Featured Blogger T: Linguine al nero di seppia con gamberi e pomodorini

This week's featured blogger is my very own fiance, T.
He has been cooking pasta since he was 10 years old. He is very particular about everything pasta. His favorite type is SPAGHETTI!!!! 
T has taught me so much about pasta and Italian culture the last four years.

On our first date, he surprised me by making homemade pesto.
Shocked at finding what was for dinner, I forced a fake smile.
*mai thinking to herself.... "Oh no. I don't like pesto"
I never liked the taste of basil. I always thought it tasted like lipstick. However, that day changed my life forever.
*T served me homemade pesto spaghetti. I took a bite.
"O-M-G. WHAT IS THIS?! THIS DOESNT TASTE LIKE LIPSTICK AT ALL!!! THIS IS AWESOME!"
....and it was love at first bite. T won my belly and my heart.

T's father is from Naples, so T has grown up with a strong Italian influence. He is the real deal, folks. I am always encouraging him to enter some cooking show on TV, like MasterChef Junior.

Bonno! Bonno! Let the cooking commence! Bellisimo! Ciao! Ciao!

-mai

Linguine al nero di seppia con gamberi e pomodorini
Squid ink linguine with shrimp and tomatoes

Ciao. Because I am lazy and do not yet own a Kitchen Aid stand mixer with a pasta attachment, I bought the squid ink linguine.  I know, for shame!  I'll figure how to make the pasta from scratch, but at this point, I'll just settle on store bought.  I know, I know, for shame!

Ingredients:
2-3 cloves of garlic (depending on size, 3 smaller ones, 2 larger ones)
Sprinkle of crushed red pepper
Some fresh parsley
Shrimp (I used frozen raw shrimp)
Salt
Pepper
Few cherry tomatoes (around 8)
For Mai and myself, I used half a little over a half of a pack of squid ink linguine, around 250g.
And as always, EVOO.  I have been using Trader Joe's California EVOO just as a TMI tidbit.

And it begins...
Heat up a frying pan, big enough to mix the pasta in afterwards, and then add a small amount of EVOO, just enough to coat the bottom of the pan.

Add enough crushed red pepper to the oil just to give it a small kick of spice.  I've noticed that the spices vary in the amount of heat that they provide.  For those that aren't as powerful, add a few more.  For those that have more of a kick, add a few less.

Once the crushed red peppers start to sizzle a little bit, add chopped up garlic to the mixture and cook until a light golden brown.

This is the point where you add the halved tomatoes.  One of the things I've found, is if you add just a sprinkle of sea salt to the tomatoes and mix them around, it will bring out their sweetness and allow for them to sweat a little bit.

Once the tomatoes start to get a little bit soft, add the shrimp.  Shrimp don't take very much time to cook and are easy to over cook, so watch them carefully.  Add a splash of white wine right after the shrimp have been added.  Once the shrimp are cooked, turn that shit off and throw some fresh parsley and a bit of crushed black pepper on top!

To cook the pasta, boil the water, add salt to taste.  It'll seem like a lot of salt in the water, but, it probably isn't.  It's ok to taste and add more.  Be careful to not add to much.  You can always add more as it cooks.  For rule of thumb, not so hungry me eats around 100g of pasta.  Hungry me will easily crush 150g of pasta.  Again, for Mai and me, we used a half a pack, around 250g.  Always check to make sure you don't overcook it.  I tend to just undercook the pasta when I'm mixing it with a sauce, because it will continue to cook.

Once the pasta is just under done, save a cup of the pasta water, drain it, but not too much, and add it to the sauce.  I have an electric stove, so I will move the mixture to the hot burner and mix it around.  If you're using a gas stove, first, I'm jealous, second, turn the burner back on on low and mix it around.  Most of the sauce should be absorbed into the pasta.  If it appears too dry, add some of the saved pasta water.

Last step, eat that pasta!!!

P.S - Please notice that this is the only place that I am mentioning parmesan cheese.  When making this dish, please keep the parmesan cheese on the screen and no where near your pasta.  Parmesan is delicious and goes great with lots of different sauces, just not this one.  Authentic Italian rule of thumb- Parmesan cheese is something that doesn't go on seafood. If you want to sprinkle something on top, how about some crushed black pepper?  That would be yummy.

