Decadent Pasta Carbonara

>> Saturday, February 9, 2019


Decadent Pasta Carbonara


Suppose you just had a hard week and you're feeling a little low and you can't seem to warm up because fall suddenly dropped in on you and even fleece isn't doing its job. Here's what will make it better. Take a long hot bubble bath, then whip up a gonzo big bowl of Joe's decadent pasta carbonara, and pig out in front of a good movie with a glass of Chianti.

You probably already know that pasta carbonara is not laden with healthful ingredients. Cream, eggs, pancetta, Parmesan cheese, and truffle oil are a little on the heavy side. But I'm not suggesting you eat this every day of the week, or every month of the year. Save this one when you don't have a cholesterol test scheduled and you can really use some comfort food. Then splurge!

Joe's been perfecting this recipe for a long time, and I've been his faithful taste-tester all along the journey. He's got a winner here.

Ingredients

1 lb linguine or spaghetti
4 tbsp butter, softened
3 eggs at room temperature
1 cup parmesan cheese, grated
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp red pepper flakes
2/3 cup pancetta, diced, or 8 slices of bacon, diced
1/2 cup fat-free half and half (or go for heavy cream, if you prefer)
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp truffle salt, or 1 tsp truffle oil and 1 tsp salt
Ground pepper to taste

Directions

Place the butter in a small bowl and beat it with a fork until fluffy. In another small bowl, whisk the eggs until frothy, then add half the Parmesan cheese. Set the bowls aside.

Heat the oven to just warm and place an ovenproof bowl in there to warm it up. Cook the pasta according to the package directions (usually 8 to 10 minutes). Stir in the butter and toss to be sure the strands are well coated, then add to the bowl warming in the oven.

Heat the oil in a saucepan with the pepper flakes. When the flakes begin the sizzle, add the pancetta or bacon and cook until crisp. Drain. Stir in the cream, nutmeg, truffle oil, and pepper, then bring to a light simmer.

Take the bowl out of the oven and add the cream sauce and toss well. Stir in the eggs, which should cook on contact with the hot pasta. Serve immediately, with the remaining Parmesan passed at the table.

Serves 4.

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Hot Soups for the Polar Vortex

>> Friday, January 25, 2019


Chicken Tortilla Soup

Friends, the Polar Vortex has seized Chicagoland and I keep thinking of big steaming bowls of hot soups and stews. Nothing beats the cold better - and I love how stew fills up our home with steam and mouth-watering aromas. 

How cold is it here? Weather.com is saying it's -2F, with the windchill making it -25 degrees. There's a little footnote under the temperature: bitterly cold. Yes. To put it another way, when I filled up the bird feeder this morning, fog rose from the birdseed. When I opened the blinds, they were stuck to the windowsill with a layer of ice on the inside of the window. 

Stay warm and brew up one of these luscious soups!




Guinness Irish Beef Stew


Shoyu Pork Ramen
Chana Masala - Indian Chickpea Stew


Poblano Corn Chowder


Pot Roast Paprikash

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Beer-Braised Beef and Mini Yorkshire Puddings

>> Friday, January 11, 2019


Beer-Braised Beef and Mini Yorkshire Puddings

We found this beer-braised beef recipe in Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking". She says beer is typical for a Belgian braise, and the recipe is called "Carbonnades a la Flamande". The beef is cut into small cutlets, quickly browned, then braised with onions and beer until it is falling-apart tender. The beer, brown sugar, and vinegar give it a wonderful sweet-and-sour flavor.

Joe and I didn't know for sure the difference between braising and stewing, but Julia tells us that to braise food, you cook it in oil first, then finish it with some liquid. Stewing is nearly the same, with or without the browning step, but the food is cooked with a large amount of liquid, and the end result is much more soupy.


beef cutlets browning in pan


We decided to tackle Yorkshire pudding, something we've never made before, because we're making it as an accompaniment to my mom's standing rib roast for Christmas dinner. Joe's English side of the family, the Finchams, come from Yorkshire, so it seemed a nice tie-in. And as I've read so much Victorian literature, I've been curious about Yorkshire pudding.

Actually, the British concept of pudding is rather puzzling to Americans in general. Yorkshire pudding is a light batter that bakes up like a popover, but their black pudding is essentially a sausage, and plum pudding is similar to a fruitcake, and often people say pudding to mean any kind of dessert at all.

Yorkshire pudding is easy to make and a traditional accompaniment to a Sunday roast. Joe found that the first mention of it was in a cookbook in the early 1700s. Cooks would place a pan of the batter underneath a roast and let the juices drip down to flavor the pudding. Nowadays cooks spoon a bit of the roast's drippings over the batter as it bakes, and the result is a fluffy, savory muffin whose crown rises then collapses when it cools.

Miniature Yorkshire Puddings
These puddings are not burnt - they are brown from the rich beef juices we poured over them.

While bakers often make Yorkshire pudding in on pan and cut slices for diners, we made these in mini muffin tins so that people at dinner could try just a little bit without taking too much if they happened to not enjoy it. I don't think there will be any left, though!

