Happy Post 01 - Happy Cooking

Updated: Here is a picture of Chez Jacques (on the left) with a good friend of his. This picture of two old men sitting by a river fills my bosom with a strange mix of lust and extreme good-will. Do visit his website www.jacquespepin.net for free recipes and cooking tips like how to properly sharpen a knife or how to chop parsley.

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So I have been quite unhappy lately, as if it takes a genius to figure out from my recent posts here. To alleviate the steady stream of misery, I have decided to introduce a new series called Happy Posts. My life right now is an exhausting ride of high highs and inexplicable lows, but there are quiet and simple things which I enjoy too - which I will try to share in my Happy Posts. Happy reading.

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One thing that relieves this heaviness that I sometimes get in my head is watching Jacques Pepin's cooking show 'Fast Food My Way'. He is one of the world's top chefs, a master in French cuisine. Unlike big-dick cooks like Gordon 'F-word' Ramsay, Anthony Bourdain and Jamie Oliver , he makes cooking seem like the most joyful and natural thing in the world and even the worst food-dummy would find it impossible to be intimidated by him. I especially remember watching him kill a live lobster on TV with consummate grace and skill, and thinking to myself: I could do that. Yes, including the Lobster Fricassee which followed.

But I'm a lousy vegetarian, so I want to give you a fail-safe Jacques Pepin recipe for pasta primavera, or a pasta salad. I should know, because I just made it tonight! It is simple, healthy and delicious and it will make you feel better about life.

You'll need:
3/4 bag of pasta (I like to use big shells or bow-ties)
1 tub of fresh button mushrooms
3 small narrow English cucumbers (here, we can get Japanese ones - they're dark and knobbly)
1 big bag of cherry tomatoes (because generally our normal tomatoes are hateful and tasteless)
I bag of sweet basil leaves
olive oil
salt
cracked black pepper
some garlic

First heat a pot of water for the pasta. Add about 1 tsp salt to the water - for taste and to lower the boiling point.

As the water is boiling, prepare your vegetables. Have a big bowl ready because the whole salad will be mixed in there. Halve the cherry tomatoes. Slice mushrooms. Slice cucumbers quite thinly. (to prepare cucumbers, cut off both ends then rub the cut-offs against the ends of the cucumber to draw out the bitterness. Use a peeler to peel of 3 sections of skin so that you make a pretty pattern when you slice it). Tear basil leaves into rough pieces. Put all of this in the big bowl. Add olive oil, salt and pepper. Also add some chopped garlic (not too much ok? Maybe 1 small clove. All you want is a hint of it because this is a very fresh-tasting salad).

While you're preparing your vegetables, the water will have come to the boil. Add your pasta and cook for approx. 11 - 14mins, stirring constantly. Do not overcook your pasta - you want it to be al dente, which means it has some bite to it, but it is not still crunchy (crunchy means it's not cooked!).

Here is a secret tip. After your vegetables are ready, take two small scoops of the water that the pasta is boiling in and spoon it over the vegetables to soften them. This really makes it taste great.

Now drain your pasta, stir some olive oil through it to keep it from sticking. Add the pasta to your bowl of vegetables and olive oil. Toss well. Season to your taste. Voila!

I like to add cheese to mine to make it more filling. You can add some ham, bacon or sliced sausage.

The measurements I give here are for a whopping big bowl - something that will last you for days. So if you want less, you may want to halve everything.

Happy cooking.

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PS. The editing functions are not working in blogger, hence no linking and images. Will be rectified soon.