rockstar pasta

Bacon and Mushroom Pasta with Rosemary Cream Sauce

Tonight's dinner is brought to you by the happy marriage of mushrooms, bacon and pasta.  This ain't your normal spaghetti.  It's probably a bazillion Weight Watchers points, but is just delicious and fabulous.  Elegant, even.  And easy peasy, y'all.

Chop two slices of bacon into small pieces and saute until crisp.

Get rid of some of the extra bacon grease (leaving just a tiny bit in the pan) using the above pictured high-tech kitchen gadget.

 Thinly slice four or five mushrooms.

 You'll also need one sprig of earthy rosemary.

 Also chop 1/4 of a large onion (or half of a teeny one) and two cloves of garlic.

 You're also going to want a healthy pinch of crushed red pepper flake.  This stuff is gold in pasta: it adds a spicy kick and depth without adding strong flavor (like, say, a jalapeno would).

 Saute the onions with the bacon until tender, then add the mushrooms, garlic and rosemary and cook for about five minutes on medium heat.  This is a good time to cook your pasta (I just used spaghetti).  You want to cook it very al dente (because you're going to cook it a couple more minutes in the sauce at the end).

 Add about 1/2 cup of heavy cream.  I know, you're thinking that after all the sweets of Christmas, heavy cream is the enemy.  If you prefer using milk, go for it.  I'm just going to go for a little jog tomorrow night after work (and eat all of this creamy, fabulous pasta I want!).

Add about 1/2 cup of the pasta water to the sauce and simmer a few minutes, until thickened.  Then add 1/3 cup of parmesan (yum yum yum).  Remove the rosemary sprig.  Drain the pasta and cook it a few minutes in that glorious sauce.  Adjust salt and pepper as needed.

 "Please, just a wee taste??"

This is one amazing pasta, y'all.  Creamy, with a kick from the crushed red pepper, a saltiness from the bacon and a deep rosemary undertone.  You'll love it.

Bon appetit,
lilrevchef

Bubble & Squeak

I realize I sorta plopped my dinner on a plate, but it tastes divine, I promise.

I'm back!  I know it's been a long while, but life's been blissfully busy these days and I've cooked plenty of yummy things, and I want to share one of my favorites:  Bubble and squeak!  Funny name, delicious food.  I learned how to make it in Belfast, from the wonderful Mo Blake.  The name comes from the delightful melted cheese on top (the bubble) and a bit of bacon in it (the squeak).  Consider it a shepherd's pie taken to a whole new level.  It's the perfect thing to warm you up on a chilly night.  Let's get started...

Take 4 small russet potatoes (or Irish ones for you people in that land of spectacular spuds).  Chop them into about inch-sized pieces.

(Hayden gets spooked when I chop things — gallant little guy, I know.  He goes in the other room and only comes back once I'm done.  Funny fellow.)

Fill a pan with water and add the potatoes and bring to a boil.  I also threw in a couple whole cloves of garlic.  Apparently all of the potatoes pieces cook evenly when brought to a boil together (as opposed to just adding them to already boiling water).  If you can understand why that is, I'll give you a golden potato, 'cause this gal has no idea why.

Chop some carrots into small pieces.  It's easiest to do this by chopping a carrot in half, then in half lengthwise and it's easy to cut into little squares.

Chop up three slices of bacon and saute in a dutch oven or large saucepan in a tablespoon of olive oil, until crisp.  Add in one small onion, chopped, and cook until tender.

Grab a few mushrooms and clean them with a damp paper towel.  It's not a good idea to rinse them off, because they're little sponges ("Hey, I'm a funghi!").  Wouldn't you rather they soak up yummy bacon-y, winey (coming later) flavor than just tap water?  Thought so.  Roughly chop those funghis.

Thinly chop half a head of cabbage (I know, lots of chopping, but it just shows how fresh it all is!).  Savoy is the best to use, with it's yummy crinkly texture, but in a pinch you can just use regular cabbage like I did.

Add the cabbage to the bacon amazingness and cook on medium-high heat, stirring often to get a bit of caramelization on it and soften it.  Then add the mushrooms lower the heat to medium and cook for a few minutes.