Ingredients

Yorkshire Pudding

1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup milk
1 tsp salt
2 large eggs
3 tablespoons beef drippings and fat

Beer-Braised Beef

1 3-lb top round roast or tenderloin
2 tbsp oil
6 cups onions, sliced
salt and pepper to taste
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup beef stock
3 cups Pilsner-style beer
2 tbsp light brown sugar
6 sprigs parsley
1 bay leaf
1 tbsp fresh marjoram
1/2 tsp thyme
1 1/2 tbsp cornstarch mixed with 2 tbsp white wine vinegar


Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

To make the Yorkshire Pudding batter, stir together the flour and salt. in a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs and milk. Gradually add to the flour to the egg mixture, beating it into a thin, smooth batter, but being careful not to over-mix it. Let the batter rest at room temperature for 1 hour.


Yorkshire pudding ingredients

Cut the beef into 2 x 4 inch cutlets, about 1/2 inch thick. Place between layers of paper towels and allow it to dry so that it will saute properly. Heat a large skillet, then add the oil and heat at medium-high until nearly smoking. Add the beef strips a few at a time, and quickly brown them on both sides. Set them aside, then pour the oil and beef drippings into a bowl to be used with the pudding.

Reduce the heat to medium and add 1 more tbsp oil. Add the onions and brown them for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Set them aside, then saute the garlic until tender. Pour the stock into the pan and bring it to a boil, scraping up the browned bits of food from the pan. Stir in the brown sugar and beer and remove from the heat.

Tie the herbs together in a double layer of cheesecloth or a coffee filter to make a "bouquet garni". That way, the herbs will impart their flavor to the meal without overpowering it or causing the diners to pick stems and leaves from their food.

a bouquet garni - an herb bouquet for cooking
A bouquet garni - an herb bouquet for cooking

In a casserole dish, arrange half the beef strips and season with salt and pepper. Spread half the onions over the beef, place the herb bouquet in the center, then repeat with the rest of the beef and onions. Pour the beef broth mixture over the casserole.

Cover the casserole and place it in the bottom third of the oven. Cook at a slow simmer for 2 hours, or until fork-tender.

Remove the herb bouquet and drain the cooking liquid into a saucepan. Whisk the cornstarch and vinegar mixture into the liquid and simmer for 3-4 minutes, until thickened. Pour the sauce over the meat and keep warm.

Turn the oven to 450 degrees.

Spray two mini muffin pans or a 9 x 11 casserole dish with oil. Pour the pudding batter into the pan or dish about 2/3 full. Measure the beef drippings - you should have 3 tablespoons. If not, add melted butter to make the right amount. Pour this mixture over the batter.

Bake the pudding, without opening the oven door, until risen and golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and serve immediately with the meat.

Serves 6.

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Grownups' Mocha Hot Chocolate

>> Sunday, December 30, 2018


Grownups' Mocha Hot Chocolate


This is a grownup's kind of hot chocolate, full of cream and whiskey and other good things. It's great on ice or heated. At Christmas, we all walked out to my dad's pole barn, which used to house his collection of antique tractors, but now holds all his O-scale train tracks. I think we all become kids again when we play with his trains.





This was perfect for sipping by my parent's wood stove after we walked back through the woods and shook off the snow.


Ingredients

1 cup light cream
1 (14 oz.) can evaporated milk
3 tsp instant coffee
1/2 cup chocolate syrup

1 2/3 cups of Irish Whiskey
1 tsp almond extract
Marshmallows (optional)

Instructions



In a medium saucepan, heat the cream and evaporated milk until hot but not bubbly. Stir in the rest of the ingredients. Pour into four mugs. Sprinkle with marshmallows, if desired.

Makes 4.

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Candy Cane Lollipops

>> Saturday, December 22, 2018


Candy Cane Lollipops


On Thursday, I was going to my friend's holiday cookie exchange, and I really wanted to do something different this year. Twenty or thirty ladies get together for this party, all wonderful cooks and creative women, so these cute little lollipops were the perfect thing to bring.






I didn't know that if you put mini candy canes into a warm oven for a few minutes, they soften enough to mold around lolly sticks. It turns out there is about a ten-second window between "softened enough to mold" and "melted into a flat red-and-white blob".



It took us quite a while to figure out the correct moment to pull them out of the oven. What I can tell you is that candy canes vary in softness so that temperatures and times are just suggestions. Try testing one or two first so that you don't ruin an entire pan (or two) and have to run back to the store for replacement candy canes. Yes, we had to do that the other day.

Heart-shaped Candy Cane Lollipops


Don't let this intimidate you, though. These are super easy to make and I got SO many compliments at the cookie party.


Ingredients

32 mini candy canes
16 6-inch lollipop sticks
12 oz almond bark or white chocolate chips
3-4 drops peppermint oil
Christmas-colored candy sprinkles

Directions

Heat the oven to 235 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Arrange pairs of candy canes into a heart shape, leaving room underneath each one to insert the stick after they come out of the oven.

Heat the candy canes for 4-7 minutes, until just soft enough to press a stick into each heart. We noticed that our canes developed little candy bubbles along the surface at just the right moment.

Slide the parchment and candy onto a counter and quickly press the lollipop sticks upward into the curved center of the two canes, then pinch the two bottom edges around the stick. If they don't stick securely, don't worry - the chocolate will hold the whole heart together. Let cool for a few minutes.

On the stove over low heat, or in the microwave, heat the almond bark or white chocolate until melted smooth, stirring frequently. If you heat it too long, it will become grainy with sugar crystals; just stir in a bit of coconut oil or shortening and beat it until smooth. Stir in the peppermint oil. Spoon a little chocolate into the center of each heart, then decorate with the candy sprinkles. Let the chocolate harden before serving.



Makes 16 lollipops.

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