Fettucine with Spinach, Butter and Cream and Caesar Salad - Can You Say YUM?

So this week I made two delicious recipes from the cookbook, "How to Cook Everything" by Mark Bittman. They were easy to do, only took me about an hour to make, and as healthy as you can get! Whole wheat fettuccine, organic lettuce and eggs, organic spinach, and organic butter? It was delicious!

Quick tip: I suggest you make the Caesar salad first, so you can fully concentrate on that, which will make it easier and faster. Cover and chill once you are through.

Caesar Salad

Original Recipe:

Makes 4 Servings

Time: 20 minutes

1 clove garlic, cut in half

2 eggs, or substitute 1/2 cup pasteurized egg product

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons minced anchovies, or to taste

Dash Worcestershire sauce

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1 large head romaine lettuce, trimmed, washed, dried,

and torn into bits

Garlic Croutons

1/2 to 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1. Rub the inside of your salad bowl with the garlic clove; discard it.
2. Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Pierce a tiny hole in the broad end of each of the eggs with a pin or a needle and boil them for 60 to 90 seconds; they will just begin to firm up. Crack them into the salad bowl, making sure to scoop out the white that clings to the shell.
3. Beat the eggs with a fork, gradually adding the lemon juice and then the olive oil, beating all the while.
4. Stir in the anchovies and the Worcestershire. Taste and add salt if needed and plenty of pepper. Toss well with the lettuce; top with the croutons and Parmesan, then bring to the table and toss again. Serve immediately.

My Take on It:

Makes 4-6 servings

2 organic eggs

Two thick-ish slices of lemon to squeeze

6 tables of olive oil

Dash of Worcestershire sauce

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1 large head romaine lettuce, trimmed, washed, dried,

and torn into bits

Garlic Croutons

1. Get the two eggs and boil them for 60 seconds (set a timer once the water has begun to boil.) I let them sit in the water for a minute, but I think this overcooked them. Take them out as soon as possible, run them under cool water (in order not to burn your fingers while taking the eggs out of their shells) and crack them open into a bowl. Don't forget to get all of the egg out of the shell. Mash them up with a fork, and then start squeezing the lemon slices into the bowl. Add the olive oil and continue mixing the lemon juice and eggs together.
2. Add the dash of Worcestershire sauce and start salting and peppering the mixture. Don't add too much salt; barely salt it and then let your guests add as much salt as they like. Make sure to add a ton of pepper though.
3. Set aside the mixture and wash, trim, and tear your lettuce. make sure to dry the lettuce well, and pick out the bad pieces.
4. Throw the lettuce into the serving bowl, add the liquid mixture and toss well. Cover and put in the fridge until ready to serve.

Fettucine with Spinach, Butter and Cream

Original Recipe:

Makes about 4 servings

Time: about 30 minutes

10 ounces fresh spinach, trimmed, washed, and dried

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1/2 cup heavy cream, light cream, or half-and-half

1 pound spaghetti, linguine, or fettuccine

1 cup freshly grate Parmesan cheese

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
2. Chop the spinach coarsely. Over a medium heat melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large skillet that can later be covered. Add the spinach, along with some alt and pepper. Cover, reduce the heat, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the spinach is very tender, about 10 minutes. uncover, add the cream, and cook gently for about 5 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, salt the boiling water and cook the pasta until it is tender but firm. When it is just about done, put the remaining butter in a large, warm bowl and add a couple of tablespoons of the cooking water. Drain the pasta and toss it with the butter and half the Parmesan. Add the spinach sauce and serve, passing the remaining Parmesan at the table.

My Take on It:

Makes about 6 servings

Approx. 6 ounces of fresh spinach, trimmed, washed, and dried

4 tablespoons of butter

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1/2 cup of half-and-half

A box of whole wheat linguine

1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese

1. I brought a large pot of water to a boil.
2. While I was waiting for it to boil, I washed about 75% of a 9 ounce bag of spinach. I then stuck it in a chopper and pulsed it until they were small little pieces. After that, I put the spinach on a skillet with 2 tablespoons of butter (YES use this much butter, it tastes and smells magnificent) and covered it to let it cook. Once it had been 10 minutes, I added the half-and-half and covered it again for another 5 minutes.
3. While the spinach was cooking, I salted the boiling water and cooked the pasta (it needs to be tender but firm.) When it was almost done, I warmed a large bowl, put 2 tablespoons of butter in it, and added 2 tablespoons of the cooking water.
4. After this, I drained the pasta and tossed it with the butter and Parmesan. I added the spinach sauce and served!

Now, to present, the finished product:

What I Would do Differently:

Again, I would make the salad FIRST. Its hard to time when things need to be done, especially if you are cooking a new recipe for the first time. I would also add olive oil to the fettuccine to make them a bit slick, and use fresh Parmesan. It served my family of 4, with plenty of leftover fettuccine, but no leftover Caesar, so I would use 2 heads of organic Romaine lettuce instead of 1.

How I Liked It:

I liked a hint of Thousand Island dressing on the salad with a lot of salt and pepper. My family said there needed to be more spinach, but I think there was just enough. If you want to add more spinach, go right ahead. Experiment a bit.

MAKE SURE to use ORGANIC items and CAGE FREE eggs, otherwise the whole 'healthy' part of it will just be a big flop.

Any questions or comments? Comment below or email me at elleaditce@yahoo.com, subject "Dear Jolie-Miette"

Salut!

Jolie-Miette