pasta with anchovies, garlic, etc.

The other night I got a gift from my friend Tracy... Tracy is married to Corey Woodruff, an awesome photographer who is responsible for our Food Blog Mafia portraits. Well, Tracy makes some fantastic pottery, and she made me a little dish that grates garlic!! Have you ever? It's so awesome.


The next night I was on a mission to make something that involved grated garlic. Googling "grated garlic" I found this Gordon Ramsey recipe for spaghetti with anchovies, garlic, etc. etc. The anchovy is what made this a winner, as I had tried to get STL Bites' Bill Burge to split an anchovy pizza with me a couple nights before and he refused... I had been craving the salty buggers ever since!


Here is my interpretation of the recipe:

Linguine with Anchovies, garlic, etc.

-8 oz. linguine, cooked
-2 Tablespoons olive oil
-1 2oz. can of anchovies, drained and chopped
-4 cloves garlic, grated
-1 large shallot, chopped fine
-1 1/2 Tablespoons butter
-Splash of white wine
-Italian flat leaf parsley
-Zest from 1 small lemon
-about 1/2 cup of grated Parmesan cheese
-2 Hard-boiled eggs, roughly chopped


-Cook the anchovies, garlic, and shallot in the olive oil until the shallots are softened and the anchovies have mostly dissolved. Add the butter and cook until it melted. Add a splash of wine, and let reduce slightly. Toss in the cooked pasta until well coated. Toss in the Parmesan, lemon zest and parsley. Serve, garnished with eggs. Makes 2 generous servings.

This is a very simple and quick dinner, but so rich and packed with flavor. Very satisfying. I don't recommend bringing the leftovers to work to eat in your cubicle the next day though... smelly. Yummy, but smelly. Sorry Co-workers!

leftover steak? Nam Tok beef!

I had in my possession about 10 ozs. of leftover, perfectly-grilled flank steak. I wanted to do something with it other than just eat it straight. I decided to try an replicate my favorite Thai restaurant dish, Nam Tok beef. Spicy, sweet, sour, savory... Nam Tok beef has so many flavors yet they all work together to make... a party in your mouth :)

Leftover Steak Nam Tok Beef

-1 garlic clove, minced
-1 large shallot, chopped fine
-1 green chile, chopped fine
-juice of 2 limes
-2 Tablespoons white vinegar
-1/2 Tablespoon Fish Sauce
-3 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
-1 Tablepoon sugar
-1 Tablespoon honey
-small handful of cilantro, chopped
-10 oz. medium-rare grilled flank steak, sliced into thin strips

Combine first 9 ingredients, add the beef strips. Let the beef marinate in the fridge while you cook rice and shred cabbage. Serve Beef and marinade cold over rice with shredded raw cabbage. Makes 2 servings.