Topic: Penne

[Nichi]

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I like to watch her cook -- she's got a certain way of doing things which is different than what I was taught. For example, she never uses a collander, but instead uses one of those spider-thingies. There are other little things too: she espouses the virtue of the pasta-water which we typically send down the drain in that collander. .  I've learned a lot about Italian food watching her. (Don't let her looks fool ya, heh, she's a real chef.)

[Nichi]

(Love Penne .. I always have a few boxes of it on hand.)

[Ke-ke wan]

She's one of my Fave chefs to watch (Giada).  And you're right,  she's good!  I love her recipes because they are simple,  elegant yet easy!  At Thanksgiving I watched her on Iron Chef America,  in a cook-off with other top Chefs using all Thanksgiving ingredients.  Pretty amazing stuff.

I love penne' too.  Especially good with thick sauces as the sauce goes inside the noodles,  not just on top.  Penne' rigate is actually a favourite with children, too.  They love the shape of it. 

V icki,  if you love the dried penne' that you get at the grocery store,  you should try it fresh.   Its waaay delicious!



Penne' is also very nice in co0ld pasta salads!

[Nichi]

She's one of my Fave chefs to watch (Giada).  And you're right,  she's good!  I love her recipes because they are simple,  elegant yet easy!  At Thanksgiving I watched her on Iron Chef America,  in a cook-off with other top Chefs using all Thanksgiving ingredients.  Pretty amazing stuff.

I love penne' too.  Especially good with thick sauces as the sauce goes inside the noodles,  not just on top.  Penne' is actually a favourite with children, too. 

I saw that one too! Her against Rachel Ray -- that was something.
I like Mario Batali too.

V icki,  if you love the dried penne' that you get at the grocery store,  you should try it fresh.   Its waaay delicious!

Mmmmm yum!

[Ke-ke wan]

I saw that one too! Her against Rachel Ray -- that was something.
I like Mario Batali too.

My favourite is Bobby Flay,  though.   

[Nichi]

My favourite is Bobby Flay,  though.   

I like Bobby too ... and Tyler Lawrence, who I just want to snuggle up with. (Sorry for crass girl-talk.)

[Ke-ke wan]

Tyler Lawrence, who I just want to snuggle up with. (Sorry for crass girl-talk.)

I feel the same way about Bobby!   

Nah,  I can't see this video either.   

[Ke-ke wan]

So.. pretty much, I guess that keeps out Australia, S. Africa, Czechoslovakia, & Sweden too. Poopedy-poop! Guess I won't be posting these anymore. It's a shame -- she's a good 'un to watch.

You can probably find the videos on the Food Network Website.  Easy to share from there as well.

[Ke-ke wan]

Here is the Food Network link to some of Giada's vidoes form the show "Everyday Italian"
http://www.foodnetwork.com/everyday-italian4/video/index.html

And some from Giada at Home:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/giada-at-home/index.html

[Nichi]

Thanks!

[Ke-ke wan]

Thanks!

And a link to the Food Network Video Library.

Enjoy!  I have to go get ready for work and school tomorrow.  Ugh!  Monday already..

[Nichi]

I made a very rich and yummy "Penne" dish the other day -- it will make anyone in here who is dieting cringe. 

While the penne was boiling, I mixed up a sauce:
marinara sauce
half and half
a stick of butter (never margarine)
cottage cheese, though more ideally, this would have been ricotta (just didn't have any)
oregano
basil
garlic
a big bag of shredded mozzarella

(To taste, I usually use red wine too, but this turned out pretty tasty right off.)

I got that heated and blended through, and when the penne was ready, mixed it in.  This was ad lib -- just hunting through the fridge and throwing things in. I think some small-diced zucchini might have gone well in it too.

I ate some, froze some, and refrigerated some.
Interestingly, that which was refrigerated and warmed up the next day was even better than the first helping fresh from the stove. That time for things to "set" is magic.

[Michael]

I'm a little behind here - I gather that penne is simply a type of pasta.
We buy organic pasta from the supermarket. I say this because it's a bit of a controversy.

First, the family down the road were horrified when I gave them some of our pasta - they had run out that evening. They would never eat anything that was 'organic' - what crap! Much prefer to go hungry than stoop to greenie shit.

Next, for me, what shape the pasta, is of very little relevance to me. I don't care if it's straight or twisted or whatever, so long as it doesn't look like spaghetti - spaghetti reminds me too much of the 'spaghetti bolognaise' my mother used to cook. This has caused fights between me and Julie - that stuff is too much a reminder of the crass 'foreign' food my parent's generation used to dabble in.

Last, from comments when we had a restaurant, aficionados in pasta (which apparently includes all Italians) have precise tastes and attitudes to pasta which is far removed from my consciousness - they only buy special pasta from special shops which specialise in special pastas. I tried it once, and yes, I begin to see their point, but you have to know, I eat extremely fast, and such delicate distinctions are mostly lost on me. I am a heavy flavour man, with loads of chilly and anything that tastes horrible - the more horrible the better. So delicate distinctions are lost on my palette. I feel I have a lot to learn from these more refined diners. I do try...

[Nichi]

Yes, in the 50's, all good housewives used to have to know how to make a good bolonnaise sauce -- with spaghetti.

There really are some differences between the pastas .. and then whether they're homemade, or flour-based, or whole wheat flour-based, and the distinctions go on. (My knowledge is limited.) I like the spinach pastas a lot ... fettucine or farfalle or whatever!

It ends up being about the sauce, though.

[Nichi]

Then you have your stuffed raviolis and tortellinis, and you get into real art.

My mother and John lived in Italy for a few years, and they came back telling stories about how certain things are just not done over there, in terms of ways of cooking it, that we do in the US. And then ... there's a difference in the dry pasta made here and the dried pasta made there, which has some impact on cooking al dente, but I never got it straight what they were saying.