All posts by Angela G.

I'm a (pretty) good girl who says (pretty) bad words and makes (pretty effin') delicious dishes. Foodie for life. Delicious to death.
Baked Goods, Cakes, Pies and Tarts, Desserts, Friends Recipes and Hacks, Recipes

Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes

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Sesame Street has been brought to you today by Guinness Stout.  Oh my goodness!  Actually, this guest post is brought to you by Jennifer White, self-proclaimed foodie, and soon-to-be culinary school star.  When she’s not inventing majesty, such as this incredibly decadent cupcake recipe, she can be found scouring restaurants, food + wine festivals and hopping around the globe eating well.  She get’s a big virtual hug for this one – it rocked my socks to the point that we didn’t actually eat dinner the night we made these.  Just cupcakes and Patron XO on ice.  Now if that ain’t a party, I don’t know what is.
-Ange

Guinness Chocolate Cupcake © Spice or Die

I thought I would contribute a recipe that is a sort of ritual between myself and some friends in Miami, but also extremely you-can’t-get-enough-of-it tasty. When I lived in South Beach, there was a group of us dedicated to drinking Guinness. The fridge was always packed and the corner store always sold out. Finally, one day I had an epiphany and thought of what else can we do with Guinness to spice things up, and started making these Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes. The recipe is not for the lighthearted, but you can be sure that when all those unhealthy things come together, it’s going to be nothing but goodness. So here is my sacred Guinness Chocolate Cupcake Recipe. You should definitely try it out. Although my original group of friends all live in different parts of the world these days, we always manage to make these cupcakes when we get together.

They even look like mini Guinness’ and pair wonderfully with (you guessed it) a nice cold glass of Guinness.

Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa, plus more for dusting finished cupcakes
2 cups sugar
2 cups of all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of fine salt
1 bottle Guinness
1 stick butter, melted
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 large eggs
3/4 cup sour cream
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened at room temperature
3/4 to 1 cup heavy cream
1 (1-pound) box confectioners’ sugar

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the cocoa, sugar, flour, baking soda, and salt.

In another medium mixing bowl, combine the stout, melted butter, and vanilla. Beat in eggs, 1 at time. Mix in sour cream until thoroughly combined and smooth. Gradually mix the dry ingredients into the wet mixture.

Lightly grease 24 muffin tins. Divide the batter equally between muffin tins, filling each 3/4 full. Bake for about 12 minutes on the top rack of the oven and then rotate the pan(s) to the bottom rack. Bake another 12 to 13 minutes until risen, nicely domed, and set in the middle but still soft and tender. Cool before turning out.

While the cupcakes are cooling, you can make your icing.  In a medium bowl with a hand mixer (or using a stand mixer), beat the cream cheese on medium speed until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the heavy cream. On low speed, slowly mix in the confectioners’ sugar until incorporated and smooth. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use. Icing can be made several hours ahead and kept covered and chilled.

Top each cupcake with a heap of frosting and dust with cocoa.

Note (from AG)

Jenn uses muffin tins, but for easy cleanup, you may want to pick up some of the standing foil muffin cups from the baking aisle and the grocery.  You don’t have to worry about the cupcakes sticking and there aren’t any dishes to clean when you’re done.  Cheers!

Easy to Prepare, Lighten Up, Main Courses, Recipes, Seafood Dishes

Rosemary Lemon Swordfish

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Fish gets a bad rap – no matter what anyone tells you, it’s not hard to cook.  In fact, it takes such a short time to cook, all that you need to do to cook it well is to untrain your brain into its natural inclination to overcook meat.  Give it only a little time, only a little seasoning and it is perfection.  I love swordfish because it’s forgiving, takes seasoning well, and comes out deliciously restaurant-worthy without any fuss.  Not to mention that it’s meaty – a manly fish meant to be tucked into like a steak.

Rosemary Lemon Swordfish © Spice or Die

This barely qualifies as a recipe below in terms of ingredients – all the work is in the technique.  Basically, you are forming a paste out of the lemon zest and garlic that is then slathered onto the swordfish.  If you haven’t invested in a microplane yet (and you really should), you will need to use the finest setting on a box grater for the lemon zest.  As for the garlic, you will need to mash it with some kosher salt until it forms a paste – not hard, but so much easier if you pick up a microplane. Continue reading Rosemary Lemon Swordfish →

Main Courses, Recipes, Seafood Dishes

Spicy Stuffed Flounder

I wish that eating fresh seafood didn’t seem like such a luxury – fish is easy to prepare and readily available where I live.  Plus, it’s so good for you, there’s really no excuse for not working it into the menu more.  I treat it like a grilled cheese sandwich at times – I’d rather have someone make it for me than do it myself so that it seems that much better.  It’s stupid, given that we can all prepare fish just as well as most restaurants (if not better), and all for a lot less money.