Then add a splash of dry red wine.  I realize that this picture looks like I took it after having drank a bottle of wine, but I hadn't!  It was just hard to take a pic and pour in vino at the same time.  Scrape up all the bits from the bottom of the pan.  They add depth to the flavor.

By now your spuds are most certainly tender.  Drain them and return 'em to the hot pot so all the liquid can evaporate.

Add about 4 tablespoons of butter and mash them up.

Add a couple of splashes of milk and plenty of salt and pepper and stir together.

Here's what your veggie-bacon layer will look like.  Mmm.

Top with the mashed potatoes.

And top that with some cheese (gotta get that bubble going).  I used havarti because it's what I had.  Would you believe that folks from my lovely church have not only given me all sorts of home staples and a real Christmas tree, but they've given me cheese, y'all!  I usually use white cheddar, but that nutty havarti was perfection.  Broil in the oven for a few minutes (keep an eye on it, goes fast!) until brown and bubbly on top.

Top with a little parsley for freshness and color and enjoy!

Hope this brings you some warmth this winter, y'all!  What are you eating to keep cozy these days?

Bon appetit!

lilrevchef

what's orange and bacon-y and delicious all over?

Pumpkin pasta with sage and bacon. 

Have you made those scrumptious pumpkin cupcakes yet?  Well, tonight I have another pumpkin treat for you (that, unlike those cupcakes, you can unashamedly eat lots of for dinner).  Pumpkin penne pasta with sage and bacon.  It's my first time to actually use pumpkin for a savory dish, and I loved it.  I found the recipe from Rachael Ray.  Rachael's recipes always seem to make way too much food, so I halved it and made enough for 3.  I read a few of the reviews of the recipe on her website (always a good idea to hear from real folks and not just test-kitchen robots!), and they said it was a bit bland.  We all know the answer to that: bacon.  Applewood smoked, to be exact.  If you're of the vegetarian persuasion, perhaps amp it up with some toasted pine nuts and tangy parmesan instead.  I frequent the Food Network more than any other channel (no surprise there) and notice that chefs always have interesting textures going on in their food, so that's another bonus from the crisped bacon (or pine nuts) in this creamy pasta. 

Chop three strips of bacon (streaky bacon for your Belfast folks), and saute in a bit of olive oil until crisp.  Remove and let drain on a paper towel.  Use another paper towel to sop up about half of the bacon drippings in the pan.

To the remaining bacon drippings (I know, I'm sounding lots like Paula Deen, y'all), add as much red pepper flake as you like.  I think I added about a teaspoon.  Has some kick!  I LOVE red pepper flake in pasta.  It adds heat without masking the flavor.

 Chop up half an onion and three cloves of garlic.

Saute the onions until soft, about 10 minutes.   Add the garlic and cook another 3 minutes or so.

Now it's sage time!  Sage is smoky and earthy and stands up well to strong flavors (like that rockstar applewood smoked bacon).  Thinly slice about 6 sage leaves.

Add to the onions and garlic, cooking for a few minutes so it gets a bit crispy.  Unlike its more delicate cousin basil that prefers to frolic in light salads, sage can stand up to some heat.

Now it gets interesting.  Add a dash of cinnamon and a dash of nutmeg.  But really, folks, just a wee dash: you don't want your pasta to taste like those wonderful cupcakes.  I heat the spices a bit in the pan, releasing their flavor.

Now add in about 3/4 cup of pumpkin, whatever was leftover from making those perfect pumpkin cupcakes.

Add in one cup of chicken stock, stir well and then add 1/4 cup heavy cream.  I suppose you could use half and half.  But seriously, we already have bacon going on.  Don't let a wee thing like 1/4 cup heavy cream get you stressed out.  (Or a bit of bacon, for that matter.)  The sauce has the most stunning color and silky texture.

For the pasta, I used whole wheat penne.  I love penne, and the whole wheat makes me feel better 'bout that bacon and cream. :)

 Cook until nearly al dente, about 7 minutes.  Keep simmering your yummy pumpkin sauce, adjusting salt and pepper as needed.  After draining pasta let it hang out in that fabulous sauce for a couple of minutes.

Top your fabulously fall-ish pasta with a sprinkling of the crisped bacon (mmm, bacon sprinkles...think of the possibilities!).

Enjoy, y'all.

