Things have been a little weird lately. I feel like I can’t string together a story to save my life. Is it possible that after nearly five years of blogging I’ve finally run out of things to say? Maybe. But there is definitely weirdness to me in not sitting down regularly and writing.
We are knee deep in our adoption home study. Reports are being written, facts are being gathered, referenced are being interviewed. It’s a lot of hurry up and wait to get to the next part of the process. And frankly, there’s not a lot of anything I can actively manage about this part of the experience. I can’t plan, or make, or do anything in a physical sense. So there’s weirdness in the sense that I feel like I “should” be more engaged and excited about this than I am right now.
There’s also been house weirdness. Just in the last few days our doorbell has started ringing at unexpected moments. As a matter of fact, about halfway through the previous paragraph, it rang. I didn’t bother to check and see who was at the door though. That’s because for the last six months or so our doorbell has been sitting in a dish on a bookcase. It’s one of those remote systems that has a battery operated button that sticks to your door frame and a ringer that hides away somewhere inside your house. The adhesive on the button gave out last summer and I kept finding it laying on our front porch. So I brought it inside and dropped it in the dish where we keep our keys, meaning to find some stronger adhesive and reinstall it outside. Over the weekend, the bell just started ringing.
I figured maybe the keys were pressing the button and activating the bell so I moved things around a bit in the dish. The bell rang again. Then I took the button out of the dish and set it face up on the bookcase. That was yesterday. Today the bell has gone off three times. I know the reasonable solution is to take the batteries out of the thing but I kind of like the idea of someone’s energy finding a way to let me know they came by to say hello…as long as they don’t do it in the middle of the night.
What does any of this have to do with pappardelle with mushrooms? Not a damn thing. But like I said, the storytelling is giving me fits.
Pappardelle with Mushrooms
Adapted from Mache Magazine
BAH Note: I am terrible timing my dishes so that they are all done at the same time. So while my water came to a boil, I started on the sauce. When I got to the point where the chicken broth had reduced by half, I turned off the heat and let it sit until the pasta had gone into the water. I then finished off the sauce and kept it on a low flame until it was time to introduce it to the pasta.
- 8 ounces pappardelle pasta
- 1 pound mushrooms, thickly sliced
- 1 teaspoon italian seasoning
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- zest of 1 lemon
- 1/4 cup grated parmesan (optional)
Bring a large pot of well salted water to a boil and cook the pasta according to the package’s direction.
While the water heats and the pasta cooks, combine the olive oil and butter in a large frying pan over medium heat. Once the butter has melted, add the sliced mushrooms, italian seasoning, and salt to the pan and cook until they have released their liquid and begin to brown, stirring often. Add the chicken broth to the pan and cook until the liquid has reduced by about half.
Slowly stir a few tablespoons of the reduced pan sauce into the heavy cream to temper it. Then add the tempered cream to the frying pan and whisk to combine. Stir in the lemon zest and taste for seasoning. Add additional kosher salt and black pepper to taste.
Once the pasta has cooked, drain the noodles and add them to the pan with the sauce. Stir to allow the pasta and sauce to combine and then stir in the grated parmesan if using.
Bon Appetit Hon 