-T

HMMMMM...I spy some squid ink pasta. Reminds me of my posh life in Manhattan. HMMMMM... how can I get up on the counter and grab a bite of this decadent dish. HMMMMM... all this thinking is making me hungry.

New York City, I love you.

homemade pasta with frutti di mare at serafina, midtown.

the empire dressed up for labor day.

i say tomatoes, you say BEAUTIFUL. farmer's market finds at union square.

my favorite type of places to eat- little eateries like caracas in alphabet city. venezuelan arepas and fresh jugo de melon were delicious

rockefeller looking majestic. 

beautiful wyeth. christina's world.

"If I were really really wealthy, I wouldn't buy a mansion, just tiny apartments in every city I love"

...and one of these cities would be NYC.

Oh New York City, I love you.

You are a very special place to me:

You are THE city that I always dream't about living in.
You are THE city, where I completed my graduate studies.
You are THE city, where T and my love story began. Four years later, we are getting married.

You are THE only city that I can say I really love.

I love everything about this city.

From the grimey subways to the occasional stomach ache from eating street food, to the obnoxious honking of the taxis to the overcrowded tourist areas. Nothing fails to destroy my admiration and love for you, NYC.

Of all my favorite things about this city, my favorite thing has to be the diversity that NYC prides it self in.

I love how I can feel so comfortable in my own skin in this city.
NYC is so diverse and full of interesting people.

No where in the world can you be on public transportation and hear five different languages being spoken simultaneously. In a subway car, I can be squashed next to a Russian, a German, a Chilean, a Chinese, a Iranian.... (you get the point), and I would not feel any awkwardness or feel like I stick out. No one glares at you if you are speaking a foreign language. Everyone just embraces it and it's normal. NYC is the ultimate melting pot.
NYC is beautiful to me because of this. It is just so real.

Last weekend I got to spend sometime back in this city I love.
T and I did an apartment swap with our dear friends in Brooklyn. We had a wonderful weekend there.

Every time I step foot into this city, I am immediately reminded that a part of my heart still belongs in NYC. T also agrees that we need to get back sometime soon.

One day, Mai. One day. I will be back, my love. I'll be back. NYC, I am not done with you.

glorious breakfast wrap at a local Brooklyn bodega. one of the must eats in NYC.

love the independent coffee shops scattered around NYC and its boroughs. one of my favorite things to do- sit by the window, sip on some caffeine, and people watch. humans of nyc, so fascinating.

I miss good ramen and I miss good Japanese food. NYC is full of wonderful ramen shops and Japanese restaurants.
Kyoto Ramen at Miso-Ya, East Village.

Though I dont miss walking up and down my unit, and doing laundry at the laundromat, I do miss the charm of NYC buildings.

once you try laduree macaroons, you cant eat any other macaroons. legit.

one of my favorite pieces at the MoMA. dance by matisse. 

motsu nabe at udon west, mid town. a nostalgic flavor. just like how my grandpa used to make it. brings back so many wonderful memories of him. i miss you, ojiichan.

the salty pimp (caramel vanilla icecream cone) was delicious. try out BGI in lower east side.

took a candid picture of this cute old couple in love. hope t and i can be as cool as these folks when we are older. 

basquiat admired by t. what a fascinating soul.

-mai

Mishka Commentary:

you know, I am from NYC too! i was adopted by mai and t in 2014. i used to live in the upper east side with my russian socialite owner but she didn't want me anymore so mai and t welcomed me home. it was love at first sight when i saw mai and t. though i miss my posh life in manhattan, i wouldnt trade my new wolf pack for anything else! 

you win some, you lose some

DISCLAIMER: moving forward, all my sentences will no longer be non-capitalized, because my fiancé has intervened and became my biggest grammar critic. grammar police, watch out!
i type this as we are sitting on a bus. he is watching me (side eye and all!). carefully watching if i properly use capitalization and punctuation.

alright so here it goes-

Long time no blog!

"You win some, you lose some."
What immediately resonates when you hear this phrase?

When I hear this phrase, my mind immediately goes to Vegas. Ah. Good ol' Las Vegas.

Viva Las Vegas, I miss you...kind of.
Vegas and I have a weird love-hate relationship. I miss it when I am away from it, but when I spend more than two days there, I hate it (...and hate is a strong word).

