Hahahahaha! – In Case You’ve Forgotten How

What’s Cooking? Pasta with Clams – Two Ways

Today’s image is from a Shannon Martin greeting card, the full and hilarious collection of which –

 including note pads, luggage tags, and cocktail napkins – can be found at this website. 

Are you tired of worrying or obsessing about the election – from either side? The other night, after watching another episode of Jeopardy and contemplating our choices of the various series we’ve followed, my sweet husband said, “I’d just like to watch something light. Without a murder.”

As we browsed our collection of Roku channels for a movie, I spotted Moneyball. Which, even though we’ve both seen it, seemed just right: no one dies, there’s no violence (unless it’s when Billy Beane throws a chair through a window), a few players get traded, the divorce in it seems amicable, and the story is true and actually interesting. About halfway through it, my mate said, “You know, I’d forgotten how much fun this one is.”

I think we’re all in need of a break – from Covid-19 news, election news, climate change news, Supreme Court news, .... As an antidote to reality, since March, the Sunday New York Times has been running a section called At Home, with puzzles, craft ideas (mostly for making things out of newsprint), recipes, and thoughts of what to do each week to take your mind off whatever. This past week, that included an essay on the health benefits from laughter.

The article quotes Dr. Michael Miller, a cardiologist at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore, who says that laughter causes the body to release nitric oxide, a chemical that relaxes blood vessels, reduces blood pressure, and decreases clotting. Other salient research notes that laughter improves short-term memory – as well as the capacity to learn – in older adults; it reduces the stress hormones cortisol and adrenaline, and increases life-affirming endorphins. Most relevant today, it helps people stay resilient in the face of troubling circumstances.

Also, if you laugh more, the “mirror neurons” in the brains of those around you kick in and they will also laugh. A win-win – improving your environment and your health at the same time.

If you’re having a hard time getting started, here are a few suggestions:

■ Watch the 1963 original production of The Pink Panther (streaming on Max Go, Cinemax Amazon Channel, DIRECTV);

■ Read A Walk in the Woods, by Bill Bryson;

■ Call your 6-year-old grandson and have him tell you his latest knock-knock jokes.

* * *

Now that you’re at least smiling, here are a couple of fast and nutritious paths to a delicious pasta dinner with canned clams and without a lot of work. I see that look -- keep reading.

One of my mother’s specialties – and there weren’t too many – was what our family always referred to as Clam Spaghetti. It seemed exotic – probably because clams aren’t much of a Southern dish, and in those days, fresh clams were generally NOT something you could get at your grocery store. And even though you can now find them at many grocery stores and fish markets, buy them only if you know you’ll be cooking them by tomorrow.

What if you just decided that’s what you want for dinner? Maybe you’re just looking for something fast yet not fast food. Try the canned version. After a bit of research (the KG’s fave activity), I’ve learned that:

■ The canning process cooks the clams, so all you really have to do is heat them.

■ Like tuna, canned clams keep forever – ok, maybe not forever, but my sources say 3-5 years is the general guideline, and even longer if the can hasn’t been damaged.

■ They’re impressively cheap – in a cursory survey online, I found whole clams at 21 cents/ounce, and chopped clams for 26 cents/ounce.

■ Also like tuna, canned clams are a terrific source of lean protein, rich in vitamins, minerals, and Omega-3 fatty acids. They promote sexual health (!); and have been found to have cancer-preventing properties. So... no cancer and lots of sex -- what’s not to like?

My mother kept cans of chopped clams in her pantry, and that’s what I’ve used for years. But in shopping for these recipes, the Kitchen Goddess found canned whole baby clams, which she likes a bit more for the texture. And let us be honest -- anything with the word “fancy” on the label is a draw for her.

What you’re getting in the can are generally Atlantic surf clams – sweet in flavor and with a firm texture, and you can find chopped clams in almost any grocery store. Look for products from the U.S. Tinned whole clams are brinier and more delicate than chopped clams, so salt your dishes accordingly. Apparently, you can also find jarred whole tiny clams from Italy, but they have thus far eluded the KG. 

The original authors of the two recipes that follow both claim to need less than a half hour. But remember: they have minions. The KG needs a good 10-15 minutes just to get the garlic peeled and chopped. Nevertheless, both dishes can be accomplished in an amazingly short time, including the search through your pantry. And they’re both well worth the effort. Just add a salad and some garlic bread.

Kitchen Goddess note on the ingredients: (1) Both of these recipes called for 1 pound of pasta in the original version, but the Goddess thinks that’s way too much pasta, so she has scaled back both recipes to 12 ounces. You, of course, are free to use as much as you like. (2) And both original recipes called for red pepper flakes (a.k.a, crushed red pepper). As frequent readers will know, the KG much prefers Aleppo pepper for its more complex flavor profile. It’s not as hot as red pepper flakes, but you can always add more, or even add red pepper flakes; and in the meantime, you will have a huge difference in flavor. The KG has purchased Aleppo pepper from Burma Spice and Penzey’s, and there are lots of other places. Bon Appetít calls it “about half as hot as ...crushed red chile flakes... and easily twice as flavorful. Like salt, Aleppo-style pepper is a flavor enhancer. It marries slow-building heat with earthy, cumin-y undertones and a little hit of fruity tang..., with a super-savory finish reminiscent of sun-dried tomatoes.” The Kitchen Goddess has been at the forefront of this wave and hopes you will all jump on so she can stop explaining it.

Spicy Clam Pasta With Bacon, Peas and Basil

Adapted from David Tanis in The New York Times

Who doesn’t like bacon or pesto? So bacon and pesto are bellissimo together. And the peas? Why not?

Serves 4.

Ingredients

1 cup basil leaves, loosely packed, plus some pretty ones reserved for garnish

1 cup Italian parsley leaves, loosely packed

2 small garlic cloves, minced

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

6 ounces (6-8 slices) bacon, cut into ½-inch pieces [KG note: Even better, if you have thick-cut bacon, slice it into lardons, which are ¼-inch pieces]

2 (10-ounce) cans baby clams, drained

½ -1 teaspoon Aleppo pepper, or for more heat, ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 cup frozen peas, thawed

12 ounces spaghetti

Lemon wedges

Directions

In the bowl of a food processor, pulse the basil, parsley and garlic together to a grainy consistency. Wipe down the sides of the bowl and add ½ teaspoon kosher salt, 8-10 grinds of black pepper, and ¼ cup oil. Process until you have a bright green purée.

