I woke up this morning and decided I wanted to make myself dinner. Since it was such a nice day, I decided to stroll down to the Pike Place Market to grab some fresh veggies and clams.
When I returned, I prepared two dishes: a spaghetti w/clams and bacon from this month's issue of Gourmet, and a Tyler Florence Caprese salad.
I have to admit, I'm not much of a cook, so when my food turns out, it's a minor miracle. In this case, I succeeded on both dishes!
The Caprese salad, which took all of five minutes to prepare, was a simple matter of combining a vine ripe tomato, a 1/2 pint of cherry tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, basil and olive oil. There was really no way for me to mess it up.
On the spaghetti, I fudged the Gourmet recipe, so I could've messed it up. First, the recipe called for grilled clams and the 'sauce' to be prepared over a barbecue. However, living in an apartment with no access to a fire, this was not possible. So I steamed the clams (using a little water and some of the excess fat of the bacon to try to make them a little smoky) and just sauteed the sauce. Ramps are in season, so I added those and cut down a little on the parsley and garlic. It turned out splendid. Despite having bacon, the dish is very light. The sauce is based on lemon, olive oil, dried red peppers and garlic, so it's quite snappy. I loved this. It serves 4, so I'll be eating for the next two days. Sue me, I like big portions!
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