Weekend Food Report

First, fresh brussel sprouts are delicious, and their preparation is so simple.  All we did was trim the individual sprouts from their stalk; cut an X in each sprout's base; steam them for 6 minutes; and then season with salt, pepper, lemon juice, and lemon zest.

Second, homemade pasta is also simple and delicious.  All you need is flour, egg, water, and either diligence or fancy stand mixer attachments (we took advantage of the latter).  A few minutes in boiling water, and voilà!  Wonderful, ready-to-eat pasta.

We used the fresh sheets of lasagna noodles to make the "wild mushroom lasagne" recipe from the Chez Pannise Pasta, Pizza, & Calzone cookbook I bought at a used-book store in Seattle while visiting my brother and his wife.  It gives very detailed instructions as to how to prepare all kinds of pasta doughs and then covers a variety of recipes by season.  Though there was some question as to how we were supposed to prepare the mushrooms, the combination of chanterelles, butter, heavy cream, and fresh pasta made for an exquisite meal.

We shared the lasagna with Lauren and James, who capped our main course with an apple, blood orange, and fennel salad to start and chocolate soufflés à la mode to finish.

Though I feel like we spent a good portion of the weekend either cooking or eating, we didn't even make a dent in the food from the CSA box.  It's nice having good food around!