Foolproof Spaghetti Carbonara

Kyle happened to be in town for my birthday and offered to make dinner. He and I browsed through Cook's Illustrated quickly and found a recipe that sounded good. This is the one we landed on- with bacon, egg, pasta, and cheese where can you go wrong? It was delicious! It was a good thing too that Kyle had made a double batch because there was none left over at the end. 

Foolproof Spaghetti Carbonara

Recipe came from Cook's Illustrated

Ingredients:

8 Slices Bacon, cut in 1/2-inch pieces

1/2 Cup Water

3 Garlic Cloves, minced

2 1/2 Ounces Pecorino Romano, grated (1 1/4 cups)

3 Large Eggs plus 1 Large Yolk

1 Teaspoon Pepper

1 Pound Spaghetti

1 Teaspoon Salt

Instructions:

1. Bring bacon and water to simmer in 10-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat; cook until water evaporates and bacon begins to sizzle. about 8 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low and continue to cook until fat renders and bacon browns, 5 to 8 minutes longer. Add garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Strain bacon mixture through fine mesh strainer set in bowl. Set aside bacon mixture. Measure out 1 tablespoon fat and place in medium bowl. Whisk Pecorino, eggs and yolk, and pepper into fat until combined. 

*It's important to work quickly in steps 2 and 3. The heat from the cooking water and the hot spaghetti will "cook" the sauce only if used immediately. 

2. Meanwhile, bring 2 quarts water to boil in Dutch oven. Set colander in large bowl. Add spaghetti and salt to pot: cook, stirring frequently, until al dente. Drain spaghetti in colander set in bowl. reserving cooking water. Pour 1 cup cooking water into liquid measuring cup and discard remainder. Return spaghetti to now-empty bowl. 

3. Slowly whisk 1/2 cup reserved cooking water into Pecorino mixture. Gradually pour Pecorino mixture over spaghetti, tossing to coat. Add bacon mixture and toss to combine. Let spaghetti rest, tossing frequently, until suace has thickened slightly and coats spaghetti, 2 to 4 minutes, adjusting consistency with remaining reserved cooking water if needed. Serve immediately. 

Crustless Quiche

For Easter Mom and I volunteered to make dinner and take it down to my Grandma's. My Grandma is Celiac or more simply put she can't have Gluten. When trying to decide what to make we wanted to have something rather simple but still a little on the nicer side than just a normal Sunday afternoon sandwich. We decided to on a Crustless Quiche, and to make it a little more special we did them individually in the muffin tins. A quiche recipe is kind of basic and then what you add is where it becomes more exotic, so have fun with your additional ingredients.

Crustless Quiche

Recipe came from Food Network
Crustless Quiche

Ingredients

Custard: 2 cups Half-and-Half (we used 1 cup Whipping Cream and 1 cup Skim Milk)
3 Eggs
1/2 teaspoon Salt
Pepper
Nutmeg
Red Pepper

Fillings:
2 to 3 cups Veggies (we used onions and red peppers)
4 ounces (or about 1 cup) grated Cheese
1 to 4 tablespoons minced herbs (such as parsley, chives, tarragon, basil, dill, rosemary, etc.)
3 /4 cup chopped Bacon or Ham

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. If doing mini quiches fill cups with cake liners or spray with cooking spray.

Whisk the half-and-half, eggs and yolks in large glass measuring cup. Season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg, cayenne or paprika to taste. Spread half the desired filling evenly in the pan, top with about half the cheese; repeat with remaining filling and cheese. Pour the custard over the fillings. Top with more herbs or cheese as desired.

Bake until the quiche is just set in the center, about 40 to 50 minutes. Cool completely on a rack before serving.