ripped from the internet - gourmet RIP

my mom taught me a trick on how to keep pasta creamy after adding sauce.  it’s like a zap zing zippidy doo to your din din.

i didn’t know that this is uniquely her trick (in the states – as far as i’m concerned) but if i’m not mistaken it was something she caught on in Italy from Senora Mingarelli.  my spelling, and if you say it out loud, the pronunciation is way off as well, but that’s what i can remember for now.

here it is …

per every four servings of pasta, use ONE EGG plus TWO TABLESPOONS OF BUTTER.

beat these together as well as you can in your serving bowl.

boil the water for your pasta with a few pinches of salt and cook normally slash as instructed.

drain the water from the pasta through a strainer.

discard cooked pasta in serving bowl and toss VERY QUICKLY.

if you let it sit, the eggs will cook, but if you toss toss toss like a mad woman, you will get wonderfully creamily coated noodles.

options:

add a quarter cup of permesiano reggiano with a tablespoon of cracked pepper and half a teaspoon of salt and you can have a yummy meal right there. could perhaps add roasted veggies as well. however …

a wonderful characteristic of this egg and butter mixture is that it enables a pasta sauce of choice to remain creamy and not dry out the noodles.  it also makes the sauce stick to the noodle and lets you slurp it down faster.  don’t mind that. keep in mind: if you’re using a cream based pasta, it won’t be necessary.  but this works lovely with pestos (pesti), bologneses (bolognesi), marinaras (marinari), and any kind of primavera (don’t have one for that) as well.

leftovers are still fantastic too – the next morning, it’s great for breakfast.  drizzle a little water over the pasta in a plastic container and throw it in the reactor for a minute.  stir and nosh nosh nosh.

please do try! so simple – so true.

i went home last week to virginia for not even 48 hours.  i got in far too late the first night to have a home cooked meal.  sadly.  (siiiiigh)

however, the next day before i went to my job, my mom asked me a simple question, “so bird, do you want ribs or venison for dinner?”

duuuuhh…

ribs are everywhere in NYC.  maybe not everywhere, but easy to find.  i don’t think i paused for more than a second before i gave the obvious thumbs up to venison tenderloin.

mom made julia child’s famous mustard marinade (dijon, rosemary, ginger, soy, garlic, olive oil, pepper) and rubbed the tenderloin, then let it sit for awhile.  when dad got home, he fired up the grill and threw that nice piece of meat on the fire over a medium/high flame.

when venison is cooked over fire, the effect is so rich and the meat turns so juicy.  cooked just until it’s rare in the middle, it then needs to sit on a wood cutting board just for a few minutes or so until the meat lowers temp and all its juices settle.

dad got the sharp knife and started slicing it very thin – each piece just ribboned and melted onto the cutting board.

deer meat

i ate an insane amount.  i hadn’t tasted anything like it since the last time colin and i grilled venison on his roof early this summer.  there is nothing that is so satisfying as a well prepared piece of meat.  and even with just salt, pepper, and some olive oil.  takes no time at all.  and a pure and simple cooked vegetable to accompany is a wonderful counterbalance.  my mom baked some butternut squash with our venison and it was so sweet and somehow creamy.  just a lovely dinner.  and we sat on the porch (al fresco).

so bummed i didn’t bring any back to NYC with me.  saving it all up for christmas!