Daring Cooks: Poached Eggs

Jenn and Jill have challenged The Daring Cooks to learn to perfect the technique of poaching an egg. They chose Eggs Benedict recipe from Alton Brown, Oeufs en Meurette from Cooking with Wine by Anne Willan, and Homemade Sundried Tomato & Pine Nut Seitan Sausages (poached) courtesy of Trudy of Veggie num num.

Guess who lost track of the days! This post was supposed to be put up two days ago, but silly me, it slipped my mind. Things have been crazy around here and I've been super-duper busy. But that's no excuse! Here's this month's Daring Cooks challenge! This month's challengewas to perfect a poached egg and include it in a dish. I've made poached eggs before, specifically for eggs benedict, so I wanted to do something new with a poached egg. I was curious what a poached egg would taste like on pasta, so I did a little research and decided to make a sort of non-traditional pasta carbonara featuring a poached egg as the topper. I LOVE poached eggs on pasta. I don't think that I can have pasta carbonara any other way now. I've been spoiled by the delicious runny yolk and there's no turning back.

This dish is very rich--this is like your weekly value of carbs, cheese, and butter in one meal. With that in mind, feel free to tone down the butter or cheese, but I believe that if you're going to eat carbonara, you might as well go all out.

Poached Egg Carbonara

adapted from epicurious

6-8 slices of bacon cut into small pieces

1 lb spaghetti

2 Tbsp butter

pepper

1 cup grated parmesan cheese

chopped parsley

poached egg

The first step in making carbonara is to fry up the bacon. I know that bacon is bad for you. I know that it's just chock full of unhealthy fats, but bacon needs love too. Fry and rejoice.

While the bacon is cooking, get the pasta water boiling. Add the pasta and keep an eye on it until it's done. When the bacon is done cooking, remove the bacon from the pan and pour out most, but not all, of the grease. Add the butter to the grease and let it blend together in a delicious marriage of flavor. When the pasta is ready, remove about 2 cups of the pasta water, then drain the rest. Put the pasta directly into the pan and add a healthy dose of pepper. Then add the cheese and a bit of the pasta water. Add more water as necessary to form a smooth sauce and prevent the pasta from sticking together. Heat for 2-3 minutes, then add the bacon and sprinkle parsley on top.

Now here's the most important part: poaching an egg. It's actually pretty easy to poach an egg, but it takes a bit of practice if you've never done it before. First get some water boiling and add a couple teaspoons of vinegar to the water. When the water is at a boil, turn the heat down to a simmer. Crack an egg into a small bowl or ramekin, you don't want to crack the eggs directly into the water or chaos will ensue. Stir the simmering water gently to create a little whirlpool. Carefully drop the egg into the spinning water and let it sit for a bit. After it's calmed down and stopped spinning, you can gently use a spoon to unstick it from the bottom. I prefer to make poached eggs in a nonstick pan because it makes this one step easier. It generally takes about 3-4 minutes to cook a poached egg depending on how runny you want it. If you want the yolk fairly solid, it will need to cook for a while longer. When the egg is cooked to your liking, carefully remove it with a slotted spoon. Don't worry if the egg isn't perfect or if the edges are a bit ragged. If it really bothers you, you can cut off the messy edges and make it a perfect circle.

After you've got your eggs all poached up, put one on top of each bowl. This made about 4 servings, so you will most likely need 4 eggs. I like my poached eggs very runny, but my parents like them a little more solid. Cook the eggs to your liking, but I strongly recommend making them runny. The yolk spreading through all the pasta was amazing! It adds so much flavor to the already delicious pasta. Look at that yolk! It's just melting all over the pasta!

Enjoy!

XOXO

Natalie

Summer Corn Fettucini

I knowwwwwww. It's been about a week since my last post. But I've been super busy! Lately I've spent all my free time researching job opportunities and internships in Santa Cruz. The other thing I've been researching is super duper exciting. I'm looking into the possibility of teaching English in Chile after I graduate. Possibly teaching at the school my dad attended when he was a kid! I think that sounds like an awesome opportunity. Does anyone know of programs? Or has anyone done anything similar?