Bon appetit!
lilrevchef

table for one

image via http://ordtolax.wordpress.com

There's a particular culinary phenomenon that only occurs with us single folks: not wanting to go to the trouble of cooking only for ourselves.  Working in churches, I often chat with wonderful women who cooked all the time for most of their lives, but now that it's just them, they don't want to cook anymore.  This makes sense in a lot of ways...it's certainly fun to cook for someone and eating alone can be a daunting thing after being so used to company at mealtimes.  There are also people a bit closer to my age who just happen to be single and find cooking to be way too much trouble and recipes only geared for family cooking (i.e. "serves 4-6").  

To both groups of people, I share a bit of wisdom from my great friend Ashley.  We were having a discussion (via text, actually...which is sometimes my generation's version of a heart-to-heart), and I was saying that I was cleaning house for my friend coming to visit.  I commented that I only seem to really clean when I have a friend coming over.  She concurred, and then said something profound: "I wish I'd be my own friend and clean just for myself!"  As minister-folk tend to say, "that'll preach!"  

The same could be said of cooking.  Yes, it's a lot of effort to tailor recipes to a single portion. Yes, eating alone can be lonely and cooking can remind you of that fact.  Yes, it can be more rewarding to cook for others than ourselves.  But, you know what?  You're worth cooking for, all by your lonesome.  So, I encourage those of you who find yourselves flying solo, embrace it.  Be your own friend, cook things only you like and make any regular weeknight special by treating yourself to a nice homemade meal. 

 I'll share my craving and creation tonight.  It's really simple.  As my random stream-of-consciousness would have it, it rained today, which of course reminded me of Belfast.  I immediately craved tea and through a Facebook chat with a friend over in that wee dote of a town, champ was suggested for dinner.  Champ is a staple of Irish cooking with (you guessed it), potatoes.  It's essentially mashed potatoes with lots of scallions.  But that thought reminded me of something I would make on particularly rainy, sleepy nights in Belfast.  I would simply make some divine mashed potatoes with whatever yummy vegetables in them I felt like.  (It helped that a green grocer stand was seconds from my door.)  I'd also add a bit of bacon or proscuitto.  I'd call that mashed masterpiece a meal, get a glass of wine and be all set for a little solo supper.  Today's rain awoke that memory in me and so I decided to make it.

Broccoli looked great at my grocery store (and you can buy broccoli in one teeny head: very solo-dining friendly).  I also used a small onion, 3 potatoes (Yukon gold I think) and 3 cloves of garlic. *A little tip on produce purchasing, especially if you're just cooking for you: it's nearly always cheaper to buy loose produce than the pre-bagged/packaged stuff.  And let's be honest, do you really need a 5 lb bag of potatoes?

Having procured my produce, I trimmed up my little trees nicely...

And sliced my halved onion...

...and tossed them with the garlic, some evoo and salt and pepper.  I roasted it, turning every 5 min or so, for 20 minutes at 400ºF/204ºC.

Here the veggies are all golden and roasted.  Try to resist eating them all right off the baking sheet (though, when I roast brussels sprouts, they rarely all make it to the plate from the baking sheet!).

While those veggies were roasting, I chopped the potatoes in large pieces (I never peel potatoes when making mashed potatoes...I like the skin on them).  I boiled them for about 15 minutes, until fork-tender. 

I drained the potatoes and then returned them to the hot pot for a few minutes, so all the extra water evaporated (soggy, gluey mashed potatoes are no way to treat a friend, and remember, you're you're friend).

I mashed 'em up...

...adding 3T of butter and about 1/3 cup of milk (but adjust as needed to get them as creamy as you want them).  Now, dreamy fluffy mashed potatoes with roasted veggies in them are divine just on their own.  But, I tend to think that bacon makes everything better.

I crumbled two slices of bacon.  Mmm.

Then, I added the roasted veggies, bacon and a combination of smoked gouda and parmesan (as much as you like, whatever cheese you happen to have) to my mashed potatoes and incorporated it all together until it was one cute little pot of love-yourself-happy.  It made enough for a generous serving for me and leftovers for another meal (it's fantastic as leftovers, I promise!).

All it needed was a nice little pat of butter melting silkily on top...

...and a crisp pinot grigio to wash it down with!  Now, that's a way to dine solo, friends.

Bon appetit,
lilrevchef