Slim Man Cooks Shrimp with Marsala and Porcini Sauce

Marsala is a fortified wine from Sicily. There are two types...sweet and dry. Use sweet! Molto importante!

When you add the Marsala to the sauce, be careful. There might be some sizzling and flare-ups, so you might want to have someone you don’t like add it. 

JFK. Just Effing Kidding!

Be cautious, Slim People. I need every one of ya!

INGREDIENTS

1 cup dried porcini mushrooms

2 cups water

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

¼ cup chopped shallots

5 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled

2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary

1 cup sweet Marsala

2 pounds shrimp, peeled and deveined

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 pound of pasta (I use spaghetti)

1 tablespoon of olive oil, 1 tablespoon of butter…for the cooked pasta!

Salt and fresh-cracked black pepper

HERE WE GO!

 Put the porcini mushrooms in the water and let them soak for 30 minutes to an hour.

Take the mushrooms out of the water with a slotted spoon and put them in a bowl.

 Strain the water (I use a colander lined with a paper towel) into a bowl.

 Save that water!

 Chop the poricinis into small pieces.

 Give ‘em a quick rinse.

 Put a medium sauté pan over medium-high heat for 2 minutes.

 Add two tablespoons of butter.

Add two tablespoons olive oil.

 Swirl and stir.

 When the butter starts to bubble, add the shallots.

 Cook until the edges start to turn golden brown.

 Add the garlic and cook on each side for a minute or two.

 Add the Marsala. BE CAREFUL! There’s gonna be some sizzlin’!

 Cook and swirl for a minute or two.

 Add 1 cup of the porcini water.

 Turn the heat to high until it starts to boil.

 Add the rosemary and stir.

 Reduce the heat to a simmer and let it cook down.

 Put the shrimp in a large bowl.

 Add a tablespoon or so of olive oil.

 Add salt and pepper. Fresh-cracked is best!

 Mix ‘em up!

 Line a baking sheet with foil.

 Lay the shrimp in a single layer on the baking sheet.

 Put a large pot of fresh cold water on the highest heat ya got. This be for the pasta.

 When it comes to a full boil, add a couple tablespoons of salt.

 Add the pasta and cook according to the directions.

 When the pasta is five minutes from being done, turn your broiler to high and put in the shrimp.

 Cook for 5 minutes, no need to turn ‘em!

 Pull out the shrimp and put them in the porcini/Marsala sauce and give a couple stirs.

 Add salt and pepper if desired.

 Drain the pasta and put it in a bowl.

 Drizzle with a tablespoon of olive oil and add a tablespoon of butter.

 Stir.

 Take some of the Marsala sauce and add it to the pasta.

 Stir it a couple times.

 DISH IT UP!

 Put some pasta on a plate.

 Spoon some sauce over top.

 Make sure to add some shrimp!

 And maybe garnish with a sprig of fresh rosemary.

 Make sure it looks good.

 Because the most important thing in life is to look good.

 And eat good! And write good!

 Add some freshly-grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese if you like and…

 MANGIAMO!

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Slim Man Cooks Pasta Salad with Shrimp

I was hanging out at Mitch and Andy’s house in Carlsbad, Californee.

Andy has a garden. He’s really into it. It has raised beds, river rock pathways in between. Everything is staked and well-maintained. Groomed and trimmed.

He has all kinds of vegetables and herbs. And Fourth of July weekend, he had a little Holiday Harvest.

It didn’t require any fancy farm machinery or machetes. He just picked some fresh San Marzano plum tomatoes, some red and yellow bell peppers, some basil and parsley, and then he picked some farfalle off the pasta tree.

JFK. Just Effing Kidding. Pasta doesn’t grow on trees.

It grows on bushes!

I took Andy’s Independence Day Crop and decided to make a little summertime pasta salad.

The first time I made this salad I did not add shrimp. It was good, Slim People

But when I made it a second time, I added shrimp. 

Why?

I was talking to Hit Man Howie Z, Slim Man Bongo Boy, and we were going over my new pasta salad recipe when Hit Man mentioned the bookmaker’s salad we used to get at a restaurant in Baltimore called Sabatino’s. 

