I’ve been in the city since Friday, doing a bunch of boring, tedious things that are nonetheless important- like finish the kitchen in Brooklyn before the tenants move in. Not my idea of fun in the kitchen. The culinary highlights thus far have been a lovely Seder dinner with relatives and friends and the penne all’arrabiata I made for breakfast this morning. There was no parsley, nor garlic, but there were some old dried chilli peppers, oregano, and herbes de Provence. The can of tomatoes was the puréed kind, so the resulting sauce attained that almost magical school-lunch flavor and texture (in a good way; like the archetype of “red sauce” but with a nice lingering heat.)
Now normally I would have been right out the door to buy the missing ingredients and more, but I’m on a real schedule, with a lot to get done, so I roughed it with what was on hand. It was a funny combination of my two main creative passions; I was literally painting the kitchen while cooking at the same time. The pasta was good enough that I had it for lunch and dinner too. It’s hard to express how happy I will be to get home tomorrow and eat the whole garden.
Wondered where you’ve been – not fun but, as you say, necessary. Your lunch sounded good, if simple – amazing what one can make by simply using what’s on hand.
It was breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I reverted to my full-blown slovenly (yet very efficient) bachelor mode. I think that few ingredients can elevate one’s game.
(Not that pasta with red sauce could honestly be called game elevation.)