House Spouse

Thank you Mark Bittman for reminding me that I don’t have to lug out the ice cream maker to make a cold treat.

I’m not sure why it never occurred to me to make paletas at home before they were featured on The Minimalist. I have a record of making somewhat adventurously flavored popsicles (i.e., flavors that go beyond fake strawberry, lemon, grape, etc.), but for some reason had never ventured into the ice-y treats con leche. There’s no time like the present, so I ventured away as soon as I got my hands on some fruit that would pair perfectly with one of the dried guajillos currently occupying a hefty space in my pantry.

If you do a search for paletas made with chiles, you’ll find that most of your results will be recipes for mango lime and chile paletas. I read a few to figure out what ingredients I’d need and set about to concocting my own.

Mango Lime and Chile Paletas

Ingredients
2 ripe, medium mangoes, peeled and cored
juice of 2-3 limes
sugar (start with less than 1/4 c; how much sugar you use will depend on the sweetness of your mangoes and your own taste)
1 dried guajillo chile, seeded and stemmed
1 tsp Mexican chile powder
approx. 1/2 c. water or milk

Combine ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth. Taste, adding sugar and liquid as needed. Pour into a popsicle mold and freeze.

Before I stopped subscribing completely to Apartment Therapy and it’s food-focused blog, The Kitchn, I followed their recipe for a sourdough starter and the basic sourdough bread recipe that followed a week later (I stopped subscribing because I was tired of lusting after home decor items that I will never afford and feeling so bad about my own apartment for not living up to the gorgeous spaces featured on the site).

The recipe is pretty good and pretty fail safe. I’ve made the bread twice now and the second time around made for the tastiest loaves. I am attributing this to the fact that the starter was older, hence the flavors more complex and developed.

I think this bread is enjoyed best when toasted and spread with butter. I’ve been indulging in two slices for breakfast every morning. Certainly not Weight Watchers friendly. At all.

A couple of weekends ago, I sat lazily watching the Saturday food and cooking programs aired on our local public television station. Christina Cooks (how I hate her wagging, scolding finger!), Mexico: One Plate at a Time, Every Day Food, Check Please, etc. It was during this indulgence that I caught the episode of America’s Test Kitchen in which they make Penne alla Vodka. Despite Christopher Kimball’s usual snootiness (he’s really an ass, don’t you think?), he was convinced into enjoying the vodka sauce prepared on the show.

Since you can’t get the recipes from the show online without paying a subscription price, I decided to wing it and go from memory when I prepared it a couple of nights ago. Here’s my interpretation.

Penne Alla Vodka
Adapted from America’s Test Kitchen
Ingredients
1-2 T olive oil
1 small can tomato paste
1 med onion
2 cloves garlic
1/3 c high quality vodka
1 15 oz can diced tomatoes*
1/2 c heavy cream
about 12 leaves fresh basil, chopped
salt, pepper
1 lb penne

*I purchased box of 8 or 10 cans of Del Monte organic diced tomatoes at Costco and flew through it. I don’t want to advocate for such a big name brand, but these tomatoes were quite good.

Directions:
Begin by heating salted water for the pasta. I’ve recently started heavily salting my pasta water which has resulted in me wanting to eat a lot more pasta.

In a large, 12-inch skillet or sauté pan, heat the olive oil and add the onions. Once the onions begin to soften, about 5-6 minutes, add the garlic and the tomato paste. Work the tomato paste into the onions. This is what is going to give the sauce a sweetness. When that’s all combined and going, add the can of (undrained) diced tomatoes and the vodka. Stir to combine and allow that to simmer for about 4 to 5 minutes, allowing the alcohol to cook off and the sauce to thicken.

About this time, the water should be coming to a boil. Add your pasta and stir. You should pay careful attention to the pasta while it’s cooking because you’ll want to take it off the heat and drain it just before it reaches al dente.

Back to the sauce though… Slowly stir in the half cup of cream and add the basil. Stir and taste, adding salt and pepper to taste. Turn the heat off and tend to the pasta.

Once the pasta is done, return it to the pot and add the sauce. Stir and combine everything together. The sauce will be somewhat absorbed into the pasta (which is why it needs to be cooked just this side of al dente). Top with some freshly grated cheese and enjoy.

In the picture I’ve posted, the sauce is a little less creamy than what should result from this recipe. I had used 1/2 cup of cream for a dessert the previous day and was saving the remaining 1/2 cup for the vodka sauce. Well, that morning, Andrew saw the cream and though, “Mmm…real cream in my coffee,” not realizing my intention. However, the sauce was still delicious, so if you’re watching your calorie intake it’s fine to use a little less cream.