But now onto the main event! I have a recipe here that is....not for the faint of heart. And by that I mean, if you are prone to heart attacks, don't....don't eat this. It is all carbs, cream, and DELICIOUS!

Summer Corn Fettucini

Adapted from Taste and Tell

1 lb fettucini

6 slices of bacon

6 ears of corn, shucked

3 shallots, finely chopped

1 small red bell pepper, seeded and chopped (optional)

salt and pepper

1 cup 1/2-1/2 or cream

1/2 cup chicken stock

2 Tbsp fresh chopped thyme

Hot sauce (optional)

1 cup Parmesan

1 cup basil leaves, torn

Cook the pasta and set aside. In a saucepan cook the bacon until crispy. While the bacon is cooking, cut the kernels off of the corn cob. Add 3/4 of it to the cooked bacon. Add the shallots and bell pepper and season with salt and pepper, cook about five minutes until the vegetables are soft.

While the veggies are cooking, put the remaining corn and the cream into the food processor and pulse until smooth. Make sure it is very smooth, mine was a little too grainy. Add the chicken stock to the pan and let it reduce for a minute or two. Add the thyme and corn mixture and stir, then add hot sauce. Pour the sauce over the pasta and then stir in the cheese and basil.

XOXO

Natalie

Mushroom Marinara Sauce

So this is the follow up to the garlic bread recipe posted the other day. This recipe probably should have been first, but oh well! So here is what you should eat that tasty tasty garlic bread with: tasty tasty mushroom marinara sauce. Now I actually hate mushrooms. They have a weird texture that I just can't get over. But I love this sauce! I don't know why, but it's just so freaking tasty!

Mushroom Marinara Sauce

Adapted from Allrecipes

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 onion, chopped

4-6 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped

2 cups fresh sliced mushrooms

1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves

1 28 oz can whole peeled tomatoes

1 15 oz can tomato sauce

1 6 oz can tomato paste

merlot wine

2 tsp salt

1 tsp ground black pepper

2 tsp dried oregano

1/4 cup white sugar

heat olive oil in a large pot over med high heat, add garlic and onions and cook until soft. Stir in the mushrooms and basil and cook until the mushrooms are done (about 10 minutes). Pour in the whole tomatoes, bring the mixture to a boil while crushing the tomatoes with a spoon. I suppose you could use a can of crushed tomatoes, but where's the fun in that? Pour in the tomato sauce and bring to a simmer. Let the sauce simmer until thick and bubbling, about 15 minutes. Add the tomato paste then fill the empty can with the merlot wine and add to sauce. Bring to a simmer, then add salt, pepper, oregano, and sugar. Let cook a few minutes longer until heated through. Serve over spaghetti noodles and garlic bread.

XOXO

Natalie

Taco mac and cheese

Ok as many of you have noticed, I usually just post recipes I'm interested in trying or have never had before. But occasionally I invent something random. Today is one of those days! This afternoon I went into the kitchen to see what needed to be used up and I found some leftover green chili chicken from Wednesday and leftover taco fixings from my family's dinner last night. I also found a can of corn and a can of fire roasted green chilis. I also really really wanted to eat pasta so when I put that all together I got: Taco mac and cheese! I know that sounds really weird, but I thought it was really good! Stephen was weirded out by it at first, but he's since changed his mind! He likes it! Try it! See what you think! I think I can make this better, so I'm going to try making it again and changing things up a bit.
note: proportions are small because I only had half a bag of pasta. Feel free to adjust as necessary.

1/2 lb pasta

Leftover meat (I had about a half cup of green chili chicken)

1/2 cup canned corn
1 tsp chopped cilantro
1-2 tsp green chilis (the kind in a can)
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2-1 tsp butter
1/4 cup milk
2-3 handfuls shredded cheese (I used Mexican cheese)

Cook the pasta in salted water until al dente, strain and set aside. Throw the leftover meat into a skillet and add the corn. Once the corn and meat are warm, add the cilantro, green chilis, onion powder, cumin, and garlic powder. Let it cook, stirring ocassionaly so that it doesn't burn.

