New Recipe Club

[Too Tall]

Proposition:
We try one thing at a time.
Post a dish with simple instructions and report back.
The recipe might be something out of your wheelhouse or something that caught your eye.
There is no timetable. When we are done we are done and move on.
I'll start with this pasta which immediately piqued my interest because of it's simplicity and deep reach to old Italian tradition.

Spaghettoni with butter and brewer’s yeast:
Meet the Pasta Perfectionist Making Waves in Italy
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The instructions within are not specific. It will be up to us to construct more illustrative methods for the emulsion and toasted brewers yeast. Also, I think for our needs it is not absolute to find the Spaghettoni, good quality spaghetti will be good enough.

Now...I need brewers yeast.

[Octave]

I'm particularly intrigued by the description of the yeast treatment. The not-so-secret ingredient in a lot of vegan food where one wants a cheesy, umami flavor, is nutritional yeast. It has the exact texture .that he is decribing, though the vague nature of his flavor description means I can't tell you if it's exactly the same..

Briefly, for those who don't know it, nutritional yeast is a particular variant (or variant(s)) of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which is the same yeast used in baking and brewing for the most part, albeit different phenotypes. It is grown, then baked/dehydrated once mature and has a nutty, cheesy flavor not too dissimilar from parmesan. I won't pretend to have the tongue left to tell you whether or not it's really like cheese, as I haven't eaten dairy in a decade, but it certainly fills the gap for us, and often in pasta dishes.

We've been making it ourselves at home for ages now, couldn't be simpler, though you need a bit of care on the sterility front (just like making anything with yeast in it). Happy to post more details if people are interested in making their own, but it'd be just as simple to go down to your local bulk bio shop (I'm guessing Whole Foods has it in the US, or any local equivalent) and ask for it there. Also goes by the names of "nooch" and "hippie dust."

[rwsaunders]

Buttermilk pancakes with blueberries this cold, wintry Sunday from the Betty freakin’ Crocker recipe book...remember that line from Silvio Dante (Miami Steve) in the Sopranos? Really simple and the buttermilk makes the difference. Don’t mind the expiration date on the buttermilk...it’s pretty rancid smelling when it’s new.

[Too Tall]

Well you know I'll save that pancake recipe, they look great.

Octave, maybe you and me and nobody else here would use phenotype when describing yeasts ;) Yes, I'm always interested in Veg/Vegan variants. You always seem to embrace the flavorful nuances so YEAH bring it.

Just back from the Health Food Store with a small ballast of Brewers Yeast and a mitten full of KerryGold butter. The oven already smells good. Will report back.

[Too Tall]

The Brewers Yeast Pasta is a keeper.
For others, I'd suggest being generous with the pot water when you toss the pasta thru with butter. Mine was a wee tight but not to distract from the huge flavor from toasted Brewers Yeast. Holy Unami bomb. I choose to toss some Brocolini ontop and called it dinner. Mrs. Too insisted on some Parm Reggiano which was also a good choice.

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