#garlic-parmesan

#garlic-parmesan

The combination of warmer weather and the impending release of my new book has got me fully focused on sunshine food and Mediterranean flavours, leaning heavily on recipes from Claudia Roden.

Whole Foods' 365 brand offers unique cheeses like Gouda and Gruyere, but they were the least flavorful in the tasting. The Gouda lacked the expected sharp bite, while the Gruyere had a strange bitterness.

The Meijer Beef Cooking Stock fell flat when compared against its competitors, having an actively unpleasant flavor that we likened to a bitter, nearly spoiled onion.

The 12-month-aged cheese is milder and more moist, resembling a sliceable cheese like cheddar, while the 26-month cheese is drier with crunchy salt crystals.

On a single crumb of cheese rind there are more than 10 billion microbes: that's more microbial cells than there are people on Earth. Cheese rind is an intensified expression of the cheese, with a powerful flavour and highly concentrated community of good bacteria, yeast and mould.

I use a lot of vermouth actually. Obviously it's a fortified wine and so therefore it has a lot of flavor. When I'm doing pastas, for example, I'm using white vermouth sometimes. If I'm doing a seafood pasta with clams, it's amazing. People are like, 'What's that flavor in there?'

Few low-prep dishes satisfy and delight on busy weeknights like one-pot pastas, and one of the best ingredients to take your pasta dishes to the next level is vegetable broth. Boiling dry pasta directly in vegetable broth instead of water imparts bolder flavor as the pasta soaks it up. Plus, you'll end up with a pot full of starchy cooking liquid from the boiled pasta, which can provide a solid base for building a pan sauce.

Pasta and peas was one of the staple meals my mom made for us growing up. We probably had it at least once a week. She learned the recipe from my grandma Tina, and it was a simple, inexpensive dish to throw together-just pasta and frozen peas cooked with a bit of chicken broth and aromatics topped with grated parm.

Don't be intimidated by fresh mushrooms. They are prized for their flavor and versatility. Look for firm mushrooms that are free of soft spots or mold. Wash them just before using them but be sure to store them unwashed. Never submerge in water to wash them because mushrooms absorb like a sponge and become mushy. Wipe with moist paper towels.

This creamy mushroom pasta is weeknight dinner gold: deeply browned mushrooms, a silky Parmesan-laced sauce, and just enough lemon to keep everything bright. The key isn't drowning the mushrooms in cream-it's giving them a proper sear first. A mix of shiitake, maitake, oyster, or crimini mushrooms brings layered texture and flavor, though even a single variety works if you give it enough time and space in the pan.