Once everythings hot and delicious, set it aside. After you have drained the pasta, melt the butter in the empty pasta pot over low heat. Add the milk and stir in the shredded cheese. Stir continually so that it doesn't burn. Once the cheese sauce has come together, add the pasta and stir to combine. Add the meat mixture and stir. Pour it in a bowl and eat up! I topped mine with a bit of shredded lettuce and tomatoes which really added a nice cool crunch. I definitely recommend adding lettuce, but if you don't have any, it'll still taste like a taco on pasta!

XOXO

Natalie

Pasta Alla Vodka

Yessss I know, I'm a horrible slacker and I haven't posted in forever. I have more food pictures from Hawaii, however I can't post them today. All my pictures are on my computer which I sent in to Apple to be fixed. So! Pictures will be posted at a later date!
I have also had an epiphany. As I'm sure many of you have noticed, there tends to be a trend in my writing. Every now and then I have a weight loss/healthy eating epiphany followed by a week or two of actually trying to be healthier before I give in to a bag of Doritos. But not this time folks! I've decided that my problem is not so much what I eat but how much I eat. I will clean my plate even if I'm full. I'm going to go ahead and blame everyone else for this issue. Everyone knows that phrase "Finish your food, there are starving kids in China/India/Africa etc." Well I won't give in to that anymore! I am not going to finish my food! I am going to pace myself and not finish my food, because chances are I'm already full. TADA! EPIPHANY! and this one's going to last.
And now a recipe that is the complete opposite of weight loss/healthy eating. But I didn't eat that much of this and it was followed by a salad, so I think that's good still. This is: Pioneer Woman's Pasta Alla Vodka. The reason I made this is that I was curious. SO CURIOUS! How does vodka make food taste better? It has no taste! What will it add? I have been wanting to make this for a while, but I wasn't able to before because I was at school. I'm not old enough to buy/drink alcohol and I wasn't about to go find some just for one little pasta dish. But now that I'm home, I can make this for my family and it's ok! My parents were curious about it too, but admittedly not as curious as I was. So here you go! Pastaaaaa!
PS. Again, no pictures sorry. I will try harder!!!!

Adapted from Pioneer Woman
1 lb pasta
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp butter
1 medium onion, chopped (or half an onion if you don't like onion.)
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
3/4 cup vodka
1 14oz can tomato puree (I used sauce)
1 cup heavy cream
red pepper flakes to taste
1/4 tsp salt
pepper to taste
1 cup Parmesan

First get your water boiling and pasta cooking. Just let it do it's thing but don't forget to check on it every now and then. Meanwhile, heat up the olive oil and butter over medium heat. When it's hot, add the onions and garlic and let cook until soft, about 2 minutes. Then (This is important people!) TURN OFF THE FLAME. Please don't pour vodka into a screaming hot pan while the flame is on. Your eyebrows will burn off. After you have turned the flame off, pour the vodka into the pan and stir. Now you may turn the flame back on. Oh, if you're using an electric stove you can ignore that. Let the vodka cook down for a few minutes. Also, don't put your face over the pan unless you like getting evaporated alcohol in your sinuses. But if you do, please by all means, go ahead. After the vodka has cooked down a bit, add the tomato puree/sauce, stir, then add the cream. Bring the mixture to a simmer and add the salt and pepper.
Here's where I changed it up. I added another can of sauce because I didn't like how it tasted. I know that vodka is supposed to be flavorless, but I completely disagree. It tastes like alcohol! And it is gross. So when I tried the sauce it tasted like tomato sauce at first, but then I got this intenssssse flavor of alcohol. Maybe I just didn't let all the alcohol cook out or maybe I'm just a baby, but I didn't like it. Even after adding another can of tomato sauce, I still tasted that ting of alcohol in the back of my throat. My other theory about that is that maybe it's because I'm not a drinker? I'm not used to the flavor of alcohol, so therefor I notice it more? My parents didn't seem to notice it at all, so I think I'm going to stick with that theory.
Now before you drain the pasta, grab a cupful of the pasta water to thicken the sauce if necessary. I didn't need it, but you might, so do it anyway. Throw the drained pasta into the sauce and toss. If the sauce is too thick and goopy, so ahead and add a little pasta water. Then add the Parmesan cheese and stir it all up! We all added even more Parmesan cheese to our own bowls, because really people, is one cup of cheese enough? No. Never.
So there you have it, Pasta alla Vodka!
XOXO
Natalie

