O is for Osteria and M is for Mozza.

Brace yourself friends, after reading this post, you may find yourself salivating, drooling at the corners of your mouth and/or hungry. You may also wish to sue me for taunting and teasing, but let's hope that's not the case. And being that I am a legal professional, I'm confident that taunting and teasing is not a felony or misdemeanor, but you take that up with California statutes.

If you follow Madame Munchies you are aware of the "list". This isn't just any list, it's my restaurant list, which I started well over a year ago. It's where I keep track of restaurants I want to try out and last night I crossed Osteria Mozza off that list. I hate to admit that it's been sitting on that list, dusty, like an old pair of shoes, but it wasn't for not. This joint is so popular, getting a reservation is like going to war.

The benefits of going to OM with a party of seven is getting to taste a variety of dishes and we definitely ordered a larger variety of dishes, some of which will be pictured but I may not write about. I will focus on the dishes I ordered for time management's sake.

To start, I ordered the red endive, fennel and parmigiano reggiano salad with an anchovy-date dressing. It's the stacked salad pictured above. A beautiful presentation, the crunchy endive was layered with paper thin slices of sweet fennel and rectangles of a nutty parmigiano.

Prior to visiting OM, I had spent a considerable amount of time studying the menu and scheming exactly what I would like to order and when I scrolled to the pasta section, I knew I wanted to try the gnocchi with duck ragu. The last place I had gnocchi was at Angeli Caffe and I had a hard time believing that OM's gnocchi would surpass my expectations. The gnocchi were miniature and were lovingly dressed with a rich, comforting duck ragu. The gnocchi weren't necessarily better, they were just different. The best way to describe them is ultra-potato-ey. They were hearty, but not heavy.

The sauteed broccolini with vinegar and chiles were addictive. Tart, bright flavors with a splash of heat, easily devoured by all sitting at the table. For dessert, I had to go with the bombolini with a huckleberry marmalade and vanilla gelato on top of a lemon mascarpone cream. The bombolini are fried donuts tossed with sugar. The warm fritters of dough with the tangy huckleberries and lemon mascarpone were amazing.

It was definitely a night to remember, I'm looking forward to trying out the pizzeria next.

A Lil' Twist: Bacon N' Pea Mac N' Cheese

A couple of weeks ago while perusing the internet for new cookbook releases, I found a link for Poor Girl Gourmet, Amy McCoy's first cookbook. Of course the title drew me into its web of mystery and allure. Who could resist checking out a book for foodies on a budget? After reading the reviews, I discovered that Ms. McCoy started this venture in a blog duly named the same title - Poor Girl Gourmet. Being the lil' research girl that I am, I just had to check it out and see what her recipes entailed. I spent a significant amount of free time bookmarking several recipes, but this one is the one I made last night for dinner. The recipe is an adaptation of a Barefoot Contessa recipe and I took it a few steps further and adapted it a lil' more. My local butcher/fishmonger store, McCalls Meat & Fish Co, sells the best smoked bacon, so I substituted the pancetta for the bacon. Since the bacon included a decent amount of fat, I sauteed the peas and shallots in the bacon fat (so I skipped out on the olive oil). I also opted not to coat the panko bread crumbs in melted butter prior to topping the mac n cheese. At this point, it was a lazy issue, I didn't want to clean another stinkin' pan last night.

The bechamel sauce was studded with Gruyere, an underrated cheese in my estimation. This mac n cheese recipe has that "star quality" and could easily be adapted to one's personal preferences. As I was putting together all of the elements last night, I started to dream of other additions and combinations - caramelized onions, sausage, roasted asparagus or roasted broccoli, the list does go on and on and on. Nonetheless, I was very pleased with how the mac n cheese turned out and I'm looking forward to give some of Amy's other recipes a whirl.

giada de laurentis and everyday pasta.

Most of you blog followers know I have been writing restaurant reviews and cookbook reviews for a local entertainment magazine in Fort Wayne. Part of the process I go through for reviewing cookbooks is to borrow them from the library, snuggle up on the couch and go through them. Soothing and inspiring, this process allows me to relax as well as research which books Fort Wayne foodies may benefit from most. One of the books I recently perused was Giada de Laurentis' Everyday Pasta. Not typically a fan of her show on Food Network, I was rather impressed with this book. Loved the layout and the majority of recipes seemed simple and intriguing, even for pasta (not your typical spaghetti and meatballs book). I made a soup from this book which brough together swiss chard, pancetta, ravioli (though the book listed tortellini, the store was out), carrots, cannellini beans, shallots and broth. I topped mine with a sprinkling of pecorino romano. I loved that it took less than 30 minutes to put together and that it was healthy too. I plan on trying one her pasta recipes this week, it's an artichoke pesto pasta!

