What You Should Have Eaten #60

Ricotta Pasta 

with Zucchini, Garlic and Mint

Here’s number three in a series.

The drink was a Goldfinger, with Cinzano (I used Gallo sweet red Vermouth), vodka, orange juice, and orange bitters. Like I said last week, I enjoy the clear spirits, but dumping some sweet vermouth in with the OJ, that made it just a bit too sweet for me. I also find vermouth tends to cut down on the bite of the alcohol, but sometimes you need that bite. I like the bite with vodka and gin drinks.

Chopping up the zucchini is the only prep work involved in this, at least the way I made it. No onions to chop, and only dried herbs instead of fresh ones.

The mint was the kicker of this recipe. It was a flavor that I don’t normally associate with a dish like this. It wasn’t unpleasant, but it didn’t necessarily stick with me in a gotta-have-it-again way. This was my least favorite of the five variations.

What You Should Have Eaten #59

Ricotta Pasta with Sausage

Here’s number two in a series. Last week it was grape tomatoes, peas, and basil. This week it’s sausage.

 Browning the sausage is the only prep work involved in this, at least the way I made it. No onions to chop, and only dried herbs instead of fresh ones.

The drink was a Toronto, with Canadian whisky (Canadian Mist for me), Fernet Branca, sugar syrup, and Angostura bitters. I’m not the biggest whisky fan, I tend to enjoy the clear spirits, and this drink is almost half bitters, so it’s a bit of a face wrinkler. I can’t see myself making this again unless it’s on a dare.

The addition of the sausage and the subtraction of the veggies made this meal a bit heavier than last week’s. It was good, though. To me, pasta will always be better with meat and cheese.

Out of the five different ricotta pasta dishes I’ve made in the last five weeks, this is the one my kids liked the most. I guess, since it didn’t have any veggies in it, it was the least weird looking.

What You Should Have Eaten #44

London Broil with Mushroom Vinagrette

The drink with this dinner was a Star Cocktail: Calvados, dry vermouth and Angostura bitters. I have yet to actually spring for a bottle of Calvados, so I substitute with Applejack, an apple brandy made in Virginia. It’s probably a tad harsher than Calvados, but it gets the job done. The next time I need a bottle, though, I’ll probably go with actual Calvados. I’ve been slowing gravitating toward slightly higher-priced, better quality liquors lately.

I usually balk at using the broiler (I tend to set things on fire with it), but this time everything worked out nicely.

I didn’t have any sherry vinegar, so I used 1/8 cup of cooking sherry and 1/8 cup of red wine vinegar. I think it was a passable substitute.

I probably should have cut a minute of cooking time off of each side of the steak. It ended up being a tad tough, but still quite edible. It was a moot point after the mushrooms were added to it, though. The combination of the fungus and meat was great.

Also, in case you've forgotten: When I can remember to add this to the bottom of my posts, I’m going to whore myself out with an impassioned plea: click on the ads. PLEASE click on the ads. I don’t care if you exit out of it immediately or actually look around. This isn’t some professional blog where I believe in the products I’m shilling. These are automatic ads placed by Google. But when you click ads, I get a little bit of money, and as a single father of three, every penny from every source helps...especially with Christmas looming on the horizon. So I’m going to keep this tiny bit of begging at the bottom of my posts, and I hope you’ll take an extra 10 seconds after reading my blog to click on an ad. The only thing it costs you is time. :) Thanks so much!