finally some food

Ok FINALLY a new post. I made dinner for the family last night and it was... surprisingly tasty. I hate hate hate hate hate spinach. But there's spinach in this dish and I liked it! So I'm pretty sure this dish is picky-eater proof. I mean, come on, I ate it and it has my leafy mortal enemy in it!

Also, I am going to Hawaii this weekend! My family and I are going on vacation and it's going to be awwwwwwesome. I'm going to lie on the beach, get a massage, and learn how to hula dance. So posts next week will probably not be food-related; they will most likely just be pictures of Hawaii.

Also also, sorry that the pictures on this post are so crappy. I took them with my phone in a dark kitchen.

Adapted from What Megan's Cooking

Olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

4 cloves of garlic, minced

1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes

1 (14.5 oz) can crushed tomatoes

1/8 - 1/4 cup water

red wine

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp dried basil (I used about 1 tsp fresh basil)

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 lb pasta (I used the twisty kind. Just don't use spaghetti)

9 oz fresh spinach

12 oz precooked chicken sausage (I used chicken apple sausage), sliced length wise and chopped

8 oz shredded mozzarella cheese

Parmesan cheese

Bring a big pot of salted water to boil and preheat the oven to 400F. Heat the oil in a large skillet and saute the onions until soft. Once the onions are soft, add the garlic and cook for another minute. Stir in the tomatoes, oregano, and basil. I changed it up here because I thought that the sauce was too thick. I added a little less than a 1/4 cup water and a dash of red wine just to give it a little kick. I thought it made the sauce much more interesting. The fresh basil helped a lot too. Let the sauce simmer for about 1o minutes then add the cream and simmer for at least another 5 minutes. Then turn the heat off and wait for the pasta to be done. When your

pasta is just about done cooking, throw the spinach into the pot and let it wilt. It's really fast, maybe like 15 seconds. Then drain the pasta/spinach and put it back in the pot. Now add the sausage, sauce, and half the mozzarella. Mix it all up and then throw it into a lightly greased baking dish. 9x13 should do the trick. Top with the rest of the mozzarella and the parmesan, bake for about 20-30 minutes and dig in!

XOXO

Natalie

Spaghetti and Meatballs

I love pasta. I love it. A lot. I know that pastas bad for you because it's all carbs or whatever, but I'm totally addicted. Gimme a big old bowl of pasta and tomato sauce and I'm a happy girl. Last weekend, after the barbeque, we had a lot of left over ground beef. Usually when that happens, I just make some meat sauce to throw on top of pasta, but I wanted to do something different this time. So I made spaghetti and meatballs! And they were sooooo good. I can safely say that this is MY recipe. Usually the things I post on this blog are slightly altered recipes I found online. But this time, I looked up cooking times and changed the recipe so much, it had absolutely nothing in common except ground beef and Parmesan. So here's my original meatball recipe!

1 lb ground beef

Plenty of Seasoning mix (Whatever your favorite is, I used pappy spice. Just add however much you want really.)

chopped onion (optional, I just think it would work really well with this)

1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 egg

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

1/2 cup oats

Mix together the beef, seasoning, onion (if you're using it), and worcestershire. Then blend in the egg, cheese, and oats. The oats are how I made this gluten free, normally you would use bread crumbs. If you don't want to use oats or don't have them, you can totally use bread crumbs. Roll into small meatballs and place them on a foil lined baking sheet. Bake in 400F oven for 20-25 minutes. Using lean beef is better here; I didn't use lean beef and there was some gross fat on the pan after I baked them. Luckily the fat stayed on the pan and the meatballs were delicious. While the meatballs are cooking, heat up some marinara sauce and season to taste. I usually use jarred sauce then add: Basil, Oregano, Bay leaves, and sometimes Thyme. Let the marinara sauce cook for a while so the flavors come together.

