Jamie Oliver's Blushing Spaghetti Vongole

Jamie Oliver has a fun new cookbook: Comfort Food. It features comforting recipes from around the world. Recipes include a rich Curried Fish Pie, Chicken Kiev, and a Chocolate Celebration Cake. These are not simple recipes (though the one below is). They are made for a day when you have time to cook, or you want to pull out the stops with something wow! Or, in this recipe, something that makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside. I love spaghetti in clam sauce. It's always been one of my favorite comfort foods. Most are based on white wine and don't have tomatoes. This one cooks the clams in dry rosé wine and has a bit of tomatoes for more pink color and added flavor. Very comforting!

This is a recipe that depends on mise en place: having everything ready once you start cooking. It takes about 10 minutes and you do not have time to do any prep once you get going. Look over each raw clam. If it's open and won't shut when you tap it, toss it. It's dead. Any clams that don't open after steaming are dead and should be pitched. Clams open very wide when they are cooked so it's obvious which ones are duds.

Blushing Spaghetti Vongole
(serves 2 generously)

10 oz. dry linguine pasta
salt for pasta cooking water
2 cloves garlic, sliced
4 small red ripe tomatoes, cut into quarters
6 large sprigs of fresh parsley
1 large pinch of crushed red pepper
2 Tablespoons sun-dried tomato paste (sold in a tube)
2 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 ½ pounds small clams in the shell, scrubbed clean
¾ cup dry rosé wine

Combine the garlic, tomatoes, crushed red pepper, and tomato paste in a bowl. Set aside. Chop the parsley leaves and set aside. Thinly slice the smaller stems and add to the bowl with the other ingredients.

Get a large pot of water boiling and add a tablespoon of salt. Add the linguine and set the timer for 3 minutes. When it goes off, set a large covered skillet over high heat and reset the timer for 4 more minutes. When the pan is hot, 30 seconds, add 1 Tablespoon of oil, swirl it around, and add the ingredients in the bowl. Stir around for 30 seconds, then add the clams. Toss around, add the wine, and cover. After 2 minutes, remove the lid. The clams will be starting to pop open. Check the pasta. If done, drain. If not, cook for another minute. Once all the clams have opened, toss in the drained pasta and the chopped parsley leaves. To serve, mound into bowls with all the juices for bread dipping, and garnish with some more olive oil. Serve with a glass of dry rosé wine, of course!

Adapted for altitude from Comfort Food by Jamie Oliver

Slow Cooker Lamb Shanks with Figs and Shallots

Lamb shanks served with sweet potato pancakes, mostly because they were leftover from the night before

It's still slow cooker weather here in Colorado. We got a foot of snow on Tuesday and next Tuesday is shaping up to be more of the same. Time to break out the lamb shanks! Regular readers will remember my post on Scotch Broth and my cache of lamb in the freezer. This is a richly flavored dish that is so, so easy, thanks to the slow cooker.

Slow Cooker Lamb Shanks with Figs and Shallots
(serves 4)

Korean-style Short Ribs

Whoa! It's winter. OK, maybe not where you live, but definitely here in Boulder, Colorado. This morning, we woke up to our first snowfall of the season. And, temperatures heading for the mid-20's tonight. Even if it doesn't feel like winter in your neighborhood, it's time to break out the comfort food because the calendar definitely says it's Autumn.

This is a pressure cooker recipe because that is the fastest way to get short ribs on the dinner table. Short ribs have lots of connective tissue that takes quite a while to break down at braising temperature. The pressure cooker accelerates the cooking and you have tender, yummy short ribs in about an hour.

This recipe is adapted from one in Miss Vicki's Big Book of Pressure Cooker Recipes.

Korean-Style Short Ribs with Horseradish Butter
(serves 4)

For the Horseradish Butter:
2 Tablespoons butter, softened
1 Tablespoons prepared horseradish
a pinch of salt

For the Short Ribs:
4 beef short ribs, about 2 pounds of ribs
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1 onion, medium dice
½ cup soy sauce
2 carrots, coarsely grated
½ cup water
¼ cup dry sherry
3 Tablespoons toasted sesame oil
¼ cup packed dark brown sugar
2 Tablespoons creamy peanut butter
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tablespoons grated ginger
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 Tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted until golden brown
2 green onions, sliced

To prepare the horseradish butter, mix the butter, horseradish, and salt together in a small bowl. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour to allow flavors to meld.

Heat the oil in a pressure cooker over medium heat. Brown the ribs on all sides. Remove to a plate. Add the onions and saute until starting to brown. Deglaze the pressure cooker with the soy sauce, making sure to scrape up the bits stuck to the bottom of the pot. Add the carrots, water, sherry, sesame oil, brown sugar, peanut butter, garlic, ginger, and red pepper flakes. Mix to combine. Add back the short ribs and any juices. Turn the ribs in the sauce. Lock the lid in place, bring up to pressure, and cook for 40 minutes. Remove from heat. Allow to cool until the cooker has depressurized. Remove the lid. The ribs should be very tender at this point. [If not, lock the lid, bring up to pressure and cook 5 more minutes. Again, allow the cooker to depressurize and remove the lid.]

Serve the ribs by placing a rib on a mound of rice. Spoon on some sauce and a ½ Tablespoon of horseradish butter. Garnish with ½ Tablespoon of toasted sesame seeds and the sliced green onions.

These are extremely rich. You can leave out the horseradish butter and they are still rich (and still very tasty). Because they only get better with cooling and reheating, you can make these ahead. Chill in the refrigerator. Before reheating, remove most of the fat that will solidify on top of the sauce. Don't worry; they will still be rich!