I think after the initial 24 hours, I get cranky because:

• It's just too hot. Feels like you are constantly being surrounded by those public bathroom air dryers. Then when you take refuge in the casinos, the air smells like smoke.
• It's too obnoxious with drunk people and totally un-cool people thinking they are cool by wearing sunglasses at night. 
• It's too expensive. In Vegas, a $100 bill goes away in a second. 
• It's just too easy to overeat. A buffet there, a buffet here. After your third buffet, you just feel unattractive and unhealthy. You feel like a blob.

...ok before I go on a tangent about my relationship with Vegas, let me bring this back to that phrase "You win some, you lose some."

The main reason why I started this blog entry with this phrase is because this past week, this phrase has totally given me a complete different image than Vegas.

*sigh.
Let me get to the point- This week really sucked.

I started the week with excitement and nervousness. After a long week of anticipation, we were going to find out if we were the winners of a wedding photography contest, where we were finalists. Last week, we had an amazing interview and ....alright, I'll say it. I thought we got it.

The interview was perfect. Good vibes all around. Better than my job interview that got me my current job! We were selected to be interviewed from over 40 couples! Life was great! (This part is the "you win some....")

So I started the week with some expectations, my mood did a total Six Flags rollercoaster dip from giddy excitement to horrible disappointment when we received the phone call.

*ring ring... hello?

We came in second place. They called us runner-ups. I guess runner-ups sound better than second place. I guess... (This part is the "you lose some....")

I couldn't hide my disappointment.

T seeing a really sad mopey Mai decided to cheer me up and take me to Whole Foods to get my favorite cake ever! The tiramisu there is AMAZING! (This part is the "you win some...")

...but then, guess what happened?

 ...OF COURSE! i swear sometimes i think my life is like the Truman Show.
They had no tiramisu that day! Of all the days in the year, the Whole Foods bakers decided not to make tiramisu that day. (This part is the "you lose some")

T tried so hard to cheer me up..again. This time he suggested we make one of my favorites- Vongole!
We got some linguine, clams, tomatoes, garlic, white wine, and fresh parsley. YIPPY YAY!

We went home and whipped up two plates of wonderful vongole pasta.(This part is the "you win some")

NOM NOM NOM.

...but lesson learned- Soak your clams for at least half a hour because you will end up eating the beach along with your linguine.

There you have it folks:

You win some, you lose some.....then you win some again, then you lose some again, you win some one more time, and in the end you are over it and you laugh and just enjoy life for what it is.

-mai (....i'm still going to sign my name in non-capital letters...just cause I am a rebel. Oh....and the grammar police is sleeping)

sleepy sleepy grammar police

I hate to see mai so disappointed sometimes. so glad the vongole made her smile even though it reminded me of the beaches of Hawaii. T gets brownie points! I love my wolf pack!

T's Cheer-Mai-Up Vongole

Ingredients:
grape tomatoes
garlic cloves
fresh parsley
white wine
salt
live clams
linguine
EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
crushed red peppers

Directions:
1. Place clams in bowl of water. Let sit for at least half an hour. Longer the better! The clams will get tired of you and spit out all the sand from their shells.

2. Boil water and add salt. Add linguine.

3. Cut your tomatoes in half. Chop up some garlic. Chop up some parsley.

4. Place clams in a pot on medium heat (without anything else in the pot) and cover.  Let the clams cook until they open and water from inside of the clams comes out.

5.  Remove the clams from the pot and collect the clam-water in a mug and sit to the side.

6. Sautee garlic with a small amount of crushed red peppers, and tomatoes in 2-3 table spoons of EVOO.

7.  While the tomatoes are cooking, remove around half of the clams from their shells. and place back in the sauce with tomatoes.

8.  Add a splash of white wine to the final mixture and let cook uncovered for 3-5 minutes, for the alcohol to evaporate.

9.  Once the pasta is cooked a tiny bit harder than al dente, drain the water and return the pasta to the pot adding the sauce from the clams and tomatoes and a small amount of the water from the clams if it becomes too dry.  (Note: at this point, the sand and debris from the clam water should have separated from the water above it, be careful to not add the debris to the pasta).

10.  Serve with fresh parsley and the remainder of the sauce on top.  Also be aware that by mixing the pasta with the sauce and clam water, it will continue to cook the pasta a little more to becoming a perfect al dente.