Hobbies, Family, & Geekery from a Stay-at-Home Dad
So here’s a more recent recipe. Something that I had made a few times already and decided to take pics of because I thought to myself, “hey, self. This would make a good blog post whenever you decided to blog again.” And look! Here we …Read More….
Mama Said Knock You Out Happy mother’s day! Wait, what? I’m early?! Whoa, that’s a first! But it’s for good reason. A couple of months ago, Wilton asked if I had anything inspirational to share about my mom. Without even thinking about it, about a …Read More….
Before I get into the unbelievably easy “recipe” that is a simple antipasto, let me spin you a tale.
Once upon a time, in a mystical, unforgivably hot, far away land – that you may know as Florida – lived my wife and I. It’s hard to think about it now, but we were young once. We lived recklessly and laughed in the face of responsibility. We did unspeakable things that I, as a parent now, am appalled by. What did we do? I’m almost afraid to tell you because I know we’ll be judged. But I must…
We used to do things like… Stay out past 9. Spend the entire day at theme parks only to go home, get dressed, and go out again. We used to order Chinese takeout at 10pm to eat that night. We went to the theater to watch an opening night movie that started at 1am (that’s after midnight), didn’t get home till 3 (in the morning), only to get up in a few hours for a 7am shift.
We were rebels without a cause. It’s amazing what a few years and 2 kids can do to you!
Because now? We go to the movies once every 6-8 months if we’re lucky.
I’m thinking about the comfort of a couch 2 hours into a theme park. The thought of staying out of the house past 7pm for any reason whatsoever absolutely frightens me. And if we eat Chinese food after 6pm this happens:
.Getting old sucks.
What was the point I was… Oh yeah.
Something else we used to do on a regular basis was go out to eat. I mean, we were pros. We always loved going somewhere, enjoying a meal, having the age old debate – we’re stuffed, do we get dessert? – it was some memorable times. Now? It’s nothing but waste of time! And money! Oh boy, don’t get me started on how much of a waste of money going out to eat is. Do you know how many amiibos I could buy with that money?! Yeah, we still do it sometimes but it’s almost instant regret.
But I’m not here to talk about that. I’m here to talk about a restaurant we used to frequent for all of our special occasions and one that I’d still happily go to – Texas de Brazil.
If you never heard of it, you’re missing out. I’ve talked about it before – it’s a Churrascaria, specializing in various cuts of meat, carved tableside right onto your plate by an army of guachos. It’s a carnivores dream. But, what they also have is the absolute best salad bar anyone could ever ask for.
It’s a plethora of Italian meats and gourmet cheeses. Olives, breads, salads, soups, vegetables.. There is absolutely nothing I can say that would do it justice. It’s a salad lovers paradise and puts almost every other salad bar to shame.
Depending on the time you go, the price to eat the full dinner there is $45 per person! But the salad bar by itself is only $25. You don’t get the service of the guachos passing by with all their sticks of glory, but to be completely honest, you don’t need them if you have the salad bar.
And that’s where the inspiration came for putting this together. We don’t have a Texas de Brazil 15 minutes down the highway like we used to. The closest is 3 hours north and I’d be lying if I told you we didn’t think about it once or twice. But even if we did go, it’s not exactly a place where the kids could enjoy themselves. So in a feeble attempt to recreate my favorite plate I put together from the salad bar, this antipasto was born.
It’s nothing special or fancy, it’s just what we like around here. Seriously, this is some basic stuff we’re talking about, but simple is usually more than enough. Whenever we went to the restaurant, my plate always consisted of mozzarella, prosciutto, grilled provolone slices, chunks of good parmesan, sun-dried tomatoes, peppered bacon, and some toasted ciabatta bread. Yes, I fit it all on a plate, and I even went back for seconds. Despite my love for the flank steak, it wasn’t until the last few times we went that I realized I didn’t even want the full dinner with the meat. I was perfectly happy and content making frequent trips to the salad bar. And so was the wife, who usually grabbed salami, soppressata, and olives in addition to what I usually got.
The great thing about antipasto is you can put together whatever you like. Personally, I’m a sucker for sun-dried tomatoes but I couldn’t care less about olives, while the wife is the opposite. This set up is what we like, and if there’s one thing I want you to learn from this post, it’s that you have freedom here. If you’re a fan of artichoke hearts and sun-dried tomatoes, or you have the cash to splurge on some good parmesan, go for it! What I have in this post is just to give you an idea of how easy it is to throw it on a plate and make a great appetizer or mid-day meal.