That salad was so good! It had shrimp in it.  But it also had hard-boiled eggs and a heavy creamy dressing, which I decided to leave out of my recipe.

I had to Slimmify it! Sorry, Sab’s!

So I added shrimp to my pasta salad. I broiled them for four minutes or so and then let them cool.

I added them to the pasta salad, and I tell you Slim People, it was really good. 

I would say “GREAT!!!” but I’m laying off the superlatives and the exclamation points these days.

But I loved it, and so did Andy and Mitch. And their kid, Michael. And his girlfriend, Katie. 

It was GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry. Couldn’t help myself.

NOTES:

Andy has San Marzano plum tomatoes in his garden. But you can use any kind of tomatoes you want. Grape or cherry tomatoes would work well.

Just cut them in halves or quarters, squeeze the seeds out and remove the yellow core, which can be bitter

I use white balsamic vinegar. Regular balsamic tastes good, too, but it gives the salad a light brown color which I’m not crazy about. 

I’ve also used honey bell orange white balsamic. Hard to find, a bit costly, but she’s a-so nice!

DRESSING INGREDIENTS

6 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice (no seeds, Meyer lemons are best)

1 teaspoon honey (or agave syrup)

THE OTHER INGREDIENTS

1 cup chopped fresh tomatoes (cut in bite-size chunks, seeds squeezed out, core removed)

1 cup diced red bell pepper

1 cup diced yellow bell pepper

1 cup Italian salami, cut in cubes

1 cup fontina cheese, cut in cubes

1 small handful of fresh Italian parsley, chopped (1/4 cup)

1 small handful fresh basil, snipped into small ribbons (1/4 cup)

½ cup fresh celery, chopped 

1/3 cup seedless black olives, sliced

1/3 cup minced Spanish (purple) onion

¼ cup capers (drained)

1 (16 ounce) can chickpeas drained

Kosher salt to taste

Fresh cracked black pepper to taste

1 pound pasta (I like farfalle, shes a-so nice! Fusilli would be good, too.)

THE SHRIMP INGREDIENTS

1 pound small shrimp, deshelled and deveined

1 tablespoon olive oil

Kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper to taste

HERE WE GO!

Put all the DRESSING INGREDIENTS in a glass jar and shake it, baby, shake it. Or put it on a bowl and whisk away.

Put all THE OTHER INGREDIENTS (except the pasta!) in a large bowl, big enough to hold the pasta and the vegetables.

Add half the dressing and stir gently. Gently, Slim People!

Put the shrimp in a bowl.

Add the olive oil and mix.

Sprinkle with some kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper.

Mix.

Put the shrimp on a baking pan and broil for four minutes or until pink.

When done, drain of any excess liquid and put in a bowl.

Get a large pot, fill it with cold water and put it on the highest heat ya got. This be for the pasta.

When the water comes to a full boil, add two tablespoons of kosher salt. It sounds like a lot, but it ain’t. The pasta water needs to look like the sea.

Add the pasta and cook at a full boil according to the times on the box. I like mine al dente.

Al Dente…wasn’t he a Demolition Derby driver?

When the pasta is al dente—firm to the tooth—drain it and put it in a bowl.

Add the rest of the dressing to the pasta and give it a couple of gentle stirs. Let it sit for a couple minutes.

Add the pasta to the bowl with the vegetables and stir.

Add the shrimp.

Give it a couple gentle stirs.

Taste for salt and pepper and adjust if needed.

DISH IT UP!

Put a couple scoops on one of them there fancy plates you pull out around Thanksgiving.

Most Italians don’t add cheese to a dish like this, but I know some wonderful women folk who do. 

So if the lovely lady insists, maybe add a little freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or some Locatelli Romano cheese on top, and…

MANGIAMO!!

