RogueChef
“It IS all about the TASTE”
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Pasta Carbonara
This is why I will die of chronic cholesterol. It is also why I will die happy…. For those of you who have read my post about hedonism, this is quite indulgent, and ooohhh so simple. There are many rewards to using only the freshest cream and butter, the finest of cheese, and the best of pasta. Truly, a RogueChef classic.
Carbonara is an Italian pasta dish from Latium, and more specifically to Rome, based on eggs, cheese (Pecorino Romano or Parmigiano-Reggiano), bacon (guanciale or pancetta), and black pepper. Spaghetti is usually used as the pasta, however, fettuccine, rigatoni or bucatini can also be used. The dish was created in the middle of the 20th century.
The pork is cooked in fat, which may be olive oil, lard, or less frequently butter. The hot pasta is combined with a mixture of raw eggs, cheese, and a fat (butter, olive oil, or cream) away from additional direct heat to avoid coagulating the egg, either in the pasta pot or in a serving dish. The eggs should create a creamy sauce, and not curdle. Guanciale is the most commonly used meat, but pancetta and local bacon are also used. Versions of this recipe may differ in how the egg is added: some people use the whole egg, while other people use only the yolk; intermediate versions with some whole eggs and some yolk are also possible.
Cream is not common in Italian recipes, but is often used elsewhere. Garlic is similarly found mostly outside Italy.
Other variations on carbonara outside Italy may include peas, broccoli, mushrooms, or other vegetables. Many of these preparations have more sauce than the Italian versions. As with many other dishes, ersatz versions are made with commercial bottled sauces.
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Fagioli
Cold nights, warm days, lovely weather for cold and flu. Time to kick the sick, and get back on top.
So, I’m making soup today, a nice hearty warming soup, full of beans, veggies, beef stock, bacon, and pasta.
Background
Pasta fagioli , meaning “pasta and beans”, is a traditional Italian peasant dish that is now a frequent menu item throughout the world. Like many other Italian favorites including pizza and polenta, the dish started as a peasant dish, due to cheaply available beans and pasta.It is made using cannellini beans or kidney beans and some type of small pasta such as elbow macaroni. The base is generally olive oil, garlic, minced onion, and spices, along with stewed tomatoes or tomato paste, or traditionally, in home recipes, the leftover sauce from Sunday marinara. Some variations do not include tomatoes at all, and are made from a broth.
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Sausage Cheese Biscuits
As I prep for the annual holiday dinner, I need to feed myself, but it has to be quick, and hearty, and a memory from long, long, ago and far, far, away, popped into my mind. An old friend who was into various alternate cultures, and may have been to role model for the “urban pioneer”, used to make these to match long conversations at the fire, along with the various wines.
(As I said, long, long, ago and far, far, away …)
Sausage, baking mix and cheese are mixed with a bit of beer to make a very tasty, and somewhat filling snack. Quick, Cheap, and plentiful, all the things that youths on their own for the first time look for.
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Butter Garlic Noodles with Miso (miso-udon)
One of the more annoying facts of the lair is the ever changing culinary landscape. I can deal with vegetarian, I can cope with a vegan “no-dairy” lifestyle, (for varying amounts of life), but when one of my loyal critics decides to go “wheat-free” as well, things start to get dicey.. (I believe may basic comment was, “Ok, your dinner is on the bar. And the bottle opener is on the back bar, put away your empties.)”
So when said “friend” needed a snack, I looked to rice noodles, with a Garlic / Chili / Margarine sauce.
To complete the insult, my offering was judged to be “lacking”. Many glances at the knife-rack, and considerations of garbage bags, and multiple dumpsters.
Instead a re-run of the same dish, and a close examination of the refrigerator turned up a Asian staple, that meet all the “dietary requirements”, and would add “Umami”, with out meat or dairy… Such a miracle working culinary swiss knife is miso.
Miso is a traditional Japanese seasoning produced by fermenting rice, barley, and/or soybeans with salt and the fungus kōjikin, the most typical miso being made with soy. The result is a thick paste used for sauces and spreads, pickling vegetables or meats, and mixing with dashi soup stock to serve as miso soup called misoshiru, a Japanese culinary staple. High in protein and rich in vitamins and minerals, miso played an important nutritional role in feudal Japan. Miso is still widely used in Japan, both in traditional and modern cooking, and has been gaining world-wide interest. Miso is typically salty, but its flavor and aroma depend on various factors in the ingredients and fermentation process. There is a wide variety of miso available. Different varieties of miso have been described as salty, sweet, earthy, fruity, and savory. The traditional Chinese analogue of miso is known as dòujiàng.
Mame miso, or “soybean miso” is a darker, more reddish brown. This is not as sweet as some other varieties of miso, but has some astringency and good umami. This miso requires a long maturing term. Mame miso is consumed mostly in Aichi prefecture, part of Gifu prefecture, and part of Mie prefecture.
And just to make sure my appreciation of his critique of my food as appreciated, I replaced the green chilies with an equal amount of Habenaro.
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Meatless Monday – Garlic Butter Noodles
Today is filled with crisis, move prep, laptop fixing, network monitoring, backup setup, server tossing, and hard drive wreaking. A very full day, I was about to order Chinese, but a denizen of the lair was carping about the time delivery took, and I could do something faster
Ok, the challenge is down. Fast and filling, savory and simple, Noodles seem to fit the bill. But with a bit of a twist, say butter, ginger, garlic, and maybe a bit of scallion, with a hint of chili.
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Hearty Food – Minestrone
It is finally down to cool weather and rain, soon the cold / flu pandemic will be raging and some form of chicken soup / stew / broth will be needed, but a hearty dish chocked full of veggies, legumes, and meat, and pasta is required. A “BIG” soup for big people with big colds. Something to use my pressure cooker chicken broth and the meat from the cooked chicken as a base.
The Italians seem to think so as well as this really is a cornerstone of Italian cuisine, and rivals pasta for the prime stop on the Italian dinner table.
Minestrone (literally big soup) is a thick soup of Italian origin made with vegetables, often with the addition of pasta or rice. Common ingredients include beans, onions, celery, carrots, stock, and tomatoes.
There is no set recipe for minestrone, since it is usually made out of whatever vegetables are in season. It can be vegetarian, contain meat, or contain a meat-based broth (such as chicken stock). Angelo Pellegrini, however, argued that the base of minestrone is bean broth, and that Roman beans (also called Borlotti beans) “are the beans to use for genuine minestrone”.
There is no set recipe for minestrone, since it is usually made out of whatever vegetables are in season. It can be vegetarian, contain meat, or contain a meat-based broth (such as chicken stock).
No set recipe ?, I love it, what a place to show off the rogue chef flair..
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