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16779. alistairconnor - 9/27/2005 4:59:41 PM I stick to the smallest possible shops which are compatible with what I need. In theory, this means I'm wasting money, because the stuff is more expensive, but in practice I'm saving money by buying stuff I don't need... but it's mostly the time problem. Minimum an hour to get into the hypermarket and out again, even if you only want two things...
I noticed the other day that my smallish, localish supermarket now has everyday items like stacks of 25 CDRs and HP ink cartridges. One less reason to waste time in town.
And now I'm off to pick up my g-f and take her home to my place...
oh bugger what am I going to make her for dinner? 16780. Ms. No - 9/27/2005 5:15:25 PM Carbonara
16781. Ms. No - 9/27/2005 5:22:27 PM It's fast, it's easy, and it's kind of gourmet batchelor dad food: Pasta with bacon and eggs. 16782. Magoseph - 9/27/2005 5:32:59 PM That's something I can make for Flexy--even me can't mess up with this recipe.
Pasta Carbonara
Ingredients
1/4 pound bacon
Cube of butter (1/2 cup)
1 cup milk
2 Tablespoons wine vinegar
Favorite pasta
2 eggs, whipped
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
Cut bacon up into little pieces and cook until clear in a cube of butter. Heat milk in a small saucepan and add the bacon and butter. Add wine vinegar. This will turn the milk to cheese. Simmer for about 15 minutes until the sauce cooks smooth.
Boil your favorite pasta. Drain and return to the pan. Immediately throw in eggs, the above sauce, and Parmesan or Romano cheese. Season with salt and pepper, toss and serve. 16784. PelleNilsson - 9/27/2005 5:40:38 PM Pushed thw wrong button. While I'm here a small tip. It is unnecessary to use butter to fry bacon which already contains fat. Put the pieces in a cold pan and then set to first low, then medium heat. The fat will melt out so the pieces won't stick 16785. Ms. No - 9/27/2005 5:41:35 PM Here's another one:
4-6 strips of bacon
1 clove garlic
1/3 cup cream
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2/3 cup grated parmesan or romano
white pepper to taste
Cook the bacon with the garlic (sliced) until the bacon is the crispness you desire.
Remove garlic and drain off all but 2tbl of the bacon grease. Set aside and allow to cool slightly.
Beat egg and yolk and add about 1/2 the cheese.
Pour cream into pan and return to heat.
Add cooked noodles --- did I mention you should've been boiling the noodles all this time? No? Well you should.
Stir noodles to coat and then add the egg & cheese mixture and keep on heat until egg is cooked. Sprinkle with white pepper and remaining cheese and serve. 16786. thoughtful - 9/27/2005 5:59:01 PM carbonara? I'd have indigestion all night.
The other night I made a very quick dinner...grilled up some boneless skinless chick breasts, sauted up onion, red pepper and garlic in olive oil, cooked up some instant brown rice and serve, putting the chick breast on the rice and topping all with the sauteed veggies...very sweet, very tasty, very quick, very healthy. 16787. judithathome - 9/27/2005 6:04:57 PM But Pelle, the butter for cooking the bacon improves the sauce later...at least in my experience. 16788. Ms. No - 9/27/2005 7:20:00 PM Ah, Brotherman -- this is the younger boy, just turned 1 earlier this month and has a mouthful of teeth. And yes, he's nearly always smiling. I love his little fishing hat.
Leave it to his Auntie to teach him something truly annoying. Right around his first birthday I was playing with him and we got caught in a rather loud sort of call and response game. He screams "Gaaahrrr!!!" and I squeal back at him. He will play this until everyone around us is ready to kill.
So, now every time he sees me he screams "Gaaaahrrr!!!" and I have to squeal back or he's disappointed. I'm quite heartened that he actually recognizes me since I really don't see him all that often.
I called my brother last night while he was feeding Brotherman and Zo says "Maddox, it's Auntie C!" and he immediately yelled "Gaaaahrrr!"
I swear it brought a tear of joy to my eye. That kid is so cute! 16789. PelleNilsson - 9/27/2005 7:27:24 PM Of course, judith, if you want to add butter for the taste, that's OK. But many people do it to prevent the bacon from sticking to the pan. 16790. arkymalarky - 9/27/2005 10:30:54 PM What a precious little doll, No! 16791. Magoseph - 9/28/2005 12:05:16 AM Yes. he is cute and smart too--I love his blue eyes. I bet they're huge when he is not smiling. 16792. alistairconnor - 9/28/2005 9:04:55 AM Actually, I had foreseen what to cook for dinner, then forgotten it.