If you’re trying to impress someone or you’re doing this for a party, you may want to stress presentation. There’s something about a well organized and properly presented plate of antipasto that just feels right.
Heck, when it’s just the wife and I, I still have to fix up the plate instead of just throwing everything on there. I could give you a few tips on presentation, but seriously, it’s not rocket science. You really need to try and mess up in order to make a plate of arranged meats and cheeses look bad.
The presentation depends on the type of plate you’re using. If it’s a big platter, you have a lot more room to play with. If it’s a little plate like I used, you have to try and utilize the space you have. Whether it be a platter, plate, big wooden cutting board, it doesn’t matter, the arrangement is traditionally the same regardless of what you use.
One of the only rules is you have to have order on the plate, or else it’s just going to look like you don’t care. And you do care, right? Things like olives, sun-dried tomatoes, or julienned roasted red peppers, typically go in the middle. You could spruce them up by putting them on a bed of mixed greens, again, just don’t mix them all up. Keep them well divided. If you have the room and the hardware, you can also put them in bowls and keep the plate for just the heavy hitters.
Whatever meats and cheeses you decide to use, make sure they’re arranged in groups. Meaning don’t cross the streams and layer the prosciutto with the salami. Have the salami in one spot, the prosciutto next to it, the capicola next to that, and so on. The same goes for the cheeses, vegetables, everything.
Again, don’t be afraid to set up small bowls on the side with various things. Like if olives are a big hit in your house, just put them in a bowl. Get small dishes and keep the balsamic and extra virgin olive oil at the table so every can help themselves.
Also, it’s not abnormal to set out a separate plate of caprese salad to accompany the antipasto. Trust me, if it’s there, people will eat it and in turn, love you.
Of course, I’m talking as if this is for a party. You must keep in mind antipasto literally translates to “before the meal”. Your appetizer. So yes, you can totally have this as the main course, but traditionally speaking, the antipasto is the precursor to an italian dinner. I’m just warning you, don’t go putting out 5 plates of antipasti and then expect everyone to eat dinner a half hour later.
Personally, my kryptonite is sandwiches. So if I see bread, meat, and cheese on a platter, I’m making me a sandwich!
There’s not much more to really say. I mean, it’s sliced meat and cheese? O0o0o0, olives and bread too. Curve balls. If you’ve never put a plate like this together do not stress it. Give it a shot one night, spice up the dinner table. Know you’re going to have spaghetti or lasagna one night? Go ahead and take a trip to the deli and get a few slices of meat. Buy a ball of mozzarella. Get a loaf of good bread. Surprise the family and see what happens. It doesn’t have to be extravagant like the plates pictured above from Texas de Brazil. Keep it simple is probably the best advice I could give you. You don’t need a spread of 10 different components. Stick to 3-5 different things plus the bread and you and your family will feel like royalty.
Alright, I hope everyone is ready for the best salad that has ever been created! Caprese Salad with a Balsamic Reduction is easily the simplest, tastiest, most addicting salad that you’ll probably ever try. Oh man, I sincerely hope you’ve had this before. If you …Read More….
If I knew I would live after the fact, I would have no problems injecting Alfredo sauce into my veins. It’s easily one of my favorite sauces and I think a lot of it has to do with my unhealthy obsession with parmesan cheese. Seriously, …Read More….
I’ve mentioned before that we have a fairly repetitive rotation of meals we eat throughout the week. Some things get retired or get put on the back burner, so to speak, when we get tired of it. The beloved Taco Tuesday has seen this fate once or twice. But there is one meal in particular that is so popular in this house I don’t think it will ever be skipped or taken out of the rotation…
Spaghetti night.
Yes, the last few posts of bread after garlic after bread after garlic, have been setting you up for this one recipe. Getting you ready the way the too-old-to-fight mentor gets the young and brave hero ready to battle evil. But the only evil coming from this battle will be that first bite burning the crap out of your mouth.
And maybe the heartburn.
Spaghetti is the meal that has always brought the family together. And I’m not just talking about mine, I’m talking about families everywhere. If you’re having a get together, odds are, the best, most homey meal you can dish up is spaghetti. Get a nice, toasty loaf of garlic bread, maybe some extra virgin olive oil to drizzle and dip; some freshly grated cheese and a nice big bowl of spaghetti on the table and fuhgettaboudit, you’ll be everyone’s favorite person in the world. They’ll all be following you around like stray cats just hoping you’d invite them over again.