Start the pasta water with about 4 quarts of water and 2 tablespoons kosher salt. [Another KG note: No iodized table salt, please – it gives the pasta a bitter taste. If you use Diamond Crystal kosher salt, use the 2 tablespoons noted above; if you have Morton Kosher salt, use only 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon. Why? Because Diamond salt is flaky, irregular crystals, while Morton’s is round and pebbly, so is saltier by volume. Isn’t knowledge wonderful?]

Cook the bacon without extra fat in a high-sided skillet over medium heat for 5-8 minutes, until browned and crisp but not hard. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. Pour off all but 1-2 teaspoons of the fat – just enough to coat the bottom of the pan.

Increase the heat to medium-high and add the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil and the Aleppo pepper (or red pepper flakes). Cook for about a minute to let the Aleppo pepper bloom, then add the clams and the peas for another 30-45 seconds, stirring and coating the clams well with the flavored oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper, then turn off the heat and, if the pasta is not yet al dente, cover the pan with a lid.

I added the clams before the peas -- this time. Next time, will add them together.

Boil the pasta until slightly underdone (al dente), then drain it and add it to the pan with the clam sauce. Turn on the heat to medium-high and stir all together. Add 2-3 tablespoons of pasta water, if the dish seems dry. Stir in the basil-parsley purée and toss well. 

Serve topped with the bacon and the reserved basil leaves. Include lemon wedges.

* * *

Linguine with Lemon-Butter Clam Sauce

Adapted from Colu Henry in The New York Times

Fast in the making, also light and flavorful. Lemon and butter are a classic combo.

Serves 4.

Ingredients

Kosher salt

12 ounces linguine or other long pasta, such as spaghetti or capellini

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for serving (optional)

5 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1 teaspoon Aleppo pepper, or ½ teaspoon red-pepper flakes

½ teaspoon dried oregano

½ cup dry vermouth or dry white wine [KG much prefers vermouth]

2 (10-ounce) cans whole baby clams, drained*

10-12 ounces clam juice*

freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

lemon zest (from 1 to 2 lemons – okay, more like 2 lemons)

½ cup chopped Italian parsley

Lemon wedges, for serving

*A 10-ounce can of clams contains 4 ounces of clams and 6 ounces of brine. If you have no clam juice, you can use the can’s contents without draining, but the Kitchen Goddess – no surprise here – prefers to use clam juice, which contains actual clam broth, for a richer flavor you can’t get with just the brine. The most widely recommended brand is from Bar Harbor. And yes, the bottles are 8 ounces, so you’ll have half a bottle left, but you can add it to any other seafood dish or a Bloody Mary (bonus!). Or freeze it for as long as you want.

Directions

The author of this recipe says “While the pasta cooks, make your sauce.” That's so you know how fast/easy it is to do. But the Kitchen Goddess’s blood pressure goes up just thinking about having to get the sauce done before the pasta finishes cooking. If you haven’t got everything for the sauce ready to go, at least get the water to a low simmer and add the pasta when the sauce is ready.

Bring a large pot (4 quarts) of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook according to package instructions until not quite al dente (about 2 minutes short – it will finish cooking in the sauce). Reserve ½ cup pasta water, then drain the pasta.

For the sauce, heat the oil in a deep-sided 12-inch skillet over medium. Add the garlic, Aleppo pepper (or red-pepper flakes), and oregano, and cook for 1-2 minutes, until the garlic turns pale golden. Add the vermouth/wine and clam juice and simmer until reduced by half, 3 to 4 minutes. The sauce will be slightly syrupy. Remove from heat and stir in the clams (they’ll also get heated by the pasta). Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed.

You can tell the sauce is syrupy when you can draw a line across the bottom of the pan

 and it stays open for a few seconds.

Add the butter and lemon zest to the skillet, stirring until the butter is melted, then add the pasta into the skillet as well. Toss the pasta in the skillet until it is glossy with sauce. If needed, add ¼ cup reserved pasta water. Stir in half the parsley.

Serve pasta topped with a thin drizzle of olive oil (I found this unnecessary, but the recipe author included it, so I offer it as optional), and the remaining parsley. Serve lemon wedges along side or at the table.

Mangia!

 

Who Knew Grocery Shopping Could Be Such an Ordeal?

 What’s cooking? Skillet Meatballs with Nectarines and Basil

My first time ordering after the “shelter in place” advisory, I used a service called Favor. It’s online, and once you enter your grocery list, they send an eager young person to the store with it, and the packages get delivered to your house. Because we were all in a fog about the virus and how you could catch it, I was so grateful for the service that the first couple of times, I tipped the young person $20 for a $30 order. Within a couple of weeks, though, the young people got a little less eager and the quality of the delivery started slipping – once, the eager young person actually decided he/she wasn’t interested in my order and I had to start over. When they did deliver, I’d get some of what I ordered, and sometimes an off-brand of what I ordered. You can imagine that when the Kitchen Goddess requests a brand, she expects to get that brand.

I tried going (masked) into the store, at “senior” hours, but the proximity to other people made me so anxious that the minute I walked back into the house, I’d have to take off all my clothes and put everything into the laundry. And shower and take a nap, followed by wiping down every item I bought. The process took pretty much the full day.

So I switched to a curbside pickup that my usual store offers, and even now, I am very grateful for that option. But – not surprisingly – the store likes to sell their house brands more than anything else, and I notice that they’ve gradually shifted the online offerings to skew in that direction. I know they have that other stuff – my beloved national brands – because I’ve purchased them in that store pre-Covid.

But I stuck with it until they started bagging things according to where they came from around the store: dairy, one bag; cookies/chips, one bag; cleaning supplies, one bag. And on and on. One curbside delivery I got had 36 items and they used 14 plastic bags! No matter how hard I try, I can’t get them to use paper and bag more efficiently.

Then one day, the Kitchen Goddess admitted to herself that she yearned – actually yearned – to touch the fruits and veggies she was buying. And it turns out that if you wear a mask and shop at off hours and are careful about the way you move around the stores, it’s not nearly as stressful as it once was. Of course, we’re still wiping down the packaged goods and rinsing the fruits (except the berries) in soapy water, but we’re happy to pay that price for safety. It’s a learning curve.

*  *  *

Even with all this shopping anxiety – and yes, the KG is still having shopping anxiety – I’ve been thinking more about what’s seasonal in this transition between summer and fall. I’m still seeing stone fruit in the bins at my grocery store. I bought some nectarines last week and they were a bit hard, so I put them on a plate in the window of my kitchen, where they got nice and ripe. Then, of course, I liked the look of them on that plate so much that I left them a bit too long for eating out of your hand. That didn’t stop me, though, because I’d found this very nice recipe that cooks them. So the fact that some of the diced pieces were a little less clean cut looking wasn’t a problem.

