Pasta Salad and a Pool

Yesterday was one of those perfect Sunday afternoons. Kitty was in a "curl up with a book" kind of mood and gave me a yard-pass to hang out by Peter's pool. I packed up a sixer of Abita Turbodog, grabbed my swim trunks and wasted no time high-tailing it over to Rosehill Circle. It was hot and sunny. The beer was so cold that it hurt my teeth and the pool was shimmering wet perfection. After an hour or, the boys started trickling in and we had a genuine all-dude swimfest, complete with cannonball contests and some "throwing of the Zak" for exercise.

To say "thank you" to Rose and Peter for the hospitality (in the only way I know how) I whipped up a big bowl of Pesto Chicken Pasta Salad with fresh basil and wild garlic from my yard. It was good hot, but much better after we let it chill for while.

How could this night get any better you ask? Well...I'll tell you. After dinner and a glass of wine, Peter informed me that he had the DVD of the latest UFC bouts and we watched MMA fighting while we polished off a pottle of Ghost Pines Cabernet.

Thanks Peter! Let's do that again.

Early-morning Cooking and Sunday Leftovers (Including Chili Dish #3)

I bought a little too much shoulder roast when I was making Chili on Friday so I woke up this morning and started a Pot Roast. For some reason, I thought about brandy and decided to make a Pot Roast with some of it. Never tried this before, but I can't imagine that it won't be good. I'll let the family be the judges on that one.  I left the potatoes out of the roast, deciding instead to whip some creamy Yukon Golds as a side dish later this evening. I think I'll use some of the pan liquid in a brandy reduction sauce. Sound good to you?

Since Kitty was feeling like she had been hit by a garbage truck falling off the top a a garage, Zak was serving as her warming blanket and the two big boys are in New Orleans, I was the only Ramsey at Saint Andrew's this morning. I didn't feel like eating fried chicken all by myself so I came home, donned the apron, inspected the fridge and opened the short-order kitchen. Since Kitty and Zak can't have any wheat, I used this opportunity to make some pasta for me out of the pork chops from earlier in the week. They were in the mood for omelettes so I used up the last of the Chili de los Angeles on them. I wont bother with a recipe for the omelettes, they were just like any of the other eggy treats you have seen on this blog, just filled with cheese and chili. The über-simple pasta recipe is below. 

Leftover Pasta

2 Tbsp. unsalted butter

2 Tbsp. flour

3 cloves fresh garlic

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese (or other dry aged, hard cheese) 

1 tsp. thyme

1/2 cup whole milk

1/2 cup chicken stock (or other stock to match your leftover meat)

leftover meat

green onions for garnish

Sea salt

Black pepper

Prep

Cut the leftover meat into 1/2" or smaller cubes. Finely chop garlic. Crumble or shred the cheese. Warm the milk in the microwave until hot, but not boiling.

Cook

Heat a large saute pan over medium heat and add butter. When butter begins to foam, add chopped garlic and cook until it just starts to color. Add flour and stir with a whisk until it is fully incorporated into the butter. slowly add milk, whisking constantly. When the mixture begins to thicken, add the cubed meat, the cheese and the thyme. Add broth as necessary to maintain the desired thickness of the sauce. Taste the sauce and add salt and pepper as desired.

Boil the pasta in lightly salted water. Drain but DO NOT RINSE the pasta. Add the cooked pasta to the saucepan and toss with the sauce until all of the pasta is coated.

Plate

Serve in a large shallow bowl and garnish with green onions.