3.21.2009

New blog and new recipe

Thanks to Susan at Chicken Spaghetti, I was directed to a new blog on the block: Cook the Wolf.  I was immediately smitten, of course, by the MFK Fisher reference.  Anyone who reads MFK Fisher just...gets it, you know?

And Emily got off to an eloquent start, discussing hunger (of course!), and sharing her recipe for Caramelized Onion and Walnut Sauce for pasta.  It sounded like the type of recipe I'm always looking for on weeknights: simple to make, affordable, and flavorful (you could even leave out the walnuts if you're really cutting costs - nuts are spendy!).  Here's out it turned out:

Emily wasn't kidding when she said it doesn't turn out attractive, though my version might have turned out prettier if I had used white wine instead of red wine.  Luckily, the parsley, cheese, and walnuts add some visual interest.

I have to admit, I wasn't crazy about this recipe, which wasn't necessarily the recipe's fault...for starters, I severely underseasoned it - make sure you really salt and pepper this one up.  And I don't know what happened with my onions - I just couldn't get them to produce a nice golden color before adding the wine and such.

I also thought gorgonzola might help punch it up so I added some halfway through our meal, but it really didn't work...which was so strange since walnuts-gorzonzola-caramelized onions are such a classic pairing.  

I'm going to keep messing around with this one because I think it has a lot of possibilities.  Next time I am certainly going to try the addition of acid - some balsamic perhaps.  Maybe even some lemon zest?  Emily also has a post about The Flavor Bible, and luckily I own a copy - that might also help give me some ideas about ways to get creative with this dish.

Eat, drink, and welcome to Cook the Wolf!

2 comments:

Nicole said...

If you can find Trader Joe's, I had their gorgonzola, walnut tortellini last night and it was really good and would probably work well with this sauce. I made a simple brown butter and sage with garlic on the stove and just tossed it in that.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing this recipe!! It is really simple to make and best for weeknight!!