Stone fruits are really good with pork. Ok, lots of fruits are good with pork. But this recipe, which you can also make with any other ground meat, pulled together a perfect umami/sweet/savory combination of the pork and the nectarines and the basil in my garden. In fact, the original called for peaches, but you have to peel peaches, and the Kitchen Goddess likes to avoid peeling peaches. Nectarines don’t need peeling. Neither do plums, which would also be good in this treatment. Take a look at what’s available at your grocer. And in a pinch, the KG believes that frozen peach slices would work equally well. Once they get cooked, there’s not much difference in the flavor or texture.

I served this dish over rice noodles because it seemed like a fun idea. Having never made rice noodles, I just threw the whole package into the water, and ended up with way more than I needed. Really, a one-cup portion will do just fine per person. The dish would also work well over egg noodles or rice. Regardless of what you use, there’s a definite need for something to soak up that amazing sauce.

Kitchen Goddess note: Rice noodles have about 192 calories per cup; egg noodles have 221. So not much difference, and not much fat in either one, but rice noodles have less. And the fat in rice noodles is unsaturated, which is healthy for you.

Skillet Meatballs with Nectarines and Basil

Adapted from Melissa Clark in The New York Times

Serves 4.

Ingredients
1½ tablespoons fresh ginger, finely grated or minced
3 garlic cloves, grated or minced
1¼ teaspoons of ground cumin
1¼ teaspoons kosher salt
1 pound ground pork (or turkey, or chicken, or beef)
⅓ cup panko or other plain bread crumbs*
3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh basil, plus small leaves for garnishing
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons wine (dry white, rosé or red – KG used a dry white), or broth
2 cups diced ripe nectarines (3-4), or peaches, plums, or frozen peach slices
¼ cup thinly sliced shallots (can substitute white onion or scallions)
1 lime
White rice, rice noodles, or egg noodles, for serving

*Kitchen Goddess note: Panko are Japanese-style breadcrumbs, which are made from crustless white bread in a process that produces a flakier crumb than regular breadcrumbs. If you don’t have any, use regular breadcrumbs, but know that the panko absorb less oil, so they produce a lighter and crunchier end product. Unused panko will keep for 6 + months in a Ziploc® bag in the cupboard. The KG loves panko.

Directions
In a small bowl, mix together the ginger, garlic, cumin and salt. In a large bowl, combine the pork, panko, and basil, and add the spice mix. Using your hands, gently mix everything together, trying not to squeeze or overwork the meat, to keep it tender. Form the mixture into meatballs about 1¼ inches in diameter.

Heat a large (not non-stick) skillet over medium-high, and add the oil. When the oil begins to shimmer, add the meatballs in one layer. Yes, they will stick to the pan at first, so place them carefully. After a minute or two, a browned crust will develop and the pan will get hot enough that you can turn the meatballs... to a position where they’ll stick again! Don’t try to turn them immediately after they stick. Wait a minute or two, then turn again. Once the meatballs have developed a sort of crust over most of their surface, you can easily shake the pan a few times to move them around, further developing a nice evenly crusty exterior. (This shaking the pan while you cook produces for the KG a cool feeling that she really knows what she’s doing. Maybe it will do that for you, too!) Cook the meatballs, turning and shaking the pan, until they are browned all over, 5 to 7 minutes.

Kitchen Goddess note on cooking protein in a skillet/sauté pan: The best way to cook any protein in a pan is to let it sit for a bit after you place it – even though there’s oil in the pan. Here’s what Cook’s Illustrated says about that: “Meat sticks during cooking when the sulfur atoms in the protein react with the metal atoms in the pan, forming a strong chemical bond that fuses the meat to the metal. Once the pan becomes hot enough, the link between the protein and the metal will loosen, and the bond will eventually break.” So now you know.

When the meatballs are sufficiently browned, pour the wine into the skillet and move the meatballs over to one side of the pan, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom (known as the fond – remember fond? It’s the magic ingredient in the sauce, and you don’t get it with a Teflon pan.)

To the empty side of pan, add the nectarines, a pinch of salt and 2 tablespoons of water. When the fruit reaches a simmer, cover the pan, lower the heat to medium, and let it all cook another 5-10 minutes, until the meatballs are no longer pink at their centers, and the peaches are juicy and tender.

Uncover the pan. If there appears to be more liquid than you like, let it cook down for another 1-2 minutes. The fruit should break down into a chunky sauce. If your fruit was less than fully ripe, you may need a few extra minutes.

Stir the shallots/onions into the pan for another 1-2 minutes, until they’re visibly soft. Squeeze the juice from half the lime over everything, then taste and add salt and/or lime juice, as needed. (Tart fruit will likely need less lime juice than sweet.)

Serve the meatballs over rice or noodles (or rice noodles!) with a wedge of lime, and garnished with small or torn basil leaves.

Bon appétit!

Drinking the Blues Away

 What’s cooking? Blue Butterfly Pea Tea, Blue Lemonade, Blue Margaritas

Is this not the coolest looking drink you've ever seen? Stay with me... 

My grandson, James has a favorite color: blue. Blue shoes. Blue shirts. We’ve made snickerdoodles together – he wanted his blue. I’ve made dinosaur cookies for him more than once; they, too, have to be blue. And it turns out, this predisposition puts him in the forefront of fashion this year.

Are you aware that there’s a color of the year? True, true. It sounds almost ridiculous, but we all know that certain colors rise and fall in the world of fashion and decor. Remember when avocado green was all the rage? But that was before Pantone – the color company – decided to exert some control over our collective imagination.

Every year, Pantone’s color experts choose and promote a Color of the Year (COTY). Combining trend analysis and new color influences, they consider various cultural and social icons, take the temperature of the collective psyche, then look deeply into their crystal balls, and issue a proclamation. This year, the COTY is Classic Blue.

Amazingly enough, the color you see here on your screen might not even be the true Classic Blue. Why? Because color is one of the great and conspicuous weaknesses in display technology. In fact (according The New Yorker magazine, which never lies), the range of colors available on the latest digital devices is more restricted than on color television screens from the 1960s.

Pantone’s poobahs say that Classic Blue is “a timeless and enduring blue hue, elegant in its simplicity. Suggestive of the sky at dusk, the reassuring qualities of Classic Blue offer the promise of protection. Classic Blue brings a sense of peace and tranquility to the human spirit, instilling calm and confidence and offering refuge.” Golly, I feel better already.

