I try not to buy many kitchen gadgets, especially since the mandolin was such a big mistake. Not only did I almost lose my finger, but there’s not much use for it. I have a stand mixer that I use all the time, and the meat grinder attachment is awesome, especially in the summertime for homemade burgers.

I tried to make homemade pasta a couple of weeks ago, and completely failed. Since many fresh pasta recipe says, “You can either use rolling pin or pasta machine,” I tried using a rolling pin. It didn’t roll… Whatever I did was wrong, and the dough was more elastic than pizza dough, and didn’t stretch at all. In the end, I cut it all up anyways, and dunked it in boiling water. It took 10 minutes to cook the damn thing, and was totally inedible. Failure.

So I contemplated whether I should buy a $150 stand mixer pasta attachment, or an old school pasta maker for $34.99.  After pondering this for a while, I decided to go with the pasta maker for obvious economical reasons. Unless you are an Italian mama who needs to make pasta every day of the week, there’s no need to spend $150 for attachments, don’t you think?

Let me tell you. I LOVE IT! It is soooo much fun. I looked around a lot of sites for dough recipes, and ended up using one that came with the instruction of the machine. 2 1/2 cup of flour, 4 eggs, pinch of salt. That’s it.

Just like how you see it on TV or magazines, you make a well with flour, drop eggs and salt, and mix and knead until the dough is shiny.  Luckily the dough was working fine this time, and it became very shiny.

After resting the dough for like an hour, here came the fun part.

Cut the dough into 4th on floured surface, and thin it out so that it goes through the roller.

Start with the widest (dial 7), roll it out, fold in half, roll it out, fold in half.  This activity is definitely kids friendly, or any idiots who can’t cook will be able to enjoy.

It’s more like Playdough than cooking at this point. Slowly roll the dough with a tighter dial, and eventually, you will end up with this almost-see-through beauty.

Then you can cut it.  You can easily cut this with a sharp knife, but I wanted to use the fettuccine cutter. This part was so satisfying too. How easily, and evenly, you can cut pasta with this was just awesome. And it comes out in a matter of seconds.

I call this, ladies and gentleman, PASTA PORN!

I could have thinned it out even more, but don’t you think this is pretty good for a first timer?

I had frozen tomato sauce, so made meatballs, and boiled the pasta for like 4 minutes. Pasta with meatballs. It was amazing how al dente the pasta was.

Now here’s where my creative (yet crazed) kitchen brain starts to tick. Using the pasta machine, what should I make other than pasta? Yes, I will definitely make spinach pasta and other noodles, but something even crazier. Something that needs to be stretched thin, that needs to be cut evenly, without using oil (pasta machine can NOT be washed with water since they are made out of cheap metal, and any contact with water will definitely rust badly). If you can think of something out of ordinary, please let me know. I haven’t been able to come up with anything interesting so far.

Dear De Cecco, Barilla, and all other major pasta producers of the world: you should be ashamed of yourself, letting Japan come up with the smartest packaging for pasta EVER.

This one is “Mama” brand that my own mama Hideko picked up at the Japanese grocery store. Kinda ironic that she would even consider buying pasta from Japan. What can I say, though– if it makes her feel closer to her homeland by buying Western products written in Japanese typography, so be it.

And don’t knock it– SO SMART, this pasta!

First off, it is clear how anally-retentive the Japanese are by the front of the package above. It gives the EXACT diameter of each strand of pasta– this one is 1.4mm. GEEKOUT.

Here’s the ingenius part. First, the pasta comes subdivided within each package– one portion per person. The Japanese already do this for their soba and udon noodles, so why not pasta too, right?

Don’t lie, you know you always end up boiling way too much pasta, or not enough. Measuring it is not easy! It wasn’t until I moved to Italy that I learned that the amount of pasta in your hand should only be about an inch around, per person. The Mama pasta is pretty spot on, in this regard.

Now, look at the seal around each batch of pasta. It tells you, right then and there, ON THE SEAL, that the boiling time for this is five minutes. GENIUS.

Again, don’t lie– you know you always over or under-boil. Al dente is an art.

When you’re done, just seal up the pasta bag.

SO SMART. How many of you have open boxes of pasta, of various sizes and diameters, just overflowing in your pantry? Yah, me too, it’s so effing annoying. An accident just waiting to happen.

Although I refuse to ever put pasta in those cheesy glass containers that you see on kitchen countertops. What is up with that??? Can’t deal.

*Kayoko currently lives in Cupertino, CA, and can make you a slammin’ass martini. Come back every Tuesday for Packaging Whore, where she highlights smart, aesthetically-pleasing design in food packaging.

