Spaghetti Squash Carbonara

cacio e pepe spaghetti squash at The Food Market

I ate spaghetti squash made in the style of cacio e pepe at The Food Market and thought it was genius. For one thing, the squash was nicely cooked--it was soft. I hate crunchy spaghetti squash, and so does Mr Minx. And while cacio e pepe is lovely, carbonara is lovelier. At least for us carnivores. So I poked around the Internet and found some recipes and made them a few times and came up with my own technique. Roasting a squash in the oven takes too much time; the microwave is much more efficient. And I like having time for the squash to cool down after cooking, but that makes water leach out. Which is a good thing. Wet squash makes a diluted cheese sauce, so I put mine in a colander to drain for an hour or so before tossing in hot bacon fat or olive oil

Spaghetti Squash Sorta Carbonara

1 spaghetti squash, weighing 2-3 pounds

Salt

Eight strips of bacon (OR 1/4 lb of salami or other similar spicy Italian cold cut)

2 eggs

1 cup grated or finely shredded parmesan (and/or other tasty hard cheeses, if you have them)

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Chopped parsley for garnish

Lots of freshly ground pepper

Cut the squash in half widthwise and place it cut-side-down on a microwave-safe plate. Cook for 12 minutes. Remove from the nuker and allow to cool enough to handle it without burning yourself. Using a fork, scrape the flesh out of both halves into a colander set in a large bowl. Add a quarter teaspoon of salt and toss with the squash. Let sit for an hour or so, occasionally draining any moisture that accumulates in the bowl.

Some recipes will tell you to cut the bacon into lardons, but I find that to be messy and unnecessary. This isn't the French Laundry. In a large skillet, cook the bacon to your preferred crispness. Remove from the pan to a paper-towel-lined plate to drain. When cool, break up the bacon into small pieces and set aside. (If you're using salami, pile up the slices and cut them into strips. Place in a dry skillet over medium heat and cook just until the meat starts to sizzle and brown a little, stirring regularly. Remove to a bowl. It's ok if the meat still seems soft; it will crisp as it cools.

Discard all but a tablespoon of the bacon fat, which should stay in the skillet. (If you use the salami, add a glug of olive oil to the remaining fat in the pan, which shouldn't be much.)

Beat the eggs with a fork and add the cheese and garlic powder. 

When ready to eat, heat the fat in the pan. Dump the drained squash into the pan and toss with tongs to coat in the fat. When all the squash is coated and quite hot, turn off the heat and add the egg and cheese mixture, tossing constantly with the tongs until the cheese is melted and the squash is coated. Add the bacon or salami and toss again.

Serve in bowls with a sprinkle of parsley, lots of pepper, and more cheese if you want.

* Any products in this post that are mentioned by name may have been provided to Minxeats by the manufacturer. However, all opinions belong to Minxeats. Amazon links earn me $! Please buy!

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Pepperoni Beans

I was musing about what to do with two partial meat sticks--sopressata and salami--left over from Thanksgiving and decided I could cut them up and simmer the bits in a sauce. And then I remembered the pepperoni sauce that former DC restaurant emperor Mike Isabella created on Top Chef All Stars back in 2012. I tried it then, and like Isabella, I served it with chicken. This time, I didn't have any chicken on hand. What I did have was a plethora of beans from Rancho Gordo, including some big-ass Royal Coronas. The website describes these beans as "enormous, thick-skinned runner beans with a surprisingly creamy interior. One of our all-time best sellers, it's a versatile giant that works in all kinds of cuisines. A true pantry staple." 

I figured they'd be a fine meat substitute in a brothy tomato sauce studded with cured sausage.

Royal coronas partway through soaking. They are at least twice as large as limas.

I made some changes to the original recipe. I used crushed tomatoes rather than whole, omitted the bay leaf and olive oil, and didn't puree the sauce. I also used half salami, half sweet sopressata, and rather than slice the meats thinly, I cut them into 1/4 inch slices, stacked several of them, then cut them into strips and then dices. The first time I made the sauce, I used pepperoni, which I added after cooking the onions in olive oil. The result was an oily mess that needed a lot of skimming. This time, I cooked the onion and the meat together. The fat that oozed from the sausage was the perfect amount in which to cook the onion, and there was no oil slick on top. I guess pepperoni is greasier? 