Slim Man Cooks Baked Asparagus Wrapped in Prosciutto

[et_pb_section admin_label="section"][et_pb_row admin_label="row"][et_pb_column type="4_4"][et_pb_text admin_label="Text"]I spent a week at my brother’s house outside of Sedona, Arizona. He lives on a mesa with an incredible view of the red rocks in the distance.I like to test out new recipes on my brother and his wife. They have good health and life insurance, so I feel a bit more comfortable coming up with new recipes to try out on them. One night I tried a recipe for ciambotta, an Italian ratatouille with eggplant, tomatoes, bell peppers and zucchini. It didn’t turn out so good. It tasted like something dug up from a compost heap and was about as colorful as a puddle of mud.I was gonna put it on some toasted Italian bread. Except my brother doesn’t eat bread. Well, he eats that Ezekiel bread which tastes like a piece of drywall.  When he and his wife got home from work, they tasted the ciambotta.After I saw the look on their faces, I offered to buy Chinese carryout.But that would have required going into town, and they were tired, so I made some chicken saltimbocca, a recipe I had come up with a couple months ago.Since the ciambotta was off the menu, I wanted a vegetable to go along with the saltimbocca. I had some asparagus and some prosciutto, so I decided to make a little side dish.I snapped off the ends of the asparagus and put them in a baking dish. I added some olive oil and some fresh cracked black pepper.I baked the asparagus for about 10 minutes and pulled them out of the oven. I let them cool for a minute and then wrapped 5 or 6 stalks in a thin slice of prosciutto. I did this with all the asparagus and put the bundles underneath the broiler for 2 minutes or so until the prosciutto got crisp.Wow, she was a-so nice!NOTES:Here’s the thick and thin...Thinner asparagus tastes better. Thick asparagus is tough! If you can only find thick asparagus, use a vegetable peeler to peel the outer skin off the stalks.Thicker asparagus takes longer to bake.The thinner the prosciutto, the better. You only need to wrap the prosciutto around the asparagus once.And don’t salt the asparagus! There’s enough salt already in the prosciutto.And finally, don’t bake the asparagus all the way. When you broil them with the prosciutto, they’ll finish cooking.INGREDIENTS1 pound of asparagus, bottom stalks snapped off1 tablespoon olive oilFresh cracked black pepper½ pound prosciutto, sliced thin  HERE WE GO!Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.Put the asparagus in a baking dish.Add the olive oil and mix ‘em up.Add some fresh cracked black pepper, mix ‘em up again.Put the asparagus in the oven for about 10 minutes until almost done.Take them out of the oven and let them cool for a minute.Set the oven to broil.Take 5 or 6 stalks, place them on the edge of a piece of prosciutto and roll ‘em up.Do this with all the asparagus.Place the asparagus on a baking sheet and place them under the broiler for two minutes or so.Keep your eyes on these guys! Don’t burn your meat!When the prosciutto starts to brown, remove and put the asparagus bundles on a plate and...MANGIAMO![/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]

Slim Man Cooks Lamb Chops with Rosemary and Garlic

I don’t eat a lot of red meat. But when I was living with my uncle Oscar, he’d cook the occasional lamb chop, or Osso Buco.  The guy was an amazing cook.  His palate was refined.  His senses were keen.  He once walked out of the bedroom and told me I had overcooked the fish, and damned if I hadn’t.He was in amazing shape, physically, mentally--in every way, Unc was in great condition.  He was in his 80’s.  He ate meat every once in a while.So I figured, what the hell—I’ll have what he’s having.Unc used to get pissed off when he was having a dinner party and people would call in advance and give him their dietary restrictions.“I can’t eat meat, I can’t have dairy, I can’t eat tomatoes, I don’t eat shellfish…”I once had a dinner party and a gal sent me a list of 20 things she couldn’t eat.  One of them was eggplant.  I had already made eggplant Parmigiano.  So I made a Bolognese sauce as well.  Just for her.  It was one of the few things she could eat.It took three hours.  She never showed up.  True story.These days, when I go to a dinner party, I just shut up and eat whatever they’re serving.  It hasn’t killed me yet.But there’s still time…NOTES:Thicker pieces of lamb take longer, thinner pieces take less time. Also, if you want them to be rare, obviously cook them for less time. For well-cooked, cook 'em longer!INGREDIENTS1 pound lamb chops (I had 6, each about ¾ inch thick)1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary1 clove garlic, minced (a generous teaspoon)1 teaspoon olive oil, plus 1½ tablespoons for searing1½ tablespoons butter HERE WE GO!Put the chopped rosemary and the minced garlic on a chopping boardEven though they’re already chopped, chop ‘em up together for a minutePut them in a small bowlAdd a teaspoon of olive oil, mix it up.Place the lamb chops on a large plateRub a little of the rosemary/garlic/olive oil mixture on top of each lamb chop—only on one side!!  Spread it around evenlyAdd a little Kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepperGet a large fry pan (I used a 10-inch pan)Turn the heat to highAdd the 1½ tablespoons of butter, and the remaining 1½ tablespoons of olive oilWhen the butter starts to brown, add the lamb chops—spiced side down!Turn the heat down to medium-highCook for 2 or 3 minutes.Using tongs, turn em overCook for another 2 or 3 minutes until doneThat’s it!!Plate it up, make it look nice, add a sprig of rosemary, maybe a dollop of risotto, a couple baked asparagus spears, and…MANGIAMO!

