Herbed Tomato, Garlic, and Noodle Soup and some CHANGES

Hey there!

Long time no see!

Well, I guess I've been a little lazy, and definitely BUSY, but I'd like to just get right back into the swing of things with this recipe I made the other day. It is the middle of bone-chilling winter here in New York, and I had a horrible cold last weekend, so I wanted to make some sort of a soup to help me weather the sniffles. Now, if you know me at all you will know I am a hoarder of all things cookbook, and I have a million of them, but one of my most recent acquisitions is a Williams Sonoma Cookbook called Pasta Soups & Salads. I know, the lack of a comma in between Pasta and Soups irritated me to no end until I figured out that it was literally a ton of recipes about pasta INSIDE of soups and salads. WooAAhhh!

I don't usually mess with pasta. No joke. I mean, it always kind of seemed like a cop-out dinner. It was the dinner of shame and not glory, especially when you're working on some sort of thesis or something and you just can't stomach the idea of doing more work just to feed yourself, so you just plop a cup of pasta on the stove. Awesome. But no glory.

This soup, though, was glorious. There are noodles in it, which is yummy when you are really sick, and there are tomatoes, which are not yummy in the winter, but I made do. And of course there is a ton of garlic. If you do not like garlic, I recommend cutting the amount down. However, garlic is really good for you. Some of the benefits I found here include:

• a treatment for acne
• a natural antibiotic
• a powerful antioxidant

Rock on, garlic!

Well ok, so here's your recipe. Not many pictures because I got so swept up in blowing my nose and drinking DayQuil every five minutes, making for the most psychedelic cooking experience of all time.

Herbed Tomato and Garlic and Noodle Soup

3 qt water
2 tsp salt
4 oz dried elbow pasta
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 small red onion, peeled and minced
1/4 c. garlic cloves, peeled and minced
3 tomaoes, peeled and seeded or 3 c. canned chopped tomatoes
4 c. Chicken stock
1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
2 tbsp chopped fresh chives
1.5 tsp chopped fresh oregano
1.5 tsp chopped fresh thyme
1/4 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
salt and freshly ground pepper

1. In a lrg pot over high heat, bring the water to a boil. Add the 2 tsp salt and the elbow pasta and cook until done. Drain pasta and toss immediately with 1 tbsp of olive oil.

2. In a lrg pot over med. low heat, warm the remaing 1 tbsp olive oil. Add onion and garlic and saute slowly, stirring, until the onion is soft, about 10 minutes. Add tomatoes, chicken stock, parsley, chives, oregano, thyme, rosemary and simmer for 20 min. Add pasta, vinegar, and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer until pasta is heated through, about 2 min.

I made provolone and chive grilled cheese sandwiches for this, but you can do whatever. YAY!

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In some other news, there are going to be some changes to this blog. I am going to start posting a little more of the other things I do, including sewing, local restaurant critiques, and even the occasional "What I wore" post where I spend a chunk of time discussing fashion and what I think about it.

It'll be fun. Stay tuned.

Sea bass with Tomatoes and Onions in Parchment, with Angel Hair Pasta and Arugula Salad

Ok so I love Iron Chef. I love the chairman. I love the secret ingredients. I love the dry ice. I especially love the weird things they make, like fish mousse. Really, who finds that appealing??? But DON'T WORRY, THIS IS NOT A RECIPE FOR FISH MOUSSE.

This recipe belongs to Iron Chef Bobby Flay, who is manliest of men. I did modify it a bit in that there are no potatoes in my version...I never really thought potatoes and pasta went, but please don't tell Bobby. Let him keep making his fishy mousses and potato pasta, it gives the rest of us something to watch.

For this recipe, you'll need:

1 Sea Bass (or other meaty white fish) filet per person              Kosher salt and pepper

sprigs of thyme                1/2 red onion, sliced paper thin                    fresh bay leaves

Fresh parsley              enough cherry tomatoes that you can have 3 halves per filet

olive oil                              1/4 c. dry white wine per filet + 1 c. wine for sauce 

2 shallots, diced                2 cloves garlic, minced                         2 c. clam or beef broth

Enough angel hair for your peeps, cooked al dente

extra virgin olive oil

Ok so. I know it seems daunting that you don't know how much stuff you need of a lot of these things, but bear with me. This recipe is super easy and really intuitive. Bobby uses a whole fish, but I don't roll like that. You can also use any white wine, different ones give the fish distinct flavors.

Just keep some around for drinking. I'm just sayin'!

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Cut thyself a sheet of parchment paper, not too huge, I usually do about 2 feet of length, maybe a little less. Place one filet on half of the paper, not too close to the edge or you will have issues folding it later. Salt and pepper that critter, then delightfully arrange three sprigs of thyme (trim the woody stems), two sprigs of parsley, and one bay leaf on top. 

2. Arrange the tomato halves and the onion slices on and around the fish. I like to do this BEFORE pouring the olive oil and wine on, just so the veggies can get some love too, you know what I mean? Then, as I mentioned, pour 1/4 c. wine over the filet, followed by as much olive oil as you deem necessary (I just give it a healthy enough dose down the middle that it will spread out down the sides). Season it with salt and pepper again. 

3. Now comes the tricky part. In order to keep the wine and olive oil in, you either have to be a ninja at folding, or do it this way: fold 1/2 in. in on the top and bottom of the paper, then fold the paper in half over the filet, careful not to squash it. Fold together the two ends that meet and set something down on it to hold it down while you fold the bottom and top sides up together. When you have done this, take off your place holder and fold the two sides up. Repeat for as many filets as you have!

4. I like to give my filets a little space. Here is how the critters look all wrapped up and in a casserole dish. I layer them like this so that in case my folds come undone, they are at least pointing upwards and not making a mess all over my pan.

4. Ok so pop those in the oven for 25 minutes. Don't worry, your paper will not catch fire, no matter what the limit for heat on the parchment box says. This is not the time to relax! You are an iron chef! ALLEZ CUISINE! Throw your diced shallots and minced garlic into a saucepan on medium heat, along with any onions you didn't use, cut up. I dribble a tad bit of olive oil in there so they don't burn, but you don't have to. Sweat those babies for a little bit, about 5 minutes or so, then pour in 1 c. of white wine and 2 c. of broth. The recipe recommends clam broth, but in a pinch, I have used beef, and it always tastes great. Bring this delightful thing to a simmer and reduce it by 1/2. BTW: It smells like Heaven.

5. MEANWHILE, I hope you haven't forgotten to cook your pasta. Boil it with ample salt. When the pasta is done, and the sauce is reduced by half, drain the angel hair and place it directly in the saucepan, then vigorously coat it in the sauce. Divide into four plates.

6. Your fish should also be done, or getting there. Release it from the oven when its time is up, and cut open the parchment packets. Please be careful! The steam inside is super hot! Let them breathe for about two minutes.

7. Very gently, slide a spatula under the fish and lift it out, placing it on top of the pasta. You will be incredibly impressed with yourself. It looks very pretty. Pat yourself on the back.

8. To make the salad, simply toss arugula (I like arugula and spinach with the remaining cherry tomatoes, sliced in half) and add a bunch of lemon juice and some olive oil, to taste. Serve these two dishes with white white. 

And the winner of episode Sea Bass issssss.....