creamy cheese tortellini with asparagus

This month's issue of Gourmet brings many tempting recipes to test. On Sunday night, I made this delectable pasta dish on what was a very rainy and dreary day. The kinda day that makes me sigh and may even cause one to frown, and carry on a "blah" disposition. It's supposed to be "spring" and here in Indiana, spring often equates wet. Rain. Thunderstorms (the coolest, I might add). We even got some snow! But this pasta dish sprung my spirits back into spring with its delicate cream sauce and tender, crisp asparagus bits. Here's an adapted version of the recipe:

Creamy Cheese Tortellini with Asparagus (Gourmet - April 2009 issue, adapted)

4 c. reduced sodium chicken broth

2 strips of lemon zest

3 sprigs of thyme (or more if you like)

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 tsp. pepper

1 bunch of asparagus, chopped into small pieces on diagonal

2/3 c. heavy cream

2 tsp. cornstarch

1/2 c. grated parmesan cheese

1 bag of dried, refrigerated or frozen cheese tortellini

Bring together broth, zest, thyme, garlic, and pepper to a boil and reduce til 1 c. is left. This took alot longer than the "6 mins" the recipe stated.

Cook pasta according to package directions and drain.

Stir cornstarch into cream and whisk into broth until it boils and simmer for a few minutes til the sauce comes together. Add chopped asparagus and simmer until, crisp and tender, 2-3 mins. Add cooked pasta and grated cheese, stir unto well combined and heated through.

pasta-rific.

You know the old question, alive or dead, if you could have coffee and a conversation with one person, who would it be? And right now, I'd like to sit down with Ms. Waters! Well, this past weeked I busted out two, count them two, of Alice Waters' recipes. The first was from her most recent book entitled The Art of Simple Food.

Side note - Because I am on a budget, like so many of you out there, I carefully pick and choose the latest cookbooks to add to my overgrown library. Since living on my own, I have used and abused the privilege of my library card, I often raid the cookbook section to taste and try out new recipes. It's a great way of ensuring that you will want a certain book, before you buy it.

Back to the blog, I was definitely in the mood for pasta and had a hankering for some seafood, so I decided to make this simple dish of linguine with clams. Steamed in olive oil, lots of garlic, red chili pepper flakes, chopped italian parsley and white wine, this meal is elegant and hearty. Paul and I enjoyed mopping up the sauce with slices of thick country bread, it should be considered an abominable sin to do let such a delicious sauce go to waste. Waste not, want not, that's my adage.

Pasta with Pazazz!

Saturday night, I invited a few girls over from work for some giggles and grub. I really wanted to capture some of the wonderful flavors of the produce at the farmer's markets and I stumbled upon a beautiful recipe from Evan Kleiman for a pasta dish tossed with an arugula pesto and topped with a cherry tomato sauce (pictured above). The garlic bread is courtesy of my grandmother in Oregon and the salad is a simple mixed greens salad with carrots, cucumbers, red onion, dried cranberry and a green-lemon-balsamic viniagrette courest of products from Olivier (which Paul and I picked up while we were in Los Angeles this past April). Accompanied with a lovely slightly sweet champagne and delicate chardonnay, this meal was heavenly, the company too.

Viva La Pasta!

The joy that a good bowl of pasta brings can sometimes be beyond the English language or any other language for that matter. In an attempt to reclaim said joyful bowl of carbohydrate filled delight I resorted to a recipe, a family friend (Jo Marie) shared with me quite a few years ago - Tomato & Brie Pasta. Yes folks, there's a good ol' fashioned block of brie in this dish and it's smoothy creaminess lends itself to speechless "ooohhhs" and "aaaahs". Just a few basic ingredients for this sauce is all that is required - some fresh tomatoes, lots of extra virgin olive oil, minced/chopped garlic, salt, pepper, red chili pepper flakes, toasted pine nuts, a block of brie cheese (remove the rind) and lots (and I say LOTS) of fresh basil, chiffonade style baby. Voila, a pasta to die for is born.

Now I made this pasta following the night of a "cooking" class I attended (not taught), though it was more like a demonstration, focused on the secret ingredient of pasta. Without divulging too much negative energy or chalking it up to food snobbery, I must remind you all of the three cardinal culinary sins involving the use of pasta.

1. NEVER EVER ADD OIL TO YOUR PASTA WATER - Yes folks, it's a myth but adding oil to your water does not help your pasta nor does it reduce the chance of your pasta sticking together. In fact the only thing you should be adding to your water is salt and lots of it.

2. ALWAYS SALT YOUR SAUCE - Now I understand if you have serious health issues involving sodium why you would choose not to salt your food, but when you are cooking, salt is essential to bringing out the best flavors of all your ingredients, as well as balancing out flavors.

3. NEVER EVER EVER EVER RUN YOUR COOKED PASTA UNDER COLD WATER - what happens when you commit this cardinal culinary sin??? You rinse off all the good starches in your pasta - these starches help bind the sauce to the pasta. Rinsing your pasta in cold water is basically a recipe for pasta soup. I digress.

Anyhow, after this demonstration, I really needed a "pasta boost" - something to rekindle my love for pasta and I could think of no better way than to pull out Jo Marie's recipe and step to it!

Ciao!