Slim Man Cooks Risotto with Shrimp, Pancetta, and Asparagus

The first editor I hired for the Slim Man Cooks cookbook took out a lot of the jokes.I started one story/recipe with one of my favorites...Why don’t cannibals eat divorced people?Because they’re bitter.The editor took it out because she thought it might be offensive to divorced people. I thought it was funny.In another section, she took out one of the instructions for a chicken recipe. I had written...Dust your breasts with flour. Do the same with the chicken breasts.I thought it was funny, she thought it might be offensive to women. I was gonna point out to her that both women and men have breasts, but I didn’t. I went through the whole cookbook and put the jokes back in. And then I found a new editor.The second editor was a little better. For instance, in an asparagus recipe, I wrote...Why does asparagus make your pee-pee smell funny?She pointed out the "pee-pee" was an anatomical term, and that I should use the word “pee” instead. Well, it was a small improvement, but an improvement nonetheless.When I was coming up with this risotto recipe, I decided to use asparagus. I went to the grocery store, the asparagus was fresh, looked wonderful, and was on sale. I bought some, and used it in this dish.Risotto. It’s a dish that needs attention! You need to stand over this dish until it’s done. So, when you have guests over that you are not crazy about and want to hide in the kitchen? This is the dish to make!Keep in mind, the key to cooking risotto is to add a ladle of broth, and stir gently until it’s absorbed. Keep adding ladles and stirring until absorbed. It usually takes about 20 or 25 minutes. It should take about 4 minutes or so for each ladle to be absorbed. If it takes longer, turn the heat up a touch; if it takes less time, turn it down.When the rice is al dente, firm to the bite, she’s-a done!NOTES:I used chicken stock, you can use seafood or vegetable stock. INGREDIENTSSaffron (some threads, not too much, it’s EXPENSIVE)5 cups broth (chicken, vegetable, or seafood—I used chicken)¼ pound pancetta, cubed (diced)2 tablespoons olive oil½ cup dry white wine1 pound shrimp, deveined and deshelled (save the shells) and chopped into smaller pieces1 ½ cups asparagus (tips and about 1 or 2 inches down the stalks, chopped)2 tablespoons butter1 cup minced onion1 ½ cups Arborio rice½ cup fresh grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (OPTIONAL)HERE WE GO...Put the saffron threads in one cup of warm chicken broth. Mix and let sit.Put the remaining 4 cups of broth in a small sauce pan over low heat.Add the shrimp shells to the broth, stir.Put a large, heavy-bottomed sauce pan over medium heat for 2 minutes.Add the pancetta, cook until brown, about 6 minutes, stir occaisonally.Remove with a slotted spoon.Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil.Add ¼ cup of the white wine.Add the shrimp, cook until pink, about 3 minutes; remove.Add the asparagus, and a little salt, cook for 3 or 4 minutes until tender; remove.Add 2 tablespoons butter.Add the onion, stir and cook for 5 minutes.Add the rice, stir gently and cook for 3 minutes.Add the remaining ¼ cup of white wine, stir and cook 2 minutes.Turn the heat down under the rice.Remove the shrimp shells from the broth.Add a ladle of stock (no shells!) and stir until absorbed (about 3-5 minutes).Add another ladle of stock (no shells!) and stir until absorbed (about 3-5 minutes).Add the cup of stock with the saffron, stir until absorbed.Add some salt, stir.Add another ladle of stock (no shells!) and stir until absorbed (about 3-5 minutes).Add one more ladle, and stir until absorbed.At this point the rice should be done, al dente, firm to the tooth.If it’s not, add another ladle, or a little warm water if you’ve run out of broth; stir until absorbed and the rice is done.Add the shrimp, the asparagus and the pancetta, and stir gently.OPTIONAL: add ½ cup of fresh grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, stir gently.Dish it up!MANGIAMO!

