Spaghetti Carbonara

This is generally a good thing to know how to make. I like to use Parmesan Reggiano here. You can decrease the amount of garlic. I use a lot because Yong likes it.

Ingredients:
1 pound spaghetti
1 tablespoon olive oil
8 slices bacon, diced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup dry white wine
3 eggs
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:
1. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook spaghetti pasta until al dente. Drain well. Toss with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, and set aside.

2. Meanwhile in a large skillet, cook bacon until slightly crisp; remove and drain onto paper towels. Chop into tiny pieces. Reserve 2 tablespoons of bacon fat; add remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil, and heat in reused large skillet.

3. Add chopped onion, and cook over medium heat until onion is translucent. Add minced garlic, and cook 1 minute more. Add wine; cook one more minute.


4. Return cooked bacon to pan; add cooked and drained spaghetti. Toss to coat and heat through, adding more olive oil if it seems dry or is sticking together.


5. Add beaten eggs to grated parmesan. Pour onto spaghetti and toss consistently.



6. Serve immediately with chopped parsley sprinkled on top, and extra Parmesan cheese at table.

Braised Pork Shoulder

I got this recipe from the Food Network website, but it's reliable and delicious. I made it for New Year's at my Grandmother's house. She really went all out with baking cookies and a big ham for Xmas dinner so it was the least I could do to make this for dinner. I have used the recipe in the past and it always comes out nicely. We used a very lean loin cut at her house which came out delicious but I'm using the boneless pork shoulder in these photos. Either way is good, I just got the shoulder on sale.

The only thing I would do differently: add more carrots, larger chunks. I also added these tiny fingerling potatoes. Any root vegetable becomes delicious when braised with pork but it also becomes 50% original size. I have a parsley plant. Instead of using up a bunch of leaves just to get the stems I cut this huge stalk that sprang up in the middle and chucked it in. I think the stems could be omitted if you don't happen to have them.

Ingredients:
2 pounds pork shoulder, cut into 6 large chunks
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 carrot, chopped (I would use 3 large carrots or even a bag of baby carrots)
1 clove garlic, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup red wine
1 1/2 cups beef stock or broth
1 bunch parsley stems, tied with string (Ok to omit unless you happen to have it)
2 bay leaves
1 cup water

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

2. Pat the pork dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper.

3. In a large Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat, and working in batches brown the meat on all sides until a golden crust forms. Transfer the pork to a plate.




4. To the pan add the onion, celery, and carrot and sweat until softened, 5 to 7 minutes.



5. Add the garlic and sweat another 2 minutes.

6. Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 3 minutes to cook off the raw flavor and caramelize it.

7. Sprinkle with the flour and cook another 2 minutes to cook off its raw flavor.


8. Whisk in the wine and reduce it by half.

9. Return the pork to the Dutch oven, then stir in the beef stock, parsley stems, and bay leaves. Add the water if liquid does not come up to the top of the pork. Do not cover the pork with liquid.

10. Cover the pan and place it in the oven to braise until the meat is fork tender, about 3 hours.


11. Taste and season with more salt and pepper, if needed. Transfer to a serving platter and serve.

Peppermint Bark

My little sister likes peppermint bark. I found this "recipe" several places, including the food network website. It really only has 3 ingredients. It's very easy and you don't need any special stuff. I recommend using a food processor for the candy canes but you can just crush them with a rolling pin or hammer. I like the uniformity you get with the food processor.


I got a box of 12, what I would call "regular-sized," candy canes. I crushed 10 of them to get a cup of pieces to mix in with the chocolate. I crushed the remaining 2 to sprinkle on top. As a misguided, last minute tweak, I added some chocolate chips to try to make some white chocolate swirled with dark chocolate. So half of it came out a sort of muddy brown. In retrospect, the best way to get the marbled effect would probably be with two double-boilers, mixing the chocolates together on the baking sheet.

Ingredients:
Crushed candy canes, to yield 1 cup
2 pounds white chocolate
Peppermint flavorings, optional (I used 4 tsp.s but I like it minty)

Directions:
Place candy canes in a plastic bag and hammer into 1/4-inch chunks or smaller.


Melt the chocolate in a double boiler. (I used a stainless steel mixing bowl on top of a saucepan full of water to make a double-boiler to melt the chocolate).


Combine candy cane chunks with chocolate (add peppermint flavoring at this point if desired).




Pour mixture onto a cookie sheet layered with parchment or waxed paper (sprinkle remaining candy pieces on top at this point) and place in the refrigerator for 45 minutes or until firm.


Here are the muddy ones. They don't taste terrible but I'll have to melt the two separately and mix them on the sheet together next time.

Guilty Carnitas

I haven't made a big meaty meat dish in a long while. Even though I am ambivalent about eating meat, to say the least, I have mostly given up on my youthful ideals in order to eat choice mouthfuls of my favorite meat, pork, every now and then. I keep waiting for the day to come when I will say "No more!" and stick to tofu and broccoli like I used to, out of guilt and shame and love of animals, but when you really get interested in cooking it's very hard to eliminate animal proteins entirely.

With that, I excitedly yet guiltily bring you another recipe that I stole from smittenkitchen.com. A dish that seems remarkably easy to do well.

