Pasta with spicy tomato sauce and mozzarella

Doesn't the thought of it just make you drool? Inspired by one of our 50 cookbooks, this has Carew piggies licking their lips in anticipation.

Pasta with spicy tomato sauce and mozzarella
Serves 4
Time: 30 min
4 medium-sized tomatoes - chopped, squeeze out the seeds
4 cloves garlic - finely chopped
pinch of hot red pepper flakes
olive oil
mozzarella - chopped
fresh basil - torn a bit
fresh parsley - chopped finely
salt and pepper
2 Tbs butter
freshly grated parmesan
500g/1 lb penne pasta

Fry the garlic and red pepper in olive oil. Add the tomatoes and some salt. Cook on high for 5 min and then lower to minimum heat and cover for about 10 minutes. Stir the tomatoes a bit to help them break down. Add black, ground pepper and the basil and parsley. Cook for 1 min and take off heat. When the pasta is cooked to al dente, drain and add a bit of olive oil and the butter. Stir until the butter melts and then add the sauce and mozzarella. Serve with parmesan.

You will go back for seconds.

Trans Fats Banned in California!

As a Californian, I am so thrilled to hear that the Governator has signed a ban on trans fats, due to come into effect from 2010. We were early to ban smoking in food establishments and indoors between 1994 and 1998 and junk food and trans fats are also banned in school meals. (Though I must admit that there were other states ahead of us!) This is fabulous. Now if only the UK would jump on the bandwagon. I didn't know that New York City, Philadelphia, Seattle, Stamford, Conn., and Montgomery County, Md. had already done so. It's definitely a step in the right direction to cutting heart disease. Now all they need is a requirement that if you live within 40 minutes of work and are physically able, you should cycle! Well, that's not going to happen, but how great would that be? California, with it's tame climate would be the perfect place for a massive cycling campaign.

To read about the ban on trans fats, check out the following articles:
Trans-fats banned in California - BBC News online
California Bars Restaurant Use of Trans Fats - NY Times
Schwarzenegger signs law banning trans fats in restaurants - LA Times

My only concern would be that fast food joints really stick to this, but even more, smaller businesses. Big fast food chains have already started bans, but it's the little places that will have trouble affording it. There will obviously be complaints of food prices rising because trans fats are so cheap, but is it a good thing that unhealthy food be really cheap? Adding a dollar onto the price of fries might be a good thing because they aren't doing your heart any good even if they're being made with non-trans fats. Maybe then people might realize that a banana costs a lot less than that. Ha, yeah right. As with the smoking ban, people make a huge fuss in the beginning and then just eventually get on with it. This will be the same.

My flatmates did an in-house experiment a few years ago to see whether a trans fat margarine or butter rinsed off a knife more quickly. With hot water, the margarine didn't rinse well at all, but the butter just melted and slid right off. That's what those trans fats are doing to your arteries! Not that you should consume huge amounts of butter either, but you see the point!

At any rate, it's a step in the right direction, and I'm happy to hear about it! In celebration, I'm going to give my heart a workout and go for a cycle. But only after I buy some fresh fruit and veg from the high street.

Salmon Pasta Improvisation

We had a visitor recently from Finland and she brought loads of whole smoked salmon/rainbow trout. Our refrigerator and freezer are bursting at the seams, so I decided to do something about it by improvising with the last bits of veg from the previous Saturday's market run. The result was delicious and so easy a child could do it (though I wouldn't want them wielding the big knife to slice the salmon. A nice, refreshing summer dinner.

Salmon Pasta with Tomatoes, Leek and Parsley
Feeds 4
Time: 30 minutes, max
200-300g smoked salmon or rainbow trout, thinly sliced and loosely broken into bite-sized pieces
3 fresh, chopped tomatoes with most of the juice and seeds squeezed out
A handful of parsley
1 leek, finely sliced
400g pasta
salt, pepper
olive oil

Chop the salmon, tomatoes, leek and parsley. Sauté the leek until cooked through and soft using a non-stick pan. Take off heat when cooked. Cook the pasta to al dente. Drain and put back in pot with olive oil, add all of the ingredients, a pinch of salt and generous amounts of pepper. Toss together until evenly distributed. Eat without cheese.

Horrors

The watermelon slices at the food hall went up to £1.50 today! I must confront them and find out what sort of exotic pygmy watermelon they are selling that can be worth that much per slice.

I scream for ice cream

In some countries it's summer. In celebration of "summer", here's a peek at the life of a woman who drives an ice cream truck. Acutally, sounds a bit rough. We have one that circles the neighborhood rain or shine, pretty much 365 days a year. This is a photo of his truck and some greedy flatmates on a rare hot day in London.