Spicy Stuffed Flounder © Spice or Die

This recipe was born of the high price tag for stuffed delicacies at upscale seafood restaurants.  On top of that, the dishes were often drowned in butter, making the fish taste gorgeous, but at the expense of my waistline.  Stupid personified.  The flavor in this dish comes from a good dose of savory veggies that are simmered in stock rather than sauteed in butter.  Flaky, moist flounder is topped with spices and lemon and nestled above a lovely stuffing of tender shrimp, herbs, vegetables and bread crumbs.  It tastes like a million bucks and a million calories, but it is just plain good for you eatin’!

Here in NYC, they charge way too much for lump crab, but if you are near the Chesapeake, definitely substitute the shrimp with crabmeat if you’d like.  It’s just such a lovely addition to the dish, and the price down there makes so much sense.  Same thing for you folks on the Pacific Coast that can get your hands on inexpensive king crab.  In addition, you can mix it up and do a seafood medley of shrimp, crab and scallops – all work well in the stuffing.

Spicy Stuffed Flounder

2 c. of vegetable or chicken broth
1/2 of a bell pepper (I use red, but green is ok), finely chopped
1 shallot, finely chopped
3 cl. of garlic, finely chopped
1 stalk of celery, finely chopped
1/4 tsp. of black pepper
1/4 tsp. of white pepper
1/4 tsp. of salt
1 tsp. of sherry or white wine
1/2 tbs of good dijon mustard
1 tsp of fresh thyme
1 tsp. of fresh rosemary
1/2 c. of parsley leaves (loosely packed), chopped
2 c. of bread crumbs
2 tbs. of butter (I use Smart Balance for this to keep the bad fat down)
1 lb of raw shrimp, cut into small bite-sized pieces (can substitute 8 oz. of lump crab, bay scallops or even 8 oz. of sliced mushrooms)
3 portions of flounder (preferably 7-8 oz. each)
1 lemon
1 tsp of cajun seasoning (or a pinch each of salt, white pepper, black pepper and cayenne)

Preheat oven to 375°.  Spray a baking sheet with Pam and set aside.

In a sauce pan, bring your stock to a boil.  Add bell pepper, shallot, garlic, celery, white pepper, black pepper, salt, sherry or wine, mustard, thyme and rosemary.  Stir and then turn off the heat.  Stir until the butter has melted and then toss in the parsley and shrimp.  Stir in the bread crumbs until moistened and then set aside.

Take a flounder filet in your hand and mound it with a heaping cupful of the stuffing.  Flip over and place on the baking sheet, stuffing side down.  Repeat with the other filets.  Halve the lemon and squeeze over all of the fish.  Sprinkle a teaspoon of your favorite cajun or blackening seasoning on top of the fish (or use a combo of peppers and salt as listed above).

Place sheet in the oven and bake fish until flaky and cooked through, about 15-20 minutes.  Squeeze the other half of the lemon on top of the fish and serve.

Lighten Up, Recipes, Rice Dishes, Side Dishes, Vegan Dishes, Vegetarian Dishes

Hoppin’ John (Black-eyed Peas and Rice with Collard Greens)

While the French slurp raw oysters and sip champagne for good luck on New Years’ Day, our family would tuck into heaps of black eyed peas, fluffy rice, and collard greens.  It’s amazing – I always considered it a southern tradition, what with black-eyed peas grown in Virginia all the way back to the 1600s.  But apparently the New Year’s tradition dates back to Rosh Hashana (the Jewish New Year), where in the Talmud it’s recorded that the humble black-eyed pea is a good luck symbol.  Apparently, people have been enjoying these little babies for a while.