Homesick Texan Carnitas
Stolen from smittenkitchen and
Adapted, just barely, from The Homesick Texan Cookbook

3 pounds boneless pork shoulder or pork butt, cut into 2-inch cubes
1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 cup lime juice (from about 2 to 3 limes)
4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon Kosher salt, plus more to taste

Corn tortillas, for serving plus
Avocado slices, chopped cilantro and fixings of your choice (we love pickled jalapenos or onions, lime wedges and a bit of slaw)





Place the pork in a large Dutch oven or heavy pot. Add the orange juice, lime juice, garlic, cumin, salt and enough water to just barely cover the meat. Bring the pot to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer. Simmer uncovered for two hours. Don’t touch the meat.



After two hours, increase the heat to medium-high and while occasionally stirring and turning the pieces, continue to cook for about 45 minutes, or until all of the liquid has evaporated, leaving only the rendered pork fat. Let it sizzle in this fat long enough to brown at the edges, turning pieces gently (they’ll be eager to fall apart), only as needed.





When pork has browned on both sides, it’s ready. Adjust seasonings to taste and serve on warmed tortillas with fixings.



*After browning all of the meat the bottom of my dutch oven looked like a bleak map of the world after the ravages of global warming:


It came out perfect aside from sticking a little bit too much to the bottom. We used flour tortillas and habanero hot sauce and a little sour cream.

You Always Keep Me Waiting, Madeleines

I am getting in the mood for baking Xmas cookies. I love Madeleines because they are simple to make and so bright and fresh with the lemon zest. Maybe not the most Xmas-y cookie, but something magical happens when you mix lemon zest with sugar and butter and apply heat, although even without the heat the batter is impossible to resist. I put away spoon fulls of it and wonder why my yield is so low...I made this particular batch to give to my brow-waxer. Anyone who can be bothered to look at this mug on a monthly basis for two years in a row deserves some special recognition.

You definitely need the special pan with the shell indentations if you want anyone to have even the slightest clue as to what you just made. I have had prior success making these in a mini cupcake pan though the effect isn't quite as elegant.

*I can't stress this enough, butter and flour the heck out of your pan. There is nothing more frustrating than a perfectly adorable, golden Madeleine that has been entombed in a pan and the only way you can dislodge it is by ruining it entirely.

When they are done you can do several treatments depending on your mood. There is the classic sprinkling of powdered sugar. I prefer to either leave them as is or dip them into chocolate so dark that light cannot escape its surface. This is an especially good way to preserve their moisture if you plan on keeping them around for more than a day or giving them as a gift. You can then roll the still-warm chocolate dipped Madeleines in chopped roasted pecans or almonds or even tiny chocolate chips if you are feeling a little insane. Defy logic!


Ingredients:
1 tsp baking powder
2/3 c. sugar
1 c. flour
2 large eggs
10 tbsp unsalted butter (melted then cooled slightly)
1 tsp grated lemon peel
1 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt

Yield: about 2 dozen cookies. I got about 20 but then I ate a lot of batter and overfilled some of the shells because I'm out of practice.

1. Preheat oven to 375. Butter and flour pan.

2. Beat eggs and sugar just to blend. Beat in vanilla, lemon peel, salt.




3. Add flour and baking powder, beat until just blended. Gradually add melted butter in a steady stream, beating until just blended (This step is impossible to photograph yourself doing, btw).


4. Spoon one tbsp into each indentation. Bake until puffed and brown, about 13-16 mins. Cool for 5.

Getting It Right: Brussels Sprouts

I finally perfected my recipe for Brussels Sprouts. The previous recipe with the scallions was good but I think using a strip of bacon is the way to go. Parmesan cheese and lemon juice/zest are also acceptable alternatives. I think the amount of flavor you get from one strip of bacon is just right.

Ingredients:
3 cups of Brussels Sprouts (cut in half, yellow leaves removed)
2 tablespoons of olive oil
salt
black pepper
1 or 2 strips of bacon

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Trim the bottom of the sprouts, leaving the core in tact. Cut the sprouts in half.




2. Place sprouts in a bowl and drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and olive oil.

3. Spread sprouts evenly and place bacon strip(s) across the top.


4. Bake for 40 minutes, stirring the sprouts about 3 times to ensure even cooking.

5. Remove and chop the bacon into small strips and toss with sprouts in a bowl.

Black Velvet Cupcakes with Dark Chocolate Ganache Frosting

I have been meaning to make chocolate ganache for a long time. I love the way it looks when it's piped on top of a cake--all tidy and glossy. It was remarkably easy to make. There are really only two ingredients: cream and chocolate. I didn't have enough chips so I added a few little bars of chocolate that I had sitting around. I pulsed them in the food processor to ensure that everything would melt evenly when I poured the cream in.

*I made the ganache first so that it could set up to a texture where I could pipe it out by the time the cupcakes were cool.



I took this recipe from sweetsavorylife.com:


Chocolate Ganache

Ingredients:
12 ounces chocolate, chopped into small pieces
1 cup heavy cream
optional 3 tablespoons flavored (I used 3 tablespoons of espresso)

Instructions

1. Place chocolate pieces in a large bowl.




2. Heat heavy cream on medium high until it comes to a boil.





3. Remove from heat and immediately pour cream over chocolate and stir until completely mixed and glossy.


4. Allow ganache to cool before pouring over cakes as a glaze. The longer you allow the ganache to cool, the thicker it will set. Typically I stick mine in the refrigerator so it is slightly cold before whipping. For piping or frosting, allow the ganache to completely cool and set up. When you are able to spoon the ganache and it can hold its texture, it is ready for piping.



I used that old Hershey's Midnight Cake recipe, although no actual Hershey's chocolate was used in these particular cupcakes.



update*

I had a hard time piping the ganache so I ended up just heating it and applying it as a glaze. It was still delicious but I need to work on my tempering.