May Funishment

This was from a dinner for ten, outside on our patio. We had bread with olive oil and vinegar, and a vegetable antipasta to start. Then pasta. Then stew and potato salad. We drank water and the rosé version of our grape juice from last fall's bounty. For dessert, we had a little homemade cheesecake with fresh, unadulterated, red-all-the-way-through strawberries from the farmer's market. The conversation was lively, and only veered dangerously into religion and politics once or twice. In the end, only mosquitos and the return to a consciousness of our dependent children broke up the party.

Pasta

This was from the Oregonian, adapted from Martha Holmberg’s “Pasta with Spring Vegetables in Light, Lemony Cream Sauce.” I present it here as a play-by-play the way I actually made it Saturday night.

Put on the water to boil, for the pasta. Salt it. When it boils, add:
16 ounces fettuccine
Cook according to package directions.
Meanwhile…
Saute about a minute:
1 tablespoon butter
1 bunch green onions, sliced (white and light-green parts)
Turn up heat and add:
2 cups chicken broth(I used ½ box of Pacific Organic Free Range…)
Boil about 6 minutes until reduced to about a cup. Then add:
½ cup whipping cream
Continue boiling another 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Add:
1 teaspoon lemon zest (zest of one lemon)
salt & pepper to taste (keeping in mind you will be adding salty cheese later)
In a steamer basket in the top of the pasta pan, steam the following for just a few minutes with a lid over them:
1 bulb fennel, chopped
1 cup frozen peas
2 medium carrots, peeled and diced
1 medium zucchini, diced
(you could use other vegetables, such as asparagus, peppers, whatever)
When the pasta is done, save out ½ cup of the water and then drain.
Return pasta to pan and stir in:
Sauce from above
Vegetables from above
1 ½ cups good quality shredded parmesan
Stir until the cheese is melted, adding some of the pasta water to keep a good consistency. Transfer to a serving dish and sprinkle with:
1 tablespoon chopped fresh herbs (I used basil, parsley and tarragon)

Green Bean & Potato Salad

Adapted from Sunset Italian Cookbook, which we got as a wedding present.

Boil unpeeled and whole:
2 pounds white or Yukon gold (thin skinned) potatoes
Steam in a pan above them for 5-8 minutes(or cook some other way):
16 ounces frozen French-cut green beans
Then plunge the beans into ice water to chill. Drain.

When potatoes are tender (about ½ an hour), turn off heat and fill pan with potatoes still in it with cold water in the sink, letting the cold water run until all the water in the pan feels cold. Using a paring knife, slip off the potato skins and dice up the potatoes into a bowl. Stir in:
2 tablespoons wine vinegar
½ cup olive oil
salt & pepper to taste
¼ cup minced onion (I completely left this out, accidently!)

To serve, arrange the beans in the bottom and up the sides of a glass bowl. Pour in the seasoned potatoes. Sprinkle with:
2 tablespoons capers
(and anchovy fillets, if you wish. I didn’t)

Herbed Lamb Stew

This is also from Sunset Italian Cookbook. I’m telling you what I actually used, rather than copying the recipe exactly.

Melt in a 6-quart pan:
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons olive oil
Sprinkle meat with salt an pepper before adding to pan for browning:
4 pounds lamb stew meat(shoulder or leg will do)
When brown, remove meat with a slotted spoon onto a plate, and cook in the drippings:
2 medium onions, chopped
2 carrots, grated
2 stalks celery, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
Cook until soft, stirring occasionally. Return meat to the pan and add:
½ teaspoon sage (more if you are chopping it fresh)
1 teaspoon dry rosemary (I had fresh, so I used about a 4-inch piece, just chopping up the leaves)
1 can (6 oz.) tomato paste
2 pounds canned diced tomatoes and their juice
¾ cup red wine
Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 1 to 1 ½ hours until lamb is tender.
At the end, just before serving you are supposed to add 3 tablespoons of vinegar, which I didn’t think was necessary, and might only chagrin David’s tastebuds.
☺
If I’d thought of it, I might have garnished the dish with some sprigs of flat-leaf parsley.