Slim Man Cooks Baked Tomatoes with Parmigiano and Panko

So there I was. Staring at two very ripe tomatoes.I don’t normally stare at produce, but these things needed to be eaten. And soon.I didn’t want to eat the same old shit, Caprese salad, or my Mom’s tomato salad, no disrespect to my Mom or Capri!I just wanted something different. Then I thought of making baked tomatoes, but they seemed so...Antiquated. Out of style. Not in vogue.Which is why they appealed to me. I looked up recipes, but nothing was clicking; they were all missing something.Know what they were missing?Slimness.I wanted to make a stuffing with stuff I like. So I made a mixture of panko and Parmigiano and parsley and garlic, along with some dried oregano. Why dried oregano?I like the taste better. Especially in Italian-American dishes, although I’m pretty sure this dish is more American than Italian.Until now!I added a little olive oil to keep it together and moist.I scooped the seeds out of the tomatoes. I’m not a big fan of tomato seeds, especially in fresh tomatoes. I cut out the top tab/button of both tomatoes first. Then I cut them in half, horizontally. Then I scooped seeds.I mixed up the stuffing, stuffed it in the tomatoes, and baked them for 20 minutes at 450 degrees.Wow. They were real good. I mean...real good. I’m staying away from the hyperbole these days. Leaving myself a little headroom. But these were...delizioso. And quick. And easy.INGREDIENTS¼ cup panko breadcrumbs¼ cup fresh grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese1 teaspoon minced garlic1 teaspoon dried oregano1 tablespoon chopped fresh Italian parsleyKosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper1 generous tablespoon olive oil2 ripe tomatoes, top buttons cut out, cut in half horizontally, seeds scooped outHERE WE GO...Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.Put all the ingredients except the tomatoes in a small bowl.Mix with a fork.Put the 4 tomato halves in a small baking dish.Drizzle a little olive oil over each, add a little Kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper to each.Add equal amounts of the panko mixture to each tomato. Fill the tomato holes. Put the extra on top. Be judicious. Be equitable.Put the dish in the oven for 20 minutes. Keep an eye on these maters.When the tops are golden brown, take the dish out of the oven.Let it sit for 5 minutes.Dish ‘em up! Make ‘em look nice, add a sprig of fresh parsley, and...MANGIAMO!!!! 

