Selective Palate

Unless you live under a rock it has been a bit cold in New England lately not to mention being snowed in at least once a week. To combat the frigid temps we have been hunkering down enjoying the fire and eating lots of comfort food. I live with an Italian so comfort food usually includes some kind of pasta. We try not to eat too much of it or at the very least make it a bit better by using whole or multi-grain; M can’t tell the difference really anyway. So as we watched the snow fall  I decided we needed a nice bit of spicy comfort to keep us warm. I settled on a nice Roman pasta dish, Arabbiata Penne or Angry Penne! It sure was spicy but I don’t know how angry it was we ate it too quick to find out!

Recipe:

1 lb. Whole Grain Penne Pasta cooked al dente (or any pasta you like)
1 24 oz can of diced tomatoes
1 T. crushed red pepper flakes (more or less depending on how you like it)
2-4 cloves garlic chopped
Handful of fresh basil
Salt & Pepper to taste
Olive Oil

Boil pasta in heavily salted water per package directions but drain when quite al dente. In a large skillit heat a few turns of the pan of oil till just hot add garlic and saute until fragrant no more than 30 seconds, add the crushed red papper flakes; I rub them between my palms first to release the oils. Saute another 30 seconds or so being sure not to burn the garlic and pepper flakes. Then add the tomatoes and saute a few minutes to blend flavors. Add salt and pepper and pasta. Cook pasta in sauce until the pasta is compleately done. Quite a bit of the tomato juice should get soaked into the pasta if it gets too dry you can add a little chicken stock or water. When done check seasoning and add more salt, pepper, or crushed pepper flakes. Take off heat and tear the basil directly into the pasta, combine well. Sever topped with grated parm, a drizzle of tasty olive oil, and more torn basil! Almost too easy.

I added a bit of leftover chicken I had on hand but it was unnecessary but still tasty! Arabbiata Penne and a nice glass of Chianti and its a perfect way to spend a snowy and cold night!

It doesn’t happen very often but M and I went grocery shopping a few weeks back. Now I am talking about real grocery shopping not picking up a couple things for dinner. While in the produce department we discovered something I had only heard rumors about. “Could it be?” I said. M asked if it was rotten? I turned to him and said I prefer the term “fermented”. So with that I threw 2 heads of Black Garlic in the cart. I could not wait to get home and open up my treasure.

Then the realization came to me that I have no idea what to do with this! So the package sat there for several days while I researched. I wanted to really highlight this strange new ingredient not just throw it in any old dish. I found 2 recipes off the Black Garlic website that really sounded yummy.

First up was Scallops with Black Garlic and Chorizo. I followed the recipe exactly and it was a perfect appetizer. I might have a drizzled a little olive oil on  top to finish it up but other than that no tweaking. This recipe is so versitile. I could switch out any number of ingredients and come up with a great starter. The Black Garlic shined beautifully. It had such a sweet, mellow taste that complimented the scallops. I could taste garlic but with none of the bite.

Next up was the Mushroom and Black Garlic Risotto. Again I followed this recipe fairly closely; why fix something that is not broken. I did not have vegetable stock on hand, I used chicken stock instead, so it was not vegetarian but neither am I! Again the earthiness of both the mushrooms and Black Garlic worked extremely well together.  Also, I have never added marcarpone cheese to any risotto but HO BOY I highly recomend it! In fact I had never used marscarpone for anything savory but I have seen the light; this stuff is so good! You could put it on a shoe and it would make it taste creamy and decadent.

So the verdict; I really enjoyed it. It was a nice change from your traditional garlic. It was sweet, savory, creamy (yes creamy), earthy and just plain nice. M on the other hand had no reaction. He said it’s fine nothing special. He leans toward the bitter, he loves it when I burn the garlic and black garlic has long lost any bitterness its fresh cooked (burned) counter part has.

So if you happen upon it at your local grocery store I highly recommend trying it if for no other reason than to say you have. If you are really interested I believe the Black Garlic website actually sells it.