More kitchen witchery

[kambriel]

Dinner tonight was farfalle with a touch of herbed Sicilian sea salt, lightly spritzed with a white truffle infused olive oil. Then I topped it with tomato sauce filled with lots of tender artichoke hearts, crushed red and black pepper, fresh rosemary (going strong regardless of freezing weather ~ I should have added some decorative sprigs at the side), thyme, basil, and a dash of red wine vinegar!



Also, I was being inventive recently, and came up with a new way of letting steam escape from a savory pie ~ pitted black olives! The holes from where they're pitted are perfect steam vents:



~ Kambriel

[Kambriel.com ~ Etsy ~ Twitter ~ Tumblr ~ Facebook]

Comments

[dark-phoenix54.livejournal.com]

That is *such* a clever idea!! Not only are they functional, but they look sort of like little blackbird heads...

[kambriel.livejournal.com]

Thank you~ I had thought of naming it "four and twenty blackbirds" for precisely that reason!

[alonewiththemoon]

I *love* the olive idea!

[kambriel.livejournal.com]

It works perfectly! Definitely give it a try sometime :)

[solstice-lilac.livejournal.com]

"white truffle infused olive oil"

My mouth actually started watering when I read this. Delicious! Hot pasta with a good sauce is so satisfying in cold weather!

[kambriel.livejournal.com]

Even better ~ I found the bottle of it a while back for just $5. It's great to spritz on top of pizza right after it comes out of the oven too :)

[miss-adventure.livejournal.com]

Well, rosemary is an evergreen, after all.

What kind of extremely delicious-looking pie is that?

[kambriel.livejournal.com]

That would be great if it does last ~ mine's in a large pot, not the ground, and some other batches of it I saw planted similarly last Winter didn't make it, but mine looks to still be quite healthy and strong. I had a friend who bought a miniature rosemary tree to decorate as a Yule tree one year ~ afterwards she sacrificed it for a rosemary-potato feast ;)

This pie was filled with seasoned garlic mashed potatoes and spinach, that I ended up serving with Thai sweet red chili sauce on top ~ sounds strange perhaps, but I assure you, very delicious!

[miss-adventure.livejournal.com]

Oh, that sounds fantastic! There are few things that don't go well with Thai sweet red chili sauce or garlic mashed potatoes.

[humglum.livejournal.com]

Oh, that pie sounds amazing and wonderful. My mouth is watering at the thought of it.

[kambriel.livejournal.com]

It was so good ~ the Thai chili sauce (you can find it at Trader Joe's) warmed on top of it really kicked it over the edge :)

[xdarkstarx.livejournal.com]

i've been making shepherd's pie lately with garlic mashed potatoes on top! there's not much better than potato and garlic, imo (unless it's bread and garlic!).

[kambriel.livejournal.com]

Seriously, go to Trader Joe's, and find a bottle of their red Thai sweet chili sauce. Try it over the top of the pie ~ it brings the flavour to a new level... I bet J would like it too.

there's not much better than potato and garlic, imo (unless it's bread and garlic!).

You mean like this? :)

Dee-licious!

[dali-muse.livejournal.com]

I'm coming to your house for dinner!

Re: Dee-licious!

[kambriel.livejournal.com]

You'd be 100% welcome :)

[caleidescopeyes.livejournal.com]

Firstly, I love that you used the word 'spritzed'. Secondly, as everyone else has already pointed out, the olives are an adorable idea. When I imagined steam escaping through them, I heard a little train whistle in my head.

[kambriel.livejournal.com]

I love that you used the word 'spritzed'.

I also use words like ecru on a regular basis ;)

[spangle-kitten.livejournal.com]

It's 2 and a half hours till lunch and I'm really hungry now!! Sounds lush :)

[kambriel.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry! I'll have to time the post with your mealtimes better next time around ;)

[mommyslilmonstr.livejournal.com]

Did you eat C in a pie and post it on the internet?

And if that pasta is anything like what you served us, DO WANT.

[kambriel.livejournal.com]

Did you eat C in a pie and post it on the internet?

Shhh!

[blooddrop.livejournal.com]

I want to know WHAT you put in that savory pie!!! MMMMMM!

I heart white truffle oil, too! I like to add a wee bit of salt to it and just use it to dip good bread in! :}

[kambriel.livejournal.com]

Garlic mashed potatoes with spinach, various herbs, a bit of cheese to bind things together, and strangely, but deliciously enough ~ topped with red Thai sweet chili sauce!

[lapetitemort73.livejournal.com]

I now am super duper ravenous!

Looks delicious!

[kambriel.livejournal.com]

They still need to perfect that teleporter thing for computer monitors ~ then you could have some too!

[blueiduna.livejournal.com]

Yum! Was totally eyeing pitted olives in the store earlier tonight, but opted to splurge on some fresh sage instead to make a sauce for all that pumpkin gnocchi I've got laying around. But now I have an excuse! I can just imagine the little tendrils of steam curling from them! And yum! I'll have to try a touch of red wine vinegar next time I make a tomato sauce.

[kambriel.livejournal.com]

Have you ever tried using that beautiful, velvety fresh purple sage that grows wild in your area? Then you could save the money on the grocery store sage and spend it on the olives instead ;)

I added just a tiny dash of the red wine vinegar, so I can't say for certain just how much of an effect it had, but all I know is the overall taste was really nice, so it might be worth giving it a try!

[blueiduna.livejournal.com]

I'm still not 100% sure it's sage, I need to hunt down a botanist! ;) My current living place is not so good for growing plants, my poor basil is so pale from lack of sunlight in the only safe spot for it. I fear it may not recover enough any time soon for another batch of garlic-free pesto. Hooooowever, the apartment in LA has a huge patio in the back that gets plenty of sunlight and is much more plant-theft-proof. Already have seeds and pots for sage, basil, thyme, and spinach! Also would love to find the seeds for just the miniature morning glories they use in this: http://livesciencestore.com/56811.html. And rosemary, of course. Hopefully come February I'll be all moved up there and tending a little herb and flower garden. I'd start now, but Derek's plant care-taking skills are... even more questionable than mine. :)

Also wondering what a dash of balsamic would do? I saw a recipe for balsamic glaze chicken (think it was just reduced balsamic, brown sugar and honey with sesame seeds and fresh basil on top), and want to try it with portobellos!

[kambriel.livejournal.com]

I bet balsamic would work really well...

How in the world did you find that vampiric mini-terrarium? So strange!

I didn't even realize you had an apartment with D up in LA now ~ I'll definitely keep that in mind as I owe my brother another visit this year :)

[blueiduna.livejournal.com]

Actually, a co-worker emailed the link to the terrarium. What an engineer was doing looking at terrariums, I may never know.

Well, not quite yet... he's living up there now, and I'm moving in around February once I get some things squared away down here. :)

[kambriel.livejournal.com]

Oh good, I would have felt bad being *that* out of the loop ;) (And by "this" year, I actually mean the *next* calendar year... but I'm shooting for the first third of 2010 ~ so next year sounds too far away!)

[blueiduna.livejournal.com]

Also, I got a little futon to sleep on down here in the meantime that will be going up. That way we'd have a couch eventually, and a place for friends to crash. So if you're ever in the LA area, we're near LAX.

[victorine.livejournal.com]

Both dishes look delicioso! I want them both right now!

[kambriel.livejournal.com]

They were really good! I wish you could have been here to share some with us :)

[missmoonlight74.livejournal.com]

the pasta looks delicious! :))))
And the pie is purely genius!
Actual steampunk in the kitchen! :)