Hello from this newly branded 30-year-old!!! That’s right - this weekend I rang in my 30th with (what else) a bunch of pasta, wine and dancing. I’ve yet to have a moment to get really existential about this significant age marker (or maybe I’ve been existential about it all year long so a specific birthday-related ponder is no longer required??) (actually - scratch that, I’ve been extremely in my feels about turning 30 but I’ve reserved my thoughts for those close to me rather than writing about them on the internet) (but also don’t worry that’s definitely coming soon).
Either way I would like to ring in this year with immense gratitude. Gratitude for the friends and family that helped turn my 29th year - by far the most difficult year of my adult life - into something magical and beautiful, gratitude for all the (painful, but necessary) growth I’ve experienced, and a huge amount of gratitude for all of you for reading, listening to, watching, and generally consuming the ~content~ I put out there. You are the reason I am able to have a career and live a life rooted in my passion for food and culture and *that* will always be the most significant thing I accomplished in my 20s. Cheers to all of you.
So much love,
Em
WHAT I’M COOKING
October is significant for a few reasons:
It’s the month of my birth (hello 30s!)
It’s National Pasta Month (no small coincidence)
It marks the beginning of The Pasta Series!!!
I’m extremely excited to dedicate this month to one of the greatest and most versatile foods of all time. I know what you might be thinking: Emily, how does this make October different from any other month? Well, it doesn’t. But I love an excuse to go even harder with the pasta. We’re gonna kick things off with a very lazy version of my favorite Ukrainian potato dumpling that I talk about literally all the time: vareniki. Because sometimes you simply don’t have it in you to knead dough, boil and mash potatoes and crank out a billion dumplings. And in those times, you have lazy vareniki pasta which brings all the flavor for a quarter of the work.
Lazy Vareniki Pasta
(serves 3-4)
WHAT YOU NEED
1/2 package dry pasta - any shape (I used lumache)
4 tbsp stick butter
2 small yellow onions, diced
6oz bacon, sliced into strips
1 tsp smoked paprika
Salt to taste
Sour cream, for serving
Dill, for serving
WHAT YOU DO
Add bacon to a skillet over medium heat. Cook until crispy, then remove and set aside. Add diced onion to the skillet with the bacon fat and reduce the heat to med-low. Cook until the onions brown but take care not to burn them (about 15-20 minutes).
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook according to directions. Make sure to reserve at least 1 cup of pasta water before straining.
Once the onions are browned, remove them from the skillet. Reduce the heat to low and add butter and smoked paprika to the skillet. Add cooked pasta along with half the onions and half the bacon (reserving the rest for garnish). Stir until all the pasta is coated with the smoked paprika butter. Add ½ cup of pasta water and continue stirring until a glossy sauce forms. Add more pasta water as needed.
Plate and garnish with a dollop of sour cream, more bacon + caramelized onions, and dill if you’d like.
WHERE IM EATING
Phayul: 37-65 74th Street, Queens, NY 11372
This week’s Dumpling Diaries was dedicated to the one, the only, the GOAT: Phayul. Are you sick of me talking about Phayul yet? Because I’ll never be sick of eating there or talking about it. The steamed beef momo is one of the single best bites in all five boroughs of New York and I will stand by that forever. Check out my video here.
WHAT IM DRINKING
It’s no secret that I am a tiny fish girl. I am also a filthy, dirty martini girl. So, naturally, I combined these two passions of mine into a dirty anchovy martini and here we are. Bonus points if you stuff the olives with blue cheese because we like things *funky* around here.
Dirty Anchovy Martini
(serves 1)
WHAT YOU NEED
2 oz vodka
.25 oz vermouth
1 oz olive brine
3 anchovies
2 olives
WHAT YOU DO
Make the garnish: skewer 2 anchovies and 2 olives on either a toothpick or a bamboo skewer, alternating between the two.
Add a few ice cubes and cold water to a martini glass to chill it.
Meanwhile, add several ice cubes, vodka, vermouth (if using), olive brine and 1 anchovy (optional) to a shaker. Shake thoroughly.
Empty the ice water from the martini glass. Strain the shaker into the glass and garnish with your anchovy and olive skewer.
Happy Birthday! Hope your next year is better than ever.
Your content is amazing--keep up the great work. Will certainly give your martini recipe a try!
Happy belated 30th birthday! I turned 31 on Sunday 🙂