Tag Archives: cheese

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August 20, 2014

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Pasta & Noodles, Recipes

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Pasta Carbonara

So on my home from work today, I was thinking spaghetti because I was feeling lazy. And what is easier than ground beef and pasta sauce? But then I thought I should put in some effort and stopped at the market to buy some bacon in order to make a carbonara. I love carbonara and order it quite often. I enjoy the creaminess of the pasta, and of course, the bacon/pancetta. So I started to make this dish, and guess what? NO CREAM. I had no idea. I would have put money on it that there was some heavy cream involved. But alas, there is not, which isn’t a bad thing. I got the recipe from the Food Network.  Other than that, this dish came out quite well, but it was fairly heavy, and we had no room for dessert after (even though I had bought a cheesecake).

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Ingredients

  • 1lb spaghetti
  • 2 tbsp EVOO
  • 4 bacon strips sliced (I used 8 lol)
  • 4 garlic cloves, chopped
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 cup grated parmesan
  • Pepper
  • Fresh parsley, chopped

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Directions

  • Salt and boil pasta
  • While pasta is cooking, fry the bacon in a large, deep skillet on medium heat until crisp
  • Add the garlic and continue to saute for a minute
  • Mix the 2 eggs and parmesan cheese together, avoiding clumps
  • Drain the noodles well, and toss into the bacon fat, coating them well
  • Mix the noodles in the fat for a minute over heat
  • Remove the pan from heat and mix in the egg and parmesan mix, allowing the hot noodles to cook the eggs
  • Add a dash of chopped parsley to each plate and enjoy

 

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August 3, 2014

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Meat, Pasta & Noodles, Recipes

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Spicy Turkey Sausage Pasta

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The other day I got some spicy turkey Italian sausages from the market.  This is the first time I have ever bought turkey sausage, so I had no idea how it would taste (generally I am a pork all the way kind of guy).  You can definitely taste the difference, but its still pretty good and healthier, so I suppose that’s a plus.  In the past, I have either grilled them up and put them in a bun and called it a day, or made a standard spaghetti and threw them on top.  This time though, I thought I would try to incorporate the sausage a little more, so I made a penne pasta with a light marinara sauce and sausage.  I did not work off any kind of recipe, so feel free to make your own stuff up too.

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Ingredients

  • 1 lb of penne pasta
  • 4 Italian sausages (spicy)
  • 2 yellow/orange bell peppers (chopped)
  • 1/2 red onion (coarsely chopped)
  • 3 cloves of garlic minced
  • 1 1/2 cup marinara sauce
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • Parmesan cheese

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Directions

  • Boil the pasta and set aside
  • In a large skillet, grill the whole sausages until they are approximately 1/2 cooked (~4 min on each side)
  • Chop the red onion and the bell peppers
  • Take the sausages off and cut them into slices
  • Continue to cook the sliced sausages on high heat until done
  • Remove the sausages, and add the garlic, onions and bell peppers to the pan
  • Saute the onions and bell peppers until cooked (may need to add a little oil)
  • Add the sausages back to the pan and continue to saute for a minute on medium heat
  • Add the marinara sauce and bring to a light bubble
  • Add the penne and mix throughly
  • Sprinkle some parmesan cheese and enjoy

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July 30, 2014

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Appetizers, Salads, Sides, Veggies

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Strawberry Fields Salad

Strawberry Fields Salad

I haven’t been doing my part in our joint blog so Nate coerced me in writing this one or else he wasn’t going to post anymore. 😛 Nate and I threw an intimate dinner and game night about a week ago so I’m deciding to share a small piece of what chef Nate had prepared. Today, I will be presenting a super easy quick recipe that is perfect for summer. It’s a strawberry balsamic salad with feta cheese. I’ve actually been eating this salad for several days since it was so yummy (mostly because I can’t cook). It’s really great for lunch or as an addition to a main course.

Main Salad Ingredients

  • Spring Mix
  • Walnuts
  • Strawberries
  • Feta Cheese

Salad Dressing Ingredients

  • Lemon
  • 1/2 cup EVOO
  • 1 tbsp Strawberry Balsamic
  • Pinch of Salt
  • Dash of Pepper

Recipe

  • To make the salad dressing, mix all the ingredients listed above in a small bowl.
  • Cut the lemon and squeeze the juice into the dressing. Mix well.
  • Slice the strawberries thinly for the salad
  • Mix the spring mix, strawberries, and walnuts together
  • Now add the strawberry balsamic dressing to the salad
  • Add fresh feta cheese as desired

That was pretty easy right? I don’t even think I needed the steps for the recipe. The feta cheese wasn’t too overpowering since it was balanced well by the sweetness of the strawberries. Overall, it was an awesome start to the meal and was our only veggie for that night. Bon appetit! 🙂

 

 

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June 3, 2014

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Pasta & Noodles, Recipes

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Roasted Tomato Spaghetti

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So I was trolling Yahoo! Food and came across this recipe for a slow roasted tomato sauce. With nothing better to make, I decided to try it. I realized half way through that I had no meat to pair with it, and was super close to running to the market to pick up something, but ended up doing something more unbelievable…leaving it a vegetarian meal. Both proud and disappointed at the same time, this meal was decent, but not what I expected. I followed the recipe exactly, but it ended up being a little too sweet for my taste (maybe less balsamic next time), or adding meat (the salt from meat would probably even it out).

