Two Brown Girls

Two brown girls, two countries, and two kitchens in which to play!

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

The Minimalist: The Way We Cook

As Keerthi so eloquently put it, "This is soooo like OUR LIVES." (Glad she's shelling out for that higher education...). All jokes aside, this Minimalist piece from the NYTimes certainly sums up our philosophy on cooking -- keeping it as simple as possible. On this note, a favourite for me is the following recipe:

Pasta with Butter, Cheese, Nutmeg, and Peas
Boil pasta (I prefer a long noodle, like buccatini or spaghetti, but penne is also excellent with this) until al-dente. Drain in sieve and set aside reserving a glass or so of pasta-water.

In the same pan heat butter. Add some garlic (out of the jar works just fine), a pinch or two of nutmeg, and a shake of chili flakes. Dump pasta back in. Add pasta water after a minute of tossing the pasta in the butter+flavouring combination. Add frozen peas with the pasta water. Cook for about 2-3 minutes until the peas are cooked. Garnish with loads of pecorino romano+parmesan+any hard grated cheese. Add black pepper if desired.

Simple, easy, and utterly delicious (also amazing with the addition of bits of leftover roast chicken).

As for the Minimalist? I admit I am intrigued by both #3 and #4:

"3. Cut eight sea scallops into four horizontal slices each. Arrange on plates. Sprinkle with lime juice, salt and crushed chilies; serve after five minutes

4. Open a can of white beans and combine with olive oil, salt, small or chopped shrimp, minced garlic and thyme leaves in a pan. Cook, stirring, until the shrimp are done; garnish with more olive oil."*

Pseudo-med food is always fun...

*Extracted from Source:Mark Bittman, The New York Times, July 18 2007

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