Low Carb Caribbean Shrimp Bruschetta

July 11, 2016

Last year at this time my family and I were just coming back and recovering from an amazing trip to Jamaica where we celebrated my sister and brother-in-law’s wedding! There was sand, there was surf, there was a beautiful beach chair and tropical drink waiting for me daily, ahhhh. I’m not gonna lie, it was nice!

Although I won’t be traveling to the Caribbean this year, there is always a vehicle to get me back there if just for a few moments… FOOD Food glorious food can really take you anywhere in the world and with this dish I am transported right back to those white sand beaches and clear blue waters!

If you are looking for a fancy shmancy appetizer to serve at your next cocktail party or if you are having a fun and festive Caribbean style get together, this dish is easy, delicious and can totally be made ahead and built just before serving! AND its low carb, gluten-free and super healthy!

Start with a ripened plantain.

Taking the peel off is not quite as easy as with a banana.

Slice thinly on an angle.

Deep fry in veggie oil.

Drain fried plantains on a paper towel.

Immediately salt.

Grab some bacon.

Cut bacon into three segments.

Sprinkle shrimp with some Jamaican Jerk Rub. This one is by Pampered Chef.

Pan fry in either butter or veggie oil.

Now you have three elements ready to go.

Gather these ingredients for your caribbean style pico de gallo.

I am using my Pampered Chef Manual Food Processor today because I want to be able to control just how processed the ingredients get, I want a small dice, but I don’t want to liquefy.

Dice up your tomatoes, red onion and peppers. For this, I am using sweet peppers, but you can totally use jalapeno peppers or even ghost peppers if you want to really go Jamaican!

Place the onion, tomato, peppers and cilantro in the food processor.

Process lightly.

Add the squeeze of half an orange.

Continue to process. Add in kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper.

I added in some Portuguese hot ground pepper. (Pimenta Moida)

Cover the fried plantain with the pico de gallo.

Add a piece of fried bacon.

Add a little more pico de gallo.

Add your shrimp right on top and sprinkle with a bit more cilantro.

Low Carb Caribbean Shrimp Bruschetta

Yield 12 Bruschetta

1 ripened plantain, sliced and deep-fried in 2 cups Canola Oil

12 medium shrimp, peeled and deveined with tail on

4 pieces of bacon, cut into thirds and fried until just crisp

For Pico de Gallo:

1 plum tomato, roughly chopped

1/2 red onion, roughly chopped

3 sweet peppers, roughly chopped

1/2 small orange, juiced

1 small handful cilantro

1 Tbs. Pimenta Moida (Portuguese ground red pepper)

1 tsp. Pampered Chef Jamaican Jerk Seasoning, plus more for shrimp

kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

Deep fry 12 slices of ripened plantains, set aside on paper to drain. Season shrimp with a sprinkle of Jamaican Jerk seasoning and salt. Pan fry with butter. Set aside. Pan fry bacon until just crisp, set aside on paper to drain.

For salsa, add in tomato, peppers, cilantro, onion, Pimenta Moida and Jamaican Jerk Seasoning and a pinch of salt and black pepper to taste into a food processor. Process until a fine salsa is made.

Build your bruschetta = 1 plantain, 1 tsp pico de gallo, 1 pc. bacon, a little more pico de gallo, top with shrimp. Garnish with more cilantro.

Twice Baked Potatoes

January 22, 2016February 3, 2016

Why bake a boring ole potato once when you can bake it twice and make it spectacular? My Twice Baked Potatoes are loaded with not only butter and sour cream, but bacon and cheese. I know, I know, not exactly keeping with those New Year’s resolutions right? But, it’s Championship weekend people, I’m still in “football food” mode.

These Twice Baked Potatoes are flavorful, they are packed with everything you love so there is no muss at game time and the best part is you can eat them with a fork and a knife or just pick um right up and you have a perfect finger food. And I’m not even going to try to pretend they are healthy, but they aren’t fried and they are even gluten-free. So, they aren’t the worst thing in the world health-wise either!