Making good spaghetti is a gift that’s a curse, but ey, whaddya gunna do, uh?
Spaghetti Bolognese:1 each ~ Onion, diced
2 tablespoons ~ Raw Garlic, sliced
1/4 teaspoon ~ Red Pepper Flakes
1/2 pound ~ Ground Beef
2 tablespoons ~ Dried Oregano
1 tablespoon ~ Dried Thyme
at least 2 teaspoons ~ Salt
to taste ~ Pepper
1 – 28 oz can ~ Crushed Tomatoes
3 oz ~ Tomato Paste
1/2 cup ~ Roasted Garlic Paste
up to ~ Half a Box of Dried Spaghetti Pasta
2 teaspoons + garnish ~ Fresh Parsley, chopped (optional)
Notes:
Ok, first things first:
The more people you’re cooking for, the bigger. The more water there is, the more the pasta can circulate and move around. If you use a little bit a water and a lot of pasta, you’ll wind up with a lot of stuck together, uncooked noodles.
Wait, what? You didn’t know that? Well then…*Cracks knuckles*Let’s drop some science…When you add salt to water, the boiling temperature increases. Why? Because the salt dissolves in the water creating a solution of sodium and chloride ions. These ions are attracted to the water molecules and cause a bond which needs more energy to break down in order for the water to enter the boiling phase. More energy needed equals more time needed.Anyways, spaghetti…You can salt your water whenever you want. Just don’t forget to. And when you do, add a lot. Italian chefs will tell you they like their pasta water to taste like the sea, and for good reason. You want your pasta to have flavor, you want it to stand out and compliment, not just be there. So don’t be shy. I’m not talking half a box of salt, but don’t just put a pinch in it either.And don’t put oil in your water. Matter of fact, don’t let oil touch your pasta. The oil will coat your noodles and will cause the sauce to slip right off it, and you don’t want that. The only time oil should touch your pasta is when you’re cooking it in advance. You can cook your pasta, put it in an ice bath to stop the cooking process, and then toss it in oil so it does not stick to itself and cause a huge clump of a mess. Then put it in the fridge covered for a few days and drop it in boiling water to bring it back to life. That’s how they do it in the restaurants, so it’ll work just the same at home for a busy dinner cooker.Now, I know what you’re saying. Oil in the water helps eliminate the foam that boils over when cooking pasta. If you’re having trouble with that mess since you’re not using oil, just put a wooden spoon on top of the pot. This will stop the foam caused by the starches in the pasta before it reaches the top and boils over.
Boom, magic! Anyways, SPAGHETTI…
I like to add all my seasonings here instead of later. That way, you know the meat is going to have some flavor and it’s going to share it with the sauce.
This is a 15 minute meal. If you have time to simmer a spaghetti sauce for hours, you can not only let me know what I’m doing wrong in my life, but you can have the time to let everything harmonize and be all buddy-buddy in your pot. But in 15 minutes, a sauce can’t do to bland meat what flavorful meat can do to a bland sauce.
I put my pasta in the water and I set the timer for 10 minutes and it comes out perfect every time. Why do I put it in for 10 minutes? Because that’s what the box of pasta says to do, duh. This is also the time that I put my garlic bread in the oven. I know, I know… You’re still recovering from all the garlic bread posts, my bad.
The choice is yours. I told you how to make it, you can eat it out of a tortilla for all I care.
A little technique I picked up for presentation – instead of just plopping the pasta on a plate and calling it spaghetti, give it a twirl with a pair of tongs.
Twirling it onto the plate is great for presentation and makes it look like you actually care. You want people to think you care, right?!
And there you have it. Plate it up, get some parmesan cheese on there, garnish with some parsley if you have it, and then stick a fork in it.
Me? I’m an absolute sucker for Parmesan cheese. I usually dump a bunch on, and then halfway through, dump some more. The wife loves it afterwards! (Not really)
I hope over the last few weeks I’ve helped you craft a great family meal. I know that’s hoping for a lot, but I like to think I’m doing some good in this world.One plate of spaghetti at a time.`
I would like to take this time to apologize. Why am I apologizing? Well, one, because I feel like I’m neglecting all 9 of you who regularly check out my blog. I’ve been crazy busy with moving and I’m missing out on primo fall-time recipe …Read More….
Being someone who has worked in the kitchen, you know what’s right and what’s wrong. You know where someone in the back is cutting corners, and you know why. You can tell when something is done on purpose, like strategically placing burnt, overdone potatoes underneath …Read More….
