Spaghetti Carbonara

Carbonara is an Italian Pasta dish from Rome that is based on eggs, cheese, bacon (or pancetta) and black pepper.
While these ingredients are few and the dish sounds simple enough this dish has always been difficult for me to make.

Many times I have thrown this into the garbage because the egg mixture became scrambled. While the taste is still there it just doesn't look that appealing. Curdled eggs just don't look good.

The other day while I was making this I decided to try to add some of the hot pasta water to the egg mixture. It's a technique I use while I'm making Avgolemono Soup, a very tasty Greek egg and lemon soup to prevent the eggs from scrambling. I thought if it works with the soup, maybe this will have a chance.
I was extremely happy with the outcome. My dish was perfect! It was creamy, smokey from the bacon and peppery just the way it's supposed to be!
This is a rich hearty dish, full of flavor.
If your looking for a wine to pair with this try a White Wine.  Try an Italian wine from the Roman Hills called Frascati. You'll love the way the wine and the dish compliment each other.

1/4 White Onion thinly sliced
4 slices of Thick Cut Peppered Bacon (Burgers Smokehouse preferred)
Pancetta may also be used in place of the bacon
2 egg yolks
fresh cracked black pepper
salt to taste
1/4 cup parmesan cheese-freshely grated
1/4 cup pecorino ramano - freshly grated
2 Tablespoons sweet unsalted butter
approximately 1 cup of reserved pasta water
1 pound spaghetti


In a skillet on medium heat cook the onion until transparent. Add the bacon and cook until bacon is cooked and fat is rendered but not crispy. Set aside.

Fill a large stockpot with water and bring to a rolling boil. Salt the water to taste. Add spaghetti and cook as instructed. Do not over cook.

While spaghetti is cooking beat two egg yolks with a fork and add the cheeses. This will make a very thick paste.  Season the mixture with salt and pepper.

While the spaghetti is cooking, using a ladle remove some of the pasta water and a little at a time add it to the egg mixture. You do not want the eggs to scramble. Keep adding the pasta water until your mixture is loose.

Drain the spaghetti, reserving some of the water.

Add the egg mixture to the spaghetti a little at a time until all is mixed in, toss with the bacon and onions. If too thick add a little more of the pasta water.

Top with some freshly grated cheese and another turn or two from the pepper mill and serve.

Buon Appetito
xoxoxo
Lorraine

Avgolemono Soup

I know it's not Monday, but man o man a good pot of soup is needed over here in the food crawl kitchen.
My husband is still recovering from his knee replacement surgery and today, my son, The Producer had 4 wisdom teeth pulled. Do you know how funny it is to get a text at 7 am wondering if there was any pastina in the house? Ahhh, Pastina, the ultimate "this will make you feel better soup" ,  sorry, but,  I'm not making that! lol
I haven't made Avgolemono Soup in awhile. For those of you who are not familiar with it, Avgolemono is a  delicious Greek Soup made like a chicken soup with lemon and eggs added to the broth. All you need is one spoonful of this soup and it warms your soul, and brings a smile to your heart.
Whenever we eat out in a Greek restaurant we always order a bowl of Avgolemono. It's always a good gage for us because if the soup is good and homemade we know that the rest of the meal is going to be really good!
This soup is a little tricky to make. If you don't do it right the broth will curdle. I think the secret is adding the hot liquid to the eggs very slowly while the blender is going, and once that is well blended adding that slowly back to the big pot.

The recipe that was given to me calls for 5 large eggs. I have scaled that back to 3 eggs.

1 whole chicken
1 small onion, peeled
2 carrots, whole
1 bay leaf
1 celery stalk, whole
salt to taste
white pepper to taste
1/2 cup of long grain rice or orzo pasta
5 large eggs
1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 tablespoon flour

Make the chicken stock by cooking the whole chicken in the water with the onion, carrots, celery and bay leaf. Season with salt and pepper.
Cover and cook until the chicken is tender.
Remove the chicken from the pot
let cool and debone, shred or cut into pieces
Discard onion and bay leaf.
Place carrots and celery in a blender with a little broth.  Blend until smooth. Add back into the stock
Reserve one cup of broth for the next step!
Bring broth to a boil and add rice or orzo, cover the pan and simmer over low heat until your pasta or rice is tender.
Add chicken pieces back to the stock
Beat the eggs in a blender until frothy.
Pour in the lemon juice and flour and blend thoroughly.
With the blender running, slowly add 1 cup of the hot broth into the egg mixture. Gradually return the egg mixture to the stock, stirring constantly and cook over low heat for 5 minutes.
Do not allow the soup to come to a boil or the soup will curdle.

