Anodyne
Friday, January 19, 2007
 
New Year's resolution: food in the fridge, cookbooks on the table, dinner beside them. So here's my version of chef John Ash's Tuna Sauce For Pasta, probably the best meal I've made for myself, ever. ("Fish!" said the cats, clustering round). Can of drained water-packed tuna in the blender. Small can of washed anchovy fillets, ditto. An egg yolk, carefully extracted by tossing the yolk and white back and forth between two small cups, an old Frances Jean trick recalled from childhood. Lots of lemon juice (3 tsp. bottled Real Lemon, though I suppose I could just have easily bought and squeezed a "real Real Lemon." Garlic. Fifteen seconds' pulse in the blender. Chopped cilanto, 3 tsp. chopped capers, a cautious drizzle of cream. The sauce turns a lovely beige-peach color. Fuselli pasta, 10 minutes in salted water on the stove. Sauce over steaming pasta, cilantro garnish, and, in a burst of Aurora Bistro-style inspiration, a sliced kosher dill alongside. "If a tuna-fish sandwich was pasta, this is the pasta it'd be." Small glass of Bonny Doon 2004 Big House Red (BCLDB, $18.95 specialty listing). Rain battering the drafty leaky condo windows, a crisp red Mac apple for dessert, the cats propped up nearby. Laurie Colwin's right: cooking is a lot like love. "Both happy and sad people can be cheered up by a nice meal!"
- posted by cjb @ 11:08 PM


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