Potato Latkes

The best thing about having married a Jewish woman isn't the gifilte fish.

My wife possesses many wonderful qualities but cooking isn't one of them. Bad cooks aren't born that way so I do my best to indulge her food cravings, the latest of which was potato latkes. I'd never made them before, so the recipe below is an amalgam of a few different recipes I researched online. 

Pork Chops with Hot and Sweet Peppers

Last night we went out with a few of the neighbors - sort of a holiday-couples-night-out. For me, the best part is that it was a good reason to send the kids to the in-laws for the weekend. Ahhh, sleep. And peace and quiet. And a clean house. I could keep going, but what I really wanted to say was that I ordered the house special, which inspired me to make something similar. Both were quite good.

Pasta - done risotto style!

  OK- so the basis for this recipe came from NYTimes dining section (12/2/09). You are cooking pasta slow, in a saute pan, with broth....similar to risotto. It is delicious, and an easy one-pan dinner. -3/4 (give or take) of a pound of small/medium size pasta - break up linguini if using it - 1 + 1/2 quart of stock (I used veggie stock, but any will do) - 1 package of mushrooms (slice these) - baby bell are great - small onion or 3 shallots - 2 garlic cloves - fresh parsley - fresh or frozen spinach (about 1 cup, or more) - pine nuts - toasted in dry pan (optional) - olive oil - Parma or romano cheese for serving Chop shallots (or onion) into small pieces, and saute in 3tbsp olive oil (medium heat). Add garlic. Cook both for 3 to 5 min. Add mushrooms, and cook down about 10 minutes. Next, add the pasta, and 1/2 cup of water - let the pasta get coated with liquid - about 3 minutes. Add stock, 1 cup at a time. Cook and let it get absorbed, then continue adding stock, little by little, until pasta is al dente (approx 30 minutes). Add spinach during the last 5 minutes. Add pine nuts, if desired. Garnish with fresh parsley and Romano cheese.