Remember when I made kimchi fried rice? It has become my staple meal when I feel ultra lazy. Read: ALL THE TIME.

So how panicked was I when I went to the kitchen yesterday to take out all the precious ingredients out of the fridge, but then realize that I was missing RICE.

Epic FAIL. As @Jerkey pointed out, “What self-respecting Japanese person does not have rice at hand at all times??”

Apparently, this Japanese person.

I literally didn’t have anything to eat other than kimchi, sausages, egg, green onions and… PASTA?!?!??? Could I do it? More importantly, should I do it? It really sounded assnasty but thought it was worth an experiment, umamimart style.

It couldn’t be far off from, say, japchae, right? Oh god, so off-course already.

Side note: the Japanese are known to add the wackiest, unheard of stuff with pasta- enough to make a Sicilian mama cry in her bed at night with shame and sorrow. See Yamahomo’s recipe with furikake here, and Yoko’s karasumi pasta with baby sea creatures here (actually, I believe this is a Sardinian dish in origin, so mama, stop crying).

Basically I did everything the same exact way as I would make the fried rice.

Sautee the kimchi, green onions, sausages.

Add the PASTA. Oh god, here we go.

I like to add extra kimchi juice cause apparently I like my pasta TRUE BLOOD SAUCY.

Even after the kimchi juice though, it was lacking the umph factor (UMAMI). So I added two god-foresaken condiments: tonkatsu sosu (Japanese worcestershire) and kewpie mayo.

Cue Sicilian mama sob sounds.

The little white glob here would be the mayo.

Let’s meditate on the grossness of these additions for a moment. Squeal if necessary.

In support of high cholesterol, I added a barely-cooked fried egg. Mmm… Shave over some parmigiano (ok, ok, this one came out of a green tube) and crack some pepper. Et voila!

And you know, it wasn’t bad!! I think the next time I feel like having noodles instead of rice (which is to say most of the time), I will make this again. Definitely do not need the tonkatsu sauce, that was so unnecessary. But the mayo gave the whole thing some depth and texture, so that was a good call.

What do you think, folks? Yay or Nay??

PS- I am just seeing that our friend Ambitious Deliciousness just made kimchi pasta earlier this month. Her’s is much prettier, but I do feel a bit more validated for making this. Holler.

*Kayoko lives in Cupertino, CA. Her sole goal in life at the moment is to be a kickass bartender. And then, take over the world by getting everyone drunk.

Since moving to California, I’ve become a bit of a drunk. I’m not sure if it’s out of boredom of living in Cupertino, in the house I grew up in, right across the street from my high school. It could be that I’m almost 30 and living with my parents. Or maybe that I’m single and totally not getting any love from these fine Silicon Valley men. Oh, I know, it’s because I bus tables for a living.

So why the hell shouldn’t I have a drink in the middle of the day? I deserve it!!! The Europeans have it right- they drink wine with their lunch and then take a nap. GENIUS.

I’ve adapted this practice into my own humble Cupertino life. I have a glass of rose or Sauvignon Blanc with my meal at noon, and I no longer feel guilty about it. I’ve completely embraced drinking mid-day, it’s awesome.

So how awesome was it when I discovered this recipe in the new Food and Wine, by Babbo pastry chef Gina DePalma: RED WINE SPAGHETTI. I felt like my prayers had been answered from the gods. I mean, why not double up on my daily alcohol intake by adding wine to my pasta water?? Makes perfect sense to me.

Add red wine to water. Recipe says 5 cups water to 3 cups wine. I made this just for myself though so just estimated and put in about 1/3 wine to 2/3 water.

Bring to boil. Add pasta.

Drain. Looks like soba noodles!!!

I sauteed with sausages (of course) and roasted peppers and garlic, adding parmesan and ground pepper in the end.

How did this taste?? Honestly, it tasted just like regular pasta. Jud-san had commented that he thought this seemed like a waste of wine, and it sorta is. I guess if you have bad wine lying around, this would be a way to subtlely add a different layer of flavor. The alcohol flavor.

At the end of the day though, if I had a decent bottle of wine, I wouldn’t pour half of it into a pot to boil pasta. I’ll drink it straight from my glass, thanks. CHIN CHIN!!!

First thing I had to do assess the fridge situation. Some stuff just needed to go, like this 3 day old salad. But fear not, Chahta loves salad!

As you can see, no utensils are needed.

So then I decided to go with the GREENS. To be honest, I’m not even sure which ones I used, but I think they are some sort of chard. I gave them a good rinse, Then wilted them up!