Serve this soup with some fresh sliced lemon and some crusty bread.
You're going to enjoy serving this. Your family and guests are going to enjoy eating this. After their first spoon full they might even think you're Greek!

Buon Appetito
Καλή όρεξη
Να τρώτε καλά
xoxoxo
Lorraine

Veal Chops

I love Veal Chops. I will sometimes make them caprese style, but wanted something a little different. I sent my husband out for mushrooms and he came home with some beautiful Porcini mushrooms. I wanted to make these on the grill, but we were having some very funky weather in New York, severe lightening and thunder storms with heavy rain. I was not going to stand out in the rain with an umbrella!
These were very simply prepared, seasoned with salt, pepper and rosemary. They were seared in a very hot pan with an equal amount of olive oil and butter. 3 minutes on each side gave the chop a beautiful color! I finished them in a 375 degree preheated oven, until they reached an internal temperature of 150. I let them rest for a few minutes after taking them out of the oven (this helps the meat stay nice and juicy) and served them with a champagne, mushroom and onion sauce. (Could this be a demi glaze?) Delicious! Recipe for my sauce is below!

Thanks for stopping by today!
Buon Appetito!
xoxoxo
Lorraine

Sauce
4 Tablespoons of butter (unsalted)
2 Tablespoons of flour
veal stock, 1 cup or more
red wine, 1/2 cup
salt, 1 teaspoon
pepper, 1/2 teaspoon
rosemary, a fresh sprig, leaves removed from stem
1 medium onion sliced thin
1/2 cup porcini mushrooms
1 tsp orange zest* optional

Start your sauce by melting the butter and mixing in the flour until you have a little bit of a paste.
In a separate pan saute onions in a little bit of butter until they are golden.
 Add the veal stock to the butter and flour mixture and mix with a wire whisk.  Add the onions and now add the sliced porcini mushrooms.
Add the wine and season with salt, pepper and rosemary. At this time I added the orange zest. Let the sauce reduce, over a low flame.  If it is too thick add more stock. Taste the sauce and adjust the seasoning to your liking. You should not taste the alcohol from the wine, it should have cooked off.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me!

Stuffed Zucchini Flowers

Hello Friends! It certainly has been awhile since I've shared some of my family secrets! I'm strictly speaking of cooking secrets, and sharing some coveted family recipes!
I've had a very relaxed and enjoyable summer. We spent two weeks out in Montauk, New York on the beach. Every day was a glorious day. Wish I could have spent another week out there.  hint, hint!!
I am so relaxed.

Today's Food Crawl is all about Stuffed Zucchini Flowers!
Now it's time to get back to sharing some of the food that gets made and created in my kitchen.
Today I'm going to tell you all about my mothers Stuffed Zucchini Flowers! It was my mothers Birthday August 2nd. Thinking of her always makes me think of the special dishes that she used to make. Stuffed Zucchini Flowers were among the amazing.  My husband would eat them out of her refrigerator before she had fried them!
 I actually made my audition tape for MasterChef - Season 2 preparing these. I was trying to upload the video but apparently it is too long to post on here. My son, John, the Pepperdine Movie Production Graduate promised to break it down for me so I can share it with you.  When he does I'll just post it. You can see how nervous I was while making the tape. My next audition tape will be very different! lol

My friend Jersey Paulie  has been asking me for this recipe. This one is for you Paul! Recipe will follow, keep reading!

In my garden I always plant more zucchini plants than I need just for the flowers. Today I was able to pick 11 flowers. There will be more tomorrow! 11 stuffed flowers is such a tease! I'll bet you can't only eat one! lol
You can do so many different things with them. They are delicious in a batter, made into a pancake, they are delicious stuffed with cheeses,  or stuffed with a crabmeat mixture is always yummy. My mother loved sausage and chopmeat! Our recipe is for a blossom stuffed with meat.

The earlier you get into you garden in the mornings the better. You will find these gorgeous blossoms fully opened, just waiting to be picked. The flowers that should be picked for stuffing are the flowers that are attached to long stems.

