This is an incredibly easy dish to prepare, delicious to boot! I want you to be comfortable with it, though. There are 3 key players, spaghetti–or any noodle pasta you like–pancetta (Italian bacon) and eggs, make sure your eggs are fresh. That’s it, really.
I made a few changes to a basic recipe by Ruth Reichl and only because I’m honery that way. Also because I love bacon with onions. And onions with pasta. And eggs with onions. And pasta with eggs. You get my drift. I didn’t have pancetta, so I used bacon, not that there’s anything wrong with either one. Also, when I was at the store they had that beautiful black peppered bacon, so I went halfzies.
Here’s what I’ll tell you ahead of time:
- Cube the bacon/pancetta
- Leave your eggs out so they’re room temperature
- Use a big mixing bowl to put it all together and fill it with warm water until it’s time to toss the pasta in
Spaghetti Carbonara
1 pound spaghetti
8 strips thick bacon, finely cubed
8 strips thick black pepper bacon, finely cubed
2 cloves garlic, peeled and bruised
1 small onion, finely diced
2 large eggs
Fresh ground black pepper
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano cheese, approx
1/4 cp Italian parsley, finely chopped
Put the bacon into a skillet over medium heat and cook for a few minutes to render its fat. While it’s cooking add the onions and garlic, cook about 5 minutes until the onions are translucent and melting away. While the bacon and onions are cooking, fill a large pot of water to cook the pasta. Bring it to a boil and add salt once it does. Add the pasta and give it a stir to keep it from sticking.
Note: the bacon will not be crisp, which is ideal when you toss it with the pasta and eggs.
Dump the water out of the serving bowl, break and whisk the eggs. Grind some black pepper and whisk. By now the bacon and onions should be ready, keep it warm until the pasta is cooked. Don’t discard all the pasta water when you drain the noodles. As a matter of fact, I pulled the spaghetti straight out of the pot and into the eggy bowl. That way, I pulled in a bit of the pasta water to aid in making the sauce.
The pasta is so hot that it will cook the eggs almost on contact, so make sure to toss and incorporate the two every time you add pasta. Once all the spaghetti is in, add the bacon onion mixture (fat and all), parsley and about 1/4 cp of Parmesan. Add more pasta water as needed, just enough to make the dish moist.
That’s it. Serve immediately with additional cheese to taste.
Cookingly yours,
Anamaris
Throwing a Dinner or Cocktail Party
I have a big dinner coming up this weekend. I am 1 of 24 featured publishers selected by Foodbuzz to give readers an inside look at a dinner. My concept is to highlight foods by region–US regions and couple those with US wines. Sounded like a swell idea, I’ve always been interested in determining how to pair foods and wine. There’s been a great deal of research involved, now that it’s done, I will share with you how I go about organizing similar events.
Here are the prep steps, as I see them:
- Select theme
- Set the menu
- Guest list & Invitations
- Date & Time
- Venue & Decor
- Shopping lists
- Prep work
- D-Day set up
- Putting it all together
- Enjoy your labour of love
First things first – Themes and Menus
The first 3 steps are interchangeable, but they should be the first things you take into consideration when planning your soiree. Depending on the type of event, say something informal like a cocktail or Superbowl party, you can decide on menu items at any time because, most likely, you’ll have nibbles that will conform to most guests needs. If, on the other hand, you’re planning a more intimate dinner, then you need to make sure all guests will be comfortable with the planned menu.
The last is the scenario I’m faced with this time. I have a clear concept in mind, sorta, so my guest list was limited to friends who enjoyed food–old and new, basic and exotic–as well as wine. I had to be deliberate about those I invited, particularly since it was limited to 6 guests. When you know who will attend and you know their eating preferences, you’ll have an easy enough time determining the menu.
Guest List & Invitations
Who do you want to spend time with? What is the reason for your dinner party? Are you celebrating something or someone? These are some the questions to consider when you’re in the planning stages. Also keep in mind the size of your venue, make sure your guests will be comfortable.
Invitations: this is entirely up to you and, to some extent, how formal the event is. I wouldn’t send evites for a wedding reception or a 25th wedding anniversary. But evites are my favorite modus operandi. They’re easy, it allows me to know without a doubt who has received it, makes your guests’ lives simpler by simply hitting a quick reply button and there are so many designs available and it is environmentally friendly.
If you will be mailing paper invitations, choose a design that mimics your decor concept. Make sure you have the full names and correct addresses of your guests. Include an RSVP by date and mode (call you, send a card back, smoke signals). If you’re including an RSVP card, make sure you provide them with the stamp and have the cards addressed to you.