Then, to appease my carbo-holic guilt, I went for the wheat pasta with pesto. Now, don’t get too excited, this was the Trader Giotto’s bottle, not from scratch. I tossed it in with the greens and some of my favorite can-o-corn, then revived sourdough bread- turned into garlic toast!

Only problem: I had all this waiting for me at the end…

Some much for the one-dish wonder…

*Shannon and Gabe live with their dog Chahta, cat Hya, and turtle Wax, in Bonny Doon, CA (in the Santa Cruz Mountains.) Shannon currently teaches at UC Santa Cruz, and Gabe is an landscape painter and project manager at a habitat restoration company Central Coast Wilds. Chahta is a professional misbehaved sweetheart and squash-eater

Check out these ads bordering on creepy and kawaii (cute).

Religiously speaking, I am godless. I am a gluttonous heathen, afterall. If hard pressed, I suppose I would say I’m a non-practicing Buddhist, but that’s only because my dad makes me pray to his little shrine whenever I go to his house. But I refuse to chant during yoga- it annoys the hell out of me (they never tell you what you’re saying, or what exactly it’s for. It’s just nonsense).

However, deep down, I have a soft spot for all things Roman Catholic. Majestic cathedrals, Pope Jean-Paul II (I saw him once!), the Spanish Inquisition, Dante’s Inferno and Jesus all fascinate me to no end. It’s so bizarre- and I feel bad cause Catholicism has traumatized many of my friends.

So of course I was excited about celebrating the Jesus resurrection on Sunday. Easter means ham, hard boiled eggs, and springtime. Gotta love it. But my plans derailed when Troy and Kumiko called to cancel Easter dinner because they were sick. I sorta panicked, but Fumiko said she would come over, so I cooked dinner for the two of us. Those in disgruntled relationships, ponder this: being single means possibly eating Easter dinner ALONE. It’s a crapshoot.

I didn’t have any big meat item, but I did my usual vegetable roasting. I love roasting vegetables- not only because they taste so good, but mostly because I am lazy, and it’s the easiest thing ever. Here are my ingredients:

Right next to the garlic is a little stick of chorizo. They sell it at Blue Apron in Park Slope for $1.50!!! What a steal! It’s great cause it will hold in the fridge forever, and it’s something different from the same old bacon.

I am relatively new to the cauliflower phenomenon- Aya introduced me to it a few months ago. I’m pretty hooked though. For this, I just chopped up the cauliflower, the zucchini, the chorizo, a few cloves of garlic and peeled the red onions. Preheat oven to 400.

Disclaimer: it took me FOREVER to peel these little fuckers, which is not fun for lazy people. I will use shallots next time.
Put everything in a baking pan, drizzle olive oil all over it, add some salt, grind some pepper. I also added a few bay leaves, cause I had some. I love all the colors here:
Stir occasionally, and take out after about 30 minutes. That’s it!!!
Shave a ton of romano over it, then mix it around.
I obviously needed something else with the meal, so I just made some pasta. I sauteed an onion with a fresh sausage, and boiled fresh pasta that I randomly had in the fridge.

Put some tomato sauce with all of that, et voila! Also, fresh parsley is so necessary.
Here is our meal- Jesus Resurrection 2008. Sadly, the corner wine store was closed, so we couldn’t consume the blood of Christ. Fumiko said we drink the blood all the time, so it was no big deal- we just settled for beer. Would that be Jesus pee? OMG I’m totally going to hell.

PS- the chorizo adds a nice crunch to the soft vegetables. Fumi liked it. Give it a whirl.

To celebrate Christi’s bday the other night, we went to Babbo. I would be too embarrassed to blog this–regularly patronizing such the hype machine that Batali is–but the food was just too good not to share with you.

We walked in without a reservation- figured we would get there around 6:30 and take our chances. The guy at the front, who was there the last time I went, is a gentile fellow, and told us to wait for seats at the bar. Fine. We ordered drinks, we waited. “What’s the Frequency Kenneth?” blasted in the background. Oh, Mario and his music. We loved the Mode though. Violator!

It’s really cramped when you walk in, between the bar and the dining room. Servers taking orders, delivering food. Some drunk asshole totally fell into Christi. It was kinda funny. Anyway, standing there in the middle of all this commotion is not fun. But you gotta suck it up for the ultimate prize.

Just about an hour later, we actually got a TABLE! Right by the bar, tucked into a corner. It was romantic. The world doesn’t need another Babbo review (or a second one from me- you’re over it), but just let me show you the pics.

