Spaghetti Carbonara

We’re winding down our time here in Venezuela and need to clear out our freezer.  After a month drought with only the prepackaged inferior more expensive bacon available, good bacon returned to the deli of our favorite grocery store.  I saw some in at the store and picked up enough to last us for the remaining weeks.  Then a little later Reada went to the store and stocked up as well; so we have about 2lbs of bacon to get rid of before we leave in under 3 weeks.

Spaghetti Carbonara was always my favorite lunch special at a little Italian restaurant.  Although they used pancetta instead of bacon, they also added artichoke hearts, and on Wednesdays it came with shrimp mixed in the tasty concoction.  Now because I could get dish at Napoli’s for under $5.00 with a salad and a drink I never thought about making it myself.

A few months ago, I stumbled across a recipe for a Spaghetti Carbonara on delish.com thanks to a link from msn.com.  After a little research and experimentation I worked out a recipe that would work here. They also had mushrooms at the store, so I decided to throw them in the mixture as well.  Feel free to leave them out if you’re not a fan of the fungus!

Spaghetti Carbonara with Mushrooms

1 package spaghetti noodles

8 slices of bacon (cut into ½ inch pieces)

4 cloves of garlic (minced)

1 small onion chopped

½ lb mushrooms (sliced) – baby bellas or button

3 eggs (at room temperature)

¾ cup grated parmesan cheese (at room temperature)

¼ cup heavy cream (at room temperature)

¼ cup milk (at room temperature)

Black pepper and salt to taste

Process:

In a heavy skillet; sauté bacon until it is about ½ way cooked (2 minutes)

Add onions and sauté until they begin to become translucent.

Add mushrooms and sauté until most of the liquid is cooked out of them

Add garlic and sauté for an additional minute

Set to the side

                             

In mixing bowl combine eggs, cheese, cream, and milk blend thoroughly and set to the side.

Cook your spaghetti following the instructions on the packet.

When the spaghetti is cooked, slowly whisk in a couple of pieces into the egg and cheese mixture.  (This raises the temperature and cooks the eggs and keeps them from scrambling.)  

Once about ½ of the pasta has been added, add the bacon and mushroom mixture then blend it all together in the original pot used to cook the pasta. 

Serve immediately.

Tonight I paired the pasta with parmesan garlic bread and the pan seared chicken breast that I made with the mushroom Alfredo on May 30^th.

Enjoy!

Black Eyed Peas

One thing that we never seem to have a shortage of here in Venezuela are dried legumes.  I swear that I’ve made more different types of beans this past year than I ever have before.  We were invited to a BBQ at friend’s house this past weekend.  They were providing the meat, so I decided that some black eyed peas might just make a good accompaniment to the grilled meat.

Now, for many of my friends just the thought of black eyed peas would conjure up memories of burnt fingers on New Year’s Day.   But they actually can be quite tasty if you don’t have a negative association with them.

Black Eyed Peas

Ingredients;

1 kilo dried black eyed peas

4 slices if bacon (chopped into ¼ pieces

1 large white onion

1 bell pepper

3 – 4 cups water or chicken stock

1 tablespoon garlic powder

2 teaspoons black pepper

1 teaspoon salt

1 cube of chicken bouillon (if you don’t have chicken stock)

Process:

Wash the black eyed peas thoroughly – I found sticks, rocks, and dirt clods in this bag.

Put the beans in a large bowl and cover with 2 inches of water.  Place in refrigerator and allow to soak overnight.

Take the peas out of the refrigerator and drain the water, if there is dirt and grime in soaking water be sure to rinse the peas once more

In a large pot, cook the bacon until the fat begins to turn translucent. 

Drain the excess fat and add the onions, sauté for 2 minutes, then add the bell pepper and sauté for an additional 2 minutes.

Add beans, liquid (water with chicken bullion or chicken stock), and spices.

Bring to a boil.

Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 2 hours or until the peas are tender.

Serve with your favorite hot sauce and enjoy! 

Chicken Tenders and Honey Mustard!