Make them in a big batch like I have for a party or tailgating or make a smaller batch for dinner. Or you can do like I did and make the big batch, have them for the party and freeze the rest so you have them right at your fingertips whenever you are looking for an easy side, they freeze great! Baking potatoes the old-fashioned way is not a quick process, so making a big batch is always the way to go in my opinion. Here’s how I do them…

So, I use my double burner griddle for this project. Pampered Chef sells a great one, talk about cutting down on time and energy!

I always start off with preparing the bacon, mostly because when I make bacon, I like to make the entire package and we don’t need the entire package for this recipe, so I make breakfast in the morning and then I reserve the rest of the bacon for the recipe. Call me crazy, but it saves me time. In any case, you will need 8 slices of bacon for this recipe.

The problem is when an entire package of bacon is hanging around, it needs to be covered in my house otherwise it will dwindle throughout the morning if it’s not hidden!

Then I gather my potatoes, I like russet potatoes for baking. I try to find the ones that are oval in shape as opposed to round and med/large for variety.

Russets come dirty, so be sure to give them a good scrub, you will be eating the skin on these.

I like to bake them whole, but I like to half split them for ease in cooking time.

I like to make these in a disposable aluminum tray for a couple of reasons. First I am making a bunch here, so I am not wrapping each one in aluminum foil. This tray mimics that. Also, because this makes for easy clean up.

I like to then add a good pinch of salt to each one. We did not dry these, so they should still be wet helping the salt to cling. If you pre-washed or something, then just run them each under water for this effect.

Now turn them all over and do the same thing to the other side. A good pinch of kosher salt to each. It may seem like a lot, but you are really just seasoning the skin of the potato which is very important.

Cover tightly in aluminum foil and bake at 400°F for 1 hour and 45 minutes or so.

Now spit them using your original cut as the guide.

You will have twice the amount at this point which will require a second tray. Be sure to salt the bottom of that tray again.

Scoop out the middles of each potato leaving a reservoir for the filling and a good “wall” all the way around.

Add in your scooped out fillings to a bowl.

Add in a stick of salted butter. Remember you are making 16 twice baked potatoes, that spreads that butter out. Besides, it’s football food. If your potatoes are not hot because you chose not to scald your fingers as you handled the potatoes, just pop this in the microwave for about 2 minutes.

Start to go at it with a potato masher.

Get some good fresh sour cream.

Add in sour cream.

Add in cheese.

Add in kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper.

Now, back to the bacon. It survived! Yay!

Chop it up pretty well still allowing for some good size chuncks.

Add to your bowl.

But reserve some for topping.

Mash mash mash.

Add in some half and half or heavy cream, whichever you have on hand.

Now fill each of your potatoes with a healthy amount. Be sure to spread it evenly though.

Once they are all filled, pre-heat your oven to 350°F.

Add a good bunch of cheese to top each.

Then top that with bacon bits.

Bake for about 1/2 hour until they are heated through and the cheese is all melty!

Twice Baked Potatoes

Serves 8-16

Ingredients:

8 med/lg. Russet potatoes, scrubbed clean

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided

1 stick salted butter

8 slices bacon, fried and drained and chopped, divided

3/4 cup sour cream, plus more for serving

kosher salt to taste

fresh cracked black pepper to taste

water-soaked minced onions or chives for serving (optional)

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 400°F. Scrub potatoes clean and while still wet, carefully slice into potato lengthwise about 3/4 of the way through as though you were going to split them for stuffing (see photo above). Salt the outside of the wet potato with kosher salt on all sides and place in aluminum pan. Cover tightly with aluminum foil and bake for 1 hour and 45 minutes. Remove from oven and turn oven down to 350°F if baking immediately.

Let cool just long enough for handling. Continue cutting potato along the original cut line spitting the potatoes in half. Now, scoop out the middle flesh of the potato leaving about a 1/4 inch wall along the entire outer potato skin (this provides stability, see photo above). Place the scooped out potato flesh in a bowl for mixing. Add in butter, sour cream, 1 cup of shredded cheese, 3/4 of your bacon, a good pinch of salt and about 10 cracks of black pepper. Mash all ingredients together with a potato masher (warm for a minute in the microwave if the contents are not warm enough to melt the butter and incorporate all the ingredients at this point.)

