jumpy jumpy vitamins « Back to the kitchen

Back to the kitchen

I’ve been neglecting this category — and my mad-scientist cooking skills — far too long.

My new food love is sugo all’amatriciana over bucatini. It’s impossible to go wrong when there’s that much pancetta involved, but the short ingredients list, simple prep, and easy wine pairing (dry, fruity red) just makes the sauce completely kick-ass. It’s seriously about to replace the garlic chicken stir-fry with quinoa, peppers, and basil as the default dinner for non-vegetarian company.

As the weather continues to cool off, I’m tempted to go on a mashed potato rampage. First up will probably be bangers and mash, then a tangy/spicy steak-and-pepper hash over cheddar mashed potatoes, then maybe a shepherd’s pie with ground turkey or something. I don’t know. In the meantime, though, I’m craving fish and chips with lots and lots of malt vinegar. (Not sure where the sudden fascination with English cooking came from.)

Baking-wise, Trader Joe’s’s pumpkin bread mix is back in stores. It’s glorious stuff, especially when you swap melted butter for the vegetable oil and double-strength coffee for the water, or when you mix in some dark chocolate chunks. (Just don’t do coffee and chocolate in this mix; the coffee and chocolate together overwhelm the subtleties of the pumpkin bread itself.)

Trader Joe’s also has a brownie mix that had Fred moaning in ecstasy over the weekend. I’ll let him discuss that one, though I do confess eating a couple brownies for breakfast Saturday morning.

Finally: it’s APPLE SEASON, and it’s a good one at that. As a recovering apple junkie, who used to go through ten pounds a week (seriously), this is a dangerous time of year. I’ve only purchased one half-peck of McIntoshes so far, and it was quite difficult to keep from devouring the entire thing in one sitting. (Thanks to my inimitable self-control I was able to parse it out to four or five sittings.) Fred got to have a couple of those apples, too, but I think he’s more excited that I found his favorite hard cider in town. (mmm, cider.)