almost makes perfect

My mom has been making this recipe forever, aptly named “the love meal”. It’s one of the easiest, no-fail but impressive dinners I can make. One of the best parts of this recipe is that you probably have almost if not all of the ingredients for the marinade in your kitchen already. This rack that we bought at Pavilions was a little smaller than most, so I probably should have compensated by cooking for a minute less, but it still came out medium rare. Just a tiny less pink than I would have liked.

Rack of Lamb with Mustard Soy Glaze
(serves 2… or 3 if you eat less than me.)
1 8-rib frenched lamb rack
4 tb olive oil
2 tb dijon mustard
1 tb fresh parsley
2 tb soy sauce
2 grinds fresh ground pepper (or more)
1 large garlic clove

Whisk all of the ingredients together in a bowl until it forms a mayonnaise consistency. Coat the lamb rack generously on both sides. Broil for 5 minutes on each side.

Turn the oven to 400°. Bake for 10 minutes (for medium rare).

Remove from oven, let stand for 5 minutes before carving.

We served the lamb with roasted fingerling potatoes and a beet salad.

My dad has been making this brownie recipe my whole life. As long as they don’t overcook, they’re just gooey and buttery enough that I can’t remember ever bothering with another recipe ever.

Unless it’s this mix, which I like to keep on hand for days when we stay home and do a bunch of vicodin.

Super Easy Go-to Brownies

4 squares unsweetened chocolate
2 sticks of unsalted butter
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 ⅓ cup flour

Preheat the oven to 350°. Melt the chocolate and butter in a pan. In a mixing bowl, beat together the remaining ingredients.

Once the chocolate and butter are completely melted, pour the mixture into the mixing bowl. Beat until mixed. Pour batter into a sprayed glass pyrex. Cook for 20-23 minutes. I check at 20 with a toothpick. If the toothpick is drenched in brownie, I’ll put it in for another minute. If it’s only slightly drenched, take them out!

Have you been to Supper in the East Village in NYC? Well then, have you tried their lemon pasta? It’s incredible. We’ve been missing it and dreaming of a future trip to New York for some. A few weeks ago, I tried making a meyer lemon pasta and maybe the meyer lemons in our fridge were too old and bitter or maybe I just screwed it up, but it was SOUR. And gross.

Then I found this recipe from Made by Michelle. It totally satisfied our craving!

It looks like just a simple pasta dish and makes me appreciate the subtle elegance of Supper’s version even more. We ate it straight up, and roasted some brussels sprouts and broccolini for our side.

We tossed the vegetables (individually) in oil, kosher salt, cracked pepper, and greek seasoning. Roasted them at 400° for 20 minutes, tossing halfway through.

Really doesn’t look like much, huh? I was a little worried it came out too creamy. It probably did, but it was delicious regardless.

Spaghetti al Limone
Salt
1 pound fresh spaghetti
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for serving
1 medium shallot, minced (about 3 tablespoons)
¼ cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest and ¼ cup of fresh lemon juice
½ cup finely grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
2 tablespoons shredded fresh basil leaves.

Bring salted water to boil in a Dutch oven over high heat. Add the pasta, stirring frequently, until al dente. Reserve 1 ¾ cups cooking water, drain pasta into colander and set aside.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in the empty Dutch oven over medium heat until simmering. Add shallot and ½ teaspoon salt; cook until shallot is softened, about 2 minutes. Whisk in 1 ½ cups of the reserved pasta cooking water and cream into pot; bring to a simmer and cook for 2 minutes. Remove pot from heat, return pasta and stir until coated. Stir in remaining 3 tablespoons of oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, cheese, and ½ teaspoon pepper. I used a ton more pepper (as I tend to do).

Cover and let pasta stand for 2 minutes, tossing frequestly and adjusting consistency with remaining ¼ cup reserved pasta water if necessary. It wasn’t for me. Stir in basil and season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

This batch of mussels was particularly beardy. Not cool, the process of de-bearding is pretty foul. I think. While we debearded and scrubbed like crazy, we were a little uneasy about how gross the batch was, chucking them at the littlest sign of too gross. But our meal turned out perfect.

Moules à la Marinière

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen, adapted from Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking
Served 2

1 cup dry white vermouth
½ cup minced shallots or green onions
8 italian parsley sprigs (I only use Italian!)
½ bay leaf (oops. I used a full one)
¼ teaspoon thyme
1/8 teaspoon pepper
6 tablespoons of butter
2 pounds scrubbed, soaked, and de-bearded; if necessary (!!!!); mussels
½ cup roughly chopped parsley
*optional – a pinch of saffron

Bring all of the ingredients but the last two to a boil in a kettle (I just used a large stock pot). I added a pinch of saffron to the broth to please my boyfriends tastes. Boil for 2 to 3 minutes to evaporate the alcohol and to reduce its volume a tiny bit.

Add the mussels to the pot. Cover and boil over high heat. Frequently grasp the kettle with both hands with your thumbs clamped to the cover, and toss the mussels in the kettle and an up and down jerky motion so the mussels will change levels and cook evenly. In about 5 minutes, the shells will swing open and the mussels are ready.

With a slotted spoon, pour the mussels into bowls. Allow the cooking liquid to settle for a moment so any sand will sink to the bottom. Then ladle the liquid over the mussels, sprinkle with the parsley and serve immediately.

Pommes Frites 

Because I am usually lazy, especially on a weeknight, I skipped making my own fries and went with this frozen bag of Ore Ida Extra Crispy. Came perfectly crispy out of the oven and I sprinkled with a bunch of kosher salt. A little too easy peasy.