Thought for Food III
I've been cooking at home again lately. Cooking at home is a rarity. In fact, eating is a rarity, as I don't really like food and for some strange reason, my body never really feels hungry. I don't get peckish. My stomach doesn't growl. And because I miss the usual human cues to eat, I regularly skip meals. Eating is something I have to consciously schedule. It doesn't ever just happen.

In any event, I've been trying to cook again. Cooking up a storm, although last night's storm was nowhere as bad in Cambridge as folks had predicted. I didn't need to worry about my windows at all. Elsewhere, others were not so lucky. In West Brookfield, the wind tore the roof off an unoccupied home on Lake Wickaboag. The wind there also uprooted a grove of 30 trees. In Easthampton, wind speed reached more than 70 mph. In Cambridge, it drizzled.

But what have I been cooking? I'm glad you asked! Sunday I whipped up some clam pasta. It's basically a sauce you pour over whatever pasta you prefer. The recipe from Parents magazine suggested linguini. I used rotini. The sauce goes a little like this. Heat up some olive oil. Add some red pepper flakes. Add some garlic. Just before the garlic browns, add a can of V8 -- or about a third of the V8 glass bottle size. Boil and reduce by about half. Stir in some diced tomatoes and cook until it bubbles again. Add some drained clams from a can (the first time I've ever bought clams in a can!), a bit of lemon or lime juice (I used lime, and it was fine), a bit of butter to make it creamy, and basil if you've got some. Heat a little longer and then pour it over the pasta. It's good, it's got bite, and the leftovers reheat well.

Last night's recipe -- gleaned from Fitness magazine -- wasn't as good, but it was worth a shot. Crumble up about a fourth of an extra-firm tofu package. Add some crumbled-up goat cheese. However much you think you can stomach. Crack in four eggs. Add some curry powder, again to taste. Whisk away. Pour all of this into a frying pan -- I melted a bit of butter into mine first. Let the eggs settle and cook on the bottom. When firm, cut into quarters and flip to cook the other side. When done cooking, throw some of the egg into a warm tortilla, add some salsa, roll it up, and eat. I didn't like this dish as much as the previous one for several reasons. I used too much tofu. I didn't add enough curry. I should've added some salt and pepper. The thing needed some green -- maybe some spinach or something. But if done well, this could be quite tasty. It's certainly comfort food and as good for dinner as it would be for breakfast. Mmm, migas.

What have you been cooking lately?