Now, fill each potato cavity with the mixture. Top with an additional Tablespoon or so on each along with a few remaining bacon bits. Bake until heated through and melty for about 1/2 hour. Serve with sour cream and [instructions]

water-soaked minced onions or chives. Enjoy![/instructions]

*note- This is a gluten-free recipe.

Lobster Corn Chowder

July 10, 2015July 10, 2015

Summer is such a wonderful time for food, especially in New England! We have delicious sweet corn and incredible cold water lobsters a plenty. This past 4th of July weekend we were lucky enough to have both! I even bought some extra corn and had some left over lobster so I decided to create a version of what New Englander’s are known for… chowder! Lobster and corn brought together with a creamy broth, what could be better?

I grew up in the small New England town of Westport, Massachusetts. Westport is both a fishing and farming community. Some of the biggest of those two industries has always been lobster, dairy and corn. All of these essentials are found in this dish. Who says you can’t go home again?

You’ll want to start by shucking about 8 ears of fresh corn and placing them in a pot.

Then cover the corn in cold water. Bring to a boil and shut it off… Let it sit in the water to cool a bit. (The fresher the corn, the less time it needs… but, don’t forget this will also boil again later) One it is done boiling, reserve about 1 1/2 cups of the cooking liquid for later.

Place a small ingredient bowl inverted in a larger bowl… You’ll want to make sure your larger bowl can accommodate the kernels of 8 ears of corn… This method makes for so much less mess!

Now prop up a cob of corn on top of that little ingredient bowl. If you don’t find it to be stable enough, just cut off the very bottom.

Now, carefully run you your knife down the legnth of the corn cob... be sure your fingers are out of the way!

Now, carefully run you your knife down the length of the corn cob… be sure your fingers are out of the way!

Now, this is a very important step… take the back of your knife and firmly run it down your naked cob. You are essentially creaming the corn by doing this.

Here is what you are left with 🙂

Before you begin, you will want to also boil a potato with salt and garlic, chop and reserve. Just one.

Start your soup by building your base, which is your veggies, but first you’ll need to render some bacon so that you have fat to cook your veggies in. So, cook until crisp.

Drain your bacon on a couple of paper towels. Reserve the bacon fat in the pot.

This is a shallot… a rather large shallot actually. It is a milder cousin of the onion. Because I find this to be a more delicate chowder, I didn’t want to overwhelm the flavor with onion.

Chop the shallot as you would an onion.

Saute the shallot over low heat in the reserved bacon fat.

Get one red bell pepper and halve and seed it. I like the sweetness of red bell pepper, you can use which ever color you like best.

Chop it up and add it in to the sauteing shallots.

Measure about a quarter cup of all purpose flour.

Add flour to the sautéed veggies.

Stir in that flour and cook for a minute or so.

Add all the corn you’ve prepared to your soup pot.

That corn cooking liquid you reserved goes in now. I run it through a strainer just to catch any stray corn silk.

Here is my left over lobster, isn’t he cute?

Pull off his legs. There is lots of yummy meat in those legs, but I have no patience to get all that meat out for this purpose.

So what I do is throw them right in the soup pot. This serves two purposes. First of all, it gives your cooking liquid a bit of seafood stock. Second, you can serve these right with your chowder and people can suck the meat out of them should they so choose. Now is the time to add in your potato as well.

Now, remove the body and discard. (I don’t put the body in the soup pot because there is too much mush for my taste). Shell all this lobster.

Once you have shelled the tail, you can pull off the back of the tail as I have done here and remove that vein. Some people don’t bother with this step, I just do. It’s up to you.

Now chop up the meat you have reserving the claw pieces to top your chowder if you so choose.

Add the chopped lobster to the soup pot to heat through.

When all your ingredients have hung out together for a few minutes… Add in half a quart of light cream.

Chop and crumble bacon into the soup pot.

Add salt and pepper to taste. I like a good amount of fresh cracked black pepper.

Add a couple dashes of white pepper.

Add some sliced scallions, oyster crackers, the reserved lobster claw, serve and enjoy!