Potimarron tart :
Select an appropriately-sized potimarron, and wash it carefully. Cut it in half, scoop out the seeds and pulp, cut it radially into one-inch slices (OK, cut it any way you like, it makes no difference except for the feng shui). Steam it.
Cut up an onion or a few shallots, chuck them in to steam too. Light the oven. Serve the aperitif.
Make the pastry. (OK, I confess, roll out the ready-made pastry from the supermarket.) Fry up some cubed smoked tofu with a diced shallot (OK, this is optional, but don't use bacon or whatever instead, that would overpower the delicate flavour of the dish). Throw it on the pastry in the pie dish. Put the steamed mush in the blender, add three or four eggs and some cream, salt, pepper. Pour the result into the pie dish, throw a few handfuls of grated cheese on top, into the oven. Repair to the terrace for a cigarette.
Realise half an hour later that it's not cooking very fast, in fact the gas bottle is finally conking out, and yes the reserve bottle's empty too, and the village shop, yes, is shut. Shake the bottle desperately, that gives a final few minutes of flame, then poof...
The pastry is soft, it's not browned on top, but it's edible. All things considered, a credible effort, though close to disaster. 16793. Magoseph - 9/28/2005 1:21:35 PM I had to look up potimarron. I knew it was some kind of courges. I found out it was considered l’oscar des legumes.
Ali, this is quite a dish for a bachelor to make, in my opinion. 16794. alistairconnor - 9/28/2005 1:46:53 PM So, what's the English name for it, Mago? I got quite a successful crop this year, about 15 meal-sized ones.
I am perfectly spoiled for pumpkin etc, it all tastes boring to me after potimarron.
I guess it's a portmanteau word : potiron + marron, pumpkin and chestnut, which gives some idea of the taste. 16795. marjoribanks - 9/28/2005 4:51:48 PM I liked Connor's metrosexual-slash-hobo culinary chic, that potimarron pie has style going for it.
--
The spaghetti carbonara recipes shared above are all for the Yankified gooey, creamy, semi-inedible version of what is a noble, rustic, Italian family staple. A version of this conversation has been held here before, many times, so it might be best just to recount a quick, rough, version that should please any palette (that's the great thing about carbonara).
The biggest and most common error made in the preparation of this dish is the same with scarily the majority of Italian food prepared in the USA - the pasta is overdone. It is essential for all pasta dishes, and especially this one, that the strands be individually perfect and al dente, it's so easy to do and makes such a difference.
Work out proportions depending on the amount of pancetta you use, regular bacon is a distinct second. Fry up strips of the pancetta while your pasta (it has to be strands) is getting ready. Drain the pasta when it's slightly underdone, and add it back to the empty pot, and stir in the pancetta, beaten egg(s), finely grated pecorino cheese, and a ton of black pepper. No heat, the pasta's retained heat will cook the egg.
That's it.
Made properly, it's one of the best, most universally loved, family dishes you can make.
16796. alistairconnor - 9/28/2005 5:11:36 PM metrosexual-slash-hobo ... waaarf. 16797. Ms. No - 9/28/2005 5:19:10 PM Mags,
Yes, he's got big blue eyes just like his brother did at this age. Paxton's have changed a bit in the last year. I think they'll end up green like his dad's.
I've no idea what Maddox's eyes will do since both my brother and Jessica have green eyes. 16798. marjoribanks - 9/28/2005 5:34:29 PM Extra whole-earth-type brownie points for growing that gourd yourself, AC.
But that kind of thing cuts both ways. On the one hand, you might get the impression that the host is a natural man even in these plastic times, a person from whom life springs and cavorts, whose fingers unleash great bounty. It implies tenacity, foresight, the grand providing instinct.
Then also, there's a Unabomber, holed-up-in-a-wooden-shack-mumbling-incoherently vibe to any man who knowingly grows a gourd like that, and, further, knows how to clean and cook it. One might suspect derangement in a minor key, possibly paired with a pack-rat garbage-hoarding instinct and unwillingness to change socks or bathe.
As I said, could go either way. 16799. Magoseph - 9/28/2005 7:43:52 PM We lost our telephone line just after I posted this morning--the whole area was out until now. Some construction workers cut a wire. There are signs all over here warning not to dig unless you have permission from the telephone company.
Ali, it's called squash.
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