Sometimes I relax a bit and allow the Bistro 164 sous chef free reign of the kitchen. We actually share cooking duties around 50-50 I'd say, I just like teasing him. Unlike me, he tends to not really follow any specific recipe...at all. I'm so much less OCD about recipe following than I used to be - I will still use them for inspiration, then make up my own rules, using different ingredients and various amounts. The sous chef is more of a free spirit than I. Which does make it interesting when I tell him how great his creation turned out and could he please write down what ingredients he used, how much he used, and how he prepared it so that I could use it for our blog. So what follows is as close to his original recipe as I could get. It's pasta so I really don't think you can mess it up too much if it's not exactly as written. Go with the flow as I have learned to do over the years (said with much conviction as if I'm 95 yrs old.)
My sous chef (he's shy and doesn't want me to use his real name...doesn't like all the paparazzi I guess) prepared this lovely meal for me after a crazy-tiring-frustrating-energy sucking-stupid Monday (you know the ones.) I was greeted at the door with a lovely very full glass of wine (the best kind of wine), with dinner already underway. Nothing for me to do but put my feet up and enjoy the aromatic smells emanating from the Bistro 164 kitchen. Huge sigh. Shoulders relaxing. Stress headache dissipating. I've said it before and I'll say it again: I'm a lucky gal. And of course, the best tasting meals always seem to be the ones that someone else makes for you and you don't have to lift so much as a finger. It was so rich and delicious and buttery that I was certain that he must have used an entire brick of butter in there (he didn't, he swore, only a few 2 tbsp.) And if you've just read the previous blog, you know that I'm not the biggest seafood fan around (I'm trying though), but man-oh-man the baby clams were amazing (and thankfully they don't have faces and legs so they are much more aesthetically pleasing for me to eat than shrimp- yup I'm weird.) It was the perfect way to alleviate a case of the "Mondays." Would also work well for a case of the "Tuesdays", "Wednesdays", "Thursdays"...you get the idea.
Thank you Mr. Sous Chef for lovely meal. Cheers to you .... with a very full glass of wine that's about to get much less so. Almost ready for another Monday....
Bistro 164's Spaghetti with Clam Sauce
by the Sous Chef who shall remain anonymous for posterity reasons
Serves 4-6 people
Skill level: so easy
Ingredients
2 tbsp butter
1 medium sized onion, sliced
1 tbsp garlic in oil (or 2 cloves, diced)
1/2 a 28 oz can of diced tomatoes
1x 28 oz Hunt's diced tomatoes with basil, garlic and oregano
2 cups (or so) of diced mushrooms
1 can of Clover Leaf whole baby clams, drained
1-2 cups shredded tex mex cheese and parmesan
oregano to taste
salt and pepper to taste
cooked spaghetti (1 cup cooked spaghetti per person or 2 oz uncooked)
Directions
Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook until the onion is translucent. Add in the mushrooms and continue cooking for another 5 minutes or so. Add in the canned tomatoes, the oregano and the clams. Bring to a boil and then simmer. Add in the cooked pasta and mix until sauce is well distributed. Plate and garnish with lots and lots of cheese.
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