Second Breakfast

This is a favorite in our house, and somewhat elegant comfort food (definitely not light, but can be lightened). Its also unusual in that its a cooked bread and butter sauce, which was something I hadn’t discovered until this dish, which I’ve adapted, lightened, and simplified somewhat from the original recipe I found in Diane Seed’s wonderful “101 Best Pasta Sauces”.

Items

• 1 lb Asparagus, rinsed and tough parts snapped off. If you’re new to asparagus, just hold an end in each hand and bend it until it breaks. the bottom half is the tough part, which should be discarded.
• 3 cloves garlic, minced or grated
• 1 lb cavatappi, gemelli, or other short, curly, and substantial dried pasta.
• 3TB butter
• 4TB olive oil
• 12oz chicken or vegetable stock (avoid veggie stocks w/ tomato, as they screw up the flavors of dishes that want stock)
• 8oz half and half
• 1 cup bread crumbs (plain is better, but Italian-style is okay too)
• 1 cup finely shredded Gruyere Swiss cheese
• Salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Heat salted water for pasta in a large pot over high heat. While the water is heating…
2. Place asparagus in a medium saucepan, cover with water, and cook over medium heat until asparagus is bright green, slightly tender, but still firm. Basically don’t let the water boil, or you’ll probably cook it too much, and there’s nothing worse than overcooked asparagus. Trust me on this. Drain and rinse in cold water to stop the cooking, and cut the asparagus into 2″ lengths and set aside.
3. Return the pan to the stove and heat over medium heat. Add the butter and olive oil.
4. When melted, add the garlic, and stir for a minute. Don’t let the garlic burn.
5. Add most of the bread crumbs and stir. If the mixture still looks wet, add the rest. The bread crumb mixture should look like its “melting” as you stir it. If its too dry, add a little more oil. Cook for five minutes or so.
6. While this is cooking, its probably time to start the pasta.
7. Add the stock slowly to the sauce, stirring to combine. Cook over medium-low heat for five more minutes.
8. Turn the heat down to low and slowly add the half and half. Stir to combine.
9. After a minute or two slowly add the Gruyere a handful at a time, stirring constantly. You want to add it slowly to give the cheese time to melt and incorporate. When the cheese is incorporated, adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper, add the asparagus, combine, and keep covered over very low heat.
10. When the pasta is done, drain, return to pot, and add the sauce to the pasta.
11. Serve immediately. Serves 4-6.

This is a variation on a common theme: pasta, pungent greens, and a strong hard cheese. The original recipe called for argula, which I couldn’t find at the megamart, but they did have a bag of pre-washed and cut mustard greens, which substituted nicely. Paired with some good bread and a substantial salad this is a very nice meal.

Items

• 1 pound penne, fusilli, or other dried pasta with a similar shape
• 3Tb olive oil and 3Tb butter
• 8 cups mustard greens, rinsed and roughly chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 3 oz pecorino-romano cheese, finely grated
• 2TB peppercorns, toasted (if possible), freshly ground
• salt to taste

Method

1. Cook pasta according to packet directions until al dente.
2. While pasta is cooking, heat butter and olive oil in a small bowl in the microwave until butter is melted. Add garlic, and combine. Set aside.
3. Toast the peppercorns if possible until they start to pop in the pan a little. Grind them, and add to the garlic and oil mixture.
4. Heat a large chef’s pan or sautee pan over medium-high heat, and add a little olive oil. Add the greens and stir them frequently. If you don’t have enough room, don’t worry, as the greens will cook down and you can add more. Add a little kosher salt to the green to help release water from them. Cook the greens until they’re bright green and somewhat tender. Don’t overcook them.
5. Before draining the pasta, reserve 1cup of the cooking water. Drain the pasta and return to the pan.
6. Add the oil/garlic mixture and toss to coat. Add the cheese, then the greens, stirring to combine each time. Season with salt to taste. Add a little of the reserved pasta water if the dish looks too dry.
7. Serve topped with more grated cheese if desired.

I work as an independent technology consultant these days, and I occasionally have opinions, discoveries, and clever ideas that are worth sharing. Since most of my friends don’t care about such things, and my customers don’t care about what I read or like to cook, I figure its a good idea to keep them separate.

If you’re interested, check out http://www.sys-eng.net/blog/.

(or alternately, “All Your Snakes Are Belong To Us”)

So the new meme that’s gaining ubiquity among the geekerati these days has to do with Samuel L. Jackson’s upcoming blockbuster “Snakes on a Plane“. So there’s this plane, and there’s snakes on it, right? We got SNAKES….on a PLANE! Dig?
So you know this is going to be a terrible movie, and you know that I’m going to have to go see it. They got snakes on a plane…what could be better?

So the interesting part is that this thing has become a thing. There’s comics:

And merchandise:

And new phrases (courtesy of UrbanDictionary.com), as in:

“snakes on a plane” — An idiom which states an increasing amount of danger or tension, similar to “the shit’s hitting the fan” only much more terrible and apocalyptic. The phrase is partly ironic, as if to exaggerate the rather mild (though hilarious) premise of the “Snakes on a Plane” movie starring Samuel L Jackson, which has snakes on a plane.

“How bad was the motorway pile-up?” “Let me tell you, it was like snakes on a plane down there.”

“How’s your relationship with Chloe going?” “It’s getting close to being like snakes on a plane man, seriously.” “Damn, dude.”

Today is the 114th birthday of Professor John Ronald Reuel Tolkien. As is customary among Tolkien fans, we will be celebrating his birthday by raising a glass in his honor at 9PM our time (or as close as I can make it).

I’ll have neat Scotch whiskey and Alan will have neat Rye.

I’m a geek, but you already knew that. What writer or other artist would you honor is some way?