Pretty julia things

Home made whole wheat pasta with roasted orange pepper + purple onions in arrabiata sauce

By 5PM, I had a craving for something hearty – probably because I hadn’t eaten anything substantial all day long, and it was cold and snowy outside. Because it was cold and snowy outside, my options were either making dinner with what I had on hand, or ordering something in, or starving. Though if anyone knew me, they would immediately know that starvation wasn’t really an option. I also didn’t feel like ordering in, as I prefer home made food to restaurant foods any day. Now that I had made up my mind to cook something, all I needed to figure out was how to make a satisfactory dinner with the things I had on hand. As I was contemplating for ideas, there I saw it. A big bag of whole wheat flour. I immediately thought ‘whole wheat pasta from scratch.’ Then my mind quickly searched through the fridge to see if I had all the ingredients needed to make a pasta sauce. Luckily, I had a jar of Mario Batali brand Arrabiata sauce, two orange bell peppers, flat leaf parsley, and some onions and garlic. Ding, ding, ding, ding. Tonight’s gonna be a pasta kind of night.

Making fresh pasta from scratch is actually pretty simple. All you need is your flour of choice, salt, eggs, water, and olive oil. Since I decided to make whole wheat pasta, I used 2 cups of whole wheat flour, 2 eggs, 1 tsp of salt, 1 tbsp of olive oil, and 2-3 tbsp of water. First, I made a hill of dry ingredients on a board, then created a well in the middle with my fingers so I can put the wet ingredients inside. Like this.

Pasta well set up

Once I set up the well, I took a fork and beat the wet ingredients together. Then I slowly incorporated the dry ingredients into the well with the fork in a circular motion. It’s important to be patient here and slowly incorporate the dry ingredients into the egg mixture until they are almost all mixed in. Then I kneaded the dough until it became more or less a smooth ball. Here, balance out the dough depending on how it feels on your hand – if the dough feels too dry, add in some water, and if it feels too sticky, add in some flour. The dough ball shouldn’t be too dry nor too sticky. I put the ball into a container and covered with a moist kitchen towel right over it, then its cover. I let it rest in the cool and dark spot for about a half hour – it’s important for the gluten to relax before being rolled out into pasta sheets.

I talked to my sister for 30 minutes while I waited for the dough to relax. It was too bad that she couldn’t join me for dinner. Oh well, next time for sure. Anyway, I took out the dough ball and cut it into four pieces. The dough was much more smooth and easier to work with after the rest. Since I don’t have any proper equipments in my kitchen, my ghetto operations began. I rolled out the dough with the plastic wrapped vinegar bottle, cut into strips manually with a pairing knife, then dried them using a plastic wrap covered oven handle. As ghetto as they sound, they worked beautifully!

Ghetto operation # 1 (Rolling + Cutting)

Ghetto operation # 2 (Drying)

100% ghetto/fabulous

With orange peppers

Final product

Once I had the pasta noodles finished, I roasted yellow pepper and purple onions coated in salt, pepper, and olive oil in the oven at 450 F for about 20 mins stirring mid way around. In a sauce pan, I infused basil olive oil with crushed garlic and a bit of red chili peppers at a low heat just until when garlic started to slightly brown. Then poured the arrabiata pasta sauce, and mixed in the roasted vegetables and simmered. While I had the sauce going, I boiled a pot of water for the pasta. Note here to salt the water and put some olive oil because it helps fresh pasta not to stick to each other. Finally I put cooked pasta into the sauce so it would soak up all the wonderful flavors.

I was totally drooling over the pasta when I put mt final touches by topping it off with chopped parsley, freshly grated parmagiano-reggiano, and some cracked pepper. I took an enthused first bite (that eventually lead to two satisfactory servings of pasta dinner later on). It was sweet from the roasted vegetables (when they’re roasted, their flavor gets more concentrated and sweeter. When they are sautéed, they lose a lot of water so the whole sauce gets too watery), spicy from the garlic and chili in the sauce, fresh from the parsley, and hearty from the whole wheat pasta. Forget all the little details. It just simply made me and my belly happy. It was so satisfying in that 1) it was low budget, 2) everything was made from scratch (except the pasta sauce), and 3) it was fresh and healthy. I mean, who could say no to tasty comfort food that won’t make you gain 50 lbs? Non?

