was Giada's suggestion which, as expected, was perfect for this sauce. The bigger pasta scooped up more sauce than something like spaghetti could.

I must say, thus far the sauces from the "Everyday Sauces" section have been pretty quick (with the exception of the marinara sauce that needs at least an hour) which is nice considering a college student like myself doesn't have all the time in the world to cook. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing like a sauce that took an entire day to cook, but these ones have been just as good and I can eat them sooner!!

The next update will be Thursday with another pasta dish! Can't wait!

Aglio, Olio, e Pepperoncino

That would be the name of this dish in Italian! Luckily, Giada included that in her little side note on the recipe. I didn't figure it out for myself. I AM very excited to take Italian next semester though. Then when I talk about these recipes I can really sound like Giada on her show :) Pictured above is my dinner. Whenever I watch the Food Network, the chefs always say things like "Look at how pretty this dish is" or "Look at those colors" and now, I think I can relate. Seriously, how good looking is that meal?

For those not fluent in Italian (myself included), the dish is called Spaghetti with Garlic, Olive Oil, and Red Pepper Flakes. I have my own personal anecdote that goes with this dish. This past summer, my father and I went out to dinner at a local Italian restaurant. The food was great and the portions were huge as usual. My dad decided to order pasta with aglio and olio. It's usually a pretty safe bet for a satisfying meal. When they brought the food out, the first thing I noticed about my dad's plate were the mass amounts of chopped garlic covering his pasta. I kid you not, there were MOUNDS of chopped garlic. One can expect a good amount of garlic in such a dish, but this was ridiculous. My dad took only a few bites since the garlic was so overpowering and that was enough for my mother to pick up on the scent when she got home that night.

That being said, I was a little hesitant about making Giada's version. Luckily, I'm on break right now for school so if garlic was seeping out of my pores, I wouldn't be forced to interact with anyone or sit closely in a packed lecture hall.

I started by making the spaghetti up in the kitchen and bringing it back to my room. It cooked fine without any problems. I've finally gotten the whole cooking-basic-pasta thing down. Next I fired up the old reliable electric frying pan. The first thing you do is heat the olive oil. The recipe makes four servings with 1/2 cup of olive oil, so for my one serving, I used two tablespoons (I would've tried to cut back on the oil in this one, but it's really the essence of the dish). You then add the garlic (peeled, but NOT chopped) to the oil. The original recipe calls for five cloves, but for a single serving I opted for just one.

You saute the garlic for about a minute until it's golden brown. If you over cook it, it will be bitter and I was sure not to do so. Once it has been sauteed enough, you remove the garlic from the oil, then add the red pepper flakes. I didn't really measure these out because 1) I like spice and 2) I don't really think you can add too much! You saute the red pepper flakes for about a minute as well. Next, you add some salt and some reserved pasta water. The original recipe says to add two tablespoons, but since I was on top of my game today, I did the math and figured out that I only needed to add one teaspoon. I have also seen this done a number of times on Food Network when they make pasta dishes, and I never really understood why. I now know that adding some of this water adds a bit of starch to a sauce and gives it more substance. This step is actually Giada's "secret" to this dish.

And now, a lesson in following directions. It says to CAREFULLY stir the reserved pasta water into the oil mixture. I figured it wouldn't be a big deal if I just poured it all in at once, so I did. I swear someone set off firecrackers in our room when I did this. The mixture crackled like crazy and started spitting and hit my arm as I stirred it all around. Had I CAREFULLY added it, I probably wouldn't have jumped out of my boots once I had done so, or singed my arm. You live and you learn.

After the water has been added, you toss the drained pasta in the sauce for a minute to coat all of it (for this reason, you should NOT rinse the pasta with water. I usually don't anyway, but if you do, the natural starches will be washed away and the sauce won't stick to the pasta). Once you transfer this all to a plate, you add chopped parsley, basil, and mint as a finishing touch. This is an instance in which nothing but fresh herbs will do.

As I mentioned before, I was a little hesitant to try this dish because of my past restaurant experience. However, because the full, peeled clove of garlic is sauteed in the oil in this version, it adds the perfect amount of garlic flavor. It acts more like a backdrop to the dish rather than overpowering the entire thing. I had never had fresh mint in a savory dish before and it worked really well with the crushed red pepper. It adds a nice "clean" taste to it and balances out the spice a bit. There was just the right amount of oil as well.