When the meatballs are done, add them to the sauce so they stay juicy and delicious. When the pasta's done, grab a big old helping and dig in!

XOXO

Natalie

Chicken Parmesan

I really love Italian food, but I don't usually get to eat it. Italian food usually involves bread and pasta which means I can't eat at Italian restaurants and am just left to my own devices. Well this Italian dish is incredible. Amazing. Fantastico. (wait that's Spanish....hm.) Chicken Parmesan! One of my favorite Italian dishes. So here's how you do it!

Adapted from pioneer woman cooks

4-6 chicken breasts, pounded flat

1/2 cup all purpose flour (seasoned with salt/pepper to taste)

1/2 cup olive oil

2 Tbsp butter

1 whole onion, chopped

4 cloves of garlic, minced

3/4 cups wine (or chicken broth)

3 (14.5 oz) cans crushed tomatoes

2 Tbsp sugar

Seasonings to taste

fresh chopped parsley

Parmesan cheese (preferably fresh grated)

1 lb pasta

First you're gonna need to flatten those chicken breasts. This is my favorite part by the way. Put the chicken breasts between two sheets of saran wrap and have at it! You can use a meat tenderizer or even a pan. Go for it! Take all your anger and transfer it to this delicious piece of chicken. Once you've gotten out all your anger and are feeling much better about yourself and life in general, dredge them in the flour. In a pan, heat up the olive oil and butter, then add the dredged breasts.

Cook for a few minutes on both sides until golden brown and cooked through. Then set the chicken aside for later. Now, without cleaning the pan, add the onion and garlic.

Let them cook down for a couple minutes then add the wine/broth. If you are using wine, turn the flame off when you add it. Don't want to start any fires. Scrape the bottom of the pan and let the wine/broth cook down a bit. Then add the tomatoes and sugar, then let cook for 30 minutes or so. I also added some other seasonings, just to spice things up a bit. (get it? spice? hahahaha.......fine) I added basil, oregano, and a few bay leaves. But you can really add anything you want.

After 30 minutes, stir in the chopped parsley and put the chicken breasts back in the pan. Generously sprinkle the chicken with the Parmesan, reduce heat to low and cover. Let the chicken and sauce cook for a few more minutes and make sure the cheese is melted. Serve with pasta! Sorry I didn't get a picture of the final product, but I was frantically snarfing down boatloads of pasta.

XOXO

Natalie

"mexican" chicken pasta

So this week I made something called Mexican chicken pasta. Mexican? not really. good? yes!

Sadly, I don't have any decent pictures for this recipe so you'll just have to imagine what it looks like.

here we gooooo!

adapted from pioneer woman

1 lb pasta

3 chicken breasts, cut into cubes

1-2 bell peppers

1 onion, sliced

3-4 cloves of garlic, minced

2-3 tomatoes

1 cup cream

2 cups chicken broth

2-3 Tbsp taco seasonings

1 Tbsp chili powder

olive oil

salt and pepper

Cook the pasta in a pot of boiling water and when it is done, set aside. In a bowl, coat the chicken with 1-2 Tbsp taco seasoning and 1/2 Tbsp chili powder. (This is the only Mexican part of this dish. Taco seasoning.) In a big skillet heat a bit of olive oil to cook the chicken in. Dump the chicken into the skillet and cook until it is done. You might want to cut a few pieces in half to see if it's cooked through. After it's done, set the chicken aside. In the same skillet, add the onion, bell pepper, and garlic. Season with the rest of the seasonings and cook on high heat until the onions are soft. Add the tomatoes and cook for another minute and set aside. With the pan still on high heat, deglaze the pan with chicken broth. If you're using a non-stick pan, this step isn't necessary, just pour the broth in. After the chicken broth is hot, add the heavy cream. Now this is where I messed up because I was too impatient. Let the broth and cream cook for a while and thicken. I didn't let it cook long enough and I ended up with a soupy sauce. Please forgive me for my stupidity. After the sauce has thickened, season with salt and pepper and add the chicken, veggies, and pasta. Cook together for a few minutes until they are all warm. Eat up! yumyumyum!