Recipe for Lobster Corn Chowder:

(Serves 8)

1 boiled lobster, shelled and chopped

8 ears of corn, boiled

1 1/2 cups corn cooking liquid reserved

1 large red potato, cooked and chopped

1 large shallot chopped

1/2 red bell pepper seeded and chopped

3 slices bacon

rendered bacon fat reserved

1/2 quart light cream

1/4 cup all purpose flour

1/2 tsp. white pepper

kosher salt to taste

fresh cracked black pepper to taste

2 scallions chopped

oyster crackers or saltines

Directions:

Prepare potato by boiling in salted water and one clove of garlic (optional). Prepare lobster by boiling or getting it steamed from your fish monger. Prepare corn on the cob by shucking and bringing to a boil, reserving 1 1/2 cups corn cooking water. Cool these ingredients so they are easy to handle.

Next shell and chop lobster. Reserve lobster legs. Remove corn kernels from cob and cream from cob as well (demonstrated above). Chop potato. Set aside all ingredients for when they are needed.

Render bacon fat, reserve fat in soup pot. Set aside bacon to drain on paper towel. Sautee shallots and bell pepper in the bacon fat over low heat for about 5-6 minutes until tender. Add in flour. Cook flour for a minute or so, stirring. Add in corn. Stir. Add in corn cooking liquid. Stir. Bring to a simmer. Add in lobster, potato and lobster legs. Stir. Pour in light cream. Stir. Add in white pepper. Add in salt and black pepper to taste.

Enjoy!

(If you would like to make this recipe gluten-free, swap out all purpose flour with corn starch)

Pan Seared Sea Scallops

June 29, 2015June 22, 2015

Growing up in New England, a person is hard pressed to find anything more culinarily superior than fresh sea food right off the boat. Large sea scallops are the star of this dish and definitely among one of my favorites. I have found over the years that the more simple the preparation with sea scallops the better. Fresh seafood doesn’t need all that much help, the best thing you can really do is let it shine.

In this recipe I take a hint of the ever popular scallops wrapped in bacon and lighten it up a bit. Using the flavor of the bacon in preparation and then finishing with a sprinkle of its crispy goodness. I also find that the more simple the side, the more your seafood is allowed to shine through. Here, I have paired with a brown rice quinoa.

Add two tablespoons to a large non-stick skillet.

Slice two cloves of garlic.

Gently saute the garlic in the butter over medium heat.

I reserved two strips of bacon from breakfast that I par-cooked. Chop.

Add bacon into the butter (this helps with flavor, but also adds bacon grease to the butter so it won’t burn when scallops are added)

A dozen and a half of big fresh sea scallops.

Salt the scallops with kosher salt.

Remove the garlic and the bacon and reserve. The purpose here is to get the flavors of the garlic and bacon, but when the heat gets turned up to sear the scallops, you don’t want to burn the garlic and bacon.

Place each scallop in the skillet over medium/high heat. The goal is to get color on the scallops, but you also want to almost cook it all the way through.

Turn each scallop with tongs… I don’t like to puncture with a fork.

Sprinkle the reserved bacon and garlic over top. Serve with a plain wild rice and quinoa.

Recipe for Seared Sea Scallops:

(Serves 3)

18 large sea scallops

2 strips of bacon, chopped

2 garlic cloves, sliced

2 Tbls. butter

kosher salt

Directions:

Melt butter over medium heat on a non-stick skillet. Add in sliced garlic, turn heat to medium/low. Add in chipped bacon. Continue to saute until bacon is crispy and garlic is lightly browned. Remove garlic and bacon and reserve.

Prepare scallops by taking out of the fridge 20 minutes before you plan to cook to bring to room temperature. Lightly salt with kosher salt.

Turn up the burner heat to medium/high. Place scallops in skillet with room around each, do not over crowd. Allow scallops to caramelize without moving. Let sear about 2-3 minutes. Turn with a pair of tongs so as not to puncture with a fork. Sear on second side 2-3 minutes. Careful not to over-cook. You want the scallop to have a bit of a spring back when you touch it. They will continue to cook a bit once you remove from the skillet.

Once both sides have deep golden brown edges, sprinkle with garlic and bacon. Serve. Enjoy!

* This recipe is gluten-free.