Time & Date
The date for this event was predetermined for me: February 27th. Since this will be an elaborate 8-course meal (yeah, I have NO clue what I was thinking about), I set the start time to 6:30pm. I’m assuming each course will take about 30 minutes from presentation to discussion. Keep your fingers crossed for me, will ya?
When you’re determining the time for your event, you will consider what meal will be served, how much preparation needs to happen while the guests are already there and then give them enough time to not only eat, but enjoy the course served, compliment the hostess, beg for the recipe, blah, blah.
Venue & Decor
Where will this shindig take place? At your home or a friend’s? A restaurant? Park? Again, the theme and guests will determine the where. For me, I was thorn. I knew it had to be near a kitchen and that I wanted it to be homey and cozy. I had thoughts about having it at a friend’s home, she has more room than I do. The reality is that I will be preparing quite a bit of the courses on the spot and most of the side dishes will be made the day of. Transporting pots, dishes, pans through Houston seemed Nightmare on Elm Streetesque. So, home it is. Our home. Where I know all my nooks and crannies. Where I know where all the pots and spoons are. How hot the oven cooks. You know, home.
As for decor, flowers are always a must. Flowers and candles make any room look and feel especially special and that’s how I want my guests to feel. I have a couple of standard vases I love and I pick up a few blooms from my local grocer. I’m not a terribly inspired floral arranger, but floors look good without the wanting for much. One arrangement on the coffee table–a medium sized one. A couple of loose blooms in the bathrooms. Some tealights strewn about the room and votives on the table. Keep your flowers in the same color palette and you’ll have settings to die for.
Shopping Lists
I like ‘em. I don’t always pay attention to them, but when it’s time for a dinner party, I’m militant about it. That’s because of my super short attention span. If I don’t pull out my list as soon as I walk into the market and proceed to check things off as I find them, I will, inevitably, leave a few things behind.
So, once I have tweaked the menu, I write down the ingredients for the various recipes. I check my pantry for items I may already have and then i make my way through the aisles of stuff.
I also make a list of any serving dishes, silver, dinner, barware that may be needed for the event. That way I make sure I find what’s missing, whether I borrow, steal or buy it. Well, not steal. I just wanted to see if you were still paying attention. Designate what entrée will be served in which dish/plate, and make a note of it. If you figure this out ahead of time D-Day will be a breeze.
Prep Work
The best part about a dinner party is getting to enjoy the company of friends and loved ones. That is why I do my very best to do as much of the heavy lifting ahead of time. Make sure you have sides that will reheat well, even entrees. Desserts too.
This is also a good time to get all your dishes cleaned and ready. Load up the dishwasher for a quick rinse and set everything to the side. If you’re using fresh flowers, get them ready the day before. That will give the arrangements time to chill out and get comfy and gorgeous.
D-Day – The Set Up
If your event is at home, do any last minute cleaning and freshing up your home may need. Make sure the ambient temperature is cooler than normal–you will be running the oven or stove and you’ll have more people in your home than you usually do.
Start cooling your wine or beer bottles at least 3 hours earlier. Decide if you’d like to play some music and have the playlist ready to go. Set the table, put out the flowers and candles. Get the ambience going.
Also, take a moment to determine the sequence in which you need to reheat, toss or prepare any of the dishes you’re serving. Hopefully you’ve prepared some items ahead of time, make yourself a note of what needs to hit the oven or boiling water when.
Putting it all together
Say you’re serving a green salad, angel hair pasta with meat sauce, bread sticks and warm apple pie. You would make the meat sauce the day before (it will taste WAY better too) and chill it. Make your crust the day before as well. Then the day of, you begin to heat your meat sauce about 20 minutes before guests get there. At the same time you fill a pot with water and put it on the stove over medium low heat to get the water warmed up. The oven goes on after your first guest arrives to bake/reheat the bread sticks. After everyone has said hello, toss your salad greens, throw the bread in the oven and bring up the temperature of the water. Enjoy half your salad, go in the kitchen and throw in the pasta and come back to the table finish that yummy salad.
See? It’s all about being ready and timing the sequence of events. While everyone is eating, you can bake that pie.
Enjoy your labour of love
Pour yourself a tall one, mingle and giggle and enjoy your friends. Stop by on Sunday when my official 24, 24, 24 post will be up.
Cookingly (and entertaingly) yours,
Anamaris
You guessed it, or maybe not. But it’s Wednesday and that’s when I add random-themed shots to Shutterboo’s Flickr Challenge.
I’m miffed with Flickr today. I don’t know what’s happening in their universe, but the site is not working properly.
