Monday, July 19, 2004

Here are the Cloverleaf Rib Socks from the Six_Sox_Knitalong . I knit them on size 1 dpns for my friend's 7 month old son Eli. I used Pingouin Laine/Nylon sock yarn and wrapped the two smaller yarnovers twice to compensate for the first larger one.

 

 



 

Here are the colors I'm using for the Pablo Neruda socks. I still doubt I'll finish them in time for my Productive Spinners goal. 

  

 



 

Saturday we made it to the Santa Fe farmer's market (called one of the ten best farmer's markets in the U.S. by USA Today). We checked to see if Jake West had any melons (his unique cultivar that has been mentioned in Deborah Madison's Local Flavors and Gourmet magazine) but they won't be ready for another month so we bought some of his corn instead. I also bought some wonderful rocambole garlic, some lovely organic red Russian kale for Peaches and some mint.



Speaking of mint, here's my variation of a recipe from an old Giuliano Bugialli newsletter that originally used a lot of salt and 4 times as much (gulp) olive oil.



FIREWORKS PASTA



2-3 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

6 cloves garlic, whole

6 Tbsp. tomato paste

Freshly ground black pepper

1/4 - 1/2 tsp hot red pepper flakes

1 lb spaghetti

15 sprigs Italian flat-leaf parsley (don't use curly parsley)

3 more cloves garlic

1/4 cup fresh mint leaves (I prefer spearmint but any mint will do)



While you're cooking your pasta, place a large skillet with the oil over medium heat. When the oil is warm, add the six whole cloves of garlic and saute for 2-3 minutes; garlic should be lightly golden - not burnt and not uncooked. Cooking the garlic right is the most important part of this recipe. I use tongs to keep turning the garlic and watch it like a hawk. You can discard the whole cloves of garlic after cooking but I don't.



Add tomato paste carefully (it will splatter) and season with pepper and hot red pepper flakes. Saute, stirring, for 2 minutes, than add 1 cup of water boiling for the pasta and mix well.Coarsely chop the parsley and finely chop the 3 additional cloves of garlic. When the pasta is cooked, drain it and transfer to the skillet with the sauce. Raise the heat to high, keep stirring, and cook for another minute. Sprinkle the chopped parsley and garlic over the pasta, mix well and transfer to a large serving platter. Sprinkle the mint leaves on top and serve hot. Serves 4.