I wanted a thicker and more homogenized sauce, but before I added it to the beans, it was more of a tomato liquid with bits of tomato and meat. A spoonful of tomato paste and a cup of starchy bean broth was just the thing to bring it all together. The sauce also needed a touch more acid, so I chopped up some grape tomatoes and stirred them in at the last minute. 

Some arugula gave the dish color and a little extra pep. I also couldn't resist adding a spoonful of The Flavor Society pizza chili crisp, though Mr Minx didn't think the dish needed anything else.

I was pretty happy with the beans. They are very meaty, and though the skins are a tad firm even after several hours of soaking and cooking, the insides are lovely and creamy. Will definitely be purchasing them again in the future.

Pepperoni Beans

For the beans:

1 lb Rancho Gordo royal corona beans

2 stalks celery (leave whole)

2 large carrots, peeled and cut into large chunks

2 teaspoons salt 

For the sauce:

2 teaspoon fennel seeds

1 pound Italian hard salami-type sausage, like pepperoni or sopressata, cut into 1/4" pieces

1 medium or 1/2 large onion, diced

5 medium cloves garlic, crushed

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 15-oz ounce can imported crushed Italian plum tomatoes

1 15-oz can of water

To finish the dish:

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 cup reserved bean liquid

1 teaspoon of Italian seasoning

Salt and pepper to taste

1 cup raw grape tomatoes, cut in half (optional)

Parmesan cheese

Something green, like baby arugula or spinach

To make the beans:

Check beans for debris, and rinse thoroughly. Place in a large pot and fill with water to cover by about 2 inches. Let soak at least 2 and up to 8 hours. Drain the beans and either refrigerate, covered, until the next day, or proceed with recipe.

Put fresh water in the bean pot to about 2 inches above the level of the soaked beans. Add the celery, carrots, and salt and bring to a boil. Turn heat down to a simmer and cook for two hours, or until the beans are tender. The skins will remain somewhat firm and will not look cooked, so you should cut a bean in half and taste it to check the texture.

Once done to your liking, remove the beans from the heat. Fish out and discard (or eat) the carrot and celery debris. Strain the bean broth into a lidded container and set aside. Leave the beans in their pot.

To make the sauce:

Put the fennel seeds in a skillet and turn heat to medium-high. Shaking the pan and/or stirring the seeds frequently, cook until seeds smell toasty and start to brown, 2-3 minutes. Immediately remove from heat and pour seeds into a small bowl.

In a 12" skillet, cook the meat and onion together over medium heat, stirring regularly, until the onion starts to get brown and the meat begins to render its fat. Add the garlic and cook for a minute or so. Stir in the toasted fennel seeds and red pepper flakes. Cook for about a minute, stirring. Then dump in the can of crushed tomatoes and another can of water. Bring the mixture to a boil, then lower the heat so the sauce is gently simmering. Cook for 1 hour. If an excessive amount of oil pools on top, skim it off and discard (or use it to make a vinaigrette for a salad).

To finish:

Pour the sauce over the drained beans. Stir the tomato paste into the cup of reserved bean broth and add that to the pot of beans. Stir to combine, then turn the heat on to about medium. Simmer for about 30 minutes. Taste for seasoning. Stir in the raw grape tomatoes. 

Place some arugula in the bottom of a bowl, spoon over some beans and sauce, and sprinkle with cheese.

Makes about 2 quarts.

* Any products in this post that are mentioned by name may have been provided to Minxeats by the manufacturer. However, all opinions belong to Minxeats. Amazon links earn me $! Please buy!

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Charcuterie Platters

Who, except vegans, doesn't appreciate a good charcuterie platter?

It's a perfect lazy meal, and fantastic for those sultry summer evenings when the thought of hot food is unappetizing. And I'm not the only one who thinks that. Not only do more and more restaurants offer assortments of meats and cheeses, I've noticed that some entrepreneurial folks are starting businesses that revolve around creating and selling attractive charcuterie platters. A small amount of decoratively arranged salumi (the Italian term for cured meats) and brie adorned with a sliced strawberry and six almonds can sell for $30-$40. At that price, you're better off going to a restaurant. But make one at home, instead.

