Cacio e Pepe

Yield:  4-6 servings

Time:

• 60 minutes

Difficulty:

• Medium

Ingredients

• 200 g finely grated Pecorino Romano, plus more for dusting completed dish
• 100 g finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
• 1 tablespoon ground black pepper, plus more for finishing the dish
• 1 tsp cornstarch or sodium citrate
• 1½ cups warm water
• 1 lb tonnarelli or other long pasta like linguine or spaghetti
  

Instructions

 

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. (Do not add salt.)
2. Meanwhile, in a very large nonstick skillet or pot set over high heat, toast the peppercorns just until fragrant. Let cool, then grind or crush very coarsely. Reserve 1 teaspoon for serving.
3. If using cornstarch, toss with grated cheese.  If using sodium citrate, dissolve in warm water.
4. In the same skillet or pot, combine the cheeses and remaining pepper. Add water, and whisk lightly to make a thick pecorino cream.
5. Add the pasta to the boiling water and stir. Keep the heat very high until the water returns to a boil, then stir again and adjust the heat as needed to keep the water bubbling. Set a timer for 8 minutes.
6. Set the pecorino cream over very low heat. When the timer goes off, scoop out about ½ cup of the pasta cooking water and set aside. Taste the pasta and continue cooking until the pasta is done to your liking. Drain pasta very well (this is important, as adding too much hot water can cause the cheese to clump) and add to the pecorino cream.
7. Use tongs or two forks to stir, turn and toss the pasta in the sauce over low heat until the cheese melts and the sauce becomes sticky. Don’t add any water yet, just keep tossing. To test, squeeze a drop of sauce between your thumb and finger. When the sauce is thick and forms strings like glue, it is ready. If it starts to dry out, add cooking water, 1 tablespoon at a time, and toss thoroughly before adding more.
8. Divide among 4 bowls, twisting the pasta into a nest, if desired. Dust with additional pecorino and the reserved pepper. Serve immediately.

Notes:

Variations:

Source: New York Times.  

Buttermilk pancakes

Yield:

• 12 7-inch pancakes

Time:

• 30 minutes

Difficulty:

• Easy

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour (250g)
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 ¼ cups buttermilk¹ (530ml)
• 2 large eggs lightly beaten, room temperature preferred
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter melted and cooled (57g)
  

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, until well-combined.  
2. In a separate, medium-sized bowl, whisk together buttermilk,, eggs, and vanilla extract.  
3. Take your melted butter and slowly drizzle it into your wet ingredients while whisking, stirring until well-combined (the butter may separate and curdle if your other ingredients are cold, this is OK, just whisk to combine).  
4. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and use a wooden spoon to stir until just combined — do not overmix your pancake batter or your pancakes will be flat.  Use a light hand when stirring, and a few flour streaks in the batter are fine.
5. Spray a non-stick skillet with cooking spray or lightly brush with canola oil and place on burner on medium-low heat.  
6. Allow skillet to preheat before adding batter (about 5 minutes, it's good for your pancake batter to sit several minutes as well, which is why you prepared that before preheating your pan), and once skillet is heated (I usually test this by hovering my hand several inches above the pan and making sure I can feel the heat radiating from it) scoop pancake batter into pan (I use about ½-⅔ cup of batter per pancake).  
7. Allow pancake to cook until edges begin to appear cooked and bubbles in batter begin to burst.  Using a pancake spatula, carefully flip pancake and continue to cook several more minutes until pancake is golden brown.  
8. Repeat until all batter is used — I recommend spraying or brushing the pan between each batch of pancakes.
9. Serve warm topped with salted butter and maple syrup! 
   

Notes:

Variations:

Source: https://sugarspunrun.com/buttermilk-pancakes/

Pad Thai

Yield:

• 3 servings

Time:

• 40 minutes

Difficulty:

• Moderate 

Ingredients

• 160 g /  6oz dried rice sticks
  
  
• 1½ tbsp tamarind puree (not concentrate)
• 3 tbsp (packed) brown sugar
• 2 tbsp fish sauce 
• 1 ½ tbsp oyster sauce 
  
  
• 2 – 3 tbsp vegetable or canola oil
• ½ onion, sliced
• 2 garlic cloves , finely chopped
• 150 g/5oz protein (chicken, shrimp, or tofu) 
• 2 eggs, lightly whisked
• 1½ cups of beansprouts
• ½ cup firm tofu, cut into 3cm /1¼ ″ batons
• ¼ cup garlic chives, cut into 3cm /1¼″ pieces
• ¼ cup finely chopped peanuts
  
  
• Lime wedges (essential)
• Ground chilli or cayenne pepper (optional)
• More beansprouts

Instructions

1. Place noodles in a large bowl, pour over boiling water till covered. Soak for 5 minutes, then drain in a colander and quickly rinse under cold water. (Don’t leave sitting for > 10 minutes.)
2. Mix sauce in small bowl.
3. Heat 2 tbsp oil in a large non stick pan (or well seasoned skillet) over high heat. Add garlic and onion, cook for 30 seconds.
4. Add protein and cook for 1½ minutes until mostly cooked through.
5. Push to one side of the pan, pour egg in on the other side. Scramble using the wooden spoon (add touch of extra oil if pan is too dry), then mix into chicken.
6. Add bean sprouts, tofu, noodles then sauce.
7. Toss gently for about 1½ minutes until sauce is absorbed by the noodles.
8. Add garlic chives and half the peanuts. Toss through quickly then remove from heat.
9. Serve immediately, sprinkled with remaining peanuts and lime wedges on the side, with a sprinkle of chilli and a handful of extra beansprouts on the side if desired 
10. Squeeze over lime juice to taste before eating.
    

Notes:

• Can substitute peanut butter for peanuts.  Soften with boiling water and whisk into sauce.
• I prefer to first cook egg into thin pancake, and then slide out of pan and slice into thin strips, adding before last toss.
• Noodle texture will be superior if you use lukewarm rather than boiling water, and soak for 1 hour rather than 10 minutes. 
• If you can't find garlic chives, substitute with scallions and increase to 3 cloves of garlic.

Variations:

• For more authentic (i.e., not Westernized) version, substitute red shallot for onion and 50 g of dried shrimp for oyster sauce, reduce brown sugar to 1 tbsp (and use palm sugar if you can get it), increase fish sauce, and add 1 tsp white vinegar. Also sprinkle with 1 tsp white sugar before serving.
  

Source: Based on https://www.recipetineats.com/chicken-pad-thai/, with a few variations.