So Giada's recipe has forever changed my view of this traditional meal. And I think it may restore my father's faith in it as well. If my parents are lucky, maybe I'll make this for them when I'm home on break :) I will be cooking AGAIN tomorrow night since, as I said, I'm on break! Come back and check out how my Scampi on Couscous pans out!

OK. Now I really don't mean to be braggadocious, but what you see pictured above, is my best dish yet. I have no idea what to call it, and it was nothing difficult to make, but I'm sitting here eating it right now, and I'm having trouble typing because I just want to keep eating more of it.

I decided to explore the kitchen above me today which is actually a lot bigger than the one I've been using. I had no real plan going into this meal. I basically took veggies from the fridge that needed to be used before they went bad, some chicken, and tomato paste (I knew for sure I wanted some sort of tomato sauce) then Rachael Rayed my way up the stairs (I'll know I'm truly successful if the term "Rachael Ray" becomes a verb in Webster's dictionary).

This dish is basically chicken in a tomato sauce with roasted vegetables. It doesn't sound all that interesting, but I'm so proud of it at this moment! I started by preheating the oven to 450 degrees. I then sliced a zucchini into very thin slices. I was hoping it would become some sort of zucchini chip. Then, I halved an onion and thinly sliced one half and added it to the zucchini. I had a few remaining green beans, so those were also tossed in the mix. I added a bit of EVOO, salt and pepper, then into the oven it went.

Next, I chopped some garlic (side note: Ever since my mother taught me how to make meals that were more than Kraft Mac and Cheese, I was taught to smash the garlic to make it easier to peel. Word to the wise, if you get a little overzealous in your smashing, the garlic WILL be crushed. And the smell WILL stay in your hands.) and the rest of the onion and put those in my pan with some EVOO. I let the two cook till the onions started to turn golden brown. As they cooked, I cut my chicken into strips (might I add that I let it defrost properly this time) and seasoned it with salt and pepper.

At this point in time, a new friend came into the kitchen and asked if he could use a burner. I told him "of course!" since I only needed one and it's always nice to have someone around as you cook. He was making scrambled eggs (I know this because I actually initiated some conversation), and I think I may have intimidated him a bit when I told him I wasn't quite sure WHAT I was making and it was obvious that I had quite a few things cooking.

Once the onions caramelized more, I added the chicken. I then took the veggies out of the oven and flipped them to roast the other side. I sat back awhile and cleaned up my used cutting boards and knife and let the chicken cook all the way through. I then moved onto my tomato sauce. I cracked open a six ounce can of tomato paste (with some trouble I might add. My can opener hates me. I think it's because I neglected it till yesterday) and tried to add it to the pan. Of course, since it is a paste, it took some maneuvering. Luckily, I gave up on trying to shake it out of the can (I was and still am wearing a white shirt) and used my handy dandy spoonula. If you don't know that gadget, perhaps you're more familiar with its scientific term: rubber scrapper.

Since tomato paste alone probably would've overpowered the dish, I added two and a half cans full of water to the pan to mellow it out. I also added some oregano and crushed red pepper. Note to all spice manufacturers: the holes in the top of your crushed red pepper shakers are NOT large enough for crushed red pepper to actually come out. Granted, you're probably trying to prevent cooks from adding too much of the stuff, but I don't believe you can have too much of it. So perhaps your spice shakers should come in varying sizes. You can call the one that allows the crushed red pepper to come out the "Brianne size." You're welcome.

I digress. As the paste became more of a sauce, I took my roasted veggies out of the oven. The zucchini hadn't really become crunchy as I had hoped, but the green beans browned rather nicely as did the onions. I put those onto my dish and then added my chicken creation next to it.

Now after reading this entire process you may be wondering, what the heck is so special about this dish? Well, not only was the chicken perfectly moist and juicy, but the dish had so many levels of flavor! The tomato sauce wasn't over powering at all and the crushed red pepper added a really nice spicy kick to it. Since I caramelized the onions before adding anything else to the pan, they became even darker and added a smoky taste to the sauce. A bit of Parmesan cheese in the sauce also added a little salty taste and another flavor level. Honestly, I ate this food like a barbarian. Luckily, I ate it alone in my room. I was tempted to lick the plate, but then I remembered I am well-mannered 20 year old young lady and such behavior is well...barbaric.

Anyhow, I'm on cloud nine at the moment and am going to think of anyway I could possibly improve this dish (I'm sure there are things I can do). I may have a new signature dinner to impress future guests :)