Sure, the initial outlay for homemade salumi suppers might be a little spendy, but a $6 jar of cornichons will last through multiple platters, as will boxes of crackers, jars of jam, and bags of nuts. Columbus brand salami and capicola, or similar, in 5-oz packages, run $6-7 in grocery stores. The meats seem expensive, and they kinda are compared to others sold by the pound. Keep in mind that cured meats are fatty and salty and rich, so one only need eat a few slices. Particularly if there are also some even more-fatty cheeses at the party. The last time we had a charcuterie plate for dinner, I purchased two packages of Italian meats, three kinds of cheese, and a jar of cornichons for about $35 and used it for three dinners for 2, with cheese and tiny pickles left over. 

Cheese can also be expensive, so don't go overboard. Buy a couple of your favorites; ideally there should be one soft and one firm or semi-firm, like a brie or goat cheese log and a cheddar or Manchego. If you have more than two diners, buy another cheese for every two people. But expect leftovers. In fact, it's probably best to cut a portion of the cheese off and put it on your platter or board, and stash the rest in the fridge for next time. That way, uneaten cheese doesn't sit out too long, and there's one less thing for you to tidy up afterward, especially if you've been hitting the wine.

You may, of course, enjoy your meats and cheeses with your fingers, but it's much neater to use bread or crackers. Thin slices of crusty bread--toasted or not--are perfect if you are extra fancy and have included a pate in your selection of meats. It's also nice with very soft brie. Otherwise, crackers are the way to go. Use whatever you like. Ritz or Club crackers are just fine, as are water crackers or hell, saltines. I try to eat gluten-free as much as possible and have discovered some truly excellent GF and grain-free crackers, which I will list at the end of the post.

In addition to the three essentials--meat, cheese, and bread-like substance--a good charcuterie platter should include other flavor elements. Olives and cornichons are typical accompaniments, but one needs other items to balance out the salt. I like to add sweet things, like a fruit spread or jam, and fresh or dried fruit, including grapes, figs, and mini tomatoes. Nuts, preferably unsalted, add extra crunch. Mustards are nice, as are roasted red peppers, pepperoncini--honestly, whatever suits your fancy. You may choose to arrange items artistically on a platter or board (I use a large bamboo cutting board), or simply place items randomly. For hard or medium-firm cheeses, I like to cut them into serving size cubes or wedges. I put soft cheese like brie or chevre on the board in one large chunk and supply a separate spreader for each type of cheese. Toothpicks are nice for picking up individual cubes of cheese, especially when there are more than two diners, but fingers are fine otherwise.

I enjoy charcuterie boards so much, I've made them for Thanksgiving dinner. As in, the entire Thanksgiving dinner was one big, coffee-table-sized, spread. Lest you think I jest, see below (ignore my reading glasses in the lower right).

It was perfect for three of us to nibble on for the entire day while we watched football and drank copiously. We did this three years in a row, until my brother determined that it was mildly sacrilegious not to have hot poultry on Thanksgiving. So last year I made chicken legs and roasted brussels sprouts to follow a much-scaled-down selection of meat and cheese. I plan to do the same this year.

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Most of these fine gluten-free and grain-free crackers I've discovered via the Specialty Food Association's annual Summer Fancy Food Show in New York. While grocery stores have better and better selections of food for special diets, it's difficult to stock absolutely everything available, so I have supplied links for ordering the products online.

Simple Mills Almond Flour Crackers - I'm a big fan of these, particularly the Rosemary and Sea Salt variety. They are available in many grocery stores, but can also be purchased online. 

Hungry Bird Eats Nordic Crisps - incredibly crisp and delicious crackers that I will happily eat out of the box like potato chips. They can be purchased online from their website. 

Cabin 11 Bakery 5-Seed Grain-Free Crisps are similarly delicious crispbread-like crackers made with 5 seeds. Their website is down currently, and I'm not sure where to buy them. Hopefully they'll be back up and running soon, as I've run out and need more crackers!

