January 7, 2011: The Hudsucker Pasta

I was supposed to cook this meal last night but in a related New Year's Resolution, I am exercising more. And after 200 Squat Thrusts during our two-mile walk with the dog....while wearing a 25lb weight vest,  Chris suggested we eat out at Taco Mac. Who am I to deny my husband wings and beer?

So I cooked tonight (after a 2-mile run with the dog). As promised - the first cookbook I used was the Paul Newman "Newman's Own Cookbook." I decided to make The Hudsucker Pasta partly because it sounded good and partly because it had a fun name!

 Ok - many of you may already know what this means but for those who don't. Mise en place (meez on plahhs) is French for "Everything in its place." Aside from knife skills, this was the first thing we learned in culinary school. Always, always set up, measure and cut before you turn the stove on or start to cook. This prevents missing an ingredient or burning something while you're trying to cut up an ingredient for the next step. It also forces you to read through the recipe (which was lesson two - always read through the recipe two or three times.

 

The recipe calls for shrimp but my husband objected so I replaced it with chicken. In the recipe, the shrimp is added last and cooks in the simmering sauce. Chicken would take way too long to simmer so I cooked it up ahead of time with a little help from the hubs.

 

Is there a better smell than olive oil and garlic sauteeing?? Watch it when sauteeing garlic - burnt garlic will ruin a recipe. Don't walk away from the pan.

 

Add the mushrooms...they will release a lot of liquid which is good for keeping the garlic from burning. A great trick for slicing mushrooms: use an egg slicer. Works like a charm and the slices are all uniform which means even cooking times.

 

Next the sauce, sundried tomatoes, a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar and 1/4 cup of wine. This called for red pepper flakes but neither Chris nor I like red pepper flakes in our italian dishes. So I chose not to add that.

 

Cubed cream cheese...looks kind of like marshmallows, doesn't it?

 

The cream cheese has melted and chicken has been added. It's time to eat!

 

Sprinkle with grated parm and some toasted pine nuts and it's ready to go.

 

Fenway wants some.

The verdict? It was pretty good. Not necessarily a keeper. I kind of like the flavor that the balsamic adds but frankly, I prefer a good meat sauce. Speaking of meat: remove the chicken and this is a pretty tasty vegetarian dish. Maybe even add some tofu for extra protein.

Also: the stuffed mushroom caps never came to be. Busy work week and mushroom caps are more of an hors d'oeuvre than a meal. We will make them some day, however. And I will blog about it.