FOOD!!!

Not My Real Name

Not My Real Name

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Son of a Sailor said:
If you like bacon with pasta, this recipe for carbonara from my Italian father-in-law is really good. He says it is more of a peasant dish than the version you get with heavy cream and peas. I've made this with thick cut peppered bacon instead of prosciutto and it is really good as well.

1 pound dry spaghetti
1 large onion finely chopped

4 fresh large eggs
8 ounces prosciutto 
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
1/2 cup freshly grated Pecorino

Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Freshly cracked black pepper
Sea salt

Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add a generous amount of olive oil to the skillet (there should be about 1/8 to ¼ inch in the pan) and add the onion and sauté until completely softened. Add the prosciutto and saute until prosciutto is cooked through (I like to cook until the prosciutto is starting to crisp). Turn the heat to low.

When you put the onions on to saute bring about 6 quarts of generously salted water (it should taste like the ocean) to a boil, add the spaghetti and cook for 8-10 minutes or until al dente.

In a bowl whisk the eggs and the cheeses until well-combined.

This is the part of this dish that is a bit tricky and should be done fairly quickly so the pasta does not cool off as the residual heat in the pasta is needed to cook the eggs. When the pasta is done, drain and reserve a ½ cup of the cooking liquid. Leave pasta in colander. Add all the contents of the skillet (onions, prosciutto, and olive oil) into the pot that pasta was boiled in, then add in the pasta and place over low heat. Toss to combine all ingredients and heat through for a few seconds. If the pasta appears too dry add some EVOO and heat through.

Remove pot from the heat and slowly add the egg mixture to the pot stirring quickly until the eggs are incorporated into the pasta (stir quickly to prevent the eggs from scrambling . . . some actually prefer to let the eggs scramble a bit). Add about half of the grated cheeses and toss some more. If the sauce seems too thick, thin it out with some EVOO or some of the reserved water.

Season liberally with freshly cracked black pepper and additional grated cheese to taste.
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Made a decent carbonara for dinner tonight. I use cream, bacon, egg, and a crap ton of garlic. No onion or peas. We had parmesan on hand, though I prefer to use romano it's not always available.

For about a pound of pasta, I cut up up to a pound of bacon (250-330 grams is a typical size package, but it's tough to have too much bacon in anything) into small pieces and fry it up. Mix 6-8 oz cooking cream in a bowl with enough shredded/grated cheese to make it thick. When the bacon is almost crispy* add 6-7 cloves of finely minced garlic, cook it a bit until the gralic starts to change color. At the cream & cheese mix right into the pan with the bacon and fat*, stir until the cheese melts into a sauce. Throw the cooked spaghetti in and toss it to cover it well with the sauce. Dig deep to stir up the bacon, tends to clump on the bottom. Add 3-4 beaten eggs and keep tossing and mixing until the eggs dry up a bit and it looks less wet. Sprinkle with some more parm/romano right before serving.

It doesn't seem to need any extra salt or pepper.

* IMPORTANT - American ("streaky") bacon is a bit fatty for this. If you are using American bacon, you'll probably want to drain off some of the grease (but not all, you want some in the sauce). Most of the bacon we've used over the last few years has been leaner center cut or rasher bacon, or if you're fortunate enough to be in a French country, "Lardons", none of which produce anywhere near the grease American style bacon does. It can make it too greasy if you don't pour a bit off.

 
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Not My Real Name

Not My Real Name

Not Actually Me
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I also did a good chicken piccata this month. Also simple but good. You'll need a couple of chicken breasts, flour, butter, lemon juice, white wine and capers.

I prefer to mash chicken breasts with my hand on a cutting board and slice them horizontally in thin slices over pounding it thin. WAY thinner than the slices in that link BTW. You need a sharp knife and a careful hand, but if you do it right it's very thin and fork-tender. And you can't over-pound it and make holes, it takes less time, and doesn't splatter chicken bits all over the place.

Slice (or pound thin if you must...) pieces of chicken breast. Flour lightly, shake off the extra flour. In a hot pan, melt butter and brown up the breast cutlets. Put a plate in the oven, and put the oven on warm. It's going to take a few rounds of browning to do all the chicken, so stack the pieces up on the hot pan in the oven while you do them all. You may need to add more butter to the pan between batches.

When the chicken is done, add about 1/3 cup of lemon juice and 1/3 cup dry white wine to the hot pan. Also pour in the dripping and collected juices from the chicken plate. Cook the sauce a couple of minutes, while stirring and scraping the sides of the pan to get all the stuff into the sauce. Add capers to the sauce, and dump the sauce and capers all over the plate full of still-hot chicken.

 
On The Hard

On The Hard

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B.J. Porter said:
I also did a good chicken piccata this month. Also simple but good. You'll need a couple of chicken breasts, flour, butter, lemon juice, white wine and capers.

