Trick and Seasonal Treats

First the trick part of today's post. Arlo is getting more fun by the day. We officially entered the phase where we make him do tricks for entertainment purposes. He can high five, wave, shake his head (incidentally, we can't tell if it also means no or is for dancing purposes only), clap, and show us how big he is. Needless to say, it's the cutest thing we've ever seen.

 

"How big is Arlo?"

And now, the seasonal treats. Summer arrived late in Seattle this year, but we are thrilled it's sticking around for a little while. Today, it was a perfect 83 degrees with no humidity. Awww...

Since we were going to eat on our deck, I felt a little inspired to cook a meal with parts influenced by an episode of No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain. Now, I know what you may be thinking, "Anthony Bourdain is a d-bag." Well, you're probably right. I don't know the guy, but he does flaunt a rough around the edges personality (or persona?) on his travel/food show. He also called Paula Deen "the worst, most dangerous person to America." 

The truth is, Bourdain makes part of his living by saying extreme things that have a grain of truth, and as an opinionated person, I respect that. Paul Deen does embody a lot of what's wrong with us, myself included. She eats too much. She cooks food in fat, fat, and more fat. She has created a food empire with a wholesome down-home face, all the while completely disregarding or ignoring the corporate machine that supports her "brand" and makes our food, something we all need to survive, fundamentally unhealthy and unsustainable. 

Maybe it's the uptight northerner in me, but I'm a Bourdain fan. He is a jerk, but he can also admit when he's wrong and make fun of himself easily. He doesn't seem to appreciate vegetarianism, but I respect the way he treats meat and food on his show, which is to say that he seems to connect to places where people, either because of need or culinary training, use every part of an animal and know where their food comes from.

But enough of that little tangent and back to the food. Bourdain went to Rome, and in an early scene of the episode, sat down at an outdoor table in a little restaurant to have a local pasta dish. He briefly described the dish, which was a simple spaghetti pasta with a sauce of pasta water, olive oil, salt and pepper and was served in a parmesan "cup." It looked amazing and the scene has stayed with me for months. 

Cut to today when I was appreciating all the fresh tomatoes in the garden and (late) summer bounty. I knew I wanted to make a simple Caprese salad with tomatoes, fresh basil, good mozzarella, olive oil, salt and pepper. However, I didn't want to make a heavy entree since it was warm outside. So, I decided to take a crack at the dish Bourdain chowed down in Rome. It was so simple and so good. I highly recommend it. 

Making parmesan cups was as easy as 1...

2...

3.

I took a block of parmesan and shredded it with a microplane (if you don't have one in your kitchen, you really need one) into two thin piles, about 6 inches in diameter is best, on a baking sheet. I suggest using parchment paper or something to keep it from sticking like mine did. The, I baked the cheese at 400 degrees until it was bubbling and was just starting to brown. Immediately after taking the sheet out of the oven, I used a spatula to form the cheese into a cup shape by putting it in a muffin tin. I don't recommend this for two reasons: 1. the cup is pretty small for a serving of spaghetti (I lean more toward a Paula Deen serving than a normal serving), and 2. you can get the right size up by putting a large-ish ladle on top of the cheese and curling the edges up. No need to dirty a muffin tin.

 Tomatoes from the garden with basil, mozzarella, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Beautiful and delicious.

Finished product (just add wine)

 For the spaghetti, I used a few ladles of the pasta water (always cook your pasta in salted water, by the way), olive oil, salt, pepper, shredded parmesan, a little leftover basil, and a squeeze of lemon juice. It was divine!

Proof it was good.