Pantry Recipe: Spanish Spaghetti with Olives

I'm not like the majority of Americans who can easily cook out of their pantries. We don't buy a lot of dry goods, canned goods, or much of anything good that is stored in the pantry (except chocolate, mmm). Cooking magazines and shows always seem to come up with these "quick and easy" recipes using all sorts of things found in the average pantry - I would have to stock up to make such dishes. Hence my surprise, when I had everything on hand for the following recipe...PLUS (big plus) it is pasta, which I like to incorporate into the weekly menu!

Here are the details, adapted slightly from the original here:

Ingredients:
8 oz thin spaghetti
1 tbsp olive oil
2 cups chopped onion (I used sweet yellow)
1 tbsp minced garlic
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp crushed saffron threads
1/2 tsp oregano (optional)
1/2 pound lean ground beef (I used sirloin)
1/2 cup sliced green olives (we bought them from a local olive bar, but jarred will do0
1/4 cup dry sherry
1 heaping tbsp capers
1 2/3 cups marinara sauce (we bought the most basic WF brand)
1/4 cup parsley, divided and to taste

Start by putting your water on to boil.

Heat the olive oil in the pan over medium high heat - adding the onions and cooking for about 4 minutes. Add the garlic, cook for 1 minute. Stir in the spices and add the beef to the pan. Brown the beef, approximately 5 minutes, stir to crumble as it browns.

Stir in the marinara sauce, sherry, olives, capers and about 1/2 of the parsley. Let the sauce come to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for about 10 minutes. Once your pasta is al dente, strain and add to the sauce mixture. If the pasta is done first, add to the sauce at the very end and let the pasta warm up, approximately 2-3 minutes. Garnish with remaining parsley and a touch of cheese (the cheese adds a nice saltiness).

Technically, this is for 4 servings, however ours was more like 3 1/4. My suggestion would be to serve alongside a salad or another vegetable if you need/want to feed four. Calories are minimal for this dish at 445 per serving (based on 4) so I think - eat up!

Armenian Rice Pilaf - by request

After last week's Armenian Saturday Night, I have been talking about pilaf a lot and have had requests for the recipe. So, with no further ado, here we have it:

1 cup long grain rice
1/4 cup thin egg noodles (or broken vermicelli)
1 stick unsalted butter
2 1/2 cups chicken broth, spiced with black pepper and garlic
Salt and Pepper to taste

Using a medium size sauce pan, heat the butter over medium-high heat. Meanwhile, put your chicken stock/broth on low to heat.

As the butter foams, add the egg noodles, stirring frequently with a fork as they brown. Remove the pan from the heat, stir in the rice until all kernels are covered in butter and the two are well mixed. Rice will look translucent at this point.

Put the saucepan back on the burner on low, add chicken stock/broth and cover. Usually takes a good 25 minutes to absorb all the liquid, but I would check it and turn it down if you see rice after 10 minutes.

When the liquid is absorbed, remove from heat and fluff with a fork - voila, it's Armenian night! If you are looking for garnishes, a parsley/onion combo is my favorite, pine nuts and mint are also traditional garnishes in Armenian cuisine. Buon Appetito!

The Publican - Sunday Dinner

For C's birthday this year, (a cold, windy Sunday) we ventured to the west and to The Publican. We've been here several times before and frequent the other establishments in this small restaurant group. The three things you need to know about The Publican are: oysters, pork, and beer. If you said "check, check, check" then you are in good shape!

Our menu was a bit different - Sunday's are low-key, 4-course prix fixe menus, with the option to pair complementary beers. We went with the beer pairing and had a really interesting (and quite delicious) menu:

Oyster & Celery Root soup

- with leeks and grilled sourdough

Grilled Sturgeon

- on top of lentils, Brussels sprouts, and yogurt

Braised Oxtails

- with fingerling potatoes and celery salad

Dessert was an Almond Macaroon with lemon(?) filling, a white chocolate ganache flavored with white pepper and rosemary - sounds strange, but was nice and light and complex!

We were less than impressed with the beer pairings, would have preferred to get our own and drink leisurely (plus, no weird "sweet and sour" beer) but it was a good experience and new for us. They did forget the celebratory reason we were there, but that is a recurring issue for us these past few years. Maybe we like birthday's too much...