So as a foodie, what can one do with the Classic Blue? Not too many blue foods, although blueberries are very close to Pantone 19-4052, and a lot easier to remember. I once made the mistake of tossing some purple new potatoes into a fish chowder, and it turned the fish a nearly electric shade of blue. For a while, I thought some strange bacteria had infected the fish until I realized it was the potatoes; but at that point, I couldn’t really bring myself to eat the chowder and I threw it out. It just looked too weird.

But the Kitchen Goddess has made a discovery. Among the strange food-related items I’ve purchased since the lockdown began is a bag of Butterfly Pea Flower Tea. I know, it’s a mouthful. But other than blueberries, it’s one of the few true blue foods that exist in nature.

The tea flavor has that light earthiness of a green tea. Made from the flowers of the Clitoria ternatea plant, it isn’t technically a “tea,” but a tisane – a caffeine-free herbal beverage. It’s been around for centuries, originating in Southeast Asia, where its color-changing properties make it popular also in desserts and cocktails. Yes, you heard me right: color-changing. Are you intrigued? Read on...

So... is it also healthy? So glad you asked. Butterfly pea flower tea (also referred to as “pigeon-wing” tea) is chock-full of the antioxidant proanthocyanidin, which promotes collagen growth and skin cell elasticity and helps prevent chronic diseases, and acetylcholine, which promotes brain function and memory. These two factors alone should be enough to get us all mainlining the stuff.

The tea, on the other hand, is not just healthy – it’s really, really fun. It starts out deep blue, but if you add lemon or a bit of other citrus juice, the blue changes to purple. Now, isn’t that fun? The color goes from blue to purple when the pH level changes, in much the same way that a gardener can encourage hydrangeas to bloom blue by adding an acidic organic mulch. But this change happens before your eyes. Like magic!

I found my Blue Butterfly Pea Tea at amazon.com (where else?), but you can also get some from the very excellent tea company, Tea Forté, or at many of the other tea stores online. I bought the dried flowers and the powder version, but have not yet played with the latter.

Brewing Guide

■ For hot tea, use 1½ teaspoons of loose butterfly pea flower tea to 8 ounces of water heated to 205-210 degrees. Steep 3-4 minutes.

■ For cold brewing, use the same ratio of tea to cold water and steep 12 hours.

Butterfly pea flower tea isn’t as tricky to make as black or green tea in that it doesn’t get bitter if you brew it for too long. As I mentioned, it doesn’t have a strong distinctive taste on its own; the KG always adds lemon and/or honey, but you can make a blue tea latte by adding milk and sugar. And now, the Kitchen Goddess presents you with two other perfectly delightful ways to enjoy it.

Kitchen Goddess note: The recipes here are ones I found on other blogs as I rattled around the web. The originators are both food bloggers, and their blogs, which you can reach through the links posted in the attributions, are both well worth a visit – good writing, beautiful photos, and inspiring recipes.

This photo is of Stage 2 -- after the citrus addition but before stirring.

But it's also the prettiest.

Blue Butterfly Pea Lemonade

Adapted from the blog, Love & Olive Oil, by Lindsay Landis 

Makes about 48 ounces or 8 servings.

Ingredients

5 cups filtered water, divided
1 cup granulated sugar, or to taste
½ cup (¼ ounce) dried butterfly pea flowers
1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (should take 8-10 lemons)

Directions
In a small saucepan over low heat, stir the sugar into 3 cups of the filtered water just until the sugar completely dissolves. Add the butterfly pea flowers and stir enough to combine. 

Bring the mixture to a simmer – no more stirring! – then cover the pan and let it steep off the heat for 10 minutes. Using a fine-mesh sieve, strain the mix and discard the flowers. Refrigerate to cool.

In a separate jar or glass measuring cup, combine the lemon juice with the remaining 2 cups of water. Kitchen Goddess note: If you don’t want to make so much at one time, just refrigerate the syrup and add lemon juice and water in a 1:2 ratio (e.g., for a single serving, use 2 tablespoons of lemon juice to ¼ cup of water).

To serve, fill tall glasses with ice. Pour the butterfly pea syrup to about the halfway mark of the glass.

Here you are: Stage 1: Just the syrup over ice

Stage 3: Presto change-o! What was blue is now mauve.

To fully experience the color-changing magic, pour the lemon-water over the ice slowly, and... voila! Where the lemon meets the syrup, the color will slowly change from blue to mauve. Stir to combine the two mixtures until the color has completely turned.

* * *

I started working on this post mid-summer, and it’s almost karmic that today is Dieciséis de Septiembre, which for Mexico is the country’s 4th of July. So as we celebrate their Independence Day with our neighbors to the south, what better way than to mix up a color-changing margarita? It’s not just tasty, it’s a fiesta all to itself.

Blue Magic Margarita
Adapted from Meghan, who writes the blog, Fox-and-Briar

Makes 4 drinks.

Ingredients

For the infused tequila:
1 cup Silver Tequila
8 Butterfly Pea Flowers (dried)

For the margaritas:
4 ounces Butterfly Pea Flower Infused Tequila
2 ounces (¼ cup) lime juice
1½ ounces (3 tablespoons) triple sec or other orange liqueur (I used Paula’s Texas Orange)

1 ounce (2 tablespoons) simple syrup [For simple syrup: In a clean saucepan, stir together equal parts water and sugar. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring only until the sugar dissolves. Remove it from the heat and store.]

Instructions
First, make Butterfly Pea Infused Tequila. In a jar with a tight fitting lid, combine the tequila and dried butterfly pea flowers. Let the mixture sit overnight or for at least 2-3 hours. Use a fine-mesh strainer to remove the flowers. The tequila will keep for... well, mine has lasted two months without a problem. Which means I’m clearly not making margaritas often enough.

Stage 1: Butterfly-pea-infused tequila alone over ice. 

For the Blue Magic Margarita, first rim your glasses with salt (optional): either (1) dip the rim of a glass in a shallow saucer of water or lemon or lime juice, or (2) moisten the rim using a slice of lemon or lime. Then dip the rim in a saucer of salt.

Fill the glass with ice, and add the butterfly-pea-infused tequila.

Stage 2: See how it changes as you're pouring? Notice that the syrupy ingredients are now

what's being poured, so they end up at the bottom of the glass. For the lemonade, the syrup

was already in the glass, so the citrus stayed on top.

In a separate jar or cocktail shaker, mix the lime juice, triple sec, and simple syrup. (If you like a less sweet drink, just reduce the amount of simple syrup.)  Shake well. Slowly pour the mixture into the tequila, and watch the drink turn from blue to mauve. (As with the lemonade, the fun is in pouring slowly, to better watch the color change. Stir to fully combine before drinking.  Garnish with a thin slice of lime.

