Spicy Linguine with Clams

Recently I am suddenly into eating and cooking my own pasta. I don't really fancy tomato base pasta. And I must say I am not a good cook in cooking pasta too. But watching cooking cooking shows on Food network channel really spurs me to try cooking one myself. I have posted a creamy sauce pasta previously and this time round Giada's cooking shows prompted me to cook one of her pasta recipe.

This is not a creamy pasta recipe. But I like the white wine, seafood, garlic and butter combination. I have make some changes to the recipe. Instead of vegetable broth, I have added clam juice. And I have added more garlic and lemon juice in it too. Oh as I have lot's of chilli in my fridge I have used ones instead of red pepper flakes.

(Adapted from Giada's Spicy linguine with clams and mussels)

Ingredients:

1  Linguine pasta for 2

2  2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

3  1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

4  Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Sauce:

1  3 tablespoons olive oil

2  2 large or 4 small shallots, sliced

3  Salt, for seasoning, plus 2 teaspoons

4  Freshly ground black pepper, for seasoning, plus 1 teaspoon

5  4 cloves garlic, minced

6  1 cup white wine (recommended: Pinot Grigio)

7  1 cup vegetable broth (I use clam juice instead) 

8  1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (I use 1 red chilli chopped)

9  Clams, cleaned

10 Juice of 1 lemon

Directions

Pasta: Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain and transfer to a large serving bowl. Add the butter and parsley and toss until coated. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Sauce: In a large skillet or saucepan, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the shallots and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Cook, stirring frequently, until soft, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds until aromatic. Add the wine and simmer until the liquid has reduced by half, about 2 minutes. Stir in the clam juice, chillis and clams. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Bring the mixture to a simmer. Cover the pan with a tight-fitting lid and cook until all the shellfish have opened, about 5 to 8 minutes. Discard any unopened shellfish. Add in the lemon juice and stir well.

Using tongs, remove the shellfish from the pan and reserve. Season the cooking liquid with 2 teaspoons of salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. Pour the shellfish cooking liquid over the pasta and toss well. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Arrange the reserved shellfish on top of the pasta and serve.

酸辣汤面

天气很冷！！！刚从热带岛国回来，感觉休斯顿特别冷。一个人的午餐吃什么好呢？这么冷，很想吃一碗热腾腾的汤面！突然想吃刺激味蕾的酸辣汤。一般上我们在餐厅所吃到的酸辣汤有红萝卜、黑木耳、笋、冬菇、豆腐等。如果你家里有这些材料其实就可以煮这道汤。我只能从冰箱翻出仅有的红萝卜、泡菜和冷冻苏东条。我就用这些加上黑木耳，做改良版的酸辣汤面;p

材料：（1人份）
1）黑木耳3小朵，泡水至软然后切成细条
2）红萝卜半根，切成细条
3）韩国泡菜，切成细条
4）苏东条 （鱼丸也可以）
5）水或上汤三碗
6）镇江醋 大概3－4汤匙（根据你喜欢吃的酸度可以加减）
7）蚝油少许
8）酱油少许
9）黑胡椒粉少许
10）荞麦面
11）太白粉水

步骤：
1）煮开水，然后加入荞麦面煮至熟。沥干水份，放在碗中备用。
2）将水或高汤煮滚。然后加入红萝卜、泡菜、黑木耳和苏东条。
3）等水再次煮滚后，加入醋、蚝油、酱油和黑胡椒粉调味。
4）然后加入太白粉水勾芡。
5）将煮好的酸辣汤倒入放置面的碗中。如果你喜欢的话，可以加些芫荽或葱段。

Lemon pasta with roasted red bell pepper and frog legs

MIA for almost a month cos I was back home celebrating CNY with my family and friends back in Singapore. How I miss them and the food which I have not eaten for a year! I must really thank my family and friends for all the love and hospitality they have showered me during my trip back home!! They have brought me to eat my favourite food and went shopping with me. I have great fun! This time round really feel reluctant to come back.

Now I am back to my normal routine in Houston.  As we have not gone Chinatown to buy our asian groceries, I will just have to make do with what I can find in my fridge (luckily still have a little bit of frozen stuff) and  what I can buy from the supermarket here.

My husband have to go to work in another state the day after we reached US, so I am alone at home thinking of what to cook for dinner for myself. This lemon pasta with roasted red bell pepper and frog legs is what I have come up with. It seems a bit funny to add frog legs to a pasta dish but I can't find any seafood or meat in my fridge except for this. But who cares since I am the one eating it. You can add seafood or any other meat which you like. The roasted bell pepper tasted so sweet! I actually prefer the roasted bell pepper to normal stir frying it. I learn this pasta dish from Barefoot Contessa. The original recipe is  lemon pasta with roasted shrimp. I love this pasta as it has a rich lemon flavour with a bit of tangy taste. I have added my favourite garlic too! Lemon, butter and garlic makes one of the best combination.

Ingredients:
1) 4 frog legs
2) 1/2 a bell pepper
3) 2-3 cloves of garlic (you can reduce or omit if you don't like garlic)
4) Juice and zest of 1/2 lemon
5) Salt
6) Pepper
7) Olive oil
8) 1 table spoon of butter
9) A few slices of ginger
10) Whole wheat Linguine

Steps:
1) Drizzle olive oil onto the bell pepper and add some salt and pepper. Put the bell pepper into a preheated oven of 350 F till the skin of the bell pepper turns slightly charred. When it is cooked, than cut it into slices.

2) Add some olive oil into the pan and add in the ginger slices. Cook the ginger slices till it turns slightly browned. Throw away the ginger slices than add in the frog legs to fry it until cooked.


3) Meanwhile, drizzle some olive oil in a large pot of boiling salted water, add the linguine, and cook al dente. Drain the pasta, reserving some of the cooking liquid. Quickly toss the linguine with the melted butter, olive oil, the lemon zest, lemon juice, salt, 1 teaspoon pepper and about 1/2 cup of the reserved cooking liquid.


4) Add in the bell pepper and frog legs. Serve hot.