Spaghetti Carbonara

This delicious, super-easy-to-make pasta is a simple dish with one very important addition - bacon!!

Spaghetti Carbonara

from What To Cook and How To Cook It by Jane Hornby

1 tsp salt

7 oz. spaghetti

1 clove garlic

4 strips smoked dry-cured bacon, or 3 1/2 oz. smoked bacon lardons, or pancetta cubes

1 tbsp light olive oil

1 1/2 oz. Parmesan cheese (about 1/2 cup grated)

3 large eggs

salt and pepper

1. Put a large pot of water over high heat and bring it to a boil. Add the salt, then add the spaghetti and bring back to a boil. Stir once, turn the heat down a little, and boil until pasta is tender.
2. While the pasta cooks, start the sauce. Mince the garlic and chop the bacon into small pieces. Heat a large frying pan over medium heat, then add the oil. After about 30 seconds, add the chopped bacon and the garlic. Fry for 8-10 minutes, or until the bacon is golden and crisp and the fat has run out. Take the pan off the heat.
3. While the bacon cooks, finely grate the Parmesan cheese and beat the eggs in a measuring cup with a fork. Mix half of the Parmesan into the eggs. Season with salt and pepper.
4. When the pasta is done, reserve a cup of its cooking water, then drain the rest of it out. Add the pasta to the bacon pan, add 2 tablespoons of the reserved cooking water, then pour the egg and cheese mixture over it. Toss everything together quickly, so that the egg mixture, bacon and its juices coat the pasta. The residual heat in the pan and the pasta will be enough to just cook the eggs to a creamy sauce within about 1 minute.
5. Serve topped with the rest of the Parmesan cheese and a little black pepper.

Perfection Pound Cake

I made this pound cake the other day. Including the Bundt cake, it's the second cake I've made from scratch. It came out better than the Bundt but still left a little something to be desired. It was a bit more dense than I was expecting (and I was expecting it to be a little dense since it's a pound cake after all) but still had a good flavor and texture. We ended up pairing it with ice cream and it was the perfect compliment in all it's dense glory.

Perfection Pound Cake

from Baking: From My Home To Yours by Dorie Greenspan

2 cups all-purpose flour or 2 ¼ cups cake flour (I used cake flour)

1 teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup sugar

4 large eggs, at room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Buter a 9-x-5-inch loaf pan or an 8½-x-4½-inch loaf pan. Put the pan on an insulated baking sheet or on two regular baking sheets stacked one on top of the other.
2. Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
3. Working with a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar on high speed until pale and fluffy, a full 5 minutes. Scrape down the bowl and beater and reduce the mixer speed to medium. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for 1-2 minutes after each egg goes in. Scrape down the bowl and beater often as you're working. Mix in the vanilla extract. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour, mixing only until it is incorporated, being careful not to overmix. Scrape the batter into the buttered pan and smooth the top.
4. Put the cake in the oven to bake, and check on it after about 45 minutes. If it's browning too quickly, cover it loosely with a foil tent. If you're using a 9-x-5 pan, you'll need to bake the cake for 70-75 minutes; the smaller pan needs about 90 minutes. The cake is done when a thin knife inserted deep into the center comes out clean.
5. Remove the cake from the oven, transfer the pan to a rack and let rest for 30 minutes.
6. Run a blunt knife between the cake and the sides of the pan and turn the cake out, then turn it right side up on the rack and cool to room temperature.

Wrapped well, the cake with keep for 5-7 days at room temperature or up to 2 months in the freezer.

Bundt Cake

This is the first Bundt cake I've ever made. In fact, it may be the first cake I've ever made from scratch at all... Needless to say, my hopes were a little too high for my first attempt; it was a bit dense and too dry. I don't blame the recipe (which is from here), there were several things I should've done differently to achieve a more light, moist cake. It was definitely a learning experience and I'm already picking out recipes for round 2!

The cake was damn attractive, I'll give it that much.

Fragrant Garlic Parsley Pasta

This recipe is from this vegan cookbook. We bought it back when Nick first went veggie, about 4 years ago. He eats meat now, but this pasta is so good that we still make it from time to time.