BCT Frittata (Bacon,Cheese & Tomato)

June 8, 2015June 8, 20152 Comments

Looking for a special breakfast to sit down to with your family? Something delicious and easy? Something for Father’s Day or to feed a crowd? Maybe something you can mix up the night before and pop it in the oven in the morning? This Bacon Cheese & Tomato Frittata fits the bill. I recently made a similar frittata for a girl’s bachelorette weekend… My husband loves bacon, so this one has thick cut bacon cooked right in. A frittata is like a baked omelet. And because it is baked, the eggs are light and fluffy and perfectly cooked throughout.

What you will need for this to come out perfectly is an oven safe non-stick skillet... if you don’t have this, no worries, just spray a baking pie dish with cooking spray or coat with butter and pour contents into that.

If you like or dislike any of these ingredients or if you happen to have something else on hand, substitute at will. The important thing is to saute hard veggies like onions. The frittata I made on the girl’s weekend was made up of onions, red bell peppers and sliced baked ham with a sharp cheddar. I was also feeding a larger crowd, so I used 10 eggs instead of just 8 and I added a half cup of cream. Customize it to what you like!

Start with your bacon. Cut up about 4 slices of thick cut bacon and start sauteing in the skillet.

Dice up some onions.

Add your onions right in with your bacon as it is cooking down.

Keep the onions and bacon going over medium heat until it’s time to add in the eggs. Meanwhile get the rest of the ingredients prepped.

Dice up some cheddar… this is mild, sharp works well also.

Cut up some sweet grape tomatoes.

Crack 8 eggs into a bowl and scramble with a fork.

For this Frittata, I added in a smal pinch of Herbs de Provence... Be careful here, this is a strong spice for such a delicate dish, you only want to add in the smallest pinch. If you happen to have fresh herbs instead, great... some thyme and parsley would be lovely here.

For this Frittata, I added in a small pinch of Herbs de Provence… Be careful here, this is a strong spice for such a delicate dish, you only want to add in the smallest pinch. If you happen to have fresh herbs instead, great… some thyme and parsley would be lovely here.

Add in a pinch of salt and freshly cracked pepper.

When your onions and bacon are good and caramelized, you will know it’s time to drain off some of the fat add in the eggs.

Add in your egg mixture.

Add your tomatoes.

Bake in the oven at 350°F for about 10 minutes.

Recipe for BCT Frittata:

(serves 4-6)

8-10 eggs

1/2 onion diced

4 slices thick cut bacon, cut into 1″ pieces

3 oz. cheddar, cubed

8-10 grape or cherry tomatoes

1 small pinch kosher salt

4-5 cracks of fresh black pepper

1 small pinch Herbs de Provence (optional)

Directions:

Render bacon in a non-stick oven safe skillet. Add in diced onions. In a separate bowl, scramble eggs. Add in Herbs de Provence, salt and pepper. Add in cheese.
Once onions and bacon are caramelized, add in egg mixture. Top with tomatoes.

Bake at 350°F for about 10-12 minutes until set. (Eggs will slightly puff when done)

*note – this is a gluten-free recipe

Boston Baked Beans

April 13, 2015April 13, 2015

It’s opening day at Fenway Park for the Boston Red Sox! Spring is officially here and America’s great pass time is in full swing! After the rough winter Boston has had, this is definitely cause to celebrate. Growing up, my family would make it to Fenway Park once a season. It was always a big event being one of four children. Through the years we got to see some of the greats, Mo Vaughn, Wade Boggs, Roger Clemens and Dwight Evans. And then later with Nomar Garciaparra, Big Papi (David Ortiz), Manny Ramirez, Curt Schilling and Pedro Martinez. On any given spring/summer (and hopefully fall) day, you could always find a baseball game on either in the forefront or on in the background at my house. My parents were both staunch Boston Red Sox fans and of course passed that love down to us.

Snacks were abundant at our favorite ball park, usually hot dogs, soft pretzels, cotton candy and peanuts. So today, for opening day, I decided to try my hand at a classic side for my Ball Park Franks, Boston Baked Beans. Here’s how I did it.

This is the Navy bean. It is a small white bean. A lot of people like to make their baked beans with pinto beans and if you prefer the larger pinto, that’s fine too. This is just my preference.