Hoppin' John (Black-eyed Peas and Rice with Collard Greens) © Spice or Die

This recipe is a spin on Hoppin’ John, a popular dish of rice and peas served not only in the south but in the Caribbean as well.  The dish is sometimes made without the collard greens and often includes a bit of salt pork.  I like the collards because they remind me of my own New Year’s traditions, so I always include them when I can.  This version is absolutely vegan and so very flavorful, you won’t miss the pork one bit.  It’s good as a standalone dish, but if you are jonesing for some protein, try it with a little sliced andouille sausage or kielbasa.  Any way you eat, you’ll be a lucky ducky (if but for having the opportunity to tuck into such a tasty dish!)

Hoppin’ John (Black-eyed Peas and Rice with Collard Greens)

1 stalk of celery, chopped
1/2 a green bell pepper, chopped
1/2 red onion (white is ok), chopped
5 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 tsp of fresh thyme
2 tbs. of olive oil
1 tbs. of hot sauce
1/2 tsp of salt
1/4 tsp. of white pepper
1 cup of cooked collard greens (see note below)
1 c. of enriched long grain rice
1 can of blackeyed peas
water

Start with a heavy pot with a lid that is suitable for cooking rice (this is one pot cooking, kids!) and heat your two tbs. of olive oil.  Add the celery, onion and bell pepper and saute until translucent. While that is cooking away, drain your black-eyed peas, reserving the liquid in a measuring cup.  Add water to make a little less than two cups of liquid.  Set both the peas and the liquid aside, separately.

Add the garlic, thyme, hot sauce, salt, white pepper and stir.  Add your rice and greens and stir the mixture.  Allow to cook for a minute and then add the peas.  Stir, making sure not to break up the peas and then add the liquid.  Bring to a boil, pop on the lid and turn the heat to low.  Cook until all of the liquid is absorbed, about 20-25 minutes.  Pull off the lid and fluff with a fork. Return lid and let sit for 5 minutes.  Fluff again and serve.

Notes

  • For this recipe, I often use leftover Couve (Brazilian Style Collards cooked in garlic and oil), but if you are starting from scratch, you can always use frozen collard greens.  You can actually nuke them to defrost quickly, drain of an excess water, and then stir them into the rice.
  • Rice is one of those things that you have to trust to cook and not open the pot until the end.  When you open the pot while it’s cooking, you release all the steam inside the pot, which is the secret element to make it fluffy and gorgeous.  Keep the pot closed until the last few minutes of cooking when it’s acceptable to open the lid.  A trick that I use to tell if the water is absorbed without opening the pot is to carefully put my ear next to the bottom of the pot to hear if there is water still bubbling at the bottom.  But be careful – I am not going to be responsible for you setting your hair on fire.  You shouldn’t be using that much Aquanet anyways.
Main Courses, Pasta Dishes, Recipes, Seafood Dishes

Poor Man’s Linguine with Clams

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Despite all of my champagne wishes and caviar dreams, I am no Warren Buffett when it comes to grocery shopping.  Or I should say that I have no Buffett budget, given that the man eats a DQ cheeseburger and a cherry coke every night.  Though I am such an ingredient purist time in and time out, occasionally, I make an exception or two.  One example would be in this recipe that uses *gasp* canned clams!

Linguine with White Clam Sauce © Spice or Die

Don’t give up on me just yet.  I love love love Linguine alle Vongole, or linguine with white clam sauce.  I crave it and when I do, I want it ASAP.  And yet, I don’t have the time or money to go clamming every time I have a hankering for some goodness.  And so I have created this version over the years that is an altered version of my Dad’s recipe.  The sentiment is still the same, however – you take a jar of white clam sauce, add an excessive amount of red pepper for heat and extra canned clams for awesomeness, and you serve atop boxed linguine.  You can scoff, but it beats the hell out of spending $20 on the clams alone, and all of the ingredients are readily available in your pantry and fridge.  No shame in my game. Continue reading Poor Man’s Linguine with Clams →

Lighten Up, Recipes, Side Dishes, Vegan Dishes, Vegetarian Dishes

Couve (Brazilian-Style Collard Greens)

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If ever there was a dish that served as a celebration of my heritage, it’d be collard greens.  Marrying the southern roots of my paternal family from Durham, North Carolina, and my south-of-the-equator family on my mother’s side from Belem, Brazil, I get my love of collards fair and square.  In my house growing up, we oft ate the Brazilian national dish, feijoada completa.  This stew of various meats and black beans had to have a specific list of accompaniments in order for it to be correct – one of these primary components was collard greens.  While Mom and I were usually in charge of the black beans and rice, Dad was always in charge of the greens.  He had a special method of sauteeing the collards until tender, with his secret blend of onion, garlic, olive oil and ground pepper.  The whole process usually involved him breaking into an impromptu blues song about “greasy greens” that I’m sure he made up on the spot.  Never a dull moment in the house where I grew up.

