Bacon and Leek Pasta

 I'm not sure why it took me so long to make this dish. There are lots of ingredients that are difficult to find in Japan. But thick cut bacon and leeks are not. In fact, they're plentiful and of the highest quality. If you watch people leaving any grocery store in Japan, you'll notice a slender green stick poking out the top of everyone's bags. They're leeks and Japanese food relies heavily on it. Back home, I always stayed away from leeks because they were such a pain to clean. But in Japan, they're already cleaned for you so you can just rinse quickly and cook away. It's great!

You can use regular bacon or pancetta if you're fancy. I used thick cut bacon because you can find it easily in Japan. I cut back on the amount of cream on this particular evening because I was feeling healthy, but if you want to have a super rich sauce, go crazy on that cream and butter.

Bacon and Leek Pasta

2 Leeks, just the white and light parts
2 slices of thick cut bacon or 8 slices of regular bacon
2 TB butter
1/4 cup of white wine or chicken broth
1/4 cup of heavy cream
Your pasta of choice - enough for 4 people
salt and pepper

1. Slice the leeks and bacon
2. Cook the bacon until brown on medium high heat.
3. Lower the heat to medium and add the leeks and butter. Sautee until translucent and soft.
4. Turn the heat back up to medium high. Deglaze the pan with white wine or broth.
5. Turn the heat back down low and add the heavy cream. Stir and cook for 2-4 minutes.
6. Add cooked pasta and pepper generously.

Top with parmesen cheese and eat! Great for leftover lunch.

Tokyo Five Foot Runner :: Week 1

The annual New York City Marathon has come and go and even though I'm not living in New York anymore, the excitement and energy of the race has still found it's way to my soft heart. Aside from the US Open, I believe that the NYC Marathon is one of the greatest sporting events to attend. I'm always amazed at the diversity of people running the race (hello Grandma!) and always find myself getting a little teary eyed watching people from around the world challenge time, the city and themselves. This year was extra special since one of my best friends, Ms. Ha, took on the challenge and took one step closer to establishing herself as a true New Yorker. And she rocked it! For just her first marathon, she clocked in at 3:43:34 -- just shy of qualifying for the Boston Marathon! I have no doubt, she'll be qualifying soon. 


Anyways, the point of this is that her commitment to training for a marathon inspired me to sign up for a Half Marathon in January. Actually, Ms. Ha and I ran our first official race together about a year and a half ago and while I have continued running to keep in shape, I haven't run in any races or taken it very seriously since. Well, that all changed this week as I began my preparation for 13.1 miles on January 9th, 2011. 


I'm using Hal Higdon's Novice Half Marathon training schedule because it has the most rest days and didn't muck up my schedule too much. I have to jump in on week 4 since we're only 9 weeks away but with week 1 under my belt, I think I'll be ok. My goals are:

1. Stick to the schedule.
2. Don't get hurt. 
3. Finish the race without stopping. 

So, what does one eat during race training? Well, obviously a lot of carbs and proteins but other than that, I haven't done too much research on the matter. So what did I fuel myself with this week? 

Pasta, duh! I adore this super simple tomato sauce recipe from Smitten Kitchen. It takes less than an hour to make, only has 3 ingredients (canned tomatos, butter and an onion) and is delicious. I made a big batch so it could last the week. Meatballs on day 1, hearty mushrooms on day 2 and just plain on day 3. 

Exercising is a weird thing. Burning all those calories definitely makes you hungry, but not right away. In fact, for hours after my runs, I'm not hungry at all. But then it just hits you. So, in order to avoid a total food coma, I've been craving soups. French Onion soup recipes are floating around the internets at the moment, so I decided to give it a go. Oddly enough, this recipe is very similar to the tomato sauce mentioned above but it takes waaaay longer than 1 hour and instead of tomatos, you add beef broth to the onions and butter. 

Sundays are the long run days. Today wasn't toooo bad - 5 miles. I decided to whip up some wonton soup because I saw some really nice photos on this blog, Joylicious. I added in noodles and lots of veggies to make it more filling - similar to a soup Squidward/Blammo and I used to order from Mama Buddha in the West Village. This soup is delicious and simple, but what I liked most about her recipe post is the story about missing her mother. I miss my mom too Joy! I especially miss her when I get gchats from her like this: 

Mom:  Hi Kimmi,I am online.  I am laughing and drinking , drunk! Have a good day. bye i love you 

I logged in 15 miles this week, more than I've ever run in a 7 day period so I deserve a little treat, no? It's been a very very long time since I've made my chocolate chip cookies so I finally dusted off my recipe and busted out a batch. I missed these little suckers!

Recipe Suggestion :: Scarpetta's Spaghetti with Tomato and Basil

Serious Eats recently posted a recipe from Scott Conant of Scarpetta in NYC. Though I used to live literally right next door to it, I have never eaten at Scarpetta, but have heard good things. He pops up on Top Chef a lot, which means he's gotta be somewhat big news. He shared his recipe for Spaghetti with Tomato and Basil and it is one of the best, not to mention easiest, recipes for homemade tomato sauce I have found. I highly recommend giving it a try. The photos on Serious Eats are a lot more appetizing than mine, so maybe you should hop over there and check out what their professional photographers mustered up.

Full disclosure, the first time I made this sauce it was way too salty and not very good, but it wasn't the recipe or sauce's fault. It was me and my salt tooth. I over salted my pasta water, thus the "it's so salty My Roommate won't even have a second bowl even though he ALWAYS has at least a second bowl" first try. So, you know...don't do what I did. Despite the salt, you could tell the sauce was good! I swear! The second try proved me right and it was wonderful. I'm even tempted to make a third batch this week. It is such a simple sauce and if you don't have fresh tomatoes, don't be ashamed to use canned. That's what I did and it tasted great. Again, butter makes a secret appearance at the end, just like Martha's Wonderful Chicken Noodle Soup. People like to say that everything is better with bacon, but if I had to pick my poison, it'd be butter all the way. Team Paula Deen!