Spaghetti Carbonara

I have never made this simple dish before but I had a feeling I was going to love it since it had roasted garlic in it. And let's face it; anything with roasted garlic is bound to be good.



Spaghetti Carbonara with roasted garlic
Adapted from The Sutter home Napa Valley Cookbook

4 to 6 garlic cloves, peeled

2 tablespoon butter, at room temperature

salt

1/2 lb dried spaghetti

1/2 lb sliced bacon

2 eggs room temperature, lightly beaten

1/4 light cream or half and half

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Pepper

Peel the garlic and wrap it in foil. Place in 350 degrees oven. Roast for 30 minutes or until soft and golden brown.

Unwrap the garlic and mash it in a small bowl with the butter. Set aside

In a large pot bring 4 quarts of water to a boil and cook the spaghetti until al denta.

In a skillet, cook the bacon over medium heat until crisp, Transfer to a paper towel. Crumble when cool and set aside.

In a small bowl whisk the eggs and cream until blended well. Set aside.

TO Assemble

Drain the spaghetti and rinse the pot and return to stove over the lowest heat. Add the garlic butter and stir to coat bottom of pan. Add spaghetti and toss to coat. Remove from heat and add egg mixture. Stir constantly until it has thickened and formed a sauce. Add bacon and cheese along with salt and pepper to taste. Toss to coat.

Serve immediately.

Blackberry Slump

This is a great recipe when you are craving a cobbler on a hot day, but you don't want to use your oven as this cobbler is cooked on the stove top. Which is perfect for when it is too hot to bake.



Blackberry Slump
Adapted from Williams-Sonoma New England Cookbook

2 pt (1lb) blackberries

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

2 teaspoon grated lemon zest

Biscuits

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

pinch of salt

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1/4 cup buttermilk

In a Dutch oven or heavy saucepan with a tight fitting lid, combine the berries, sugar, lemon juice and lemon zest. Stir and set aside.

For the biscuits, stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir in the melted butter and buttermilk briefly to form a soft, lumpy dough.

Set the pan with the berries in it over high heat, cover and bring to a boil. Once the berries have come to a boil, uncover and stir to ensure the sugar has melted and reduce the heat to medium-low. Drop spoonfuls of biscuits onto the simmering berries, spacing them evenly. Cover and simmer gently until the biscuits are firm and dry to the touch. Do not remove the lid too often as it is the steam that cooks the biscuits.

Spoon the slump into bowls and serve with vanilla ice cream, cream or whipped cream.

Key Lime Pie

I've had my fair share of Key lime pie and some of them I have loved and others I could have done without. This one falls in the category of love. I love, love, love this pie. It has the perfect amount of tartness without making you pucker (who can enjoy a pie that makes you wince from the tartness with each bite?). This is the kind of pie that makes you say oh my when you take the first bite.


I bought a bag of limes thinking it would yield the 1 1/4 cups of lime juice, but I only got 1/2 cup. After tasting the lime juice, I realized it was strong enough I could add water to get the 1 1/4 cup of liquid I needed, I was right. After added the water, the lime juice was still tart. For me the diluted juice was the perfect flavor, but if you love a tart key lime, then add the full amount.


Key Lime Pie
Adapted from Cottage Living 2/2006

1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs

2 tablespoon granulated sugar

4 tablespoon butter, melted

2 (14-ounce) cans sweetened condensed milk

1 1/4 Key lime juice (fresh, not from a bottle)

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

sweetened whipped cream



Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Mix graham cracker crumbs, granulated sugar, and butter with hands; press firmly into a 10-inch pie pan. Bake for 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove and let stand for 15 minutes.

Whisk together condensed milk, lime juice, and eggs until well blended. Pour into crust and bake at 325 degrees for 18-20 minutes or until set. Chill for 4 hours.

To finish pie, spread sweetened whipped cream over top and serve.

Zucchini Pancakes

One of my favorite ways to use up zucchini and to get my kids to eat their vegetables!


Zucchini Pancakes
Barefoot Contessa at home

2 medium zucchini (about 3/4 lb)

2 tablespoons grated red onion

2 extra-large eggs, lightly beaten

6 to 8 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

unsalted butter and vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 300 degrees

Grate the zucchini into a bowl using the large grating side of a box grater. Stir in onion and eggs. Stir in 6 tablespoon of flour, baking powder, salt and pepper. You can add the remaining two tablespoon of flour if the batter gets too runny.

Heat a large frying pan over medium heat and melt 1/2 tablespoon butter with 1/2 tablespoon oil. Heat until the butter is hot but not smoking and then lower the heat to medium-low. Drop a heaping soupspoons size of batter into the pan. Let it cook for two minutes or until it is brown, then flip. Place finished pancakes on a sheet pan and keep warm in the oven.
Wipe out pan and add more butter and oil for next batch.
Serve warm.