That's Amore

There is a possibility that if we continue this experiment much longer, I am going to get really fat! The food is amazing. My hope is that with all the effort it takes to make many of these meals, I am burning calories. One can dream, right?

Today is another stellar chow day. We have become fresh pasta converts and are trying our hands at tortellini. After researching what to put in our tortellini (given that I am no fan of cheese), I head to the store for some meat...at this point I am not even sure what that means, but I am on a mission. I have a brilliant idea while wondering the isles: lamb. I grab some ground lamb and head to the fresh herb section where I obtain oregano and cilantro. I already have some basil and thyme growing at home so this seems more than enough all together. When I get home, I cook the ground lamb while trying to mince as much as possible. I add a bit of kosher salt and fresh ground pepper along with my bounty of chopped herbs. Once done, I add one egg and some bread crumbs. We roll out the pasta and end up having to use a water glass as our guide and cut each tortellini wrapper by hand. We spent a good deal of time filling our little treasures with the meat mixture; sealing and twisting each with care.




Once the water is boiling, they take little time to cook through and we decide on a simple addition of a pat of butter with a dash of salt and pepper to finish. At the last minute, I chop a few more fresh herbs for garnish.



When we travel, we always end up having some incredible meals. When in Dublin some of the best Indian food in my life, when in Puerto Vallarta some of the most amazing fish straight from the ocean, when in Cusco the most amazing soup, Vancouver the most brilliant complete meal--all held high in my food memory, and all unrepeatable. In my own kitchen, I have never felt that I was capable of such creations, but several of the meals we have had during this experiment have proved to rival the highlight meals of my life. The best tortellini I have ever noshed on was in my own kitchen. I did not write down recipes though so not unlike my travels, this meal is not reproducible either. I have the general idea down, but exact quantities allude me. My plan is to fall asleep thinking about our cooking adventure and maybe it will all come back to me or at least get ingrained in my subconscious.