All in all, I got some shots that were pretty good straight out of the box. Go see’em here.
But first, a tease. Cuz I’m a teaser supreme.
So, Top Chef It Yourself Challenge Round 2 is on. The entries are in and the voting has commenced.
There were some flops and vacations and injuries, so only 4 entries were submitted in time for voting. That isn’t to say these aren’t creme de l’creme type entries. So take a moment to cast your vote for your favorite. Voting will be open from today until February 24th, so do it now!
Do your voting here.
[polldaddy poll=2739853]
You’d think this wasn’t a cooking blog, like I somehow schemed you into believing it was then just stopped cooking. My cooking has been placed o hold by a vicious allergy attack. Injections, inhalers and super harsh antibiotics and I’m back. Sorta.
It’s almost time for the next round of entries to be submitted for the Top Chef It Yourself challenge. For a few days there I thought maybe *I* wasn’t going to submit anything. But I’m here, I cooked, I’m posting.
I selected the ingredients. I should’ve picked something easy, familiar, but nooooo. I had to push myself. Go where no Anamaris had gone before. Glad I did.
But first, let me tell you what I found out about couscous. It’s tricky. I had never cooked it before. It was easy enough to prepare, but someone should warn you that it grows and multiplies like, like… I dunno. Like in the cartoons when they drop a droplet of fertilizer and suddenly a whole backyard is full of grass. Like that. I had beucoup couscous! I used the instant-ish kind, no real cooking required (not that I knew there was a different kind).
See? I started out with 4 cps of water and 2 cps of couscous. NOBODY needs that much couscous!
Then there were dates. My only experience with those was from my mom’s fruit cakes, those are usually rum-soaked and generally not my favorite. I found these Medjool dates at my local Middle Eastern grocer. I wasn’t sure how it was going to turn out, but it worked out quite nicely.
Here’s my entry:
Couscous Fritters with Date & Ginger Sauce
For the fritters:
2 cps water
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tsp salt
1-1/2 cps couscous
1 egg
Sea salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 tbsp Italian parsley, finely chopped
1-2 tbsp olive oil for frying
In a microwaveable bowl, heat water, garlic and salt for about 2 minutes, then stir in the couscous and cook for about 1 more minute. Remove the bowl from the microwave and cover with a plate or plastic wrap and let it sit for 15-20 minutes or so.
Uncover the bowl and fluff the couscous with a fork. Check the seasoning. Allow it to cool before mixing in the egg, parsley, salt & pepper if necessary. It will be a bit sticky, while still seeming dry at this point. Don’t worry, it works out.
Pat the dough into patties, this is easier if your hands are slightly moist. Make them into patties that are 3-4 inches wide and 1/2-in thick. Put them on a tray or plate and cool them in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
Heat a medium-sized skillet and add 1-2 tbsps of oil. Brown the patties on each side, about 2-3 minutes per side if your skillet is over medium high heat.
Date & Ginger Sauce
1 cp dates, peeled and seeded
1/2 cp ginger, coarsely chopped
2 cps water
1/2 tsp sea salt
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper
Add the dates, ginger, water and salt in a small saucepan bring it to a boil over medium high heat. Once it boils, lower temperature to medium, cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Once the dates cook down, it will become thick, like a paste. Turn off the heat and pass the paste through a strainer. I added a bit more water to help the paste strain, about 1/2 cup.
Rinse the saucepan, return the strained paste to it and add the vinegar, oil and pepper. Cook it over medium low heat until it thickens, about 10-15 minutes. I have to say I think I needed to cook my sauce a bit longer to keep the liquids from separating (see photos). All in all, it still tasted awesome!
Serve the sauce alongside the fritters and enjoy. I made this for dinner, it was the side for some pan seared salmon. Can you say Yum!?
The salmon is delicious and OOH so easy. Check out the recipe here.
Cookingly yours,
Anamaris
on Thursday. I know. I’m late with this one and I missed it last week. I’ve been under the weather and last week was crazy busy. But I’m back, baby!
Go check it out.
I know I can’t compare Houston’s cool temps with what some of you have to deal with, but I find myself in love with winter and its antics.
See, I grew up in a Tropical wonderland, all full of green lushness and heat. Vegetation, full trees, mountains, these are things that become commonplace when you see them on a daily basis.
You forget that you’re looking at several shades of green:
Or that a backdrop like this one isn’t unusual.
