Heat makes me crazy

I think I must have been delusional when I found out we were moving to St. Louis. For some strange reason, I thought that St. Louis in the summer would be cooler than Washington, DC or Norfolk, Virginia. Ha! I'm not sure why I thought that, maybe it was during one of the heat spells in Norfolk that I thought that. St. Louis is HOT. I think of this as the beginning of summer and with the heat index it is 108 right now outside. I'm really afraid to know what August is going to be like!

I don't know if it's my Irish blood, or the fact that I grew up in mild Seattle, but the heat does strange things to me. Not even taking into account the fact that I burn in under 10 minutes, but if I am out in it for any length of time, I get light-headed, dizzy and downright odd in the head. I am really thankful that I am not working, and I don't have to go out much if I don't really want to!

Thankfully we have central air conditioning, which is something almost unheard of in Seattle. Whenever I think of central A/C I can't help but think of the scene from the movie "Dogma" with the demon Azrael. "No pleasure, no rapture, no exquisite sin greater than central air...". I whole-heartedly agree with that!

But, because this is an older home that we are renting, there are some rooms that don't cool quite as well as others - the kitchen in particular. My kitchen is 80 degrees right now, while it is 75 degrees in the dining room, where I am right now. As you can imagine, I haven't been wanting to spend too much time in the kitchen, but I have to spend some time in the kitchen - we have to eat!

Which brings us to one of the most recent dishes I've made. I did have to heat up the kitchen to make Rotini with Salmon and Roasted Garlic from "Everyday Pasta" by Giada De Laurentis, but I ate the leftovers cold the next day! If you can remember to roast your garlic earlier in the day or the day before, this comes together very quickly.

But, you can also use the heat of the oven to make on of my favorite side dishes - roasted asparagus. Just rinse and dry your asparagus, and snap the ends off. Place them in a roasting dish large enough to lay the spears flat. Drizzle them with just enough olive oil to coat and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Depending on the thickness of your asparagus, they will take approximately 6-12 minutes to cook.

Rotini with Salmon and Roasted Garlic

from "Everyday Pasta" by Giada De Laurentis

2 whole heads of garlic

2 tablespoons olive oil

salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 pound rotini or fusilli (corkscrew-shaped pasta)

1/2 cup Marsala or white wine

1 cup chicken broth

1 pound salmon, cut into 1-inch cubes

zest and juice of 1 lemon

1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons drained capers

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Cut the heads of garlic in half crosswise and place on a sheet of foil. Drizzle with the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Fold the foil up and around the garlic, making sure it stays flat, and fold the edges to seal into a tight packet. Roast until soft, about 60 minutes. Let the garlic cool slightly, then squeeze the cloves out of the skin. Mash half of the roasted garlic cloves into a paste with the back of a fork. Set aside.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain.

Meanwhile, combine the Marsala and chicken broth in a large heavy skillet and bring to a simmer. Add the mashed roasted garlic and stir to dissolve. Simmer uncovered for 4 minutes, then add the salmon, cover, and simmer for 4 minutes longer. Remove from the heat and add the remaining whole roasted garlic cloves, the lemon zest and juice, rosemary and the cooked pasta. Stir to combine; add the extra-virgin olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and stir once more. Serve immediately.