Couve (Brazilian-Style Collard Greens) © Spice or Die

My version of the greens is closer to the traditional Brazilian preparation the first day that I eat them, but as leftovers, they are so much like my Dad’s version.  It’s wild – almost as if both sides of my heritage come out in the recipe in some way or another.  A lot of recipes have you simply slice ans sauté the greens, but this is a mistake.  You absolutely must blanch and shock them first – this cleans any grit from the greens and takes away a lot of the bitterness.  Right is right.  Also, by blanching the greens, you’ll reduce the cooking time for the sauteeing portion of the cooking.  Also, if you have a friend with impeccable knife skills, get them to chiffonade (thinly slice) these greens for you.  I get my friend Kate to do it when she is over, because the greens are wispy and perfect when she does it.  There’s something to be said for a skillful chop, and kids, she’s got it.

Although these are typically served with black beans and rice in Brazil, they are equally delicious with fresh fish, grilled chicken or steak.  Work them into your repertoire of side dishes for some serious garlicky goodness.  And speaking of garlic, if you use that prechopped garlic garbage in this recipe (or any of my recipes for that matter), just pick up your pan of greens and throw them in the garbage.  Fresh garlic is key, and if you don’t believe me, I want to punch you in the stomach.  Not really, but seriously, use fresh garlic.  Happy eating!

Couve (Brazilian-Style Collard Greens)

2 large bunches of collard greens
5 fat cloves of fresh garlic, minced
1/4 c. of olive oil
1/4 tsp. of salt
1/8 tsp. of black pepper

Put a large pot of heavily salted water on to boil.

Begin by rinsing the greens.  Place each green on a cutting board and cut out the middle, woody stem.  Stack the leaves and continue to prep the greens.  When you’ve got about 5-7 leaves prepped,  roll the leaves into a fat cigar and thinly slice as finely as you can, forming skinny strands like confetti.  Put the collard confetti in a bowl and continue to cut.

When the greens are cut and the water is boiling, dump the greens into the water and push them down so that they wilt and turn bright green.  You’ll only want them in the hot water for a minute or two.  Working quickly, drain the greens and then shock them by running cold water over them.  If you don’t shock them with the cold water, they will continue to cook and become to soft.  Drain greens well and set aside.

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil until shimmering.  Add the collards, garlic, salt and pepper and toss in the olive oil.  Do not overcook – you basically want to coat the greens in the garlicky oil and then take them off the heat.  Your garlic will still be sharp and fragrant, and your collards bright green.  Serve immediately.

Lighten Up, Recipes, Side Dishes, Vegan Dishes, Vegetarian Dishes

Greek-Style Oven Baked String Beans

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We always think of braising meats to bring out lovely, slow-cooked flavors, but what about veggies?  Just as vegetables are delicious barely cooked and raw, so too do they gain character from slow cooking.  Think of the beauty of caramelized onions, roasted eggplant or smoky greens.  This recipe takes advantage of the ability of fresh string beans to absorb savory, saucy goodness when slowly braised in the oven.  The Greeks often cook their green beans in tomato sauce until tender – this recipe is a spicy variation on that tradition.

Greek-Style Oven Braised String Beans © Spice or Die

These green beans are great because there’s no work in making them – just throw them in the oven and let them do their thing.  I like to make them with Pastitsio as a spicy side dish.  You can start these green beans in the oven and then prep your pastitsio.  By the time you put the pastitsio in the oven, both dishes will finish at the same time.

Greek-Style Oven Baked String Beans

1 lb. of fresh green beans, snipped of stems
3 small potatoes, sliced into thin half moons
4 cl. of garlic
1/2 onion, diced
1 c. of tomato sauce
1/3 c. of vegetable oil
1 c. of vegetable stock (can substitute chicken stock)
1 tsp. of oregano
1/4 tsp. of crushed red pepper
juice of 1 lemon

Preheat the oven to 375°.  Place all ingredients into a dutch oven or oven-safe pot with a lid.  Stir.  Bake covered for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until the veggies are tender and sauce is bubbly.

