The Official OT Food Porn

[California Girl]

Minde - your pies look more like the picture on the recipe! I only fluted mine because I had too much crust and I didn't feel like messin' with them to cut the excess crust off. Looks like you took my suggestion to add more cinnamon, I bet they were good! Congrats!! I plan to try more of these using different fillings. Wouldn't lemon be good?

[mindehankins]

They were good. Yes, I followed all of your recipe alterations, including the cinnamon. I would love lemon but Blaine likes apple, and I bake for Blaine

[canucknyc]

I did it! I did it! Thanks, CG!

[California Girl]

Woohooo!! You guys rock! How fun!!

[liamsaunt]

This weekend I made fresh pasta for the first time. It came out really great, though I needed John to push the dough through the hopper for me. It's a lot of work!

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/4432805257/" title="linguini by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4059/443 ... f3fb5f.jpg" width="500" height="363" alt="linguini"></a>

[PA Girl]

homemade pasta is something I always wanted to try but never did.

Is it worth the effort?

[Maryanne]

That looks beautiful, Becky!

I used to make it all the time and still do for special occasions, PaGirl.. I find it holds sauce better than any other pasta, and has a wonderful mouth feel...

But I'm trying to eat mainly gluten-free now, so I just bought a bag of rice pasta.

[sailorgirl]

This weekend I made fresh pasta for the first time. It came out really great, though I needed John to push the dough through the hopper for me. It's a lot of work!

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/4432805257/" title="linguini by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4059/443 ... f3fb5f.jpg" width="500" height="363" alt="linguini"></a>

Good Job! One of my fondest memories from childhood is walking into grandma's house on Sunday to find her and her sister in law making fresh "macaroni" on the kitchen table. Yum!

[PA Girl]

That looks beautiful, Becky!

I used to make it all the time and still do for special occasions, PaGirl.. I find it holds sauce better than any other pasta, and has a wonderful mouth feel...
But I'm trying to eat mainly gluten-free now, so I just bought a bag of rice pasta.

Good to know. Now I need to plan a night to make it.

[liamsaunt]

PA Girl, yes, I would say it is worth the effort. One thing I noted about the homemade pasta is that it has a much lighter mouthfeel when you are eating it. Of course, as John pointed out, that meant he could eat more As Maryanne said, it did take the sauce beautifully, soaking some of it up while remaining toothsome.

I am going to try and make it again soon, but this time using Mario Batali's recipe, which has an extra egg and a longer kneading time.

[Maryanne]

Here is an Italian exceptional pasta dough recipe for anyone who cares. It makes one pound of pasta.

It's foolproof if you make sure you measure exactly, and if you use "large" eggs.


Fresh Pasta Dough


Mix:

1 1/2 cup white flour
1 cup semolina
1/2 tsp. salt (I use kosher or maldon)


In a beaker, lightly beat three large eggs with 1 T olive oil and 1 T water.

While the machine (or you) continues to mix the flour, slowly add the egg mixture into the flour, approx. 1 egg at a time. When a bit more than 2/3 of the egg mixture has been incorporated, check the dough. It should be made up of small clumps that stick together when pressed together. If it seems to dry, continue to add egg mixture. If it is starting to seem wet, stop! The eggs were probably too big. Don't add the rest of the egg.

When you start to extrude(whichever way you are extruding), you will know the dough is right if it extrudes easily and fairly quickly.

If it is too dry, add a little more of the egg mixture. If it's too wet, add a T or so of flour and mix well. Then try again.

It's easy to get the hang of this, and well worth it. SO DELICIOUS !

[canucknyc]

I made this the other night. OMG it was good! It's a Brazilian fish soup called Moqueca. Oh baby.

[Maryanne]

oh my, could you possibly post that fish soup recipe??

thx!

[canucknyc]

oh my, could you possibly post that fish soup recipe??

thx!

Here you go! Moqueca:

2 lbs of fillets of firm white fish such as halibut or cod, rinsed in cold water, pin bones removed, cut into large portions (mine were about 1.5" square)
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 Tbsp lime juice
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1/4 cup green onions, chopped
1/2 yellow and 1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
2 cups chopped tomatoes
1 Tbsp paprika
Pinch red pepper flakes (or more if you're like me!)
1 large bunch of cilantro, chopped with some set aside for garnish
1 14-ounce can coconut milk

1. Place fish pieces in a bowl, add the minced garlic and lime juice so that the pieces are well coated. Sprinkle generously all over with salt and pepper. Keep chilled while preparing the rest of the soup.

2. Coat the bottom of a Dutch oven with 2 Tbsp of olive oil and heat on medium heat. Add the chopped onion and cook a few minutes until softened. Add the bell pepper, paprika, and red pepper flakes. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Cook until the bell pepper begins to soften. Stir in the chopped tomatoes and onion greens. Bring to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes, uncovered. Stir in the chopped cilantro.

3. Use a large spoon to remove about half of the vegetables to a bowl. Spread the remaining vegetables over the bottom of the pan. Arrange the fish pieces on the vegetables and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add back the previously removed vegetables, covering the fish. Pour coconut milk over all.

4. Bring soup to a simmer, reduce the heat, cover, and let simmer for 15 minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings if desired - more salt, lime juice (I ended up adding another 1.5 tbsp), paprika, pepper, or chili flakes.

Garnish with cilantro. Serve with crusty bread.

[Maryanne]

thank you !