Pre-Race Meal

On the eve of my 4th NYC Triathlon, I was treated to a very nice home cooked meal. It was probably the best pre-race meal I have ever had. Because I've done so many endurance races, I know what gets my body going the next day and what foods to avoid. I definitely avoid eating pasta with red sauce and definitely anything with cheese, but I was craving some kind of pasta, so I requested that Mark make me his own version of the spaghetti dish with roasted garlic he ordered at Mario's Restaurant earlier this month. In addition to the spaghetti dish, he decided to make from scratch focaccia bread with Turkish seasoning and spices. It was so delicious!

To start, he used 1 bulb of garlic, which is all we had available, but mentioned that he could've have used 2. He used half of the bulb to fry on the stove top until it was brown and crispy. He roasted the other half wrapped in foil with some olive oil in a preheated oven at 350F for 50 minutes until it was soft, squishy and almost translucent.

While we waited for the garlic to roast, Mark began making the focaccia. Using the leftover dough he brought back home from a pizza making class he went to at Institute of Culinary Education (ICE), he began rolling and kneading out the dough with his hands then putting it in a 8x8 baking pan. He brushed olive oil to coat the dough and sprinkled fresh Turkish seasonings that he brought back with him from his recent Turkey trip. He baked it for about 35 minutes then brushed more olive oil on the top. All I can say when it was done was, "amazing!" It tasted as good as it looked. The bread was moist, savory and better than most focaccia breads I've had in restaurants and stores. Way to go!

When the garlic finally roasted in the oven, Mark began cooking the spaghetti noodles. When it was done he mixed the fried and roasted garlic with the pasta using a little bit of olive oil to coat, and salt and pepper to taste. This dish was very simple to make and required very little ingredients. It was very healthy too.

Thank you, honey, for a winning pre-race meal.