I prefer to mash chicken breasts with my hand on a cutting board and slice them horizontally in thin slices over pounding it thin. WAY thinner than the slices in that link BTW. You need a sharp knife and a careful hand, but if you do it right it's very thin and fork-tender. And you can't over-pound it and make holes, it takes less time, and doesn't splatter chicken bits all over the place.

Slice (or pound thin if you must...) pieces of chicken breast. Flour lightly, shake off the extra flour. In a hot pan, melt butter and brown up the breast cutlets. Put a plate in the oven, and put the oven on warm. It's going to take a few rounds of browning to do all the chicken, so stack the pieces up on the hot pan in the oven while you do them all. You may need to add more butter to the pan between batches.

When the chicken is done, add about 1/3 cup of lemon juice and 1/3 cup dry white wine to the hot pan. Also pour in the dripping and collected juices from the chicken plate. Cook the sauce a couple of minutes, while stirring and scraping the sides of the pan to get all the stuff into the sauce. Add capers to the sauce, and dump the sauce and capers all over the plate full of still-hot chicken.
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I love a good Chicken Piccata

 
On The Hard

On The Hard

Super Anarchist
3,530
422
San Antonio
I made a meatloaf in an Instant Pot this weekend. Very bland. I can't imagine why it had such good reviews.  Oh well, back to the drawing board.

Has anybody found any good instant pot recipes?

 
P

P_Wop

Super Anarchist
6,370
3,284
Bay Area, CA
B.J. Porter said:
I also did a good chicken piccata this month. Also simple but good. You'll need a couple of chicken breasts, flour, butter, lemon juice, white wine and capers.

I prefer to mash chicken breasts with my hand on a cutting board and slice them horizontally in thin slices over pounding it thin. WAY thinner than the slices in that link BTW. You need a sharp knife and a careful hand, but if you do it right it's very thin and fork-tender. And you can't over-pound it and make holes, it takes less time, and doesn't splatter chicken bits all over the place.

Slice (or pound thin if you must...) pieces of chicken breast. Flour lightly, shake off the extra flour. In a hot pan, melt butter and brown up the breast cutlets. Put a plate in the oven, and put the oven on warm. It's going to take a few rounds of browning to do all the chicken, so stack the pieces up on the hot pan in the oven while you do them all. You may need to add more butter to the pan between batches.

When the chicken is done, add about 1/3 cup of lemon juice and 1/3 cup dry white wine to the hot pan. Also pour in the dripping and collected juices from the chicken plate. Cook the sauce a couple of minutes, while stirring and scraping the sides of the pan to get all the stuff into the sauce. Add capers to the sauce, and dump the sauce and capers all over the plate full of still-hot chicken.
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I like the cut vs pounded every time, particularly with a big chook.

Instead of just flour, try a 3-way mix.  Flour them, then dip them in a beaten egg/water mix, and then into panko (Trader Joes have it) seasoned with garlic powder.  

Then do exactly as you say.  

Mmmmm....

 
Not My Real Name

Not My Real Name

Not Actually Me
42,883
2,732
P_Wop said:
I like the cut vs pounded every time, particularly with a big chook.

Instead of just flour, try a 3-way mix.  Flour them, then dip them in a beaten egg/water mix, and then into panko (Trader Joes have it) seasoned with garlic powder.  

Then do exactly as you say.  

Mmmmm....
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A bound breading seems like an entirely different thing than a simple flour and saute, and the garlic would change it. Probably good, too.

We do bound breading for some things (e.g. chicken parm), though don't generally use panko crumbs.

 
J

Jean123

New member
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1
USA
VWAP said:
1450282937893.jpeg


https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ree-drummond/tofu-lettuce-wraps-3198061
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This looks healthy and delicious. :)

 
austin1972

austin1972

Super Anarchist
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I've been into omelettes lately. Farm fresh eggs, melting cheese like chihuahua cheese, baby portabellas, Canadian bacon and sweet onion. And butter.

Start by heating an iron skillet on medium low. Melt the butter (use good salted butter).

Throw the onions in and before they turn translucent, throw in the mushrooms. After a bit, you can add a little red wine if you like and deglaze it as you throw in the Canadian bacon.

Put that shit to the side when mostly cooked and add more butter to the pan. I should have said that while all of this is happening, you should be whisking your eggs.

Once your fluffy omelette is setting, put in the cheese, onions,Canadian bacon and mushrooms. Fold and finish.

Yum.

 
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R

Rum Runner

Rum Runner
5,276
292
Illinois
Did a great mushroom barley soup from America's Test Kitchen cookbook. I love their recipes because they are well tested and easy to repeat. 

While I generally prefer some meat in my soup this one has enough stuff to chew on that it almost seems like meat.

 
Snaggletooth

Snaggletooth

Morrelle Compasse
32,228
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QBF said:
Because I made it. My family comes from the Azores, and I used an old Portuguese recipe when I made it.
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Plesae sharre it, I licke to backe alle kindes diffrent breades.                                      :)             

 
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