And wish any of your Latino friends “¡Feliz día de Independencia!”

The Devil Made Me Do It

What’s cooking? Preserved Lemons and Warm Green Vinaigrette

The Kitchen Goddess got a little carried away in this post, so here’s the short-form:

1. The etymology of “idle hands” – ok, not funny, but interesting.

2. Easy instructions for preserving lemons. Which you’ll want to do after reading #3.

3. A perfectly wonderful and seriously useful recipe for Warm Green Vinaigrette. The KG had it at almost every meal (even on hard-boiled eggs, for breakfast), until she ran out.

Even after four months of this pandemic... experience, I wake up almost every morning with a check of all my faculties, wondering if that tingling feeling means anything. Then I get up, have breakfast, and realize it was probably just the need for food and coffee.

I read the paper – not for any news, because it’s almost all the same stuff these days (politics and Covid case counts), but for the occasional piece on science or the arts or fun things to do with your small children, even though the small children in my family are nearly 1,700 miles away. I send links or actual clippings from that last category of pieces to my daughter-in-law, in hopes of helping her cope, but mostly as just something to do. That would be because I’ll take almost any excuse to keep from having to clean up/organize my office.

The office cleaning/organizing thing is easier to avoid if I just stay in the kitchen. But you know the old saying about idle hands... Would you like to know where that saying comes from? Of course you would.

Way back in the 4th century, St. Jerome wrote, “engage in some occupation, so that the devil may always find you busy.” A thousand years later, Chaucer ran with a similar thought in the “Prologue to the Second Nun’s Tale” from The Canterbury Tales: “An idle man is like a place that has no walls; the devils may enter on every side.”.

Then the Protestants got hold of it. According to my New Jersey minister, Martin Luther (in the 16th century) was the first theologian to suggest that our work in the world was as important as the holiness that the monastery sought to achieve. And The Living Bible in 1971 cemented the concept into its translation, with “Idle hands are the devil’s workshop; idle lips are his mouthpiece.” Leave it to the Protestants...

Okay, enough of that.

So when the Kitchen Goddess finds herself with time on her hands, it’s hard to know where the devil will take her. The latest urge was inspired by a recipe for Warm Green Vinaigrette, which included as an ingredient “preserved lemon.”

In the past, when the KG had a need for preserved lemon, she either found some in jars at Whole Foods, or substituted lemon zest and a bit of lemon juice, which doesn’t quite fit the bill. Preserved lemons deliver a mellower taste than you get with fresh lemon – a mildly tart, yet intense lemony flavor. But the process of making them takes 3-4 weeks. Hmmm... she said to herself, 3-4 weeks... I think I have that kind of time.

It turns out that the actual work of preserving lemons takes maybe a half hour. You hear that? Thirty minutes. The rest of the time, you’re just shaking them up once a day. I remembered doing the preparations once when we lived full-time in New Jersey, then putting the jar on a shelf in my pantry. I discovered it several years later, when we were moving, and while those lemons might have been well preserved, I had no real interest in investigating.

But I know that many of you now also have some extra time. And – to repeat – this project just needs shaking/turning the jar once a day, to encourage the salt to dissolve and distribute itself in the brine. Moreover, once you have some, they’ll keep at least a year – maybe longer, as long as they stay submerged in the brine.

The internet has enough YouTube videos and written recipes for preserving lemons to make your head spin. But I thought this was the simplest and most straightforward. It comes from Julia Moskin in The New York Times, who (in the grand tradition of recipe borrowing) adapted it from Paula Wolfert in Wolfert’s 1973 book, Couscous and Other Good Food from Morocco.

Preserved Lemons

Adapted from Julia Moskin in The New York Times

Ingredients

When I saw how tightly they pack,
I shifted to a smaller jar.

5-6 lemons for preserving [Kitchen Goddess note: Organic is recommended because you’ll be eating the skins. If you can’t find organic, let the lemons sit in some vinegar water for a few minutes, then rinse. KG used Meyer lemons, but regular are fine.]
2-3 more lemons for juice
Kosher salt

Special equipment: one medium-sized jar with a tight-fitting lid – whatever size will fit the number of lemons you want to preserve – sterilized in the dishwasher or in a large pot where it can sit raised off the bottom (use a footed baking rack or steamer), in boiling water for 5 minutes. I used a 17-ounce Mason jar with a clamp lid, which I read works better than the ones with ring-type lids. (Don’t boil the rubber gasket.) In that little 17-ounce jar, I fit 6 Meyer lemons.

Directions
Scrub the lemons clean. Slice the ends off each lemon, then cut into quarters lengthwise from the top to within ½ inch of the bottom, leaving them attached at one end.

Cover the bottom of the jar with 2-3 tablespoons of kosher salt. Lightly pack each lemon with kosher salt, then reshape the fruit and fit the lemons into the jar. Press on the lemons as you fit them into the jar, to release the juice. Break some of the lemons apart if necessary, to fit in as many as you can. As you get one layer set, sprinkle more salt before adding another layer.

Press the lemons down to release their juices. Squeeze the additional lemons into the jar until juice covers everything.

Close the jar and let the lemons ripen at cool room temperature, shaking the jar every day (to dissolve the salt and distribute the brine) for 3-4 weeks, or until the rinds are tender. Then store the jar in the refrigerator.

As you can see in the photo above, the Kitchen Goddess had a handy aid to make sure the lemons were all submerged. It’s called a Pickle Pebble, and you can get a package of 4 for $18.95 at amazon.com. The generic name is fermentation weights, and they’re available at a number of websites or kitchen stores. They’re not mandatory – KG was on amazon.com and saw them, and it was like a little twinkle she could not resist. You can just add more juice.



To use the preserved lemons, remove a piece of lemon and rinse it. (My understanding is that you can add more fresh lemons to the brine as you use them up, but am thinking I’ll just wait until I’ve used the entire jar’s worth.) Recipes usually call for the minced rind to be added at the very end of cooking or used raw; the pulp can be added to a simmering pot.

What would you do with preserved lemons if you had some?
You might make Chicken Tagine, a traditional Moroccan dish that’s both easy and impressive. With a little research, the Kitchen Goddess has unearthed a handful of chicken recipes that she plans to try and pass on to you... soon. Preserved lemons are also good on grilled fish and braised veggies.

Here’s that warm vinaigrette over scallops that were already perfectly delicious, suddenly even more so.