Main Courses, Meat Dishes, Pasta Dishes, Recipes, Salads

Simple Pasta Salad with Roasted Peppers, Ham and Peas

When I teach web and print design, I always talk about KISS – keep it simple, stupid. I think that some of the finest recipes are those that follow the same ideal.  You don’t need a lot of garbage amassed in a pot to make deliciousness – just a few choice ingredients well played off of each other and you are done.  Even better, with these few components in action, chances are you won’t have to do a whole lot of cooking.

Simple Pasta Salad with Roasted Peppers, Ham and Peas © Spice or Die

My sister Lexi refuses to eat mayo based cold salads, or as she likes to say, questionable sauces.  This recipe is anything but questionable – the familiar flavors of rosemary, mustard and ham elevate this pasta salad to another level, giving savory zing to where else there might be bland mayo.  You’ve got roasted peppers and peas for both sweetness and color, and a few choice spices to round things out.  Done and done.   This is my ultimate make on a Sunday and leisurely eat throughout the week kind of recipe – it keeps well, is portable, and works as lunch, dinner, side dish, late night bite, or a way to extend a meal with impromptu guests.

I use ham because I love the taste with the rosemary, but vegetarians can leave it out for an equally delicious salad.  Also worth trying is cooled, poached chicken in place of the ham.  You can follow the recipe for preparing the chicken on my recipe for Chicken Salad.

Simple Pasta Salad with Roasted Peppers, Ham and Peas

1/2 c. of low-fat or fat-free mayo
2 tbs. of dijon mustard
1 tbs. of chopped rosemary
1/4 c. of roasted red peppers, diced
1 c. of frozen peas
1 1/2 c. of diced ham
1/4 tsp. of black pepper
1 tsp. of salt
pinch of paprika
1 lbs. of pasta (penne, farfalle, orechiete, whatever you have around)

Bring a pot of heavily salted water to a boil.  When the water comes to a boil, add pasta and cook.  In the last 4 minutes of cooking time, add peas to the pasta water.  Drain pasta and peas and cool under running water.

Add rosemary, roasted red peppers, ham, black pepper, salt and paprika to a large bowl.  Dump in pasta and peas and stir.  Add the mayo and dijon and stir.  Refrigerate and then eat at your leisure.

Main Courses, Meat Dishes, Pasta Dishes, Recipes

Pastitsio

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Pastitsio is often referred to as the Greek answer to lasagna, but I think that it’s selling it quite short.  The rich lamb sauce is more than a simple bolognese, and gains character from cinnamon and cloves.  Mozzarella and ricotta aren’t to be found here, as the entire mixture is cradled by a luxe bechamel enriched with egg yolks and feta cheese.  I think that the lasagna reference must have come from folks who didn’t have a culinary context for the dish, but I say why categorize?  Can’t pastitsio just be pastitsio?

Back when I was little, summertime meant a trip to the Greek festivals held by the Orthodox churches in the DC Metro area.  I believe that our favorite was in Maryland, where a church hall was taken over by dozens of old ladies doling out massive portions of what must have been secret family recipes.  I can be sure that there must have been arguments over who had the best recipes and which versions would be made for the festivals.  No matter – I never had a bad meal.  The rundown was that you hopped in line and pointed to whatever you wanted to eat copious amounts of – moussaka, tender roasted lamb, lemony potatoes and oven braised green beans.  I’m sure there was salad.  I’m sure there were even other cooked treats.  I barely made it past the pastitsio – a heaping of blubbery noodles in a delicately spiced sauce, almost too heavy to carry.  We would tote the styrofoam containers outside to the picnic tables and attempt to conquer the Joey Chestnut-sized portions.  You almost wanted to scream “Release the kraken!”  (Haha, Mom, that was for you…) Continue reading Pastitsio →

Main Courses, Meat Dishes, Pasta Dishes, Recipes

Braised Short Rib and Crimini Ragu with Pappardelle

Good things come to those who wait, and baby, these marbled short ribs in a meltingly rich ragu are worth it.  This recipe came about as an alternative to my dream lunch (yep, you read correctly when I said lunch) back when I was studying photography in Italy.  Our class lived in a sleepy town called Orvieto, nestled about 2 hours between Rome and Florence.  In the heart of Tuscany, Orvieto’s culinary acclaim was rooted in black truffles, a crisp white wine called Orvieto Classico, and wild boar.  The latter was an absolute mind-blower for me – in this country, pork has been raised to be so very lean, it’s been genetically altered into flavorlessness.  People then swoon over Berkshire pork anything because they are harkening this atavistic longing for a time when pork tasted flavorful and rich.  Not the dry, chewy garbage that we see all the time.

