Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Glutton for Gluten

Day 37

I tend to think there's a little Italian in everyone.

I've never met anyone who doesn't like pasta, and I can't imagine any reason not to be a fan. Obviously, there are those who avoid carbs like the plague to keep off the pounds as well as those who are required to stay away due to gluten allergies. To the latter, I feel for you—my best friend discovered she had a wheat allergy (now gone, thanks to a great doctor) in her 20s and was unable to eat pasta for a good chunk of her life. It disheartened me to see her pass up some of her favorite dishes.

To the non-carb-eating dieters: What are you thinking? Stop being a sadomasochist and enjoy life a bit. It's not going to kill you. And just think: Wouldn't it be horrible if your afterlife involved a gluten allergy? Think about it...

Pet peeve, sorry. Had to get that off my chest.

I, for one, reveled in pasta eating (and making) today. Dishes included ricotta-filled ravioli with tomato sauce, potato gnocchi in brown butter sauce, and spinach lasagna with meat and bechamel sauces. I think I can now confidently break out the pasta attachment for my KitchenAid stand mixer. (I'm embarrassed to say I've had the accessory for four years and never used it.)

We have a big assignment ahead of us tomorrow: our first experimental dish. Called "Flounder Your Way," the idea is to create a plate based on a list of provided ingredients; we have the morning to make it. I'm interested to see what my classmates produce.

Time to use my noodle and figure it out for myself.

4 comments:

  1. Now that you have learned this technique and see how easy it really is...I am sure you will be preparing many delicious pasta dishes in the future using the great pasta attachment for the Kitchen aid. I love mine! :) BTW your ravioli looks great above. Now you will have to tackle Michael Symons "beef cheek pierogi's"!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I definitely need to make beef cheek pierogis! ;)

    ReplyDelete
  3. "Use my noodle" you did. Nice work on the flounder. I was blown away by the skill of the class as a whole. Good luck on the practical tomorrow.

    PS Thank you for making fun of me while I nodded off in wine class today. Sitting there without coffee was brutal. It's only fair, I was snickering myself watching Amanda do her own version of the glazed over head bob dance.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks! Good luck to you, too. I think we'll all do great. :)

    ReplyDelete