Quator Crisps Yuca Chips - I also like using crisp yuca chips with charcuterie platters. Quator Crisps might be a bit too slender to put cheese on top, but they still work great to nibble on the side. They are available in a handful of shops right now, but you can order them from their website.

Nova Crisp - these crispy air-popped cracker/chips are made with cassava and come in a handy bowl shape that makes them perfect for scooping. The rim also holds in runny stuff like mustard or jelly perfectly. They come in a few flavors, but the sea salt is my fave. They are available in stores like Safeway, Aldi, Lidl, H Mart, and Weis Market but also at Amazon.

Lark Fine Foods, which are not gluten-free but still worth mentioning, makes a bunch of tasty cookies and biscuits that are both savory and sweet. Their Pizzetta biscuits work pretty nicely with soft cheeses, especially if you're into the idea of a cookie that tastes like pizza. They are available in gourmet shops, primarily in the eastern US. Igourmet stocks some of their biscuits, and multi-product samplers can be ordered from Williams-Sonoma.

* Any products in this post that are mentioned by name may have been provided to Minxeats by the manufacturer. However, all opinions belong to Minxeats. Amazon links earn me $! Please buy!

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Muffuletta? Or Italian Cold Cut Sub?

A muffuletta is a sandwich named after the bread it is made on. A flattened loaf studded with sesame seeds, muffuletta bread is of Italian origin, but the sandwich itself comes from New Orleans. It's rather like an Italian cold cut sub or hoagie in that it's filled with various Italian-style meats and cheeses, but with one important difference--olive salad.

Olive salad is made with giardiniera (a selection of pickled veg including cauliflower, celery, and carrots) and olives, with spices and garlic. It's likely that some grocery store owner somewhere along the line had a few dribs and drabs of pickled vegetables and olives and tossed them together so they wouldn't go to waste. A fine idea. But I'm not a big fan of olive salad. I love olives, but am picky about giardiniera. Often I find it to be too harsh. In my Polish family, we'd call it ostry. Sometimes the veg are too hard, or the pickling liquid tastes of nothing but distilled vinegar. I kinda wish that olive salad was pretty much just olives. And it is, when I make it myself.

I did just that when I needed to come up with something to take to an Orioles game. The bread used in a muffuletta tends to make it more sturdy and leak-proof than an Italian cold cut sub, but of course it's not exactly easy to find an authentic muffuletta at the local grocery store. So I compromised. Giant sells cheese breads that come in a flattish square shape, with good crust, crisp without being hard, and a sturdy crumb. The cold cut portion of the program--prosciutto, salami, bologna (standing in for mortadella)--was easy to find, as was the cheese. And right next to the deli is an olive bar. I originally was just going to buy random olives, pit and chop them, but luckily they had a pre-mixed selection of pitted olives with chunks of hot pepper in a herbed olive oil. A swift chop and a drizzle of vinegar--voila! olive salad.

Since my bread wasn't authentic, nor my olive salad, I couldn't really call my concoction a muffuletta. What I could call it was delicious. It keeps nicely for several hours after making and is easy to eat on the go. Or sitting in the stands. Or even on your couch.

Big, Easy, Cold Cut Sandwich

1 low-profile round or square loaf of bread about 9" in diameter (ciabatta is good, I used Giant brand cheese bread)
1 cup Easy Olive Salad
1/8 lb provolone cheese, thinly sliced
1/8 lb prosciutto, thinly sliced
1/8 lb Genoa salami, thinly sliced
2 tomatoes, sliced
1/4 lb beef bologna (or mortadella), thinly sliced

Slice the bread in half horizontally. Pull out extra dough from the top part (if it's slightly domed, like my cheese bread was) and discard (or use to make bread crumbs for some other dish later in the week). If you're going to eat the sandwich within an hour or so, then start with the olive salad, spreading it over the bottom half of the bread so it covers from edge to edge. Then layer on the cheese, prosciutto, tomatoes, salami and bologna. Cover with the top of the loaf, press down, and wrap tightly in plastic wrap until ready to eat.