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Ingredients

  • 1.5 lbs cherry tomatoes
  • 3 cloves garlic, smashed
  • 1/2 cup EVOO
  • 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon fresh thyme
  • 2 teaspoons packed light-brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon coarse salt

Instructions

  • Mix tomatoes and garlic in a baking dish
  • Mix EVOO, balsamic, thyme, brown sugar, and salt in a bowl
  • Pour mix over the tomatoes
  • Bake at 325 degrees for about an hour

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So after they were baked/roasted, I honestly did not know what to do with them. I tried to break the tomatoes and mix them to make a sauce, but while the tomatoes broke, the skins didn’t really reduce. So I ended up putting a few of the tomatoes in the food processor and pulsing it a bit to make a sauce that I could mix with my spaghetti. Overall, it was like I said earlier – not what I expected, but I would definitely try it again with a few adjustments.

 

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May 14, 2014

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Recipes, Sides

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Scalloped Potatoes

I’m sure you have all been to the market and seen those bags of russet potatoes where its like $1.50/lb, or you can buy a 5lb bag for $4 or a 10lb bag for $5.  So obviously wanting the most bang for my buck, I always opt for the 10lbs, and to this day I don’t think I have ever finished all 10lbs before they went bad.  I’m Asian so most of my carbs come in the rice and noodle format, not so much the potato.  But since I bought a 10lb bag, what the heck, I’ll make some more potatoes.  This time I tried scalloped potatoes due to Jenn’s extreme, otherworldly, not quite sure how that happened love of cheese.  I followed this recipe and it turned out pretty well.

Ingredients:

  • 4 cups thinly sliced potatoes
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 3 tablespoons flour
  • 1 1/2 cups milk
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 dash cayenne pepper (didn’t have any so I used chili flakes)
  • 1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
  • 1/2 cup grated cheese, to sprinkle on top
  • paprika
1st half
with sauce
cutting into the finished product

Directions (b/c even men need them sometimes)

  • Thinly slice your potatoes (mandolin might be handy here)
  • Melt butter in saucepan, mix in the flour, and let it sit for a minute
  • Whisk in the cold milk
  • Season with salt and cayenne pepper
  • Cook until smooth, whisking occasionally
  • Reduce the heat and stir in the cheese (I used way more than a cup)
  • Place half of the potatoes in a greased baking tray
  • Pour half the sauce over the potatoes
  • Add the 2nd half of the potatoes and cover again with the remaining cheese sauce
  • Add extra cheese on top because obviously you would
  • Sprinkle with paprika
  • Bake at 350 degrees for an hour
Finished Product

The scalloped potatoes were obviously (not so obviously) a side dish to a pan fried chicken I made.  I seasoned bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs with a mix of seasoned salt, black pepper, thyme, rosemary, garlic powder and onion powder.  It was a mix that I got as a gift for attending my cousin’s wedding since they also like to cook.  After seasoning them, I pan fried them in some butter.  I like the skin-on thighs because I like the crispyness of the skin when I fry them.  So those two and a side salad completed the meal.  It was definitely on the heavier side, but it was delicious.

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April 29, 2014

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Pasta & Noodles, Recipes

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Chicken Pesto Pasta

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Happy Monday! I was pretty surprised Nate was up to do another dish for the blog today. That’s 3 in a row! I was thinking once a week was going to be our average quota. Nate opted to do a noodle based dish today, so I persuaded him to do pasta!  Mostly because of my love for cheese and the fact that his basil plant was starting to wither. He forgot plants needed sun. After going on a quick run to Trader Joe’s after work, we were set to start cooking.

This is the recipe Nate used.

The Dish:  Chicken Pesto Pasta

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Ingredients:

  • A Couple of Chicken Breast
  • 2 cups of Basil (or all of his potted plant basically)
  • Cherry tomatoes
  • Heavy Cream
  • Pasta (we used linguine)
  • 1/2 Cup of Parmesan Cheese
  • 3 cloves of Garlic
  • Olive Oil
  • 1/3-1/2 cup of walnuts or pine nuts
  • Salt & Pepper

Steps

Pesto Sauce
Adding tomatoes

Pesto Sauce:

  • Add 1/3-1/2 cups of walnuts and 3 cloves of garlic to a food processor and pulse it a few times
  • Add the basil and pulse a few more times
  • Slowly add the 1/2 cup of EVOO and pulse a bit more (scraping off all the sides)
  • Add the 1/2 cup parmesan cheese and pulse it yet again
  • Add salt and pepper to taste

Pasta

  • Boil the water and salt it accordingly to cook your pasta
  • Heat the pesto in a pan with a little EVOO and stir it
  • Add as much cream as you deem necessary (We ended up adding more than we originally planned to thicken it, but it didn’t turn out super creamy)
  • Add some tomatoes
  • Salt and Pepper to taste
  • Add the pasta and mix thoroughly

Chicken

  • Salt and pepper
  • You can grill it or pan fry it (He used a pan, since he can’t have a grill at his apartment)
  • Cook throughly
  • Cut and enjoy!

Here is the final product!

Add the grilled chicken
Needs more cheese!

After the two major fails (see below), Nate’s dish actually came out as a major success! He was very impressed with himself, which he claims is hard to do. Obviously, I added more parmesan cheese to my pasta. The pasta wasn’t as heavy as I expected which is how I prefer it. It was pretty light dish overall and I loved the nutty and crunchy texture of the pesto. We paired our pasta dish with a light side salad as well to balance out the heavy carbs.

Stay tuned tomorrow for our next noodle dish!

Cooking Fails

**Please don’t be as clumsy as we were

Dropped a whole box of linguine unto the floor
Poor blue saucer