It’s been a long week, so I decided to keep it simple and get rid of some of the things that we stockpiled over the past year.   You see, certain items become scarce throughout the year here.  Oil, sugar, mayonnaise, toilet paper, mustard, milk and coffee are just a few of the items that disappear for months at a time.  Because of this when you see one of these items in the store you tend to stock up.  These are all items that are price regulated by the government, so when you stock up you really aren’t spending much, and you start to feel prepared.  Since we will be leaving Venezuela in 4 weeks we need to do our best to get rid of as much of our stock pile as possible.

We have about 6 bottles of vegetable oil built up so I figured that a little frying would be in order!

Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce

½ cup mayonnaise

¼ cup of your favorite mustard (I used French’s Deli Style)

¼ cup honey

1 teaspoon garlic powder

Process:

Mix all ingredients in a bowl and blend thoroughly.

Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.

Chicken Tenders

½ pound chicken breast (cut into strips)

2 cups cooking oil

1 egg

2 tablespoons milk

1 cup white flour

1 tablespoon Cajun seasoning

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon black pepper

Process:

In a heavy and deep pan or pot heat the oil over medium high heat.  Slice the chicken breast into strips

In a bowl whisk the egg and milk together to create an egg wash.

In a deep dish combine the flour and the spices, mix thoroughly.

Dredge the chicken strips in the flour, thoroughly coating

Dip the chicken strips in the egg wash

Then dredge the chicken strips in the flour and spice mixture one more time.  Shake off the excess flour and place the tenders in the hot oil.

Fry until golden brown on the first side (3 minutes)

Flip the tender and fry for an additional 2 minutes until golden brown.

Take out of the oil and place on a rack to keep the tenders crisp and allow the excess oil to drip away.

Serve as soon as possible with your favorite dipping sauces and vegetables!

Here is a shot of Miss Lina's dinner.  Grilled chicken, steamed broccoli, Edam cheese, and a little bit of pancake.  For desert she had some watermelon and papaya! 

Enjoy!

Mother's Day

So for Reada’s second Mother’s day as a mother I have decided to make brunch.  I’m going to make a French toast casserole, and I’m going to attempt to recreate her favorite omelet from the 59 Diner, the Idaho Omelet.

French Toast Casserole

Butter

1 Loaf of French bread (cut into 1 inch cubes)

8 eggs

1 ½ cups of milk

1 ½ teaspoons Vanilla extract

¼ teaspoon salt

½ cup sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon nutmeg

Process:

Use butter to grease a 9x9 baking dish. 

Place the chopped bread in the dish in layers. 

For each layer sprinkle a cinnamon and nutmeg on the bread.

In mixing bowl combine the eggs, vanilla, and milk. 

Pour the egg mixture over the bread and place in the refrigerator overnight.

Preheat the oven the 350°

Sprinkle the top of the casserole with additional sugar and cinnamon, also place pats of butter on top of the casserole.  Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 1 hour.

Serve plain or for the sweet tooth with maple syrup.

Ode to 59 Diner's Idaho Omelet

Filling

3 slices of bacon chopped into ½ inch pieces

½ cup minced potato

¼ cup chopped green onions

Process:

Cook the bacon pieces over medium heat until they begin to brown.  Pour off the bacon drippings and reserve for later use.

Add the potatoes to the pan and continue cooking until the potatoes are tender

Add the green onions and cook for an additional 1 minute

Omelet

3 eggs

¼ cup of milk

Pinch of salt

Pinch pepper

Two Slices of your favorite cheese (I used Edam)

¼ chopped green onions

Process:

In mixing bowl combine all ingredients except cheese and onions.  Whisk until the mixture becomes well incorporated.

Heat a pan on medium high heat.  Add the reserved bacon drippings (you can use olive oil if you don’t have bacon grease.)

Once the pan is hot, and there is a layer of oil on the bottom of the pan, add the egg mixture.  Turn down heat to medium and allow the egg the cook.  Once the top of the egg is looking close to becoming solid, add the filling to half of the omelet, also add 1 slice of cheese.  Fold the egg over once, creating an egg pocket for all your goodness.  Place a slice of cheese on top of the omelet and allow it to melt. 

Take the omelet from the pan and place on a plate, top with green onions.

Serve with sour cream and your favorite hot sauce.

Enjoy!