In the Kitchen: Last-Minute-Chard-And-Pasta

What do you do when you realize you're missing a crucial ingredient for what you'd planned for dinner? Improvise. (*1)

Advance warning: This is not a summery dish. But it's what I had on hand and what  I came up with in a hurry.

I had a bunch of chard in the frig, so I decided to cook that with pasta. I de-stemmed the chard, julienned the leaves and chopped the stems. Chopped a couple of cloves of garlic.

Rummaged in the fridge and found a half jar of roasted red pepper and some smoked ham. (There was also some pancetta, but I opted to use the ham.) Dried the peppers and chopped those and sliced the ham into thin strips.

Put on a pot of water to boil. Heated olive oil in a large pan.

When the oil was hot, I added the ham and chard stems and cooked those for six or seven minutes (or whatever). Added the garlic and cooked the goods a couple more minutes. Added the chard and some water; put a lid on the pan and cooked it on low for ten minutes.

When the chard was done, I removed the lid, turned the heat to medium-high and evaporated the rest of the water. Added the roasted pepper.

When it was close to eating time, I added the pasta to the water and cooked that. (I used Chitarra, but Fusilli, Linguini, or Bucattini would be great.)

When it was done, I tonged it into the pan with the greens, added a quarter cup or so of pasta water, and tossed and cooked all of it. Just before serving, I added a pat of butter (because as both Marcella and Julia insist, everything's better with butter) and a handful of grated parmesan.

Dished the dish, poured the wine, and enjoyed.

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*1: Yes, I'm big on substitutions, omissions, and the like, but in this case, the dish I'd planned really wouldn't work without fresh ginger, and by damn, I had none. So: on to Plan B. Because at my house, we adhere to the unbreakable rule: NO trips to the grocery store for just one thing. There's other food in the house. Can't make what you'd planned? Then make something else.

Back to the "Is the Internet Making Us Stupid?" Debate

This takes the discussion up a level. Several levels, in fact. This rumination is from David Dobbs, who blogs at Neuron Culture. Worth reading (as is his blog in general). You can also follow him at Twitter (@David_Dobbs)

In the Kitchen: Absurdly Simply Salad Giada

It's summer. So. Salads.

I've been making this one for some time. I got it from Giada on FoodTV (yes, I do sometimes watch FoodTV: Giada and Ina). (Yes, I am in the "Enough With Rachael Already!!" camp.")

This is one of those simple marvels of chemistry: the pasta water "cooks" the greens ever so slightly, just enough to enhance their flavor and that of the tomatoes. This is also a recipe in which you want to use the best sun-dried tomatoes you can find. I use Mediterranean Organic in olive oil. They're pricey, but worth every penny.

I didn't have any goat cheese so I left that out. I was going to put some proscuitto on, but discovered we were out. But I did find sliced smoked ham, so I cut some thin strips of that and added it at the last minute (so it wouldn't get all wet and wonky).

I put the salad on the table along with a big bowl of cherries (because life is just a) and a bottle of white wine and hopped on the stairway to heaven.

And Speaking of Vanishing Summers . . .

Which I was in that previous entry: an update of sorts from my end. (Translation: am I EVER gonna get back to the blogging thing? Answer: Yes, I am.)

I am still on my self-imposed blogging hiatus. Really, it's the only way I'm going to get this book finished by December 31. (Which, again, I plan to do or die trying. I prefer the former option, thankyouverymuch.)

More specifically, I'm going to finish writing the current chapter (number five of what will likely be eight) and then spend six weeks or so polishing those five chapters so I can send to my editor so she can take a look and see that, yes, we'll be ready to publish in the fall of 2011.

And while I polish, I will also be researching the rest of the book (because, like Barack Obama, I can do more than one thing at a time.) (*1)

So: I have a full brain at the moment. I would love to be back at my manic pace of blogging, especially because I've got so many juicy tidbits (no pun intended) of historical info concerning meat in the U.S. to share. And of course a host of snarky commentary on this, that, and the other that's just dying to flow from my fingertips.

Alas, all that juiciness and snark will have to wait another month or two. So, back to work.

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*1: Did I mention that I also volunteered to organize my next high school reunion? I did. Don't ask me why, 'cause I don't know. Oh. Right. Now I remember. There was alcohol involved on the evening I stepped forward with my offer.

Well, By Damn. Speaking of Women and Beer

David Kesmodel (my favorite beer journalist) has a report in this morning's Wall Street Journal on --- drumroll --- the growing realization at the world's breweries that women make better beer tasters. (As in: the professional tasters employed at most breweries to determine if batches of beer are up to snuff.)

Worth reading.

Monday Laughs: The Beer Edition

In case your week is off to a bad start, today's edition of Monday Laughs (okay, so there are no previous editions, but what the heck. Gotta start traditions somewhere.)

First this: Pabst Brewing Co. has finally been sold. And the new owner has this to say about his acquistion:

"We will be vigilant in maintaining and building upon the authenticity of each of our products," Mr. Metropoulos said in prepared statement. "This authenticity has been at the heart of the company's success to date."

"Authenticity"? Are we talkin' about Pabst "Brewing" Co.? You know, the beer marketing outfit?

The second chuckle-o-rama comes from yesterday's New York Times travel section. A Boston hotel is now offering a "Brewmance" package, which the hotel is touting as a "mancation" for guys who want to get together for a little bonding-and-brews. Says the hotel's manager:

“We created this package for men who love beer.

Because, ya know, women don't love beer.

So, folks, laugh yourselves on into this last-week-of-June. Where IS the summer going?