The first step is to rinse and pick through the beans… Here are a few of the little guys who didn’t make the cut for me today.

This next step is pretty easy all be it time consuming… Making baked beans is definitely not something you can do in a rush, at least not when you are making them from dry beans. So take one pound of your favorite light colored bean and soak in 2 quarts of water. You need a lot of water here so that the beans can soak it all in and expand. 6-8 hours. A lot of people say to do this over night. I like to do this after lunch because it is just part one of the soaking for this recipe.

Now through the magic of the internet. 8 hours has gone by and look how our beans have filled up our bowl. Stage one of bean soaking is complete, onto stage two. I do this next stage just before bed because this is an easy recipe, but it has a bunch of ingredients and who has time to throw things together when you are rushing around in the morning? Also, I like that stage two of the bean soaking lets the beans start to soak up the flavors of everything you are throwing in the pot.

Start with chopping up two medium onions.

From here on in you are literally just dumping ingredients into your crock pot.

Measure out half a cup of brown sugar. I used light brown, but if you only have dark brown, that’s fine, it just means there is a bit more molasses in it.

Then measure out a half cup of ketchup.

Dump those in to you crock pot.

Mince 1 garlic clove.

Add in 32 oz. of beer and 2 cups of water. Also, add in that garlic and all the preceding ingredients.

Roughly chop up three slices of thick cut bacon. You could also use salt pork here, but I kind of like the extra layer of flavor bacon brings.

Add in Worcestershire Sauce.

Add in molasses.

Add in Sriracha.

Add in Dijon Mustard.

And here is my little secret ingredient, Espresso powder. This is instant, not just ground… it will melt right into the dish.

Fresh bay leaf… if you don’t have fresh, go ahead and use dry.

Keep adding everything in folks. We’re almost there!

OK… Now a few more ingredients and then you can go to bed! Add in some white wine vinegar (this is what I had, you can use apple cider vinegar), little salt (don’t over do it on the salt, it tends to stop dry beans from plumping and some fresh cracked black pepper. Set your slow cooker on low for 6-8 hours.

When you wake up in the morning, your beans will still look like this… that’s OK… you now set it on high for 8 hours.

And this is what you will see when you get home from work. If for some reason, its not quite like this, just transfer to a dutch oven and boil off any excess liquid with the lid off.

Recipe for Boston Baked Beans:

(serves 6-8)

1 lb. dry Navy beans, soaked 6-8

32 oz. beer

2 cups water

1/2 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. ketchup

1/3 c. molasses

2 medium onions, diced

1 clove garlic, chopped

3 T. Dijon mustard

2 T. white wine vinegar (or apple cider vinegar)

1 T. Worcestershire sauce

1 T. pure maple syrup

3 slices center cut bacon, cut up into 6 segments

1 Bay leaf

1 t. sriracha sauce (or your favorite hot sauce)

1 t. kosher salt

1/2 t. fresh cracked black pepper

1/2 t. instant espresso powder

Directions:

1st soak: Rinse and pick through beans. Soak beans for 6-8 hours in 2 quarts of water. Drain and rinse again.

2nd soak: Add all ingredients into crock pot. set on low over night 6-8 hrs.

Cook: Stir. Set crock pot on high for 8 hours.

Enjoy!

Pasta alla Carbonara

April 10, 2015April 10, 2015

My husband and I were lucky enough to spend some time in Italy on our honeymoon. We got to see the Colosseum in Rome, stayed in a 16th century private villa with an olive grove in Florence, toured Pompeii, rode on a Gondola with a singing Gondolier in Venice and even got a glimpse of that leaning tower as we passed through Pisa on a train ride. We loved every moment of it… Did some shopping, site seeing and I even got in some cooking in that villa! But, the food. The food in Italy was amazing.

Each region offered up something new and delicious. Pizza in Naples, Lasagna in Florence, Salami in Genoa. I even made a red sauce that I paired with some fresh pasta, yum. All of which was paired with a red wine… it had no name, just red, which was perfect. My husband, however, ordered the same dish everywhere we went… Spaghetti alla Carbonara. Sure, he would always try a bite of whatever I ordered, but he just couldn’t get enough of the Carbonara.