If you don't have these available in your garden ask a local farmer to sell you some of his Zucchini Flowers. Most farmers will sell them to you.  If you are really desperate go to a specialty italian store. They will  charge you an arm and a leg for each flower, so try your local farmers market before making an investment!
With a few simple ingredients you will impress your family and friends. Promise!

I'm starting with some chop meat, sweet Italian Sausage, fresh parsley, onion, garlic, parmigiano cheese (thank you Giorgio and Marina, who brought me cheese from Rome!), eggs, salt and pepper and seasoned bread crumbs. Rough cut the onion and smash the garlic and add them to a frying pan with a little bit of olive oil. Add the chop meat and the sausage meat, removed from the casing into the frying pan. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until the meat is cooked through and the garlic is tender.

While the meat is cooking you will want to clean the flowers. I have found ants crawling around in them. You can just delicately wipe the inside of the flower to remove the ants. You can also run the flower under some water .

Once I clean them I place them on a paper towel upside down. This helps the blossom stay open a little to make it easier to stuff them.

They are so delicate and they will rip and tare so be gentle!
With a slotted spoon remove the meat into a food processor and pulse it a few times until the meats are well incorporated with the onion and garlic. Remove the mixture from the food processor . In a large bowl add fresh chopped parsley, and grated cheese. Mix well. Taste as you go along. You may want to add more salt or pepper or perhaps even more cheese.

Time to stuff the flowers! I use a baby spoon or a demitasse spoon. If I had a pastry bag I imagine you could use that as well. It probably would make my life so much easier! lol

 I hold the flower between my thumb and cup it with the rest of my fingers, trying to keep the flower open. With the spoon I add the meat mixture and push down until the flower is completely full. I squeeze it gently so the mixture gets encased by the flower.

Repeat until you are done stuffing all the flowers.

Beat an egg and roll the stuffed flower into the egg and then gently roll the egg washed zucchini flower into bread crumbs.

 Repeat until all the flowers are breaded.

Pan fry the stuffed flowers in a little bit of oil until they are lightly browned on all sides. You can also flash fry these.

Recipe
Zucchini Flowers
1 large onion chopped
4 - 5 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
1 pound chop meat
1 pound sausage
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano cheese
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs
1 - 2 eggs, beaten

You can cut down on amounts in the recipe. This will make quite a bit of mixture. The leftovers can be used in stuffing so many other things, and it never goes to waste in my house! Check in later this week for more ideas on what you can stuff!

Thanks for visiting today! I've missed you!
Buon Appetito!
Lorrraine
xoxoxo

Veal Bolognese

This is one of John's favorite dishes. John is my oldest son. He's not home right now, he's on location with work and will be missing this meal. That's why I'm making a whole bunch of it, reserving what's not getting tossed with the pasta tonight, (before adding the cream) and I'll freeze it. I'll make him a nice bowl of Rigatoni when he gets home next week.

This is made with ground veal, it really is an amazing treat. The veal has such a delicate flavor that marries so well with the other ingredients, a carrot trinity. (Onions, carrots and garlic)

If you don't want to use veal,  use beef and or pork , they also work very well in a Bolognese Sauce.

 To make this Bolognese Sauce you will need the following:

1 pound of ground veal

3 carrots, grated

1 onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 quart fresh tomato sauce or

1 large can of crushed tomatoes

1 bay leaf

salt, to taste

pepper, to taste

rosemary, a pinch

porcini mushrooms*, 3 tablespoons

some people like to add celery to this dish, I don't, but you can!

In a sauce pan heat up a few teaspoons of olive oil and brown your meat.

Add the chopped onions, grated carrots, and chopped garlic to the meat.

Season with salt and pepper to taste.

 Add the quart of tomato sauce, and with a wooden spoon stir until all ingredients are well incorporated.

Add additional seasoning and the porcini mushrooms*

Simmer for 2 - 3 hours until the sauce turns a nice rich color.

At this time, if you would like, add some milk or cream to make the sauce "pink"

Serve the sauce over a thick cut pasta such as a Tagliatelle, or a Rigatoni.

*porcini mushrooms can be purchased dried. Reconstitute them in water, or some white wine. You can add the liquid from the mushrooms to the meat sauce but make sure you strain the liquid. Porcini mushrooms can be gritty.

Serve the pasta with some grated parmesan cheese, or the cheese of your choice, and enjoy!

Buon Appetito!

xoxoxo

Lorraine