Pappardelle with Italian Sausage and Squash

I'd like to think that my cooking instincts are pretty reliable, but I still get surprised from time to time.  I've made fresh pasta several times over the years, but I've always used all purpose flour rather than an Italian "00" flour, which is a finer grade flour, thinking that it did not make a noticeable difference in the final product.  Well, I was wrong.  The 00 flour was a revelation, as it yielded an infinitely more delicate, tender pasta.  I made a pappardelle with my trusty house-made Italian fennel sausage recipe (see Aug 16 post for details), diced Italian squash and some leftover marinara sauce.  This was absolutely a restaurant-quality dish.  The sausage was seasoned perfectly, and the pasta was the real deal.      

Chicken Fried Rice

Fried rice, despite its simplicity, is a tricky thing to make.  You have multiple components in a one-pot concept, each of which cooks at its own pace.  Then you throw in the high-heat, fast-cooking technique that comes with using a wok, so you have to have your mise en place ready to go.  The other key component of good fried rice is day-old rice, because fresh rice, which has more moisture, will result in a soggy, heavy dish.  This particular version is made with, in the order in which each ingredient went into the wok: (1) chopped carrots and asparagus; (2) diced chicken breast and minced garlic; (3) scrambled egg; (4) rice; and (5) sesame oil and soy sauce.  If I said my version destroys anything from Panda Express, would that be anything to brag about? 

Ribs

If I were on death row, ribs would be one of the main courses of my last meal.  St. Louis style, no sauce please, Mr. Warden.  Ribs are actually a pretty foolproof thing to make.  All it takes is liberal seasoning and slow cooking at a very low temperature.  I've made them a million ways, but this time I went a dry rub inspired by Southwest and Mediterranean flavors - smoked paprika, fennel seed, coriander seed, mustard seed, cumin seed, black peppercorns, salt and garlic powder (all of the seeds were ground in my spice grinder).  Into a 220 degree oven on a wire rack over a baking sheet with some apple cider vinegar and water in the bottom, and it was ready to go about 6 hours later.  The fresh ground spices really popped, and the ribs were falling off the bone tender.