Or try this delightful and flexible, light and bright, tart and savory warm green vinaigrette. (Is that enough helpful adjectives?) The Kitchen Goddess is amazed at how well it transforms the simplest salads, gives a dressy touch to asparagus or green beans, and adds sparkle to a dinner of sautéed scallops over rice. (See above.) And according to the originator of the recipe, any leftover sauce is great spooned over creamy ricotta.

Warm Green Vinaigrette

Adapted from Laurie Ellen Pellicano in Taste Magazine.

Makes 1 cup of dressing.

Ingredients
½ cup plus 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2-3 hefty sprigs of fresh oregano
1 tablespoon roughly chopped capers
5-6 Castelvetrano olives, or other meaty green olives, roughly chopped (enough to make 2 tablespoons)
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon minced preserved lemons (about ¼ of one lemon, flesh included)*
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
½ teaspoon kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper

*Kitchen Goddess note: Be sure to rinse the lemon wedge in cold water and pat it dry before using it.

Directions
Heat the 3 tablespoons of olive oil and the oregano sprigs together in a small skillet over medium-low heat. As the heat rises, the oil will tend to sputter with the oregano. This is normal. Once the sputtering picks up and the oregano leaves have turned dark and stiff (3-4 minutes), remove the sprigs with small tongs or a fork, and let them drain on paper towels.

Add the chopped capers to the oil and cook for 1-2 minutes, until they appear to be lightly browned. Add the olives, and cook the mixture an additional 1 minute, stirring regularly just to lightly fry the olives. Turn the heat off, but leave the skillet in place on the warm burner.

Stir in the Dijon mustard, preserved lemon, and white wine vinegar, then whisk in the remaining ½ cup olive oil. Finely crumble the fried oregano leaves between your fingers, and add them to the vinaigrette.

Stir well to combine. Add salt and several fresh grinds of black pepper, to taste. If you’re going to be using the vinaigrette immediately, leave it in the skillet or saucepan until you’re ready. Otherwise, scrape it into a jar or other container to be stored in the fridge. Use warm or at room temperature;
if you store it refrigerated, temper it in a microwave or skillet/saucepan over low heat when ready to use.

Happy lemon preserving, everyone!

A Fortune for You, Too

What’s cooking? Fennel Frond Pesto, Asian Peanut Sauce, and Smoked Oyster Caesar Salad

This is my new favorite from a Chinese fortune cookie. It arrived in a takeout delivery last week, and I thought it seemed perfect for sharing.

Some people tell me they think the Kitchen Goddess never serves anything but fabulous meals. Hahaha... They should ask my husband,  – but wait until I’m out of the room. We’ve been married now for 43 years. That’s 15,695 days. So, even if we count only dinners, and consider that, on average, we either went out or ordered take-out food for 2 of the 7 days of each week, that’s still somewhere in the neighborhood of 11,000 meals. Ok, ok – I’ll take off another 1,000 for takeout.

That number should put me solidly in the ballpark of Malcolm Gladwell’s 10,000-hour rule for success. Phooey. I can guarantee you that quite a few of those meals were, at best, meh. A few were out and out disasters. But we persist – with enthusiasm. At worst, they make good stories.

My earliest noteworthy failure was a roast beef – in our first year of marriage. What I most remember is chewing and chewing and chewing. And deciding never to try that again. I have held to that decision.

Then there was the soup I worked on for hours before pouring the entire batch down the disposal. I recall that it had an overwhelming flavor of peanut butter, and I considered serving it anyhow, then changed my mind. That’s when I developed my mantra: If it doesn’t taste good, throw it out and order pizza.

In more recent years, there was the fried chicken I served to my gourmet group. Definitely meh, even after three rounds of experimentation. So sad. And just last week, I made The New York Times recipe from Ferran Adrià (yes, of el Bulli fame) for tortilla Española, which featured an interesting technique; but I actually tossed the leftovers after asking my prince if he wanted any more and he said, “No.” The tone wasn’t “No, thanks” or “Not tonight” or “Maybe for lunch tomorrow.” Just “No.” Now, I haven’t given up on that one, but the message from my first attempt was clear.

These are only a few I can quickly recall. I try not to dwell on them. So I encourage you, in these days when we are all – still – doing more cooking than usual, to try something new, something that sounds like fun or a great flavor. And regardless of how it turns out, don’t lose that enthusiasm.

* * *

In the spirit of trying something fun, I herewith present to you three – yes, three – recipes that I swear you can complete in 15 minutes. That’s 15 minutes each, of course, starting from when you’ve collected all the ingredients. Now, my darling hubby swears that I have no idea how long 15 minutes is. He’s probably right. But they really are fast and easy, and impressively flavorful.

So let’s just say that if you took an hour one afternoon (or at midnight, which is mostly when the KG gets inspired), you could whip these three items into shape and have the makings of several really nice dinners that can be ready quickly yet still feel special.

The first is Fennel Frond Pesto. Did you ever wonder if there was something you could do with those lacy fronds from the top of the fennel bulb? This is the answer. You know how much the Kitchen Goddess loves pesto. It’s sort of an obsession, but I can’t imagine anyone being hurt from eating too much pesto. This one in particular is delightfully herby, combining the slightly bitter flavor of the fronds and the capers that gets tempered by the mild meatiness of the olives and the creamy pecans. The lemon adds that light, bright element that just makes you want more.

I’ve used this sauce in just about as many ways as I could think of, and it works for all of them. Here's a sample:

● on scrambled eggs for breakfast
● thinned with a little extra oil and drizzled over asparagus or other cooked veggies
● as a crudité dip for raw veggies
● spread on baked salmon or whitefish.

I also gave small jars of it to two friends. One friend emailed me, raving about how wonderful it was on a dish of shrimp and pasta, and insisting on the recipe. The other returned the empty jar and told me that she’s not much of a cook but that if I make any more of this stuff, she’ll take another jar.

Fennel Frond Pesto

Inspired by Daniel Gritzer of Serious Eats (seriouseats.com)

Makes 2 cups.

Ingredients
2 cups fennel fronds, loosely packed (not the thick stalks – just the feathery fronds and the very thin stalks they grow on)
2 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
⅓ cup seeded olives [KG used a mix of castelvetrano and oil-cured black Italian olives]
½ cup pecan halves (or walnuts or pine nuts-- try it with whatever you have)
1½ teaspoons Dijon mustard
juice and zest of ½ lemon
1 teaspoon capers, drained
rounded ½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons best quality olive oil


Directions
Combine all ingredients but the oil in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse the processor until the ingredients form into a grainy consistency. Set the processor to run and slowly add the olive oil. Once the olive oil is incorporated, run the processor for another 10-15 seconds to achieve a relatively smooth purée.