Slim Man Cooks Fregola

My niece got married in June.My sister had five kids, all by Cesarean. They’re all pretty normal, except every time they leave the house they go out the window.My sister would be laid up after each birth, so Uncle Slimmy would babysit the newborn until my sister's stomach recovered, a couple weeks. At one point, I had a newborn, a 2-year-old, a 4-year-old, a 6-year-old and an 8-year-old.It wasn’t easy, but it was such a wonderful experience. I loved it, and I loved them. Still do!The niece who just got married...her husband...I love the guy. He’s funny and smart and cool and comes from a great family. They met in high school in Pennsylvania.The wedding was in Philly, a town I hadn’t been to in a while. Man, it has changed. I stayed at a hotel right in the heart of downtown. I took a jog/walk up to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the one where the statue of Rocky is.Rocky. Remember that movie? Sylvester Stallone? When he was training for his big fight, he’d end his exercise routine with a jog up the museum steps as the theme song played. “Flying high now!”I jogged up those steps. And when I got to the top, I played my own theme song. “It’s All About Love!” Seemed suitable for the City of Brotherly Love, which is Philly’s nickname. I jogged back to the hotel, and right next door was one of the best urban markets I’ve ever been to.The Reading Terminal Market. They had everything. Bay scallops, sea scallops, all kinds of fresh fish, meats, produce, Philly cheesesteaks, pastries...they even had pig’s feet.Which were pretty disgusting looking.My Mom was from down south, and they had big jars of pickled pig’s feet in this red liquid, sitting on counters at gas stations. Unrefigerated. You could stick your hand in the jar, grab a pickled pig’s foot, and start gnawing.I never ate any. I couldn’t get past the visual.The night before the wedding, they had a rehearsal dinner. There wasn’t any rehearsing, it was just a way for folks from the two families to get to know each other. It was held in an upstairs room at one of those hipster restaurants, the kind where the guys have beards and glasses with big black frames, and boots that look like the kind that soldiers wore in the Civil War.Except this was modern-day Philly.I’ll admit this, the food was good. They had a couple choices for entrees, chicken or salmon. I’ve been eating a lot of chicken lately. I’ve been eating so much chicken I’m starting to sprout wings between my shoulder blades. I’m afraid I might start spitting feathers out of my mouth.So I ordered the salmon.When they brought me the plate, the salmon looked beautiful. I took a bite, it was pretty damn good. It was resting on...what was it? It looked like some kind of couscous. I took a bite, and it was delizioso. She was a-so nice!I could tell it wasn’t couscous. I asked the waiter what it was.Fregola.What?Fregola.Which had me looking it up on my phone. I was trying to stay off the damn phone, especially at a gathering where you’re supposed to get to know people. But I had to know what fregola was.Well, Slim People…it’s a pasta from Sardinia. Sometimes it's spelled "fregola" and sometimes "fregula." It was about the size and shape of BBs, and that night in Philly it was done in a simple sauce, as a side dish.Sardinia is a place I’ve always wanted to visit; it’s an Italian island in the Mediterranean, off the East coast of Italy. I read an article in National Geographic a few years ago; the people of Sardinia live exceptionally long lives. The National Geographic folks were trying to figure out why.Maybe it’s the fregola!It’s usually served in a simple sauce, like a tomato sauce with some pecorino-Romano cheese. It’s usually a side dish, except when they make it with clams, tiny clams from the Mediterranean.When I got back to Palm Springs, I decided to find some fregola.I couldn’t. I went to all kinds of food stores, and when I asked for fregola, people looked at me like I had two heads.What to do?I went online. I found some on Amazon, and ordered it. It was expensive, about $8 bucks a pound. Normally pasta costs a couple bucks, but this was imported from Sardinia. Shipping was $6 bucks. I decided to splurge.It’s a durum wheat semolina pasta, which is what most Italian pastas are made from. But fregola is toasted in an oven at the end of the pasta-making process. The pasta was many shades of brown. Each little pellet was a different color...beige, tan, burnt Sienna.What the hell is burnt Sienna anyway?So I followed the instructions on the package, cooked it in salted water for about 12 minutes. Then I drained it, and added a little olive oil and butter. I made one batch with some Slim pesto and another batch with Slim’s tomato sauce.It was so good. It had a slightly nutty flavor, and I thought I tasted a mild saffron-type spice. I like trying new foods, especially Italian foods. And this was one of the best new dishes I’ve cooked in quite a while. And it was so simple.How was the wedding the next day? It was great. Yes, it rained...torrential downpours and thunder and lightning. At least it was inside. Sometimes when the weather is really crazy, it somehow makes an event seem more memorable.“Remember the wedding? It was raining cats and dogs!”Now, I’m not sure where that expression came from. But it was raining really hard.Fregola. It sounds like an Italian curse word. "Slim Man! Che fregola!"This is gonna be quick, Slim People. And easy! And delizioso.INGREDIENTSA couple tablespoons of Kosher salt1 pound fregolaA couple tablespoons of olive oilA couple tablespoons of butter, room temperature1 cup simple tomato sauce½ cup of pesto sauceFreshly grated pecorino-Romano cheeseFreshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheeseHERE WE GO!Get a large pot, fill it with fresh, cold water, and put it on the highest heat you gots.When it comes to a boil, add the Kosher salt (I use 2 generous tablespoons).Add the fregola pasta.Keep the heat up during the whole process!Stir and cook for about 12 minutes or so, until al dente—firm to the bite.Drain the fregola.Put half in one bowl, and half in another bowl.Add a tablespoon of olive oil and a tablespoon of butter to each bowl.Mix gently, make sure the butter has melted.Add the pesto sauce to one bowl, and the tomato sauce to the other.Mix gently.Dish it up!Put a serving of each on a plate. Add a little grated pecorino cheese to the tomato sauce fregola, and some Parmigiano to the pesto sauce fregola. MANGIAMO!!!

