Dog Alfredo - Pinch Hitting in the Kitchen with a 12 Year Old

We weren't seriously contemplating eating the dog but it was a good joke. I was operating in a 12 year old's humor zone. Snowed in up at the cabin with my 12 year old grandson - a kid, tall and skinny who ends each meal asking what is for the next one - we did some fridge, freezer and pantry raiding to keep him happy the last couple of days. It's quite amazing what you find on those raids and the kind of meals you can pull together. Reminds me of a comment made by my mother many years ago. Flush with a new cookbook I was essentially showing off. "Ha", she sniffed. "Anyone can follow a recipe, buy the ingredients but it takes a cook to look in the pantry and create a dish". Her war-time rationing thinking coming out but it was a jibe that has stuck with me.

The standing joke when the family is gathered is that given my penchant for stocking the pantry with offbeat ingredients ( truffle oil, aged Balsamic, Thai chili paste) - well, offbeat for a hamlet with a year round population under 100 - when we pull together a meal we say "I bet no one else in Nutrioso is having this for dinner."

Ben and I got to the Bistro Escudilla for Sunday lunch - he was craving the Fetucinni Alfredo featured on the dinner menu - no joy, kid - he had to settle for a luscious looking Kobe beef burger. Given his usual train of thought he asked if we could make the Alfredo for dinner. "Depends on what we can find at the cabin" I told him.

We found heavy cream, butter, aged parmesan, frozen peas, fresh yellow sweet peppers, and, yes - fettucini. A dish was born! Fettucini Hamish - named for the dog who thanks to my squirreling skills survived to lick the plates! NO, not the fettucini plates - his own where his dried food was laced with gravy leftover from the Christmas roast.

Fettucini Hamish

• Put the water on to boil, salt it , add enough of the fettucini for two portions and cook according to package direction.
• As the fettucini cooks, add 1/4 stick of butter and 1/2 Cup heavy cream to a small pan and heat gently until butter is melted and the mixture is close to simmer point.
• Grate the cheese in big flakes - about 1 Cup
• Toss 1/2 cup frozen sweet peas into the sauce pan
• Drain the pasta, immediately toss it with the flaked cheese, add the cream and peas, season with salt and freshly ground coarse black pepper.
  
• Serve in wide pasta bowls. Top with thinly sliced sweet pepper and pass more cheese.
  

Take a can of beans and .....

The I'm hungry what's for lunch chorus started around 11:30 a.m. - and that hot on the heels of scrambled eggs and bacon for breakfast.

A quick freezer, fridge and pantry raid and the collective wisdom gathered here came up with

Almost Tuscan Soup
6 hearty servings in less than an hour!

1. 1 can cannellini beans
2. 1 Cup of canned diced tomato
   
3. 3 stalks of celery
4. 2 large carrots
5. 1/2 white onion
6. 1 fat garlic clove
7. 1 large potato
8. 1/2 sweet potato
9. 32 oz. organic chicken stock
10. 6 Jenny O turkey sausages
11. a little olive oil, salt and pepper to taste, a sprig of thyme, pinch of dried thyme

Clean/peel vegetables and cut into uniform dice ~ 1/2 inch size. Cut sausages into 1" chunks.
Heat oil in a heavy soup pot. Add vegetables, peeled whole garlic clove and sausage, stir to coat with oil and saute about 15 minutes or until the onion is completely cooked. Stir often. Do not brown the veggies. Add the beans (rinsed and drained), tomatoes, stock and seasoning. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes to blend flavours. Check to see if you need additional seasoning. Ladle into warm mugs or soup bowls and top with a slice of crusty bread - oven-toasted with melted parmesan cheese topping.*

* slice a baguette into 1" thick slices. Brush both sides with olive oil and rub with a garlic clove. Pre-heat oven to 375F. put the toasts on a backing rack and toast for 5 minutes or until lightly browned and crispy . Top with a slice of parmesan cheese. Toast until cheese melts.

A Nod to Ratatouille - Roasted Eggplant Soup

This is a soup born of an excess of eggplant, memories of something similar made a few years ago, and a search through the fridge! Makes 6, 1 cup servings. It's an intense, deep flavored soup so small portions are ideal. The color comes from the charred onion and tomato and the red pepper. I made it without the red pepper and quite honestly, it was a pretty insipid gray and not appealing to the eye.

Roasted Eggplant Soup

• Approximately 1 llb of small, fresh eggplants
• 1 ripe red pepper
• 1/2 large, sweet onion
• 1 large ripe tomato
• 2 fat cloves garlic
• 4 cups of chicken stock (you can go vegetarian on this and use vegetable stock)
• 2 oz Chevre goat cheese
• ~ 1/4 Cup heavy cream
• Sprigs of oregano and marjoram (you can substitute fresh lemon thyme)
• 2 Tbs. of "best" balsamic vinegar. Make sure you use a full-bodied rich balsamic. In one version I used one infused with black currants - yummy!
  
• Olive oil
• Sea salt
• coarse black pepper

Method

1. Pre-heat oven to 400F
2. Prick eggplant (young, fresh ones will NOT need salting and draining). Old big ones might be too tough for this recipe.
3. Quarter tomato
4. Halve red pepper
5. quarter the half onion

Line a baking sheet with foil - pop all the veggies onto it - drizzle with the olive oil, salt and pepper, toss to coat. Roast 40 minutes or until eggplant is soft and the other veggies are charred.

Have a heavy bottom soup pan ready

• When roasted. Put the pepper into a paper bag for a few minutes to sweat and then peel it and toss it in the pan along with the onion and tomato.
  
• Squeeze the roasted garlic from the husk directly into the pan.
• Carefully scrape the eggplant "meat" into the pan. Discard the skins.
• Add the stock, herb sprigs and a good grating of black pepper to the pan. Simmer 40 minutes. At this stage you can let the soup sit in the fridge overnight. I made this twice. The version I let sit overnight developed a deeper flavor.
  
• Remove herb sprigs.
  
• Use an immersion blender or regular blender to puree the soup until smooth. You can set aside now or reheat slowly and serve. When ready to serve, check seasoning. It might need a little salt. Stir in the vinegar.

To Serve

Drizzle each serving with cream, sprinkle with crumbled goat cheese. I served it with an arugula salad topped with flakes of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and oven toasted French bread. Since I have two batches I intend serving it again tomorrow night when friends are over for dinner before roasted rack of lamb.