Pastanxiety, or how I learned to stop worrying and make homemade noodles.

Thanks to the miracle that is instant social networking, all of Twitter now knows that making my own pasta was quite possibly one of the most stressful experiences of the year. I thought I'd share the melodramatic pre-pasta breakdown, the live tweeting of the main event, and the (almost) edible results. Consider it confessional pastanxiety therapy, so I can move on from tonight and never have to think about it again.

allisonejones: We're attempting to make our own pasta tonight, and I'm really nervous. Like, really nervous. #pastanxiety

RadioConelrad: Unless you're making the pasta with nitroglycerin, what's the worst that could happen? (fettuccine al qaeda?)

pdxlilly: When I have made pasta, I used regular flour, one egg, and some water! Really simple. Can even roll it out with a rolling pin.

allisonejones: I don't have any semolina! Help! Do I need semolina? I don't even really know what semolina IS! #pastanxiety

billgalusha: wait, what.. a food question from @allisonejones ?!!? it's a kind of flour, and yes, I believe it's pretty crucial.

hedinthecloudz: When Jen makes pasta the way her Italian boyfriend's Italian mama taught her, she just mixes regular flour and an egg.

hedinthecloudz Also, Jen and I (when I help) always mess up and have to add water because we didn't mix the egg+flour quite right. Also fine

allisonejones: Recipe says mix pasta ingredients as if mixing cement. Who do they think I am? Maybe we should just give up + go to @pastaworks

amigadehelado: are you making pasta by hand or by machine? Don't be afraid. You don't need semolina. I like egg and flour best anyway

allisonejones: Making it by hand, worried that I've got people coming over and it'll take too long and/or be a total gummy disaster...

amigadehelado I use the Babbo basic recipe. Once you get going, pasta rolling goes fast. Stuffed pastas harder. + you have panna cotta

allisonejones: I was just informed that pasta has been found to reduce stress and anxiety. Nice try, internets. I've still got the #pastanxiety real bad.

amigadehelado: I say go for it. Effort means more to me than perfection when someone is actually cooking for ME

allisonejones: Stay tuned for live tweeting of Pasta Fiasco 2k10, starting @ 6! Keyboard will be covered w/ flour+eggs, but I'll need support. #pastanxiety

allisonejones I've heard of using guitar strings to cut pasta. I wonder if Sam Cooper would mind me using the guitar he left in my apartment. #pastanxiety

foxtotally: this #pastanxiety endeavor of yours sounds like a Haruki Murakami nightmare. Are you the only participant?

allisonejones: @foxtotally Nope, I've got a fellow pasta neophyte tackling the endeavor conmigo. It was her dammed idea. Luckily she's not on Twitter. [after-the-fact edit: Alix, don't buy all my twitternonsense. It was fun! I don't think it was a bad idea, and we had a great night. But my fears were TOTALLY warranted, admit it...]

foxtotally: Throw a couple wet ones against the wall and Twitpic what it spells! #pastanxiety

foxtotally: My guess is that it forms the likeness of a minotaur #pastanxiety

allisonejones: I don't even know if homemade pasta sticks to walls! How do I know when it's done!?! It cooks too quickly to have time to check!

allisonejones: If the homemade pasta fails tonight, I've a free delivery coupon from @pdxpedpow as Plan B. Man the phones dudes, who knows what'll happen.

allisonejones: My horoscope says to take "reasonable risks" today. "If you can consult with an expert you should do well." Help! I need a pasta expert!

allisonejones: I'm so ready. Homemade pasta, here we come. Checkout my bowl, BOWL:



allisonejones: OK guys, here we go. Dumping cups of flour on my dining room table, which is making my OCD itch uncomfortably. #pastanxiety

allisonejones: Cracking eggs into said flour and preparing to "mix as if mixing cement" whatever that means. Bright yolks make me a lil less anxious.



allisonejones: Mixmixmixmixmix... hey it's kind of working and isn't chasing me like a raptor. But the eggs are spilling everywhereohgodtheeggsareEVERYWHEREohgod...

allisonejones: Doesn't seem very elastic... adding more water... more oil? Ugh. Don't want a #pastafail

amigadehelado: After you mix/knead it's gonna need to rest before it becomes elastic.

allisonejones: Letting it rest... do I knead more afterwards? #pastanxiety

amigadehelado: Nah, you don't want to work the gluten too much esp. since you still need to roll it.

allisonejones: Ok, rolling it out... it's not getting very thin. Not worrying too much about it as I'm frying up bacon, onions, mushrooms and fresh peas.



allisonejones: Ok, water's boiling, here we go! 2 minutes... oh wait, it stopped boiling. BLAH. #pastanxiety

allisonejones: So, it's totally, ridiculously, chewy. Think it was too thick but it TASTES like pasta...

