I have successfully ruined 3 recipes in the last 12 hours, and none of them were the same recipe.
Attempt 1: Monday night, 8:30p
Dish: Celia Brooks Brown's Spaghetti with Yogurt, Chile and Spinach
This is a recipe I have been following for years - YEARS - by heart. It has become one of my husband's favorites, takes about 20 minutes and is even vegetarian. See recipe below. Note that it calls for plain nonfat yogurt. Pretty standard stuff, but I guess I was in a yoga daze at the grocery last night because I picked up vanilla nonfat yogurt instead, and apparently didn't bother to notice my mistake until I had stirred the yogurt/flour mixture into a sizzling pan of olive oil and finely minced garlic and Thai chili. An intoxicating aroma of garlic, spice olive oil and... vanilla... erupted though my new kitchen.
Attempt 1: fail
Attempt 2: Monday, 8:45p
Dish: Spaghetti with Garlic and Olive Oil
As I already had pasta rolling from Attempt 1, I decided to do a quick, easy, undestroyable dish with what I had in front of me. Minced a little more garlic, grabbed a fresh pan, tossed in a little olive oil over medium heat and dropped in the garlic. Then the phone rang in the other room, a great friend from New Orleans catching up from the holiday. I lingered for just a moment too long to discover burned and crispy garlic in my pan.
Attempt 2: fail
At this point, I gave up anything that was remotely complicated (apparently roasting garlic was out) and tossed the innocent-enough pasta in butter and chopped flat leaf parsley. Dinner accomplished.
Attempt 3: Monday 9:00p - Tuesday 8:00a
Dish: Chicken stock
How does one destroy chicken stock? Well I'm going to tell you. The meal plan this week included chicken soup, and I always need chicken stock for other soups as well. So into the pot go three chickens, onions, parsnips, carrots, celery, parsley, dill, thyme, Kosher salt and whole peppercorns, topped off with about 8 quarts of water. In my old kitchen with gas burners, I could generally leave all this on the cooktop over low all night to really get some great flavor. So I brought the stock to a boil, turned the heat down and went to bed. I closed the kitchen door so the dogs wouldn't be tempted to explore the aromas of the hot pot. Now, the great thing about working freelance is that I can sleep a little late, so I woke up around 8:00a this morning expecting the smell of delicious chicken stock and herbs. Not so. Instead, the scent of protein burn permeated the house -- the stock had reduced the almost the point of no liquid and the contents were burning on the edges of the pot. To make matters worse, water had condensed on the walls, hood and inside the vent above the cooktop. My house still smells acrid.
Attempt 3: fail
And all within 12 hours. Welcome back, lonelyanchovy.
Spaghetti with Yogurt, Chile and Spinach
- 1/2 pound whole wheat spaghetti
- 1 1/2 cups plain low-fat yogurt
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 red Thai chile, minced
- 10 ounces baby spinach
- Finely grated zest of 2 lemons, plus 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
- 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
DIRECTIONS
- In a large saucepan of boiling salted water, cook the spaghetti until al dente. Drain and return to the saucepan.
- Meanwhile, in a bowl, whisk the yogurt with the flour until smooth. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil. Add the garlic and chile and cook over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add the yogurt and bring to a simmer over moderate heat, stirring. Add the spinach by the handful and cook until wilted, stirring. When all of the spinach has been added, stir in the lemon zest and juice and season with salt and pepper.
- Add the sauce to the spaghetti and toss well to coat. Mound in bowls, sprinkle with the Parmesan and serve right away.
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