Quinoa salad (w/ lemon, olive oil, parsley) and piece of unagi on a blanched piece of kale

By 5PM, my stomach started sending me a series of signals like a machine gun, that sounds like grr-grrrrrrr-grr-grrrrrr. I had only drank some fruit juices earlier on so I was getting pretty hungry. I tried to think of something I can make that is healthy but also something that can quell my hunger good. As I was searching through the fridge in my mind, I remembered that I had a box of quinoa, and some winter veggies (different kinds of kale) I bought earlier at the farmer’s market. And yes, I had unagi (Japanese broiled eel)  in my freezer. Quinoa, kale, unagi. Hmm…. I was thinking what I could make with them, then all of a sudden, it all clicked together. It’s going to be a wrap. Quinoa salad with unagi in a kale wrap. Yesss!!!

First, I cooked quinoa in a boiling water, the same manner I would cook rice. Quinoa is a nutrient-rich super grain which has been called the “Jewel of Inca” by ancient Incans. It contains higher % of protein and essential amino acids than rice or wheat. It also takes much less time to cook than rice. Totally win-win. Anyway, back to the cooked quinoa, I added some olive oil, fleur de sel, a bit of squeezed lemon juice, and fresh parsley from Keith’s farm stand in Union square and tossed to make a salad. Now that I had the quinoa salad done, I needed to get the kale and unagi going. I put the unagi on a pan to heat it up, and blanched kale in hot salted water. It needs maybe a few seconds in the hot boiling water, nothing longer as you don’t want the greens to be too mushy.

Now, it was time for assembly. On the bed of blanched kale, I spooned some quinoa salad, and topped it off with a piece of unagi. Rolled it up together, and took a bite. I could feel the crunchy quinoa, refreshing blend of lemon and parsley (my favorite!!), sweet unagi, then the chewy leafy kale. They were sort of unlikely combination, but I still like the taste. It hit the spot, and my tummy was very happy :)

The next day, I decided to experiment with another type of kale to make a wrap. But this time, a little more asian style. I used the same ingredients, but added egg, garlic, ginger, sesame oil, kimchi (the famous home-made kimchi donated by my mom’s friend), and dropped lemon, parsley, and olive oil. I tossed cooked quinoa in sesame oil and ginger, then fried an egg sunny side up with garlic infused sesame oil, chopped up some kimchi, and pan fried unagi. Again on the blanched piece of kale, I put quinoa salad, egg, unagi pieces, then kimchi. I rolled it up (it was pretty big this time), took a bite, and oh-so-delightful burst of sesame oil, ginger, and spicy kimchi hit my mouth. My mouth was dancing -  it was a perfect comforting asian meal in one bite.

Kale wrap with quinoa (w/  ginger + sesame oil), egg with garlic, unagi, and kimchi

Kale is hearty winter vegetable that is known for its high anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. It also contains high levels of  beta carotene, Vitamin K, Vitamin C, Lutein, and Calcium. Because it’s a tough green it’s much easier to eat when you blanch it and use it as a wrap. I used to like it sautéed in garlic, but now I know it can be used differently. If you have a chance to grab some fresh kale from farmer’s market or any market for that matter, you should definitely try one of these wraps. The beautiful part is, you can put anything you want inside it. So when you want something hearty, healthy, and tasty, consider (kale) wrapping it!

Really, I wasn’t thinking about doing the whole traditional thanksgiving meal if it were not for my sister. As she wanted to have a get-together with a couple of her friends, I initially thought I would make normal dinner, like pasta or something. But instead, my sister requested for me to make something thanksgiving-y. So at the last minute, I changed my dinner menu to Turkey & Co.

But on the contrary to my memory of preparing thanksgiving meal being tough, that wasn’t the case this time. For main dish, instead of the whole turkey, I roasted the breast with lots of herbs+garlic with olive oil and butter. For the sides, I just simply mashed baked yams, made cranberry yuzu sauce, and sauteed haricot verts with garlic.

I started the meal with bruschetta

and ended it with home-made mint  cookies & cream ice dessert.

The turkey was moist and aromatic, yams not too sweet nor mushy, haricot verts crispy with a hint of garlic, bruschetta fragrant and fresh, and finally the dessert refreshing. My sister, her friends and I had a blast that night. She said it was yet the best thanksgiving we had. Good friends call for good food, and good food calls for a great time. And of course, it’s just fabulous when it’s stress-free like this one!