If you're NOT going to eat the sandwich relatively soon, layer the ingredients starting with the cheese, prosciutto, tomatoes, salami, olive salad, and finish with bologna. This way, the wet ingredients aren't touching the bread so the sandwich won't become soggy before you're ready to eat it. (Eventually, the bread will get soggy, but it will take many hours before this happens.)

Cut sandwich in half, then half again. Enjoy.

Serves 4.

Easy Olive Salad

1/4 pound mixed olives and peppers from the grocery store olive bar (the olives should already be pitted)
Splash balsamic
Splash agave
Pinch garlic powder

Chop the olives and peppers and place them in a bowl with the remaining ingredients. If it seems dry, add a tiny bit of olive oil, too, but there should already be enough of that in there. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Serves 4.

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Firehouse Subs

Tuesday night is grocery night at Casa Minx, but since every supermarket has its own pros and cons, we tend to vary where we shop depending on what we need to buy on a given week. One of our frequent go-to markets is Shop-Rite on Aylesbury Road in Lutherville. While we're in the area, we try to find a place to eat dinner, but we've become a little bored with the usual haunts. So it was a great surprise to us when we received an invitation to try out the new selection of cold deli heroes at the Firehouse Subs right down the street from Shop-Rite.

We were unfamiliar with the fast-casual chain that was started over 20 years ago in Jacksonville, Florida by Robin and Chris Sorensen. Both firefighters, the two decided to start a family business based on something they love: subs made with high quality meats and cheeses on toasted bread with a wide range of toppings. There are now over 850 locations nationwide and two happen to be in Baltimore County in Owings Mills and Lutherville. They are both owned by Ayaz Moledina, a former financial planner who wanted to start his own business. Moledina not only loved the product but the charitable work Firehouse Subs does within their respective communities through the Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation.

Battalion Chief Sub

Although Firehouse has offered hot subs like their barbequed brisket and pastrami subs for years, they recently decided to cool things down with a line of cold sandwiches. Baltimore is one of only 100 markets where the six new subs are currently offered. While the meat and toppings are served cold, they are still nestled in a toasted bun.

Hook and Ladder Sub

The Battalion Chief is a roast beef sub with cheddar cheese, onion straws, lettuce, tomato, and a horseradish mayo. The meat and cheese are substantial and the horseradish mayo adds just enough heat to keep things interesting. The Hook and Ladder combines smoked turkey and honey ham and Monterey Jack cheese. I was concerned the Italian dressing would make the sandwich too tangy, but the sweetness of the ham adds a nice counterbalance and the turkey is quite smoky,

Malibu Sub

Smoked turkey breast and bacon highlight the Malibu, but the avocado and spinach really made the sub special. As the name implies, the Sicilian is Firehouse's take on an Italian cold cut with capicola, ham, pepperoni, salami, and Provolone cheese. This would be a great sub for a really hungry meat lover.

Sicilian Sub

That's not to say that a vegetarian couldn't be equally satisfied with their loaded Mediterranean sub, which includes feta, hummus, marinated artichoke hearts, olive mix, cucumbers, lettuce, spinach, tomato, and onion. It's topped off with a balsamic vinaigrette and placed on Asiago cheese bread. (This sub is also available with grilled chicken breast.) The crusty layer of Asiago cheese on the toasted bread adds a whole new dimension of texture and flavor. The Asiago bread is also used with the Chicken Caesar sub: grilled chicken breast with romaine lettuce, tomato, and Caesar dressing. It's basically a salad wrapped in bread, and there's nothing wrong with that.

Mediterranean Sub (with Chicken)

All the subs are well packed with ingredients and the meats are shaved thinly so they melt in your mouth. Unlike some sub chains who will go nameless, you can actually see the abundance of ingredients overflowing the bread. Also, the bread is flavorful and has a slight crunch from toasting.

Chicken Caesar Sub

I can honestly say there was not a single dud among all the subs we tried, although I think the Minx was partial to the Hook and Ladder and I enjoyed the exotic flavors of the Mediterranean. Next time grocery night finds us heading to the Shop Rite in Lutherville, I'm sure we will be making a stop at Firehouse Subs for dinner.

* Any products in this post that are mentioned by name may have been provided to Minxeats by the manufacturer. However, all opinions belong to Minxeats. Amazon links earn me $! Please buy!



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