Fantastic pasta and a few more laughs

Tonight, tired from all the yoga and pilates in the world because #electionstress, cold because #fall, and hungry because, well, #hungry, I wanted a quick, hearty dinner. I'd bought a lovely rotisserie chicken from the market earlier, knowing the boys wouldn't eat it all and so I'd have some leftover bird. On a hunch, I put a tub of mascarpone and a box of whole wheat spaghetti in my cart too, just in case. 

And so became dinner. I forgot about the originally-called-for fennel but subbed a celery heart with great results. Likewise, I didn't recall recently using up my stash of currants and so used chopped sultanas. Also a terrific sub. Lastly, I was again reminded that the best outcome for any pasta dish really depends on a salt-loving heavy hand. Go big or go home, be flexible, enjoy.

Whole Wheat Spaghetti with Chicken, Fennel, Currants and Mascarpone. 

In addition to all the yoga and pilates, I have drowned my election depression in my garden. Somewhere out there I lost my favorite pair of Fiskars clippers, but I planted a couple dozen tulip bulbs and trimmed away two garbage bins of yardly detritus.

And I have greatly appreciated the proliferation of more Biden-against-Trump jokes. A few more for you. God I'm gonna miss these two!

Figgy Flatbread

Last night, I had after-dinner plans with dear friend, M, to drink champagne and look at each other's wedding albums. As I had not laid eyes on mine in years and have only seen one of M's wedding pics, I knew it'd be a lovely way to spend a Monday evening. But first, migraine elimination and dinner. I pretty much gave up on the former but was determined to make a lovely meal regardless. During my writing class on Sunday, Lili told us about her son's new job as a line cook at one of John Besh's new spots in NOLA and in doing so dropped word of some ridiculously amazing pizza that included mascarpone, fresh figs and prosciutto. As I had just bought some figs and could not stop thinking about this pizza, I took a break from Jack's room yesterday afternoon to make a batch of Peter Reinhart's Neapolitan pizza dough.

After letting it rise for several hours, I pulled off about a sixth of the dough, shaped it into a thin crust and spread it with a film of mascarpone, some caramelized shallots I'd just made, sliced figs, salt, bacon (I just can't find the love for prosciutto; I do love speck but couldn't find it yesterday.) and a bit of fresh mozzarella. Once the pizza stone and grill were adequately heated, I popped this baby on until just done, spread some fresh arugula on top and dove in.

Today, my migraine is largely gone, Jack's room is finally clean, last night was so lovely and fun and I have two small wedges of figgy flatbread left!

Dinner a la Yotam

As y'all might recall, I purchased my second Yotam Ottolenghi cookbook, Jerusalem, not long ago. It's a joint effort between Yotam and his childhood friend, Sami Tamimi; they grew up in Jerusalem, one in a Jewish family and one in an Arab Muslim one. I've really enjoyed all I've made from this book so far, and, like Plenty, it's beautifully photographed and clearly written. Tonight, I made two dishes I'd flagged several weeks back: chermoula eggplant with bulgur and yogurt, and a kohlrabi salad. I loved(!) both. T found the kohlrabi too bitter which I didn't sense at all. He must have the bitter allele in spades. Mother of god! Anyway, more for me.

Chermoula is a North African paste made of preserved lemon, garlic and some wonderful spices including cumin, coriander and paprika. Here, you put this together, slather it on a halved eggplant and then roast the concoction in a hot oven for about 40 minutes. In the meantime, you whip up a bulgur salad which is specked with chopped green olives, plump raisins, almonds and some herbs. That, Greek yogurt and sumac top the eggplant when it's done = DELISH!

I thought this kohlrabi salad was fabulous and refreshing; it's dressed with a terrific Greek yogurt-sour cream-mascarpone sauce into which you whisk lemon juice and pressed garlic. YUM!