I guess it makes sense I would be impressed by the exact opposite. Thus, I found myself falling in love with fall and its beautiful colors.
or with winter and its inherent lack thereof
When I moved stateside, the thing I wished for the most was to experience the seasons I had long fantasized about. At the time I didn’t realize Houston would turn out to be a pretty close extension to Panama’s weather. Except there are no lush green mountains, not much lush greeness at all.
So, when we do get hit by Old Man Winter and the temperatures dip into the 30s and there’s frost on the cars when the sun comes up. Or when I have to wear a jacket to go to the mailbox and when the trees are naked and gray, I smile. I giggle. I do a little happy cold dance.
Stay warm.
There I was, mid-Saturday morning and I was watching Ina Garten on the Food Network. She was making desserts. She was making me hungry. As luck would have it, I was scheduled to attend a little get-together that evening and I don’t like showing up empty-handed. The perfect excuse to make that yummy looking lime tart. Yeah, because I needed an excuse.
I think I was drawn to it because it reminded me of a lemon pie my sis would make when we were growing up. Much like Ina’s, my sister’s pie was topped with meringue. I still don’t love meringue. I don’t enjoy the consistency of it. Or the fact that the sugar starts sweating syrupy beads after you put it in the fridge.
The other similarity was a pie crust, except Ina used a sweet pastry. I saw her mix and knead and refrigerate and roll the dough. It wasn’t happening. More work than I wanted to do on a lazy Saturday mid-morning. So, I tweaked and it was a hit. Instead of Ina’s involved pastry, I used the recipe for my favorite sweet crust. I suggest making the filling first, that will allow it to cool before filling the tart shell.
Lime Tart
Crust:
1 stick butter
1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 cup flour
If your butter is soft enough, you can mix this by hand, I ended up putting all of it in the mixer. Combine the butter with confectioners’ sugar, then add flour; mix well. Pat out on tart pan, it may be kind of thin, but don’t worry, it will work out.
Once you’ve spread the dough all the way up the sides of the pan, cut out a piece of foil paper and rub with butter or a bit of oil. Press the greased foil onto the crust, then fill it with baking beads or beans. This is called blind baking; it will prevent the crust from bubbling up because there isn’t filling in it. Bake at 350° for about 15 minutes, or until lightly browned. Remove the foil, prick with a fork a few times and return to the oven for another 5-8 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow it to cool.
Lime filling:
1 stick butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 extra-large eggs
3 extra-large egg yolks
2 tbsp finely grated lime zest (4-6 limes)
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
1/8 teaspoon sea salt
1 tsp almond extract
2 tbsp cornstarch
In your mixer, cream the butter and sugar until it binds together–about 3-4 minutes (I used the egg beater of my Kitchen Aid). Slowly add the eggs and yolks, 1 at a time, and then add the lime zest, lime juice, salt, almond extract and cornstarch. Don’t worry, if it looks curdled, but make sure you’re using a spatula to release any bits that are not picked up by the mixer’s beater.
Pour the mixture into a small saucepan and cook over medium-low heat for 8 to 10 minutes, until thick, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. When it begins to thicken, switch to a wire whisk and cook over low heat for a minute or two, whisking constantly. Don’t allow it to boil! Pour into a bowl, place plastic wrap directly over the filling and cool to room temperature.
Yield: 3 cups
Once the shell and filling have cooled, pour the filling into the tart shell. Top with whipped cream and strawberry coulis, if desired.
For whipped cream: Add 3/4 cp of chilled heavy whipping cream, 1/2 tsp vanilla extract to your mixer’s bowl. Whip at medium high speed and slowly add 3 tbsp white sugar. Beat until soft peaks form. Spread this whipped cream over the top of the filling.
After I covered it with cream, poured about 3/4 cp of strawberry coulis into a baggie, snipped the tip and piped it over the cream in a circular pattern.
Then I used a toothpick to drag the coulis through the cream. I realized I should’ve stayed closer to the surface, I seem to have pushed the toothpick a bit too deep.
It was still pretty. See?
As a kid I was fascinated by Rice-a-Roni. Don’t ask me why, I just was. I think some of it has to do with the allure of the foreign. It was an American product, it had to be good. Bottom line is I liked it, but we couldn’t always find it in Panama so a young, hungry, obssessed Anamaris had to find a way to have it regularly. Yes, regularly. My mom used to fret about the way I would get hooked on food items and would eat little else until I was satiated with it and reached the point where I was physically disgusted by the mere sight of it. Yep, OCD came early on in my life.
So, Rice-A-Roni. I had to make me some and I did and still do and now you can too.