Babbo salumi: assorted meats cured in-house. Marinated onions (sweet) and olives. This was better than the Armandino salumi I got last time. Christi liked the veal (?) tongue. The “fatback” pictured below, is just cured pork fat! Like white sheets blowing in the wind. It was super intense- like nothing I have ever tasted. It was good with the onions.

Grilled octopus with “Borlotti Marinati”: this was pretty awesome. Better than what I had at Mozza. Drizzled with this limoncello vinagrette, and sprinkled with some candied orange rind or something, on a bed of white beans. SO GOOD. It was too “oceany” for Christi though. I loved the tentacles.

Our server was super great- Travis. Props to this guy. He totally arranged the order of our dishes and suggested good, cheap wines. We asked him for his recommendation of a pasta, and he suggested the black pasta. BINGO. This was definitely my highlight of the meal. (At this point I was pretty boozy, and abandoned my camera inhibitions and started shooting with flash. Tacky!). They are also nice about splitting the orders for you.

Black spaghetti with rock shrimp, spicy salami calabrese and green chile: I have nothing to say except GET THIS DISH.

Mint love letters: just as good as the first time. Surprisingly hearty. A good way to end a meal.
When all is over, this is my side of the table, vs. Christi’s side. Basically, you can’t take me anywhere.

But then, this guy comes and magically puts a napkin over the table to make all my spills disappear.

So it’s official- I am obsessed with Mario Batali’s food. All the hype… well, it’s all true. Batali is an ace. Classic and straightforward. Consistent. Casual and reasonably affordable considering it’s a white table cloth joint. Our meal, all of this, plus 2 quarter things of wine, 2 glasses of sparkling wine, and a bottle of fizzy water was $140 total. You could spend as much at Lupa, his even more casual joint around the corner (I am not a fan of Lupa). You would no doubt spend even more in the shithole tourist traps in Little Italy.

As someone who spends her entire income on eating in NY (after rent), I’m telling you: surrender to the hype. Splurge a little. Wait an hour for a table.

Babbo
110 Waverly Place
New York, NY 10011

Get DirectionsT: 212.777.0303

For my last supper in Italy, I wanted a typical Roman meal- and Trastevere is as good as place as any to get it. The place we had read about in some guidebook had a long wait, so we decided on this place instead. It turned out much better this way. Da Enzo was really unintimidating, with its tables and chairs out front, and kid’s crayon drawings covering the walls of the interior.

We snagged an outdoor table- it was a cool night, but always a treat to sit outside. I remember our waiter was a jolly dude- Romano to the core, as was the food here. No frills, really robust, simple but delicious.

We started with sundried tomatoes. Assuming it’s a roman thing to serve them this way, drenched in olive oil. Bittman would dig it.

Grilled veggies
This was pretty awesome- carbonara, but with huge bucatini pasta, instead of spaghetti. Also, this had guanciale, not pancetta, which really makes the dish more porcine. So good!

Matt got the pasta all’amatriciana, which we didn’t get a picture of, but is pasta with tomato sauce with guanciale, hot pepper flakes and onions. The pasta dishes were definitely only lightly sauced, letting the ingredients really flavor the dishes.

Dessert was vanilla gelato with little tiny strawberry-like berries. Again, simple but delicious:

Da Enzo was on the corner of Via dei Salumi! Street of Cured Meats! I want that address.

Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere- it’s a gem.
Here’s a great post about Da Enzo that I just found from the blog At Home in Rome (she lives in Trastevere, lucky lady). Next time I’ll definitely need to get the fried artichoke!

Da Enzo
Via dei Vascellari 29 (Trastevere)
Tel. 06 581 83 55

You walk in, and it’s just a big bustling room filled with local regulars and when you go in the back, it’s this huge garage-like room with shelves full of wine (hence “enoteca”, or wine store).

Copies of the menu were handwritten with the daily offerings. It was Friday I think, so there were lots of seafood options (some Catholic thing about not eating meat on Fridays- what is that called? Fasting? Kidding).

To start off, Matt got the chick pea soup

I got the linguine with tuna (of course, you know I can’t say no to tuna)

As our secondi, Matt got the roasted veal with potatoes
I got this soupy concoction of squid with beans and escarole. It’s not quite what I had in mind, but it was heartwarming nonetheless
For dessert, we got some tart, and the proprietor came out next to us alongside the counter and just handed us this bottle of Vin Santo and two glasses. Love it! Romans really remind me of NYers- gritty, fierce, but really just good people who want to show you a good time.
Red and white wine on tap!

This meal only cost us like $25 each. It was definitely one of the more memorable meals we had.

Enoteca Corsi
Via del Gesu, 87-88
00186 Roma
Near Il Gesu church, right off Via V. Emmanuele