XOXO

Natalie

MAC AND CHEEEEESE

Ok so I'm proud of myself for two reasons and I'm going to share them with all of you.

1. IIIIII wrote a two page paper in half an hour. And it was probably the most concise paper that I have ever written. My point is clear, my thesis is awesome, and I even threw in a few large words suitable for a fem paper.

(perpetuated...oppression...interpretation of gender roles. hell yea.)

2. I have made a resolution to be healthier and last night I found a way to make pasta healthy. The random jar of ragu I grabbed off of the safeway shelf apparently has a full serving of veggies in half a cup of sauce. And I used like a cup of sauce! Anddddd I threw in some carrots. go me.I'm also going to try going to the gym, which I never do. But we'll see how that works out. WILLPOWER! I must find it.

Today I would like to introduce you to my new favorite macaroni and cheese recipe. I found it on pioneer woman's blog (of course), it's not fast and easy, but oh. my. god. is it worth it. SO DELICIOUS. This recipe is also the reason for my new healthy kick. Have to offset the effects of the mac and cheese somehow. Anyway, it's really really good. Dan was my photographer and he went photo craaaaaazy. So there are a lot of awesome photos today! Alright people, lets get ready to rummmmmmble!

4 cups macaroni (thats about a pound of noodles)

8 tbsp butter

2 medium onions, sliced thinly

10 slices of bacon

1 tbsp bacon grease (from the cooked bacon)

1/4 cup flour

2 cups milk

1/2 cup half and half

2 whole egg yolks, beaten

salt and pepper, to taste

1 1/2 cups cheese, grated (you can choose, I went with 3/4 cup cheddar and 3/4 cup mozzarella)

4 oz cream cheese (or another smooth cheese of your choosing)

First preheat the oven to 350F and set the water for the pasta boiling. You want to cook the pasta for about hald of the time your supposed to. We want it very aldente. When the pasta's done, just drain it and set aside.

In one pan, cook the bacon to slightly less than crispy. When they're done, set them aside onto a paper towel lined plate, then chop them up roughly.

In another pan, melt 4 tbsp butter. Yes I know it's a lot, but this is mac and cheese. Throw caution to the wind people! Melt that butter! Anyway, once the butter is melted, add the onions and let them cook on med-low heat until they are soft and golden, then take them off the heat.

In a pot, you're going to make a roux. A roux is a way to thicken sauce, and is usually the bane of my existence because it is made with flour. But in my kitchen, I'm the boss. And this is gluten free flour time! So anyway, the point is, we want a thick cheese sauce and the best way to do that is with a roux. Melt 4 tbsp butter and then add the flour. Whisk it up really fast so that it all combines together. Keep whisking, but let it cook for about a minute to really thicken up. Then add the milk and half and half and let that cook for about 3-5 minutes. Stir it every now and then, but you don't need to stir constantly this time.

When it thickens up, turn the heat to low and add salt and pepper.

Here's another cool cooking trick: tempering eggs. We're going to add eggs to the sauce, but if you just throw them in there, they'll basically instantly scramble. And that would make crappy mac and cheese! So we're going to temper them by slowly stirring in a bit of the hot sauce. So take your beaten egg yolks and slowly pour in about 1/4 cup of the sauce, whisking as you go. When the egg and sauce are combined, you can pour the egg mixture into the pot with the rest of the sauce. Whisk it all up and let it cook for another minute.