 

My first taste of wild boar was a forkful off my friend Michelle’s plate – she had a hankering for pappardelle, whilst I had never even heard of it until then.  The wide, eggy noodles, like halved lasagna sheets without the crinkles, weren’t as widely available in the states yet.  To me, at the time, they were a revelation, and when I eat them now (either made from scratch or picked up at Trader Joe’s), I look back to that first taste with fondness.  Topping the tangle of noodles was a luscious ragu of wild boar (called “cinghiale” in Italian) – savory, sweet and robust, this was like no pork that we had back home.  I was in love.

Braised Short Rib and Crimini Ragu with Pappardelle © Spice or Die

Although, as I mentioned before, pappardelle is an easy score, the wild boar is none to be found.  Though the ragu can easily me made with thick cut loin chops or even pork shoulder, I change the protein to beef and lovingly braise short ribs in stock, veggies and spices.  It takes time, but is really no work at all – one of those “set it and forget it moments”…sorry Ron Popeil.  This is better than anything made in your rotisserie grill.

Braised Short Rib and Crimini Ragu with Pappardelle

3 tbs. of olive oil
2 lbs of short ribs
1 tsp. of black pepper
2 tsp. of kosher salt
1 lb. of cremini mushrooms
2 bay leaves
1 stalk of celery, diced
1 carrot, diced
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 small onion, diced
1 c. of red wine
2 tbs. of thyme, chopped
28 oz. of tomatoes
4 c. of beef stock
6 c. of water
1 can of tomato paste
2 tbs. of butter
2 tbs. of flour

1 lbs. of dried pappardelle (or your favorite long pasta)
3 tbs. of butter
3 cl. of garlic, chopped
2 tbs. of fresh thyme leaves, chopped
1 tsp. of crushed red pepper

In a large dutch oven, heat the oil.  Cut your short ribs into meaty, one-inch cubes and liberally salt and pepper.  Fry in batches in the dutch oven until very well browned on all sides.  Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Add the 1 tbs. of oil to the pan and add the mushrooms, making sure not to crowd the pan too much.  Stir infrequently, allowing mushrooms to brown and show lovely color.  Remove with the slotted spoon and add to the beef cubes.

Add your carrots, celery and onion to the dutch oven.  Cook until translucent and then add the garlic.  Continue cooking until fragrant – about a minute.  Pour in the cup of wine to deglaze the pan,  scraping up any browned bits on the bottom of the dutch oven.  Add your tomatoes and stock to the pot and stir.

Simmer for 2 1/2 hours, adding water in 2 cup increments every 45 minutes.  When the short ribs are fall-apart tender and the sauce has reduced for the last time, use a slotted spoon to remove the meat from the pot.  In a separate sauce pot, melt your butter and then whisk in your flour.  Cook for a minute and then whisk in the tomato paste.  Pour all of the stew liquid into the pot with the tomato-butter-flour roux, whisking the entire time to prevent lumps.  Your sauce should be shimmering and creamy at this point.  Return the meat to the sauce, mashing it a bit to allow it to fall apart in the sauce.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and drop in your pappardelle.  Cook until al dente and then drain, making sure to reserve a cup of the cooking liquid.

While the pasta is cooking, in another small saucepan, melt the three tablespoons of butter.  Add the garlic, thyme and red pepper at the very last minute, allowing it to barely cook in the hot butter.

When the pasta is done, take out a skillet (lots of pans, I know) and turn it on high.  Plunk in 1 tablespoon of the butter-garlic mixture, the pappardelle and two ladlefuls of the sauce from the ragu.  Add the cooking water as necessary to loosen up the sauce until the pasta is glossy and the sauce adheres to the noodles.

To serve, place a tangle of pappardelle in a bowl and top with a few large spoonfuls of ragu, making sure to get good amounts of short ribs and crimini on the plate.  Drizzle a little of the garlic butter on the top and mangia bene!