allisonejones: OK: Pasta is pretty chewy, but the sauce is phenomenal (because it's cream and bacon and peas, duh.) so it's not a total #pastafail


So that happened and now I never ever have to do it again. It's like canning and real gardening - I'll leave that stuff to people who really love it, and I'll keep eating my salads and waxing poetic about vegetables and how much I love to cook when the fact is, when it comes down to it, I really just love chopping and mixing flavors and eating good, simple foods. Homemade pasta still totally scares me. Maybe if I had one of those attachments for my KitchenAid that rolls and flattens the pasta, but, honestly, I can get such good, fresh pasta at the farmers' market and not have days like today where I stress about kneading flour and eggs for hours before I actually do it. I just don't get the appeal.

Actually, I think the real answer is going to Italy and having some Nonna teach me how to do it correctly. Yep, that's a good plan. Until then, I'm gonna let my jaw rest and get over the chewy semi-disaster that was Pastagate 2010. Thanks for not unfollowing me, everyone. You're real troopers.

Also, let the record state that, once again, bacon makes everything better and good friends make culinary failures kind of fun. Plus, there's always dessert.

Browned Butter Eggs with Ramps and Miatakes

I don't have too much time to rhapsodize this week (my Thesis draft is due on Friday!) but I picked up so many quintessential spring foods at the market yesterday that I couldn't not share.

I used to hate eggs - my sisters would always ask for fried egg sandwiches for breakfast before school, but I was usually happier eating leftovers from the night before. I still like savory things for breakfast, and have never really craved pancakes or waffles, but my attitude about eggs has completely changed. I don't want to insult my parents, but the eggs we ate as kids weren't anything like the kind I can get at the market. If I had access to these eggs back then, with their near-orange yolks and adorable blue and brown shells, I'd likely have eaten them every day.


Miatakes from Springwater farms (above) and ramps in my market basket.


For this rather decadent meal, I sauteed chopped miatake mushrooms and spring ramps (also known as wild leeks, great wild-gathered spring onions that have a great garlicky flavor, pink and white stems, and flat, green leaves) in a bit of butter, and in a separate pan, made a bit of brown butter, and fried some fresh eggs. They weren't the platonic form of fried eggs--they were, in fact, kind of brown--but oh, goodness, they were delicious. I piled on the mushroom and ramp mixture, added some chives, and toasted up some sourdough. Yes. Eggs have certainly come a long way.

Some people think you need to do something elaborate and time-consuming with local produce to really get the most out of it, but I think it's the opposite. Simple preparation, a little butter and salt, and you've saved time and tasted our local foods at their best. Using things like eggs, pasta, good bread, and good butter and olive oil, you don't need to have fancy tools or techniques to eat really, really well. And don't worry if things get messy - if it tastes good, and it makes you happy, eat it. Even if its a rather ugly egg.

An Ode to Autumn: Hungarian Mushroom Soup with Butternut Squash and Eggplant

Dearest Autumn,

I love the way you make the air smell like apple pie and fireplaces. I love the colors you wear, the orange of pumpkins, the reds of the leaves being pulled down to the ground in swirls by the wind, and the deep gray of storm clouds. I love the way you change how I dress, allowing me to wrap myself with scarves, knit hats, thick tights and big sweaters that still kind of smell like my dad's aftershave.

I love how milky Irish Breakfast tea in the Fassbinder mug my mom gave me years ago tastes so much better when it's raining. I love the way the light has shifted, and has that golden tinge when it peaks out from behind the heavy clouds before it sets, earlier and earlier. I love the way you give farmers the best apples and squash, the way you have everyone planning their disguise for parties and pranks at the end of October. I love the way you keep the tomatoes and peppers and zucchini and eggplants around, but show them up with the hearty fall flavors of sage and rosemary and caramelized pears. I love how you carry pumpkin spice lattes like presents to every coffee shop in the city.

But most of all, above most everything else, I love how you make me feel when I spend a few hours in the kitchen making a pot of Hungarian mushroom soup, warm in my nubby brown socks, anticipating a great meal and a greater season. This soup is the best of you, autumn. Hearty, comforting, rich, and complex while being completely familiar.

Also, I love how everything I cook this years seems to devolve into brownish mush. Well, maybe I don't love that so much. But trust me, I don't hold it against you. Much.

Thank you for everything you do, and love, always,
Allison Jones, the real Oakley Rhodes.

P.S. This is officially Lemonbasil's 100th Post! I figured it was about time I revealed my identity, if only because, someday, I'd like to be able to google my name and have my food writing show up in results. I can't believe I've been doing this for almost a year and a half. Thanks to everyone who spends a minute or two reading my words and checking out my recipes. You make my world go round. Here's to a future of eating well, online and off.