Slim Man Cooks Salmon with Leeks

Once again, I was faced with the dilemma...how can I prepare salmon in a new way?Lady Peoples, they love salmon. I once went out with a girl who ate salmon so often, grizzly bears tried to attack her when we went to the zoo.Trying to find a new way of cooking salmon can be a challenge. I’ve baked it, seared it, broiled it, grilled it, poached it…I was running out of ways to cook it! So I thought maybe I’d sear it, just the top, and then steam it.I saw a recipe that included Dijon mustard. I like Dijon mustard. I mean, I don’t eat spoonfuls out of the jar, but as far as condiments go, I like it.But on a piece of fish? I had my doubts. But I thought I’d try it, and see what it was like.It was good! There’s just a teaspoon, so it’s not overwhelming. And it was really subtle. If you didn’t know there was Dijon in the sauce, you might not have detected it.I used Wild Alaskan King salmon. It was thick and fresh and about $11 a pound, which is about half of what you normally pay. The filets I got were about an inch thick.You can use halibut, or any firm-fleshed thick fish. Thinner fish won’t work.I really like this dish. When you cook/sear/braise the top of the salmon first, it gets a nice crispness. Then when you steam it over the leeks, it stays really moist inside. It’s a nice contrast, the crispness of the top, and the steaminess of the rest.I’ve always liked the french-fried onions that come in a can that you use over string beans at Thanksgiving. I thought they might go well on top of the salmon. But I wanted to make them myself. So I took some slivered leeks, and fried them in some butter and olive oil until golden.Wow. They were good. They tasted great, just a few on top of the salmon at the very end. I made a little teepee, and it looked cool, and tasted great.Leeks...they’re dirty! Make sure you clean them real good. And cut off the root at the end, and cut off the dark green parts/leaves on top. The dark green leaves are tough like shoe leather! So just use the pale green and white parts of the leeks.INGREDIENTS1 cup leeks, white and pale green parts only, cleaned thoroughly and cut into matchstick slivers½ cup leeks, the same way (these are for garnish)¼ cup of flour4 tablespoons butter3 tablespoons olive oilSalt and pepperTwo 8-ounce Wild Alaskan King Salmon filets, about an inch thick each1 teaspoon Dijon mustard¾ cup dry white wine1 tablespoon lemon juice, fresh squeezed2 tablespoons fresh Italian parsley, choppedHERE WE GO!Let’s fry some leeks first. We will use these on top of the salmon, at the very end.Put a small sauté pan over medium-high heat.Add 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil, and let them heat up!Put the flour on a plate.Take the ½ cup of leeks, and add them to the flour and mix.Pick up the leeks, let the excess flour shake off, and put them in the pan.When the edges of the leeks turn pale gold, a minute or two, turn them over.Cook them on the other side until pale gold.Remove to a plate lined with a paper towel, and add salt and pepper.Don’t throw out the flour yet!And now for the salmon…Sprinkle the tops of each salmon filet with some Kosher salt. Mazel tov!Put 2 tablespoons of butter and 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a sauté pan over medium heat.When the butter melts and bubbles, add the salmon, skin side up.Cook for 3 or 4 minutes.Remove the salmon to a large plate.To the sauté pan, add the final 1 tablespoon of butter, 1 cup of slivered leeks, the mustard, and some Kosher salt.Stir gently and cook for 3 minutes, until leeks are soft.Add wine, and let it cook off for a minute or two.Add the salmon to the pan, skin/raw side down, right on top of the leeks.Cover and simmer for 8 minutes, or until done (pale pink in the middle, and slightly flaky).Remove the salmon to two gorgeous plates.Add the lemon juice and parsley to the pan.Add a touch of flour, and stir gently.Taste for salt and pepper and adjust.Pour a little sauce over each salmon filet. Add some crispy leeks on top, like a teepee.MANGIAMO!