Bucatini Carbonara

Bucatini Carbonara
as found on The Kitchen Sink

Ingredients:

1/2 pound bucatini (I used a fine linguini)
2 ounces pancetta, finely diced
1 leek, trimmed and sliced in half moons
1 egg, plus 1 egg per serving (i.e. if you’re serving two, you’ll need 3 eggs)
1/3 cup freshly grated parmigano-reggiano
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
splash of vinegar

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook the bucatini until almost al dente.

Meanwhile, heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the pancetta to skillet and cook until slightly browned. Add the sliced leek and cook for a minute until the leek is softened. Transfer the leek-pancetta mixture to a large bowl.

In a medium bowl, whisk together 1 egg, cheese, and pepper.

Once the pasta is almost al dente, transfer it to the large bowl holding the pancetta and leek. Reserve the pasta water and hold it at a simmer. Add a splash of vinegar to the water and crack the remaining eggs into small cups. Then gently pour the racked eggs into the simmering water. For a runny egg, cook the eggs for 2 to 3 minutes and remove carefully with a slotted spoon.

Whisk a tablespoon or so of the reserved pasta water, in a slow stream, into the egg mixture. Add the egg mixture to the bowl holding the pasta and pancetta-leek mixture. Toss for several minutes, until the sauce is thick and creamy.

Serve the pasta in bowls and top each bowl with a poached egg and, if desired, more freshly cracked black pepper. Serves 2-4.

Quick Fix Fried Rice

As all good Asians should know, fried rice is meant to be made with cold, day-old rice to give it the right texture. Making it with hot, freshly cooked rice is a different dish altogether (a much more delicious one).

I'm generally opposed to fried rice, but there are those desperate days when you simply cannot face another item off the McDonald's dollar menu.



For a quick fix:
2 cups of short grain rice (the sticky kind), hot or cold, new or old, definitely cooked
6-8 pieces of bacon
2 stems of scallions, finely sliced
3 eggs, beaten with a dash of milk
sesame oil
soy sauce
fish sauce

... i think it's pretty obvious where i'm going with this.

Cook the bacon over high heat til nice and crispy. Remove bacon and de-grease between paper towels. Crumble into bits.

Pour out the bacon grease, but reserve a little in the pan to cook with. Add the white part of the scallion in and cook over medium heat for 20-30 seconds. Add the eggs in and scramble until tender but not quite solid.

Add the remaining scallion and the bacon into the pan and stir appropriately. Add in cooked rice and mix thoroughly (if using old rice, it might help to add in a little bit of water to break the giant rice rocks up).

Season to taste with sesame oil, soy sauce and fish sauce. (i'd guess 1 tbsp sesame oil, 2 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tsp fish sauce).

Good variants: a diced tomato, sriracha.

Maple-Roasted Turkey with Sage Butter

Let it be known that I trussed and cooked my first turkey, Thanksgiving 2008, and it turned out to be honestly the best turkey I've ever had. This is not quite as impressive as it sounds, since my family is one of those that usually opts out of the whole dinner thing. We went to Marie Callender's last year. But all that is beside the point. This recipe really does make a moist (and I don't use that word lightly; it's on a short list of words I find very distasteful) and flavorful turkey. It would have been great for some cold turkey sandwiches, had my family spared me any leftovers at all.

(Recipe from Tyler Florence)...put it in your pocket for next year.

Ingredients:
1 sticks unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1/4 bunch fresh sage, finely chopped
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 (12 to 14-pound) fresh turkey, giblets, neck, and liver discarded
8 strips bacon
1/2 cup maple syrup
2 tablespoons hot water

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and remove the top rack of the oven.

Put the butter and sage in a mixing bowl and mash with a fork or spoon until the sage is well incorporated. Season with salt and pepper.

Rinse the bird thoroughly inside and out with cold water, and pat dry with paper towels.

Sprinkle the cavity and skin liberally with salt and pepper. Using your fingers, gently lift the skin from the turkey breast and slip the remaining seasoned butter under, massaging the breast meat as you go (It sounds unpleasant, but I found it to be a oddly soothing experience). Truss the bird by crossing the legs over one another and tying with a piece of kitchen twine. Shingle the bacon strips over the breast so it's totally covered.

Put the turkey on a rack in a large roasting pan, cover the turkey with aluminium foil, and place in the oven.

In a small bowl, stir the maple syrup with 2 tablespoons of hot water to thin. Roast the turkey for 2 hours, basting with the maple glaze every 30 minutes. Continue cooking until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the meaty part of the thigh registers 170 degrees F. The thigh juices will run clear when pricked with a knife, about 3-4 hours total.

About 1/2 hour before you think the turkey is done, remove the foil so that it can brown. When done take the turkey out of the oven and put the roasting pan on the stovetop. Transfer the turkey to a serving tray to rest at least 20 minutes before carving.

Why don't kids like brussel sprouts?

I was flipping through the vegetable section of my first cookbook when I landed on the section about brussel sprouts, and realized that I've never eaten them before. I've always assumed that that I hate them, based on the propaganda of children's books and television, but today I came to the startling realization that what I've always thought are brussel sprouts are, in fact, alfalfa sprouts (which i actually do hate) and that brussel sprouts are DELICIOUS.

I went to the market immediately and bought some because I think they're adorable. Like mini-cabbages. and well... because i've never had them before. Maybe my priorities are backwards.

so good. what is this myth that sprouts are terrible and children hate them?

My cookbook called this a "wilted salad", which sounds both exotic and repulsive at the same time, but regardless, a delicious way to eat sprouts:

Pull the leaves off of the individual heads and saute them with a couple slices of bacon and a little bit of rice vinegar.


surprisingly good, but without the surprise, because everything + bacon = gr8.

Potato Leek Soup with Bacon

(recipe by Emeril.)

Ingredients:
2 small leeks
2 bay leaves
20 peppercorns
4 sprigs fresh thyme
2 tbsp butter
2 strips bacon, chopped
1/2 cup dry white wine
5 cups chicken stock
1 - 1.25 pounds russet potatoes, diced
1 teaspoons salt
3/4 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 to 3/4 cup creme fraiche or heavy cream
2 tbsp snipped chives


Trim the green portions of the leek and, using 2 of the largest and longest leaves, make a bouquet garni by folding the 2 leaves around the bay leaves, peppercorns and thyme. Tie into a package-shaped bundle with kitchen twine and set aside. (Alternately, tie 2 leek leaves, bay leaves, peppercorns and thyme together in a piece of cheesecloth.)


Using a sharp knife, halve the white part of the leek lengthwise and rinse well under cold running water to rid the leek of any sand. Slice thinly crosswise and set aside.



In a large soup pot over medium heat, melt the butter and add the bacon. Cook for 5 to 6 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the bacon is very soft and has rendered most of its fat. Add the chopped leeks and cook until wilted, about 5 minutes. Add the wine and bring to a boil. Add the reserved bouquet garni, chicken stock, potatoes, salt and white pepper, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes, or until the potatoes are falling apart and the soup is very flavorful.


Remove the bouquet garni and, working in batches, puree the soup in a food processor or blender. (Alternately, if you own an immersion blender, puree the soup directly in the pot.) Stir in the creme fraiche and adjust the seasoning, if necessary. Serve immediately, with some of the snipped chives sprinkled over the top of each bowl of soup.

Suggestion: You can also make croutons easily by cutting up a few slices of bread (I used rosemary olive oil, and they turned out amaaaazing) into cubes, and pan-frying them over medium low heat in a small saute pan with 2 tablespoons of butter.