Soundbites II (more from the mind of Cafe Drake)

VIEWER'S REQUEST: ENCORE FOR PASTA RECIPES

Though tempted to yell Basta! at the constant visitors' requests for pasta recipes, we aim to please, and are thus happy to introduce you to one of the simplest spaghettis we know. Cafe Drake has been dishing this up for YEARS, so much so we can't even locate the original recipe we jotted down in a lost notebook long ago. It's brainless enough to describe from memory however, and its quickness of prep and minimum of ingredients, seems to offer all desired by those craving a fast carb fix. Because the flavors are lighter than usual, and particularly crisp from the inclusion of an entire lemon, try it as a first course when you have more time, paving the way for a rich entree such as braised short ribs or roasted lamb shanks.

SPAGHETTI WITH ZUCCHINI SAUCE

1 lb. spaghetti or linguine, boiled in salted water al dente and drained / 3-4 medium-small zucchini, diced / 3 T. butter / 1 T. olive oil / juice of 1 lemon / grated zest of 1/2 lemon / salt and pepper / Parmesan cheese

1. Melt butter in large skillet along with olive oil.Add zucchini and cook until very tender. It is fine if a few brown quite a bit.
2. Remove pan from heat, cool contents a bit then add to blender. Process for 1 minute or more. The resulting sauce should be silky smooth.
3. Return sauce to skillet, and over very low heat, stir in lemon juice and lemon zest. Heat through, stirring well, for 2-3 minutes.
4. Toss sauce thoroughly with pasta and add salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste.
5. Serve warm, topped with grated or shaved Parmesan.

Note: The sauce can be given a sweet and elegant note by adding 2 T. of an anise-flavored apertif (Ricard, ouzo, Pastis, Pernod etc) in Step 3 above.

(Thinking about food at Cafe Drake)


CORKED

We recently wrote about getting corkscrewed on overpriced, inferior winelists at mediocre restaurants, and thought rather than just complain about a growing problem, we'd offer a few solutions (for the home anyway). A longstanding favorite red at Cafe Drake is Nuhar (approx. $10); luckily, this formerly obscure vineyard is now gaining a wider fan base and thus, distribution. Light in color and equally so on the palette, Nuhar makes a great partner to cheese, Italian pastas and even a mild red meat. The surprise comes at the end, with an aftertaste suggestive of a far more complex (and expensive) Cabernet. And don't turn your nose up at Robert Mondavi's 2004 Pinot Noir ($9), or you'll miss the delicate bouquet of young grapes, light to be sure, but also silky and smooth with a hint of earthiness.


BRITISH BOOZEHOUND

Nigella Lawson, with her winsome combination of insouciance and professionalism, is our current leading lady on the Food Network (with Ina Garten a close second). Saucy and unafraid to embellish a dish with copious amounts of fat, her very modern take on British comfort food somehow just feels right for the time (unlike fellow Londoner Jamie Oliver, whose lad-ish demeanor and repetitive Thai flavors have grown exhausting). Ms. Lawson has also created a new food category - the Back from the Bar Snack - which, unsurprisingly, we adore. With hats off to Nigella, below is Cafe Drake's latest favorite dish for late-night, post-drinking knoshing.

CHEESE TOASTS A LA RAJ

1 lb. mozzarella, grated (if budget is a concern, fresh mozzarella is not absolutely essential here) / 1/2 cup finely chopped onion / 2 fresh hot green chiles, diced / 1/2 cup chopped cilantro / 1/2 cup mayonnaise / 1 t. cayenne pepper / ground black pepper / about 10 slices whole wheat bread, lightly toasted

1. Preheat the broiler. Stir together all the ingredients except the bread.
2. Spread the mixture on the toast slices and place on a baking sheet.
3. Broil until the cheese is melted and slightly brown, about 3 or 4 minutes.
4. Serve hot. Delicious with mango chutney.

LEFT BEHIND

Everyone needs ways to use up all that leftover turkey from Thanksgiving and Christmas, methods to incorporate perfectly good remains into tantalizing dishes far removed from the traditional meal served a few days prior. This year Cafe Drake went outside of the box and south of the border with these post-celebration concoctions: we boiled the turkey carcass to create a rich stock, then filled it with a handful of brown rice, sliced poblano peppers, chopped carrots and fried tortilla strips. Season with some fresh lime juice, a dried chile or two and chopped cilantro and you've got a delicious bowl of Mexican penicillin. Finely diced white meat was tossed with mayo and chipotle peppers to create turkey salad, incomparably good atop toasted wheat bread and crowned with cooling cranberry sauce. The remaining dark flesh of the bird was minced and added to leftover mashed potatoes, then formed into patties, dipped in a beaten egg, rolled in breadcrumbs and fried until golden brown.



GASTRONOMIC CINEMA

For those who care, head over to MSN's feature on the Ten Best Films About Food: http://movies.msn.com/movies/dvd/food?GT1=7701&. [Note: Link posted strangely here - you may need to include the final, unhighlighted ampersand in the blue-toned link above to view properly. Cut and paste as required.] You will need to hurry as these quirky articles rarely stay posted past a few weeks, and given the predictable nature of most of the selected movies - combined with a snarky tone - this may not be a tragedy. Still, it's alot of fun if only to scream back at the egregious omissions and yawn-inducing, shopworn standards so highly praised. Examples of laziness include odes to the ultra-obvious classics like Big Night and Good Fellas; kudos for the inclusion of the BEST film ever about the pleasures of dining, Babette's Feast, and the witty cheekiness of numbers 3 and 4, The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover (1989) and Ravenous (1999) (we would have gone even further out on a limb of morbidity and added The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1973), The Hills Have Eyes (1976), the raw liver and tannis root smoothies of Rosemary's Baby (1967) and the cringing taboo scenes of family consumption from Night of the Living Dead (1968)). Sadly neglected are Like Water for Chocolate (1992) and John Ford's masterpiece The Grapes of Wrath (1945), where we are reminded of a period in American history when the next meal was not promised.