Favorite recipes

[Ignatz]

I am married to an Italian gal - pasta is one her four food groups along with garlic, olive oil and ricotta. This recipe for fresh pasta always makes her happy.

Basic pasta for two:

Place in a mixing bowl: 3/4 cup of flour and a pinch of salt.
Make a well in the flour and crack into it one egg
Beat the egg in the flour well with a fork and slowly work the flour into the beaten egg
Add just a touch (1/8-1/4 tsp) of olive oil as the dough stiffens (and a tiny amount of water if really dry)
Mix in bowl until dough begins to form into a ball
Dump onto lightly floured surface (I use a marble board)
Knead for about 10 minutes
Dust dough ball with flour if damp while kneading just like powdering a baby's butt
When dough is elastic and smooth like the inside of a woman's thigh, wrap in plastic wrap or waxed paper and let rest for at least half an hour
Cut dough ball into thirds and work one third at a time
Leave the rest wrapped until ready to use
Roll dough lightly and keep folding in half on itself (I usually do this 8 times)
Use pasta machine or hand roll to finish
Roll out dough progressively thinner (no more folding at this point)
If you're using a pasta machine, one pass at each thickness setting - do not skip to thinner settings
If rolling by hand, roll thinner gradually

Use as flat noodles or cut into fettucine, spaghetti, etc.
Hang cut noodles to dry
Lay flat noodles on a icing grate to dry

[Ignatz]

I used cilantro.
I added it to the chicken which was swimming in tomato at the time.
I used a strong "Mediterranean" oregano. It covers a lot of territory like the Iberian peninsula, Italy, Greece, most of North Africa and any part of the Americas west of the Line of Demarcation.
It makes a low bass note and cilantro plays the high parts.
Lime is the chorus.
Most of the oregano found around here is "sweet" oregano.

I just looked at the bag of dried chiles.
They are de arbol.
My bro brought them from his late mother-in-law's garden with the admonition to use them whole and fish them out.
'uela grew some damn fine chiles, bless her soul.
One thing's for ding-dang sure about them, I need to remember to wash my hands before taking a leak after handling them...OWEEEE!!!

heh heh

[Amber Waves]

Seriously, Ignatz. You should write a cookbook.

I know! let's do a Hell in a Handbasket Hellion cookbook... sell it and give the proceeds to charity!

[Ignatz]

A great outdoor repast that's super easy to make - perfect for the lazy and/or lackadaisical outdoor enthusiast

Squashed Camper's Bourbon and Branch Chicken Feast in 12 Easy Steps

1. Build a campfire.
2. Sip bourbon and branch.
3. Let fire burn down to coals
4. Sip bourbon and branch.
5. Section a winter squash (butternut, acorn, etc.), discard seeds and mush in fire, then set them to grill over coals either on a grate or skewers. Turn occasionally (I have a small grate, but long skewers would work)
6. Sip bourbon and branch.
7. Rub a chicken breast with a paste of garlic, olive oil and bourbon, then set to grill over coals. Turn occasionally.
8. Sip bourbon and branch.
9. Boil 1 cup of water in a pot on the coals, then add 1 cup of couscous and any remaining garlic, olive oil bourbon paste, stir, cover and set aside.
10. Sip bourbon and branch.
11. Sip bourbon and branch.
12. Throw some wood on the fire. When it catches fire, dinner's probably ready.

Takes about two hours.
Enjoy!

[Ignatz]

This is insanely good:


Take a slice of a sweet bread - I used my applesauce raisin bread, but anything similar will do.
Pop in the microwave for like 15 seconds or so.
Spoon on a dollop of mascarpone cheese.
Add however many fresh red raspberries it takes to cover all the mascarpone.
Drizzle a teaspoon or so of chocolate liqueur over the top.
Enjoy!

A certain female commented, "If jism tasted like that, there would be no war, because men would be nothing but shrivelled husks."

Oh my!