Add the grated cheese and mix it into the sauce so that it melts and gets all delicious.

When the shredded cheese is melted add the cream cheese. I didn't use all 4 oz, I think I used about 2. So I would say add about 2, try it, see if you like it, and add more if needed. Next add about 3/4 of the bacon and

onions. Don't add all of it, because you want to put some on top of the mac and cheese.

Now pour the macaroni into the pan and get all the noodles cheesy and delicious.

Then pour it into a baking dish and top with the rest of the onions and bacon. Bake it for 15-20 minutes, then pig out. you know you want to.

XOXO

Natalie

Passsssssta

So yesterday I interviewed for an RA job! I applied to be an RA at two of the off campus housing places called the inn and the university town center. This is how I'm gonna get my money back from the school. The compensation is free housing and food. Awesome! (also the inn has a pool) Hopefully I get the job! Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Also! There's a new poll--go vote everybody! go! now!

And now: more food! And as I hinted yesterday, this one has butter! Yay for butter! Also it has heavy cream. So if you are on a diet...I guess don't eat it? Close your eyes and imagine how delicious it tastes?

Anyway, we're making fettucini alfredo! Well ok, so the pioneer woman calls this fettucini alfredo, but when I tasted it, I thought that it was closer to mac and cheese. But honestly, I'd eat either of those any day. Also this is so super easy. Like ridiculously easy. Shouldn't even be on a food blog easy. So onward! fettucini/mac and cheese we go!

1 lb of pasta

1 stick of butter

1 cup of heavy cream (not milk!)

salt and pepper to taste

freshly grated parmesan cheese

Get your water boiling and make your pasta according to

package directions. While the pasta is cooking, grate some parmesan. Please don't use the green bottle kraft stuff. That's just not right. After that's all grated, put the butter in a saucepan and let it melt. Then add in the heavy cream and pepper and whisk it around. Action shot!

And now...you wait until the pasta is done.

Pasta's done! Before you drain it, grab about a half cup of the pasta water. You'll use it later if the sauce is to gooey. Now you can drain your pasta, but don't rinse it because you want it boiling lava hot. Stir in a bit of butter just so the noodles don't stick together.

Now the best part! Putting it together! In a bowl spoon in some sauce--the amount is a personal preference thing, and you can always add more later. Then sprinkle on some parmesan cheese.

Now add the pasta!

Then stir it all up! Done! I would definitely recommend adding cheese on top too. Very tasty.

Hope you guys like it!

XOXO

Natalie

Pasta Carbonara!

Last night I made pasta carbonara for dinner. That's Italian for: bacon-butter-onion-egg-pasta. It's really really rich, and very tasty. It's also pretty quick too! I love this meal because...well, I think that's fairly obvious, I love bacon and I love butter. So how can I not like this?! Sorry, vegetarians, you're gonna have to skip this one. But those of you who are also in the bacon fan-club, why haven't you made this yet? Eat it for dinner tonight. You really should.

PS. There's a new poll in the side bar for what I should make next weekend! Click the link after the pic for the recipe!

Hello World! Here's some lasagna!

Hello world! My name is Natalie and I'm a student at UCSC studying....well, I don't know what yet. But I'll figure it out soon!
I love cooking and am a self proclaimed (unmarried) housewife. By that I mean, I love messing around in the kitchen and feeding my friends and family tasty meals. I tend to cook delicious comfort food, which may not always be the healthiest, but, hey! At least you'll be happy eating it!
I am also a celiac, so I cook gluten free and am always working towards making non gluten free dishes into yummy gluten free dishes.
Seeing as this is my first post, and this is in fact a food blog, I think that I should give you all a recipe! Here is a recipe for lasagna that I made for a dinner party with my friends last week. I found it on allrecipes.com and it's super easy, especially for lasagna, and I think you will all like it a lot. Don't be intimidated by the long ingredient list, just gooooo with it. I doubled this recipe (we are in fact hungry college students) and I served it with garlic bread and my friends brought salad. Made for a great dinner and a fun night! (Click to read more!)