So about those exploding brusselsprouts.

So the SNOverkill blizzards in DC kept me from my trip to Florida to visit my parents, but clearly it has also kept me from any sort of productivity at all.  As I haven't even updated here.  Sorry about that.  I have hit my limit with this warp of space and time where days and hours have smushed into one, long, unexpected mid February vacation.  I am not complaining here, as the snow has been beautiful and the break has been restful, but I need my life back!

On Tuesday night, as blizzard #2 began to descend upon our city, another pasta night was in order.  Ok, I get that perhaps this seems redundant, but it is winter and cold, and nothing seems to remedy those two things quite like floury hands and making something out of nothing.  

Menu:

Parsley and thyme fettucini (#42)

Creamy mushroom, wine wine & parsley sauce (#43)

(Attempted) Braised brusselsprouts with butter

So, I've learned that chopping just about anything that is fresh and green and adding it to pasta dough is a recipe for deliciousness.  This the fearlessness I was talking about in my first post!  I'm a creature of habit, habit and more habit.  I need spontaneity on my plate!  That and piles of pasta.  And mushrooms.   

 

So with everything all set up, one by one the ingredients came together to make such a fragrant and yummy pasta dough.  As per usual, it is of utmost importance to use equal parts regular flour to semolina flour, if at possible.  Store the semolina in the fridge it will last for a long time.  It is completely worth the extra bucks.

So as the flat lasagna ribbons dried on the rack, I worked on getting our brusselsprouts in the oven.  First blanched in boiling water, then nestled in a buttered baking dish, the brusselsprouts were to rest on a medium-heat burner for about a minute until the butter sizzled, then put into the oven.  

Easy enough, right?  Yeah, I certainly thought so.  And since I was using Julia Child's recipe, having watched my fair share of Julie & Julia during the blizzard, I thought I was golden.  The sprouts were resting on the burner for about 20 seconds when I walked three steps to the fridge to put the butter away, and....

BOOM!  EXPLOSION!  BOOM!  SECOND EXPLOSION!  BOOM!  THIRD EXPLOSION!

 

Glass everywhere!  The Pyrex was obliterated into a million pieces of glass.  Shot all over the kitchen.  Every inch.  Into the freshly chopped parsley, into the dishwasher that was open, two the very very very end of the counter.  You name it, - yeah, the glass got there, too.  Needless to say it was scary.  Needless to say, we didn't eat the brusselsprouts.  Not that we didn't think about salvaging such beautiful green little monster-like vegetables.  Especially at a point when they were nearly the only choice for fresh vegetables given our apocalyptic state.  But, we were really just happy no one got hurt.  After some googling, we learned that this isn't all that uncommon, unfortunately to say.  No more oven glassware for me I'm afraid to say.  I think I am cured.

The clean-up after this mess took quite awhile, and many food stuffs had to be reprepared.  But all was not lost.  Our drying pasta got a tad too dry, and it really took a team effort to get through the crank and become skinnier pieces for the mushroom sauce.  Which is also to say that the sauce ended up to a taste test to find our the right combination of the following ingredients:

Mushrooms

White wine

Heavy cream

Butter

Parsley

Salt and pepper

After the explosion of glass all over the kitchen I was a bit out of sorts, so I just sauteed the parsley, added the mushrooms and then guessed on the wine and cream.  It turned out just fine.  As Julia says, "No excuses, no explanations."  It turned out pretty delicious and made for a very warm, albeit unexpectedly heart-stopping, Tuesday blizzardy #2 night. 

 257 to go...

As an aside and confession of sorts, Beth and I have a habit of keeping flowers until they smell rancid.  That seems to consistently cue throw-out-the-flowers-before-the-neighbors-think-they-should-call-the-authorities moments.  So, as the sunflowers hit that moment right before this dinner, our friend noticed them, and pointed out that sunflowers look beautiful even in those moments.  I couldn't agree more.