Cover and refrigerate until ready to use. Stores well in the fridge or the freezer.




*   *   *

I plan to try next with garnishes of crushed peanuts and matchstick cuts of cucumber.

Asian Peanut Sauce

I can’t think where I first stumbled across this, but as a huge fan of peanut butter (just not in soup), and an equally huge fan of that Asian peanut sauce, I had to make some immediately. It wasn’t a natural part of the dinner I had planned that night, but I didn’t care. And it was amazing. Like a friggin’ miracle. So there.

The sauce is not just good on noodles; it also works well as a satay sauce for skewered chicken or beef, or a dipping sauce for California rolls. And I have my eye on an Asian salad, but more on that another day.

Makes ½ cup, or enough to sauce 4 ounces of linguine pasta (or whatever kind of pasta you have in the house). But I was only cooking for 2. My new plan is to double or triple these quantities so I have some at hand when the mood strikes me. You might do the same.

Ingredients
Linguine or other long, thin pasta, or soba noodles
2 tablespoons smooth peanut butter
3 tablespoons hot water
1½ teaspoons sesame oil
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon Mirin (or rice vinegar, or cider vinegar in a pinch)*
2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
¼ teaspoon powdered garlic*
Optional garnishes: crushed peanuts, sesame seeds, chives, cilantro, cucumber batons

Kitchen Goddess notes on the ingredients: 1. Mirin is a sweetened rice wine, so if you use a vinegar substitute, you may find that the mix needs a bit of sugar. My understanding is that brown sugar sweetens this dish better than white sugar. I used Mirin, because I had it. But of course. 2. You know what a purist the KG is, so this use of powdered garlic instead of fresh is an attempt to maintain the smooth texture of the sauce. If you don’t care about the texture and want a bigger garlic hit, feel free to use 1-2 small cloves of garlic, minced. 3. It is in fact easier to use 1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger than the 2 teaspoons of fresh, but if you like that bite that fresh ginger delivers, you'll want the fresh. If you just want the flavor, ground ginger will be fine.

Directions
Set a pot of well salted boiling water on the stove and cook the noodles until a bit al dente.

Meanwhile, combine the peanut butter and the hot water until the mixture is smooth and consistent. Add the remaining ingredients and stir well. Toss with the noodles and serve with garnishes of your choice.

*   *   *

Smoked Oyster Caesar Salad

Adapted from Justin Warner, The Laws of Cooking... and How to Break Them (2015).

You may remember the Kitchen Goddess’s fascination with Justin Warner’s debut cookbook, The Laws of Cooking... and How to Break Them. This young man has an amazing imagination when it comes to food and food combinations. Many of his ideas are just downright fun. Like this take on the classic Caesar salad, which uses smoked oysters (a KG favorite) instead of anchovies, and... [wait for it] oyster crackers instead of croutons. So easy, so different, so delicious.

Serves 4, though you’ll have enough dressing and croutons for 4 more.

Ingredients
For the dressing:
2 egg yolks
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons kosher salt
¾ cup vegetable oil (or other neutral oil like canola)
One small (3.7-ounce) can smoked oysters packed in oil

For the croutons:
2 cups oyster crackers
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more for serving

For the salad:
2 romaine hearts
2 tablespoons grated Pecorino-Romano cheese


Directions
For the dressing:
In a food processor (or a blender), pulse together the egg yolks, lemon juice, Dijon, garlic, Worcestershire and salt until thoroughly combined. With the machine running, slowly add the vegetable oil in a thin stream.

Drain the oil from the oysters, reserving 1 tablespoon of the oil for the croutons. Add the drained oysters to the dressing and pulse (blend) until smooth. Set aside.

For the croutons:
In a small skillet over medium-high heat, toss together the crackers, olive oil, black pepper, and the reserved oyster oil. Toast the crackers, tossing often, until they take on some color and start to brown. Remove the crackers to a bowl and set aside to cool.

For the presentation:
Swipe a spoonful of the dressing on each plate (to keep the lettuce from sliding around).
Lop off the base of each romaine heart, and slice the hearts in half lengthwise. Place a half face-up on the dressing, then drizzle with additional dressing. Top with croutons, additional black pepper, and a sprinkling of Pecorino-Romano, and serve.

Kitchen Goddess note: As I mentioned above, you’ll have lots of dressing from this recipe. You can either buy more romaine hearts and invite more guests, or save the rest for another dinner. Warner says the dressing is great in a potato salad, and I believe him. I like having some on hand anytime, as a dressing on other, relatively plain types of salads.

Sharpening My Wits

What’s cooking? Blistered Broccoli Pasta with Pecans, Pecorino, and Mint

I love writing – I really do. But there’s something about the pressure to come up with sparkling prose that makes me go to unusual lengths in lieu of putting my fanny in the chair and tuning up my word processing program.

Today, for instance, in preparation for writing, I have...

■ sterilized my sponges

■ removed the wax from my Christmas votives

■ pored through a collection of recipes to eliminate those I never really plan to make

■ honed my knives

■ invited a friend over for socially distanced coffee.

Whoa – wait a minute, you say. Let’s go back to that fourth item: honing your knives? WTF?

Yes, folks, honing my knives. One of my 2020 New Year’s resolutions, and perhaps the only one I’ve taken seriously. You should consider doing the same. After all, we still have lots of time on our hands.

This idea started with a notice that went out to “my people” – the Austin Food Bloggers Alliance – inviting the first dozen respondents to attend a knife skills class at Faraday’s Kitchen Store, a local Austin source for all things culinary. The main draw was a free Wüsthof knife as part of the class, as well as a delightful lunch prepared in the store’s test kitchen. Not surprisingly, the Kitchen Goddess didn’t waste a gnat’s breath before signing up.

The knife I chose was Wüsthof’s Classic 7" Hollow Edge Nakiri Knife. The Nakiri is a traditional vegetable knife designed for full, rhythmic chopping strokes (I’m still working on that “full, rhythmic” part) – perfect for slicing, dicing, chopping, and mincing. The KG’s favorite tasks. The square tip makes it one of the safest to use in the kitchen. The knives in this line are full tang – the blade is a single piece of steel extending the full length of the knife. I especially like the full bolster part, which is that piece of metal between the handle and the blade. It adds heft to the knife, but more importantly for me, it protects your fingers from pushing against the blade. It has a thinner blade than a traditional cleaver, and those vertical indentations along the blade create small air pockets between the blade and the food, reducing friction and drag between the knife and the food. That’s a nice touch when you’re slicing starchy vegetables like potatoes, which tend to stick to a knife’s blade.