So, when we returned stateside, I had to learn how to make it. I discovered there are lots of variations to the famed Italian dish… But, the basics are all the same. There is cheese, egg, fresh herbs and bacon. I will try to explain some of the variations throughout the recipe guide below, but if you see something you like more or less, then add more or less of it! Make it your own or follow my recipe, either way it will be a quick, delicious and satisfying meal your family is sure to ask for again and again!

This dish is all about the preparation. It is very quick and easy to put together, but can be screwed up royally if your ingredients are not prepped and ready to go when they need to be. Timing is everything! Follow these steps and you will be eating this delectable plate of pasta in under 20 minutes!

First start off with bacon or pancetta. (Pancetta is uncured Italian bacon.) Today, I had bacon on hand, so that’s what I used. The important thing to remember is that the bacon should not have any sort of flavoring. Try to avoid ‘applewood smoked’ or ‘maple’. A nice smoked or uncured bacon is fine here. Fry it up to the style you like your bacon. We like crispy, but not burned in my family.

Drain bacon. I like to set aside about 2 pieces per person to be served. I hide the bacon at this point so it is not confiscated by passers-by! Reserved the rendered bacon fat in the pan.

Next, you will want to set a pot of water to boil. While the water is coming to a boil, you should have enough time to prepare the rest of your ingredients. Once the water comes to a boil you can add in the pasta (we will get to which variety of pasta in a minute). Cook to the package instructions or a minute less if you like it aldente.

Crack a couple of eggs in a bowl large enough to include not only the eggs, but the parmesan cheese.

Scramble the eggs. Set aside.

Shred up the parmesan. Some people like to use Parmigiano-Reggiano, and hey, if you have it, use it… I happened to have Parmesan at my disposal. The two are similar although the Parmesano Regiano is a higher grade and more traditional. Also, some like to use Pecorino cheese here as well… I say, use whatever you have on hand and whichever you like. Any hard, salty, italian cheese will do just fine.

Add the parmesan into the scrambled egg you have set aside.

Now onto the parsley. This is Italian Flat Leaf Parsley. It is not the same as the curly variety you may see garnishing buffet tables across the country. This parsley has a distinct flavor and adds a great pop of freshness to the dish, please don’t skip this, It’s like a buck at the grocery store fresh. note: Do not confuse this with Cilantro although they are similar in appearance, they have two totally different flavors.

Chop up about a cup of parsley, set aside.

Now chop up your bacon. Set aside.

Now let’s talk about your pasta. After all that chopping, your water is probably boiling, so it’s time to drop the pasta. (Don’t forget to salt the water! – Like the sea… I typically use about 3T. kosher salt for 6 qts of water) But, I digress… you can really use any type of pasta you like. This dish is traditionally made with spaghetti. I have here Fetuccini Rigata. The Rigata is denoting the ridges that are on this pasta. I normally like to get Spaghetti Rigata or Rigati… But the grocery store didn’t have it, so I got the Fetuccini Rigata this time. I like the ridges because it holds on to the sauce better, but if you just have plain ole spaghetti, use it! (My kids like this with Angel Hair, so sometimes I do that for them too)

OK… So, after reading that last paragraph on the pasta, your pasta is probably almost ready to come out of the water. Let’s make sure you have everything you need because once the pasta comes out, it’s go time! So, in addition to the scrambled eggs with parmesan, chopped bacon and chopped parsley, you will need some kosher salt, fresh cracked black pepper and about a cup of frozen peas.

Once the pasta is done… Be sure your reserved bacon fat is still warm, if not turn it on medium. Then, drain the pasta and coat all the noodles in fat. Just wiggle it around a bit and stir.

Now, this is important. While the pasta is piping hot, pour the egg and parmesan mixture over it and have a pasta tool at the ready to very quickly stir it in. Your goal here is not to end up with scrambled eggs… you want to coat the pasta with the egg mixture just like you did with the rendered bacon fat. This must be done quickly.

Again, while it is all still hot, quickly add in the peas and the parsley and stir. The heat from the pasta will be enough to cook the frozen peas.

Add in the bacon and stir again… Now drizzle with some olive oil, salt and pepper to taste. Please taste this before plating it.