Autumn Hungarian Mushroom Soup with Butternut Squash and Eggplant

Ingredients

• 1 pound mushrooms, thickly sliced
• 1 cup onion, chopped (any kind will do)
  
• 1 or 2 large shallots, diced
• 3 cloves of garlic, diced
• 1 small eggplant, peeled and diced
• 1 small butternut squash, peeled, diced, and roasted in a 350 degree oven until cooked through and golden
  
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1 cup milk (any kind works, I used skim)
• 2 teaspoons dried dill weed
• 1 tablespoon or more Hungarian, or smoked, paprika
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
• fresh ground black pepper, to taste
• 1/2 cup sour cream or yogurt

Directions
1. Saute onion, shallot, and garlic in 2 tablespoons stock with a pinch of salt until translucent and fragrant.
2. Add mushrooms, eggplant, squash, dill, paprika, 1 cup stock, and soy sauce.
3. Cover and simmer 15 minutes. Set aside.
4. In a separate large saucepan, melt butter.
5. Whisk in flour and stir continually until flour beings to darken slightly.
6. Add milk and cook, continuing to whisk, over low heat until mixture thickens.
7. Stir in mushroom and vegetable mixture and remaining 1 cup of stock.
8. Cover and simmer 10 minutes.
9. Before serving, add sour cream and salt and pepper to taste.
10. Give thanks for fall.

Mushroom Root Vegetable Pie with Cheddar Rosemary Biscuits

I'm not going to lie. Blogging about local, sustainable foods is not as easy in the winter. Everything seems to be the same color.

Don't get me wrong, I still love root vegetables, winter squash, hearty greens, and fresh baked goods as much as the next guy, but I've found myself glancing through old blog photos, dominated by bright shades of green, red, orange, purple... And to think the first farmers market is still a few months off, it's hard not to be a bit less than enchanted by the offerings of these darker, browner months.

I know eating like this through winter will make the spring harvest that much better, and there is something incredibly satisfying about casserole, soup, and roasted vegetables.

That being said, one of the best things about dishes like this root vegetable and mushroom casserole, adapted from this month's Bon Appetit magazine, is that they make life a little easier after I realized asparagus season is still months away.

Luckily, Portland has been getting good doses of winter sun, and I can still find local supplies, from cheese to apples to mushrooms, at a few local vendors. We'll make it, and maybe I'll be a bit more diligent about freezing and preserving the bumper crops this summer.

Eat well, stay warm, and keep your spirits up!

Root Vegetable and Mushroom Pie with Cheddar Rosemary Biscuit Topping
8 to 10 Servings
Adapted from Jeanne Thiel Kelley's recipe
Bon Appetit, March 2009

Ingredients
Filling
6 cups homemade vegetable or chicken broth
3 large carrots, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces
3 large celery stalks, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 large parsnips, quartered lengthwise, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces
1 large rutabaga, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 large sweet potato, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
3 yukon gold potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 oz shitake mushrooms, halved
2 portobello mushroom caps
3 tablespoons butter or olive oil
3 cups chopped onions
4 large garlic cloves, chopped
1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons dry Sherry or red wine

BISCUITS
2 1/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 teaspoons minced fresh rosemary
1 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) chilled unsalted butter, diced
2 cups grated cheddar cheese
1 1/3 cups (or more) chilled buttermilk

PREPARATION
FILLING
Bring broth boil in large pot over medium-high heat. Add carrots and next 5 ingredients. Simmer until vegetables are tender, about 7 minutes. Drain; reserve vegetables and broth.
Melt butter in same pot over medium heat. Add onions; sauté until beginning to brown, about 10 minutes. Mix in garlic and rosemary; stir 2 minutes. Add flour; stir 1 minute. Gradually whisk in reserved broth, then cream and Sherry. Cook until sauce is thick and reduced to 4 cups, whisking often, about 8 minutes. Mix in mushrooms and reserved vegetables. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer filling to buttered 13x9x2-inch baking dish.
Preheat oven to 400°F. Bake filling, covered, until bubbling, about 50 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare biscuits.
BISCUITS
Stir first 4 ingredients in large bowl to blend. Add butter. Using fingertips, rub in butter until mixture resembles coarse meal. Mix in cheese. Gradually add 1 1/3 cups buttermilk, tossing with fork until dough is evenly moistened and adding more buttermilk by tablespoonfuls if dry.
Drop biscuit dough atop hot filling by heaping tablespoonfuls; sprinkle with pepper. Bake uncovered until tester inserted into center of biscuits comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Cool 15 minutes.