Hello! Welcome back to Big Sigh 🌀
Kitten Jams
Help, I’m in love with an elusive British rapper. His name is Lausse The Cat and you probably heard his 2018 EP The Girl, The Cat, and the Tree on Soundcloud, it boasts some of my favorite album art of all time. The album follows Lausse, a street cat as he embarks on a night of debauchery with his cat friends. He sorta dropped off after that, releasing a single later that year in which he samples Justice Der’s cover of Passionfruit and Tyler. His voice is gritty and silky. I love when he switches to French. His anonymity feels like a nod to MF Doom, I just hope he doesn’t stay hidden for too much longer. I also hope he answers my DM :/
Sooooo Duh
If I could replace all of the fountains in every major city with one liquid it would be vanilla Sprite. I’ve been a Sprite gal🧚♀️ for as long as I can remember (cause I love the smell of Windex). My parents were anti-soda-and-fast-food growing up, meaning after school trips to Gettysburg and middle school productions of Annie I made baseless drive through orders. Tortillas chips at Taco Bell, chocolate chip cookies at McDonalds, grilled cheese at Five Guys. Shameful.
Maybe vanilla Sprite is my not so subtle attempt at self redemption. Something I can claim as my own. My solitary sleeper hit soda recommended to all who will (and won’t) listen. However I dissect its subconscious weight, I can attest that it’s delicious. Citrus is still the star, it’s crisp and bright with a sneaky floral note towards the end. It tastes like a lemon lime creamsicle. The trouble is it only comes from one place…
Kidding, it only comes from Coke Freestyle Machines. If you’ve never used one, think of it like the Ferrari of beverage customization systems. In fact, they were designed by the same people, an Italian company called Pininfarina, and released to the general public in the summer of 2009. The machine offers a seemingly endless array of flavor combinations. Here is just a snippet of the options taken from the machines Wikipedia page.
You can even download an app and create your own custom flavors which are turned into QR codes, scanned by the machines, and dispensed for your sipping pleasure. A couple of years ago Two Serious Eats editors tried them all including vanilla Sprite to which they said “I'm sorry, what focus group approved this?”
It’s not just those two editors, I can’t seem to find anyone on the internet who agrees with me, which feels like a rare sentence to say these days. The closest I’ve gotten is this redditor from 2015, whoever created the van sprite soda wiki page, and Vanilla Ice himself. As I climb off my soapbox I’ll leave you with this, a map of every Freestyle machine in the New York Metro area. You can input your zip code here should you need national coverage.
If you happen upon one and have feedback let me know, maybe I can get a petition going to can the stuff, monolithic corporations respond well to signatures, right?
Caramelized Fennel & Preserved Lemon Pasta
I’ve been making this recipe for months and finally took the time to write it all down. It’s one of my favorite uses for fennel, treating it like an onion brings out its natural sweetness. The preserved lemon brings a pickled element, similar to the function of a caper in puttanesca. The key is slicing the fennel thin, if you have a mandoline, I’d recommend breaking it out.
1 fennel bulb, sliced long and thin, fronds reserved
2 cloves garlic, sliced
2 small shallots, sliced
2 anchovy fillets
½ lb spaghetti
2 tablespoons preserved lemon, chopped
1 lemon, juiced and zested
½ cup grated parmesan cheese, plus more for garnish
Handful of parsley
Pinch of Aleppo
S&P
Good olive oil
Set a pot of water to boil, salt it like the sea.
While your water is boiling, sauté garlic and shallots on medium heat in a large dutch oven for 2 minutes, then add anchovy fillets and preserved lemon until the anchovy has broken down, about 2-3 minutes. Once the chovs are nice and incorporated, add your fennel along with salt, pepper, and Aleppo to taste. Cook for 25-30 minutes on low heat.
While your fennel is cooking, cook spaghetti according to package instructions. Be sure to reserve a cup or more of pasta water before straining.
If your fennel & alliums are beginning to brown and stick to the bottom of the pan, add splashes of pasta water to release those delicious caramelized bits. You’ll know it’s ready when the fennel tastes soft and sweet.
Add spaghetti to the dutch oven along with a quarter cup of pasta water, lemon zest & juice followed by grated parmesan cheese.
Transfer to a serving plate and garnish with flaky salt, cracked pepper, lemon zest, parsley, fennel fronds, and more parmesan cheese.
Riffs:
I’ve made this with fusilli and big ol rigatonis in the past, both were delicious. If you swap for a shorter pasta make sure to cut your fennel down to similar size
A flurry of chopped parsley would be a welcomed addition to step #5
For an extra silky sauce, consider adding small slices of butter in step #5, make sure to stir to emulsify
Sometimes I grate parm on top and sometimes i slice off thin sheets with a knife or peeler for a diff texture
If you can get your hands on Meyer lemons which are slightly sweeter, they work beautifully in this recipe
She Did It, She Used The Sopranos In A Crossword
The day has come. As always, text me if you’re stuck.
Last Weeks Crossword Answers
Thank you for reading, stay warm and cozy and I’ll see ya next week ❣️