Rice-your-Roni
1/4 cp angel hair pasta, broken & uncooked
2 cps long grain rice
2 tbsp oil
about 1 tbsp chicken bouillion (or your preferred flavor)
3-1/2 cps water
If you have looked around my blog, you probably came across my instructions for plain rice, this one will go pretty much the same way. Make sure you use a medium-sized saucepan with a tight-fitting lid. Ready? Let’s do it.
In the saucepan, heat the oil over medium-high heat. In the meantime, put the rice in a colander and run it under cool tap water to rinse, set aside to drain. Break the pasta noodles into pieces that are about 1/2-inch long and add them to the oil. Keep an eye on them because they will brown VERY quickly, once they do, add the rice. Stir it several times to coat all the grains evenly.
If you’re using bouillion that is a loose powder, add it now. If you’re using a cube, put it a small cup and add a couple tablespoons of hot tap water and dissolve it before adding it to the rice. Now add the water, stir and allow it to cook undisturbed until the liquid dissolves.
Once the water dissolves, reduce the temperature to low and cover with the lid. Allow the rice to steam for about 15 minutes. After that time, fluff it with a fork and serve.
*Note: If you don’t have buillion, you can substitute the water for broth.
Enjoy Your-Roni!
Cookingly yours,
Anamaris
I’ve made some really nice friends out here in the blogosphere. I think it is really interesting how much bigger AND smaller the world has become because of the Internet. Aren’t you amazed to think that this whole thing got started a mere 20 years ago? HOW DID WE EVER SURVIVE?!! I find technological advances baffling.
I digress. A couple of my blogger friends gave me goodies. Goodies with little strings attached to them, but goodies nonetheless. My first goody award came from RedKathy over at The Essence of Womanhood. She gave me the Happy 101 Award. See?
Cool, eh? Good friends give on to others. They share the love and wealth and cupcakes. And so, the rules for this privilege are to
a) copy and display the award on one’s blog.
b) List who gave me the award and link to their blog (you can find Kathy through the linky above or by clicking the award, if you MUST touch it)
c) List 10 things that make me happy, and
d) Pass the award on to other bloggers and visit their blog to let them know.
OK, a & b are done. Now for C = Happy Time
- My sweetheart, Lindsay. It’s never too late when you find a good man.
- All my dear, dear supportive and funny friends.
- My mom and everything she taught me and still does.
- Rice. Yes, it really, really does.
- Coffee and red wine, no particular order.
- Taking pictures, even when I don’t think they’re perfect.
- Cooking for the Hubbs and friends.
- Most dogs.
- This blogging adventure.
- YOU, my dear reader–whoever and wherever you are.
I think I’ll pass this one on to some of the many blogs that make me happy. I’m mixing it up a bit for you: Kitchen Masochist, JB at Purplume, Brooke at Shutterboo, Jen at Sweet Water, and to Jan at Braise, Boil, Bake.
Now the next goody award came from Thas. She gave me the Honest Scrap award… Darn it! I like pretending to be interesting so much more, but I s’pose I’ll oblige her and you.
This one requires I share 10 things, honest-reality-based things I guess, about myself. Then I can pass it on to other foodie bloggers. Doesn’t this remind you of a slam book? Anyway, here goes…
- This blogging thing is both exciting and incredibly stressful…, but I love it!
- I think it sucks that I never worried about aging because 40 seemed like a long-shot. Joke’s on me!
- I am secretly addicted to Housewives of Atlanta. There. That monkey is off my back, maybe I can give it up now.
- I can’t properly say the words: graduation, hurricane and was mispronouncing the heck out of Chevy. It’s a Latin thing. I hope.
- I want another dog, but I’m too selfish to commit to one.
- I can’t remember the last time I did anything even remotely associated with exercise.
- When I was 15 and still living in Panama, I stormed out crying during a game of charades when it was my turn to be an armadillo. I didn’t know what one was. Stupidest game EVAH!
- If any of my favorite Latin beats come on while I’m driving… I dance in my seat.
- One day I want to sell my photographs.
- I love it when it’s cold, well, Houston cold. Then I love complaining that it is.
Whew! That was fun in a weird-high pressure kinda way. Now…, who will I bestow the bloggers version of a chain letter to????
I’ll send to a few people I’m dying to know more about.
- Kate at YAWYEOR, she includes what she calls White Trash recipes, so she’s a foodie too.
- RedKathy, because she knows what’s the Essence of Womanhood and I’m dying to find out.
- Casey all the way in Bulgaria.
- Masochist, sorry for the double hit, but you intrigue me!
- Michelle with her 5Forks, because I know we like the same dish towels and cocktail, I’m dying to know what else we have in common.
How ’bout that? I finished!
