Harissa Spaghetti

One of the first meals I made this year was Heidi's Harissa Spaghettini recipe at 101 Cookbooks. This recipe is perfect for using your whole wheat pasta (I used a #5 whole wheat spaghetti here), because the denser texture holds up well with the pine nuts and olives, and the darker color doesn't interfere with the color of your sauce. Very satisfying, but this was one spicy dish--the brand of harissa I used had a lot of kick. It's great especially if you've got a cold and are in need of a hearty meal on a cold, rainy night.

Rice Cooker Bibimbap

Making bibimbap (a Korean rice dish) in a rice cooker is such a genius idea. I adapted my first attempt using the brilliant suggestion from Teczcape. In my small kitchen, I don't have much room for any more small appliances or a big Korean stone pot, so this is perfect.

I cooked the rice as usual, and when the cooker was done, I threw in a big handful of spinach, cut up kimchi, nori strips, and a sprinkle of furikake. I shut the rice cooker again and pressed the "cook" button once more. After it was "twice done" in a few minutes, I cracked in two quail eggs and let the machine steam it for another minute. The eggs were too cooked for my liking; next time I'll crack the eggs in just prior to mixing it up before serving. Forcing the rice cooker to "re-cook" it several times dries up the rice more, which gives you some crispy edges--similar to the slightly toasted rice you get when bibimbap is cooked in a traditional Korean hot stone pot.

Chili Pasta

Leftover chili con carne from yesterday now becomes spicy pasta for today, when I add some whole wheat spaghetti.

Ch-ch-ch-chili

That's it--autumn's already over and winter's here. Frost is appearing on cars everywhere and the only thing I can do is make chili to battle the, uh, chill (sorry). Now before I go on, I must confess I don't really like beans. I only enjoy them as various pastes and curds. So cutting out beans, I sautee garlic, plenty of onions and a generous pinch of red pepper flakes. Throw in some ground beef. Add a half a dozen low-sodium beef stock ice cubes that I keep handy in the freezer, toss in carrots, tomatoes, tomato paste, pepper, smoked paprika and some chipotle powder. Simmer and stir...serve with sour cream and toasted garlic-buttered loaf ends. The perfect food for vegging out in front of the TV, watching Mad Men on a cold rainy day.