You will need:

cooked pasta (enough for 2 people)

8-12 cloves of garlic, minced

1 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp flax oil

1 cup fresh parsley, chopped

1. Boil a large pot of water. While you're waiting for water to boil, peel and mince the garlic.
2. Add the uncooked pasta to the boiling water. While the pasta is cooking, sauté the garlic, pepper flakes (if you're using them), and salt in the olive oil on medium-low heat until the garlic is tender.
3. Drain the pasta and toss with the flax oil, parsley, and the garlic mixture.

You can garnish it with a little parmesan it you want, I don't. One thing I forgot to add to the pasta this time is mushrooms. We usually slice and sauté a carton of regular small, white mushrooms on the side with a little salt and toss it in with everything else at the end but we totally spaced on it this time. Next time for sure.

Best Meatloaf in the Universe

I made meatloaf for the first time ever tonight. I had very low expectations and pretty much expected it to come out burnt or too dry but to my (and my boyfriend's) surprise, it was AH-mazing. The best I've ever had for sure and even Nick said it was a close call between mine and his mom's. I adapted it from this recipe.

Brown Sugar Meatloaf:

¼ cup packed brown sugar

½ cup ketchup

2 tbsp worcestershire sauce, divided

1½ lbs. lean ground beef

½ cup milk

1 egg

1½ tsp salt

¼ tsp ground black pepper

1 small onion, chopped

¼ tsp ground ginger

¾ cup finely crushed garlic croutons

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Lightly grease a 5x9 inch loaf pan.
2. In a mixing bowl, mix thoroughly all ingredients except brown sugar, ketchup, and 1 tbsp of worcestershire sauce. Shape into a loaf and place in loaf pan. Bake for 45 minutes.
3. While meatloaf is baking, mix the brown sugar, ketchup, and the remaining 1 tbsp worcestershire sauce.
4. Remove meatloaf from oven after 45 minutes and spread the ketchup glaze over the top. Put it back in the oven for 15 more minutes or until internal temperature reaches 160ºF.

Super Easy Baked Chicken

I made this super simple chicken recipe for dinner tonight. Making chicken has always intimidated me - the fear of undercooking it overpowered my craving. Once I finally built up enough courage to try it, I asked my mom specifically for this recipe. I was surprised to find that it wasn't really even a recipe - all you need is chicken and Season All!

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Cover a baking sheet with foil and spray lightly with cooking oil. Wash and pat dry your chicken, then arrange evenly on the baking sheet.
2. Sprinkle Season All over the chicken so the surface is evenly covered, but not coated. Flip the pieces and do the same for the other side. Bake, skin-side-down, for 25 minutes. Remove the pan and flip the chicken so the pieces are skin-side-up. Sprinkle a little more seasoning over the top and put back in the oven for 15-25 minutes, or until internal temperature reached 165 degrees F.

Cooking time varies depending on what type of chicken cuts you're using. These bone-in breasts only went back in for 15 minutes the second time around, but bone-in thighs usually need 20-25 minutes longer.

Okinawan-Style Omelet

This is my mom's recipe and one of the foods I grew up on. She's from Okinawa so a lot of the foods she makes come from her culture.

You will need:

1 bunch of green onions

4-6 eggs

Salt

1. Chop the green onions, the thinner the better. (I love green onions so I use an entire bunch.)
2. Whisk the eggs in a measuring cup or bowl. Add the green onions and whisk until well mixed.
3. Add about 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons of salt. I used 6 eggs for this batch and probably added about 1 1/4 tablespoons. (This is meant to be salty so don't be shy. I usually keep adding until a small dot on the tip of my tongue tastes sort of metallic-y.)
4. Heat a large skillet with a small amount of oil over medium-high heat until hot enough to cook with, then turn the heat down to medium. Pour the egg mixture into the pan and spread thinly over the entire surface as if you were cooking a crepe.
5. Once the first side is done, flip it over and cook the second side. It's easier to flip when you cut it into 4 smaller pieces.

Serve with rice to balance out the salty flavor.

Southern Biscuits & Sausage Gravy

We had this southern-style breakfast for dinner tonight. It was my first time ever attempting it; my stepmom used to make it all the time and I just assumed that something so delicious had to be complicated and far beyond my cooking abilities. Turns out, all you need for the gravy is sausage, flour, milk and salt and pepper! I couldn't believe how easy it was to make. I used Pillsbury Grands Flaky Layers Buttermilk Biscuits and this recipe.

mmmmmm, yes please!

happy new year!

2011 resolution - LEARN TO COOK

This blog will document my journey... and possible demise.

p.s.- happy birthday nick :)