parsley could ward off drunkenness. Possibly a good tip for college girls—arm yourselves with parsley!
S IN -F REE L INGUINE WITH P ARSLEY S AUCE
MAKES 6 SERVINGS
You won’t believe there’s no cream in here! The sauce also tastes great over grilled chicken or fish.
2 medium red-skinned potatoes (about 12 ounces), peeled
1 pound linguine
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1. Put the potatoes in a medium saucepan and add enough cold salted water to cover. Cover the pot and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low and set the lid ajar. Simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 25 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the linguine and cook according to the package instructions until al dente. Time the pasta so it is done a few minutes after the potatoes are tender.
3. Drain the potatoes, reserving about ½ cup of the potato cooking water. Return the potatoes to the saucepan. Using a potato masher or a handheld electric mixer, mash the potatoes until smooth, adding enough of the potato water to make a thick, creamy sauce. Stir in the parsley, basil, salt, and pepper. Cover to keep warm.
4. Drain the pasta, reserving about ½ cup of the pasta cooking water. Return to the pot and add the potato sauce. Mix, adding enough of the pasta water to lightly thin the sauce as desired. Serve hot.
Rosemary - ROSMARINO
Looks like: Prickly blue-green, evergreen needles.
Tastes like: A little like pine, very fragrant.
Dry or fresh: Fresh is so much better than dry (and easier on your mouth and insides), and since you can so easily buy, grow, or freeze it, you should really try and use fresh. If you must use dried, though, I won’t blame you. (Although if you cook with full, dry needles, I would try to strain it from the dish before you serve it so your guests don’t get a splinter in the roof of the mouth. Not pretty.)
Where to get it: Grow it on your windowsill! It’s almost impossible to kill. It’s also at the grocery store, in the fresh produce section (look for branches and needles that bend, that aren’t dried and dead).
How to prep it: Wash the whole sprig with the water on full force to get the dirt out from everywhere. If you want to just use the needles, hold the sprig at the top with one hand, and run the pinched fingers of your other hand down the stem opposite the direction the needles are growing. They should pop right off, and then you can pull the top needles off by hand. Chop it up by putting the needles in a pile and rocking a large kitchen knife over the pile.
How to eat it: Rosemary doesn’t have to be cooked. You can eat the needles chopped up and tossed over a salad or something. But don’t eat the stem. In general, you should not eat any stem that’s woody.
How to cook with it: If you’re using fresh, you can throw a whole sprig (the stem with the needles attached) in what you’re cooking, and then remove the sprig before you serve it. If you want to leave the rosemary in the dish, chop it up as small as you like and add it to your recipe. Rosemary sprigs are also great for baking in the oven tied to roasts or stuffed into chicken.
How to store it:
Fresh • In the refrigerator, in a plastic bag for up to a week. Wash right before using.
Rosemary’s Bathing
I know I freaked you out with the story of Natalie Wood’s downtown champagne burns, but I did remember a bath with food that is safe, sexy, and completely delicious: the rosemary bath.
Here’s how you do it:
¼ cup dried rosemary
¼ cup dried sage
2 tablespoons dry oatmeal
Pour all the ingredients into a little satchel or square of cheesecloth and tie closed with a long ribbon.
When you want to use it, tie the bag over the bathtub faucet so the warm water hits the bag before it hits the tub. Your rosemary bath mix will make the water softer and will smell
Shirley Marr
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