Shred some additional parmesan atop the pasta and add just a touch more of the fresh parsley and enjoy!

Pasta Carbonara Recipe:

(serves 6-8)

1 lb. dry pasta, spaghetti, fettuccine, Angel Hair etc.

6 qts. water with 3 T. kosher salt

1/2 lb. bacon or pancetta, fried, chopped, rendered fat reserved

3 eggs, scrambled

1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped

1/2 cup shredded parmesan

1 cup frozen peas

salt and pepper to taste

Extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

Prepare all ingredients in recipe. Boil pasta. Add drained pasta to the rendered bacon fat, coating pasta. Add parmesan to the scrambled eggs, quickly stir into hot pasta. Add in parsley and peas. Add in bacon. Drizzle with olive oil. Add salt and pepper to taste. Shred additional parmesan over the top with some additional chopped parsley. Enjoy!

Rockstar Potatoes

April 3, 2015September 27, 2015

Why Rockstar Potatoes you ask? Why, because you feel like a rock star when you serve them to your family and friends! If you are tired of humdrum mashed or baked potatoes, try these, they are sure to be a hit!

These potatoes will be a welcome side to any weeknight meal or any holiday table. They are simple and delicious. Once you get the method down, you can make this with regular white potatoes as seen here, red bliss would be yummy too or you can think way out of the box and chop up some sweet potatoes and have a tasty savory sweet potato side!

Let’s get started…

You will want to begin where many delicious creations start… with bacon. Here you see thick center cut bacon in a medium skillet. It’s nothing crazy, just out of your grocer’s cooler. Use any type of bacon you like or have on hand. This is what I had. Place 4 slices in a pan and fry them up crispy.

Next, set bacon aside on some paper towels to drain. But, don’t get rid of that bacon grease that is in the pan… that will now become your cooking fat. (OH, and make sure if you have people with wandering hands roaming your kitchen, that you cover this up, otherwise you may end up with no bacon in your final product!)

Next, take about 5-6 potatoes and chop them up to the size of a half-dollar and place them in the pan with your bacon grease… then add your onions and thyme.

Take one small onion and slice sort of thinly. (if you like more onions, use a bigger onion, I won’t tell)

Now for the thyme… I really think fresh thyme is key in this recipe, it adds that little something special… but if you don’t have it, use dry (just reduce the amount because dry herbs can get over powering, so take it slow) For the fresh thyme, remove the leaves from the stems and discard stems.

After you have browned up the potatoes and onions a bit (say 10 mins or so) Add in one clove of chopped garlic. I add this later on because I don’t want the garlic to turn bitter from over cooking. Also at this stage add a pinch of salt and some fresh cracked black pepper. (Keep in mind the bacon is salty, don’t over salt)

As you allow the garlic to make friends with the potatoes and the onions, chop up the bacon you have reserved, it’s going in next.

OK… so here is everything together… as soon as you mix in the bacon, double check that you have added in all your ingredients and then pop it into your oven at 350 degrees F for about 15-20 mins. until tender. (note: Make sure your skillet is oven safe, if you aren’t sure… just place ingredients into a baking dish and continue)

And Wala… You’re a Rock Star!

Rockstar Potatoes Recipe:

(serves 4)

5-6 medium white potatoes, cut into 1/2 dollar size

4 slices thick cut bacon

1 small onion, sliced

1 clove garlic, chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

Pre-heat oven to 350°F. Fry up bacon in a medium skillet, set aside on paper towels to drain. Use reserved bacon grease to fry up potatoes with onions and thyme, 10 minutes, stir occasionally. Add in garlic, cook about 2-3 minutes. Chop reserved bacon and add in. Place skillet in oven (be sure skillet is oven safe! – if not, transfer to a baking dish). Check for tenderness 15-20 mins. Enjoy!

note: Gluten free. So long as your bacon is gluten-free (always check for packing ingredients) then this is a naturally gluten-free recipe.

*** note: For a slightly healthier version, toss out the bacon grease and replace with olive oil. You won’t be a rock star, but you’ll still be a pop star!

the portuguese american mom

stay awhile… have a cup of tea, let's get creative!

Tag: bacon

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