The lead-off to the knife skills discussion/demo was a tutorial on knife care and use, which for my part was the highlight of the day. Most people don’t think about how much easier it is to cook with a really sharp knife; but the less energy you have to put into the chopping and dicing and slicing, the smoother and faster is the process. Of course, you have to be careful, because sharp knives can cut you before you even know it’s happening. But they make the job of cutting an onion, for instance, almost effortless, and with far fewer tears. Also, a dull knife is actually more dangerous than a sharp one, because the extra pressure you have to apply can cause the knife to slip and hurt you. 

So part of our lesson on knives was about learning how to use a honing steel, a piece of kitchen equipment that has baffled the Kitchen Goddess for years. But pay attention, and you, too, will want to pull out that honing steel from your knife block and set it to work.

For starters, when you use a knife, you cause the edge of the blade to become misaligned, which means it doesn’t cut properly. You have two ways to correct the problem: honing and sharpening. When you sharpen a knife, you grind down bits of the blade in order to produce a new, sharper edge. In honing, you’re just realigning the existing edge, even though the result seems to be much the same in effect. But honing will help you avoid resharpening a knife more often than you need to, which makes the knife last longer. The KG now hones hers almost once a week! Practice makes perfect.

If you’re looking for a honing steel or a knife, check out Faraday’s, Austin’s largest independent kitchenware store, with over 5500 different kitchen and cooks tools. (Such nice people, I should give them this plug.)

Then take care of your knives:

■ Wash and dry your knives ASAP after you use them.

■ Don’t put them in the dishwasher: the blade is sure to bang against other tools or dishes, dulling the knife and even damaging the blade. Also, depending on the type of knife, water and heat can damage the grip. So hand wash your knives with soap and hot water, and dry them right away (instead of air drying), to keep them from getting dull or rusty over time.

■ Don’t store your knives in such a way that they knock against other knives or tools. Some options: 

• Wall-mounted magnetic strip. Fine as long as your knives aren’t in a position to be knocked off easily.

• Wooden knife blocks. If your knife block is positioned at an angle, store the knives upside down (blades turned up), so the knife edge isn’t resting on the block.

• If a drawer is your only option, buy plastic knife guards that slip over the blades.

• If you are lucky like the Kitchen Goddess, you can use a large, shallow drawer that lets you store your knives flat. Be sure to use rubber drawer liners with an open grid, so the air can move around your knives.

One of my favorite features in my Texas kitchen. Right next to the stovetop.

 So, now that your knives are sharp, what can you do with them? This pasta dish is a snap to make – “a slam dunk,” as one reviewer put it. And if you don’t have all the same ingredients, feel free to substitute. The KG had a bounty of pecans, which she subbed for the walnuts in the original recipe. The nuts add a meaty flavor to what is an almost vegetarian dish. I say “almost” because there is the pecorino.

The key to the dish is in getting the broccoli properly seared, which involves relatively high heat and no touching. Oil in the pan, broccoli in the oil, and then leave it undisturbed. It’s the same as when you are sautéing any protein – chicken or meat or scallops – that maillard reaction between the protein and the sugars that causes the meat to get brown and crusty will do the same for the broccoli, producing a sweetness you will really enjoy.

Blistered Broccoli Pasta with Pecans, Pecorino, and Mint

Adapted from Dawn Perry in The New York Times (May 24, 2020)

In addition to the need for proper searing, the lemon squeeze at the end of the process is important. That little bit of pizzazz adds a fresh, clean taste to the food, and makes a real difference in helping the flavors reach their full potential.

Serves 4.

Ingredients

1 bunch broccoli or cauliflower (about 1 pound untrimmed)

10 ounces fusilli, farfalle or other short pasta (KG used a mix)

½ cup olive oil

½ cup pecans, chopped (can substitute walnuts or other meaty nuts)

1 teaspoon Aleppo pepper, or ¼-½ teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)

1 lemon, zested (about 1 teaspoon) then quartered

½ cup grated Pecorino Romano or Parmigiano Reggiano, plus more for serving

1 cup packed fresh mint or parsley leaves (or a combination)

Kosher salt and black pepper

I had not enough of either farfalle or fusilli, so combined them. Use what you have.

Directions

Separate the thick stem of the broccoli from the florets and peel it, then slice it into rounds ¼-inch thick. Chop the florets into pieces a bit larger than bite-sized. Set the broccoli aside.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil (using about 1½ teaspoons of kosher salt per quart of water). Add the pasta and cook according to package instructions until al dente.

Kitchen Goddess note about timing: If you have your mise en place – ingredients chopped and measured and ready to go – you can prepare the broccoli in the same amount of time as the pasta takes to cook. The Kitchen Goddess isn’t always ready to meet this challenge, but she is dedicated to the journey.

While the pasta is cooking, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Add the pecans and Aleppo pepper (or red pepper flakes, if using), and cook, stirring, for 1-2 minutes, until the nuts have turned golden and fragrant. Use a slotted spoon or fine-mesh skimmer spoon to remove the nuts and whatever pepper flakes you can to a small bowl. (Hint: The original writer said to remove the nuts and pepper flakes, but I found that most of the pepper flakes will stubbornly resist removal.) Season the nuts with a thin sprinkling of salt and freshly ground pepper.

Add the broccoli to the skillet and toss it in the oil until the pieces are evenly coated. Use a fork or tongs to move the broccoli around in a relatively even layer so that most of the cut sides are in contact with the pan. Cover the pan and cook the broccoli, undisturbed, for 2 minutes. Remove the cover and toss the broccoli to get more of the pieces – or other sides of the pieces – into contact with the pan. Cover again and cook, undisturbed, another 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat.

When the pasta has reached al dente stage, drain it (reserving ¼ cup of the pasta water), and add it to the broccoli along with just enough pasta water to keep the pasta from sticking to the skillet. Toss the broccoli and pasta with the lemon zest, grated cheese, toasted nuts and half the mint/parsley.

Divide the broccoli and pasta mix among serving bowls and sprinkle with the remaining herbs. Add more cheese and a bit of olive oil if you want. Serve with the lemon wedges and encourage guests to squeeze them over the food.

Kitchen Goddess note: In an effort to be straightforward with this recipe, the KG followed it pretty much by the book. But she yearned to add little white wine. So next time, she’ll be tossing in 2 tablespoons of white wine as the pasta was added to the broccoli. Might also pour a glass for the cook. Try it yourself. Will keep you posted...