More Than Burnt Toast

Tossed together a delicious wine & dine with my wonderful boyfriend on Friday evening. I picked up some fresh pancetta at the Italian deli in Chelsea Market to make pasta alla carbonara with the homemade ricotta I made the previous night.

What you’ll need:

• 4 ounces of pancetta, diced into chunks
• 1 small shallot, diced finely
• 1 clove of garlic, chopped finely
• 3/4 cup frozen peas
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup of ricotta (if you don’t have ricotta, use pecorino-romano or parmesan)
• Salt & pepper to taste
• 1lb pasta (of your choice), prepared per instructions (add salt to the water)

Before you start anything, prepare the pot/water for the pasta and begin heating to a boil. While that’s starting, in a large skillet over medium heat, cook the pancetta.

While the pancetta is cooking combine the egg with half the cheese, salt & pepper, whisk thoroughly.

Once the pancetta is cooked, remove from pan and drain on a paper towel (you don’t have to drain it but it was nice to rid the pancetta of the extra grease).

Add shallots to the same skillet & saute until tender. Add garlic & saute for 30 seconds.

When the pasta has about a minute left for cooking, add the frozen peas to the boiling pot (you will strain these with the pasta).

Remove skillet from heat and add the hot pasta to the pan with the shallots & garlic.

Add the egg mixture & stir thoroughly until creamy (be careful not to over cook the eggs - you don’t want them to scramble). Add pancetta, parsley and remaining cheese - taste & re-season if needed. Serve immediately. Enjoy.

(photo credit: my super awesome sous-chef)

I wanted to bake something a bit different for my boyfriend’s birthday BBQ, so I opted for a simple apple tart that I found at The Family Kitchen.

It was super simple and the glaze had a refreshing orange zest kick to it. You can use a pre-made crust, but I always prefer homemade crusts. Anyway… enjoy!

Simple Apple Tart (adapted from the Smitten Kitchen by way of Alice Waters)

for the crust
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
6 tablespoons cold butter
1/4 cup ice water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar

for the tart filling
3 granny smith apples
2 tablespoons melted butter
3 tablespoons sugar
good pinch salt

for the glaze
apple cores and peels
1/2 cup sugar
zest and juice of 1 orange
1/2 cup water

In the bowl of your food processor, combine the flour, salt, and sugar. Drop in the butter and pulse several times until the dough has a sandy texture. Drizzle in the water and pulse just until combined. You can also mix the flour by hand, and cut in the butter with a pastry knife, and then mix in the water just until combined.

Scoop the dough out onto a lightly floured board gather into a round disc. Wrap the  round in plastic and refrigerate for a half-hour.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. On a lightly floured surface, roll the chilled dough into an 11” round, and then press it into a well-buttered tart pan. Fold any excess dough into the sides of the tart.

Wash and peel, and core the apples, reserving the peels and cores. Slice the apples into 1/8” thick slices. Starting on the outer edge, arrange the apple slices in a tight circle, working your way toward the middle. Brush the apples with the 2 tablespoons of melted butter. Sprinkle the apples with the salt, and then 3 tablespoons of sugar.

Place the tart on a rimmed baking sheet and then into the oven. Bake for 45 minutes, until the dough is golden and the edges of the apples have browned. Rotate the tart pan halfway through. Let tart cool for 15 minutes.

While the tart is baking, combine the apple peels and cores, orange zest, sugar, juice and water in a medium saucepan. Simmer for 30 minutes. Add extra water if needed. Strain the glaze, cool, and brush on the tart just before serving.

I made Huevos Rancheros for dinner… in mini home-made corn tortilla cups! I took the Epicurious recipe and simplified it a bit more and decided to test this out tonight because I’d really love to make it for my boyfriend this weekend. The recipe below yields six, but I only made one for myself and some extra tortilla cups for later use.

You’ll need:

• 4 tablespoons of olive oil
• 6 6- to 61/2-inch-diameter corn tortillas
• 1 15-ounce can pinto beans or black beans, drained
• 2/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro, divided
• 6 large eggs
• 3/4 cup grated Monterey Jack cheese
• Salsa and hot sauce

Preheat oven to 350°F. Brush six 10-ounce custard cups with 1 tablespoon oil. Stack tortillas; microwave uncovered until warm and flexible, about 25 seconds. Gently press 1 tortilla into each cup. Brush tortillas with 2 tablespoons oil.

Place pinto beans, remaining 1 tablespoon oil, 1/3 cup chopped cilantro in small bowl; mash coarsely with fork. Spoon bean mixture into bottom of tortilla cups, spreading and dividing evenly. Crack 1 egg into each tortilla cup atop beans. Sprinkle each with grated Monterey Jack cheese, covering egg completely. Bake uncovered until egg yolks are firm to touch and whites are set, about 27 minutes (yolks will still be soft inside).

Using large spoon, lift tortilla cups from dishes; transfer to plates. Top eggs with additional cilantro, salsa, hot sauce… even pico de gallo!

Saturday night was so much fun. I loved being all cute and cooking dinner with the boyfriend (insert adorable and cheesy aww’s). We decided to make these scrumptious Crab Tostadas that we found in the cook book my mom gave me for Christmas. The recipe serves 8, but we devoured everything like sea-cows. For dessert, we dipped fresh blackberries in dark chocolate and enjoyed the meal with a bottle of white wine.

Anyway, it’s a super easy recipe. Perfect for those not big on cooking and a lot of fun to make together so nobody’s getting crabby in the kitchen.

You’ll need:

• 1lb lump crab
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
• 3 plum tomatoes, cut, seeded/cleaned out and diced
• 3 tablespoons finely chopped red onion
• 1 ripe avocado, thinly sliced or in small cubes
• 1 jalapeno, finely chopped
• The zest and juice from 2 limes (buy a third to slice and have on the side)
• 2 tablespoons mayo (we left this out)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Dash of sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper (to taste)
• 6” flour tortillas, lightly fried in canola oil

To fry the tortillas, put about 1/2 cup of oil in a deep pan on high heat. It’ll be hot enough when you flick some water into the oil and it sizzles immediately. Place the tortilla in the oil to lightly brown on one side, flip and fry the other side. Place on paper towels, leaving a paper towel in between each fried tortilla to absorb the excess oil.

Before using the crab, be sure to check it for cartilage. When it’s set to go, take the remaining ingredients and toss gently in a large bowl. Serve on top of your fried tortilla and garnish with additional cilantro, sea salt, pepper and a lime wedge. We also tossed some hot sauce on them.

I made this Broccoli Crunch Slaw that I found on Everybody Likes Sandwiches. Only thing I changed was using non-fat greek yogurt and not a full 1/4 cup of onions. Next time I might substitute the rather overbearing red onion for shallots…

But it was definitely scrumptious and I’ll be making it again!

broccoli crunch slaw
1 large head of broccoli
1/4 red onion, diced
1/4 c roasted almonds, coarsely chopped
1/4 c dried cranberries
2 T greek yogurt
2 T mayo
juice of 1/2 lemon (or the whole thing, depending on taste)
couple of dashes of hot sauce
a small squirt of honey
salt & pepper to taste

Use a large knife to thinly chop up the broccoli into a rough slaw. Dump into a medium sized bowl along with the red onion, almonds, and cranberries. Put the remaining ingredients into a small jar with a lid and shake. Taste & adjust seasoning if necessary. Pour onto broccoli slaw and toss until everything is coated.