Pasta e Fagioli

I know it's been unseasonably warm back home [upper 80s instead of upper 70s] but Yankee Land just got more snow [April Fool's!], so hearty soup is still on my menu. The first time I saw a recipe for pasta fagioli I thought a soup comprised almost entirely of beans and pasta couldn't be that tasty.... but I was very very wrong. Italians cooks have a long history of making the whole far greater than the sum of its parts, and this soup is a part of that strong tradition.

Since the primary components are so simple, the seasonings and garnishes are very important in this soup, and fresh herbs really make a difference.  I quit using chicken stock in it a while back in favor of cheese rinds -- I keep a "rind baggie" in the freezer and any time I get down to the hard end of a wedge of parm or pecorino, I just throw it in there for later use.  You _could_ also buy a wedge, cut off the rind for the soup, then use the rest later.  The reason you want to use the rind is that it will impart great flavor [umami] but holds together throughout cooking and won't change the texture of the soup. I'm not the biggest fan of eating the rind, but JG loves them, so everyone wins.  You _could_ just discard them at the end, but there's probably someone at the table who would be happy to have them.

This soup is traditionally meatless, but I had some ground turkey that needed to be used so I made some super-simple mini meatballs [no binder required].  I included a recipe, but it's certainly not necessary for the soup. 

Finally, I believe this soup demands whole wheat pasta [shocking, I know].  Refined flour pasta will eventually turn to mush and make the leftovers much less appealing, but the bran in the whole wheat pasta maintains its structural integrity so each reheated bowl is even better than the one before.

Recipes: Pasta Fagioli and Mini Turkey Meatballs

Bartending with JG: The Second Trimester

JG's been spending a lot of time in the lab lately.  He says his research is going well, but the other night he came home rather frustrated because the computer he was using to run his experiments died and he was going to have to take some time away from his actual research to calibrate a new one.

The man needed a nice drink.  Martinis and Manhattans have always been our friends, but the recent infrequency of hard alcohol consumption in our apartment had left the bar a little understocked.  We had no gin, so the martini was definitely out (we don't believe in vodka martinis here).  We had rye whiskey but no sweet vermouth or Angostura bitters -- and at this point I think JG might have been on the verge of saying something unkind about our hybrid.

BUT we did have Peychaud's and a blanc vermouth we'd randomly purchased a while back because it was unfamiliar (verdict: possibly sweeter than sweet vermouth).   JG made himself a new drink he calls "The Second Trimester." It's not quite the same as a Manhattan, but it's still tasty.
[Yes, I tasted it and it was delicious.... I couldn't put a recipe up I haven't tasted, could I?]

A note about the cherries. I think maraschino cherries are foul and always omitted them from my Manhattan.  Then, ~5 years ago, I happened to have a Manhattan at a place called The Pegu Club in Manhattan and they served it with the most wonderful, dense, dark, richly flavored and not-too-sweet amarena cherry.  It took me a bit of research to figure out what they were  -- a small preserved sour cherry from italy -- and even longer to find them in a specialty store but they are _so_ worth it. [You can easily order the pictured Fabbri brand online, but they're a little sweeter.] Their flavor is wickedly decadent.  If maraschinos are The Monkees, amarenas are The Rolling Stones, know what I'm sayin'?

Recipe:  The Second Trimester [or 2nd Tri]

A Sign of Spring

Yes, it snowed all day today in Yankee Land, but I'm feeling perkier than my last post.  Why?

My rhubarb is sprouting!

Surely this snow -- and the forecasted snow on Wednesday and Thursday -- is almost the end of it...

Right?