The Ice Queen (NY Times online)
NY Times topic: Ice Cream - endless articles on ice cream

What's your favorite ice cream flavor? Mine is DEFINITELY coffee.

Sorry, one more thing:
Anyone for a bit of cultural insensitivity?

Save the bees! and other foodie thoughts for today

In reference to my post about disappearing honey bees, a friend today had up a little YouTube video on her gmail:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7m5vt07W2n4
Cute. And yeah, save the bees.
Friend says, "apparently, it's a play on the complicated dances bees do to communicate with other bees where the nectar is"
Wicked. The costumes are hott.

The posh food hall downstairs from my work really pushed the limit today. Not only have their prices gone up to £6 ($12) for take away hot food (excusable considering the rising cost of all food), they are selling the smallest slices of watermelon I've EVER seen for £1.10 ($2.20). WTF?! I know that mini watermelon didn't cost them over £10 ($20). That is the slimiest rip-off I've encountered in a long time. I did have a small victory over them, though. Recently, I became addicted to a fruit bar they sell there for £1.10 called O Bars. Today I discovered that the corner shop down the block sells them for £0.89 ($1.80). Eat that, food hall! I'm also sorely disappointed in their focaccia. They put so much salt on it that it turns your mouth inside out. That costs £1.10 as well. I sense a pattern... Yeah, that I only look at things that cost £1.10 or less in their store. A pint of organic milk also costs £1.10.

It's blackberry season along the River Lee. On my way home tonight I picked some juicy ones and placed them carefully in my cycling jacket pockets so they wouldn't smoosh. They're yummy!

Eat your veg!

Our first courgettes/zucchini were ready last night and I bought some delicious fresh peas at the outdoor market on the High Road as well. I've had a bit too much meat in the past week and wanted something nice and fresh to make me feel more as if I were enjoying 'summer' as they call it here. This meal left me feeling refreshed and there was plenty left to enjoy again today. It also felt good to know that the peas were from Yorkshire, the zucchini from my garden and the leeks hopefully didn't travel from outside Britain either...

Pasta with zucchini, parsley and garlic
3-4 cloves of garlic chopped finely
1/2 leek, sliced finely
bunch of fresh parsley chopped finely
2 medium sized zucchini, grated
1lb/500 g pasta
salt and pepper
olive oil
parmesan

Sauté the garlic and leek in the olive oil and a non-stick pan. Add the zucchini, salt and pepper to taste. Cook on medium and let some of the water evaporate. I also squeeze out some of the excess water you find in super fresh zucchini beforehand. Cook for about 10 minutes, maybe a bit more (don't overdo it), then add parsley and let it wilt. Add to your al dente pasta with a little extra olive oil and garnish with parmesan or romano cheese.

Fresh peas with leeks
Peas
leeks, sliced finely
olive oil
salt and pepper

Shell the peas and steam until you smell the peas (5 min?). Don't overcook. Sauté the leeks gently in a non-stick pan and when they are soft, add the peas for a couple of minutes, no more. Add a little salt and pepper to your taste.

Tomato and mozzarella salad
tomatoes
mozzarella
olive oil (nice, flavourful)
balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper

A bit of Africa on Pigmeup

For those of you who are thinking, why is Pig Me Up slacking? Where are the recipes, the posts, the food love? Well, it's been busy, folks, I'm sorry! But I'm slowly getting back in the swing of things. In the mean time, check out this delicious post from a friend of mine who currently resides in Nairobi. She's as much of a culinary snob as I am (those Californians...), so enjoy!

"Sharing My Lack of Culinary Skills with the World" - from Nairobinotes.blogspot.com

What we learned today

...that you shouldn't put a Tupperware in a microwave with a base that conducts heat (those fancy, posh ones). The Tupperware in the previous post today melted to the bottom of a posh microwave and I had to pry it off the bottom with a knife. A sad day - it was my favourite one! Apologies for not providing a photo...

How to drive your colleagues crazy, no. 1

Bring Tupperwares to work that look like this:



My lunch tomorrow will consist of spinach and ricotta gnocchi with a butter and rosemary sauce as a starter and roast chicken with my family 'secret sauce' as a main. The smell will be exquisite!

Seriously, though - the Carew way is to cook for at least one more than you need so that someone can take leftovers to work. It's so much cheaper and since you're making the effort to cook, why not make a bit more? And it's ever so fun to walk to your desk with a plate looking (and smelling) like it came from the posh food hall next door and say, "Actually... I made it myself!"

That's the Piggie Tip of the Day!

Urban Farming

Check out this cool project started in Detroit turning empty space into vegetable gardens that local people can work at and use. It's fantastic!

Urban farming takes root in Detroit - BBC News

Their website (needs a bit of work...):
http://www.urbanfarming.org/

It makes me feel lazy about not doing a better job in the garden this summer. There's still time!