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Tag Archives: Easy Dinner
Ever since I sat down and really looked at what we were spending on take-out, I have been on the search for quick, easy, and delicious meals to make for those late nights. Pasta is always a good fall-back on dish to have around the house. We do enjoy making our own pasta but for emergency meals, I always keep some dried pasta on hand, just in case. Another staple that I keep in the freezer is a little pancetta; it is a great addition to eggs, salads, and pasta. My take on Pasta Carbonara has become a regular guest at our dinner table. This recipe is a little salty. A little spicy. A little creamy.
When I mentioned my new found late night nibble to a couple friends, they all asked the same thing, “aren’t you afraid of using raw eggs?” I had never really thought about it before, and in all honesty I did not want to start worrying about it; but, I wanted to serve this dish to some dinner guests, and figured this would be a good time to figure out a way to avoid the “raw egg” issue. For this recipe I coddle the eggs with the boiling pasta. Then before serving, I toss the pasta with the coddled egg yolks, and then add the sizzling hot sauce, and the cheese, lightly tossing just to combine, to make a creamy sauce that hugs every strand of pasta. This is going to become your fall-back-on recipe; I just know it!
Recipe: Pasta Carbonara
*serves 4
What you need:
- 8 slices pancetta, small dice
- 3 large cloves garlic, finely minced
- pinch dried chili pepper
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 cup white wine
- 1/2 cup chopped Italian Parsley
- 1 tablespoon of butter
- kosher salt, to taste
- sprinkle of fresh cracked black pepper
- 2 coddled eggs, yolks only (I don’t like the texture of the runny whites with the pasta)
- 1 pound spaghetti, cooked according to directions
- handful shaved parmigiano cheese
What you need to do:
In a large saucepan, heat water to boiling, and cook pasta according to directions. 2 minutes before the pasta is finished cooking, add the eggs to the cooking pasta. Cook the eggs for the last couple of minutes with the pasta. Remove from the water, set aside, and drain the pasta.
While the water is boiling, and the pasta is cooking; heat a large frying pan, over medium heat. Add the olive oil, and the pancetta; cook, over medium heat, until the pancetta begins to get a little crispy; about 3 minutes. Add the garlic, and chili pepper, stir; over medium heat, cook until lightly golden; about 2 – 3 minutes. The bottom of the pan will begin to crust a little. Add the wine, and deglaze the pan. Cook over low heat, until reduced; about 10 minutes. Add the parsley, and the butter. Stir, and cook, over medium high heat, for 1 minute; slight bubbles will begin to form. Remove from heat.
Working quickly as you do not want to lose any heat, add the drained pasta, and the coddled egg yolks to a large serving bowl, and toss using two spoons. Add the hot pancetta sauce, and cheese; toss quickly until creamy. Season with salt, and a generous sprinkle of black pepper. Serve. Eat.
If you like this recipe, check these out:
Pasta Carbonara
Pasta Carbonara with Poached Egg
Asparagus and Chicken Pasta Carbonara
Pen to paper; fingers to keyboard. I have started this sentence over about 10 times. The thoughts are there, the words just are not coming to me. You may have noticed that we have been away from Chez Us for a couple weeks. No, we have not stopped eating. Life just kind of grabbed a hold of us (me) and I needed some time to regroup. I think we (I) are back.
 
During my break from life I needed some comfort food. I was sitting, drinking coffee and staring at my computer last week, when a childhood memory that I had not thought about floated into my mind….. Campbell’s Cream of Tomato Soup with grilled Velvetta cheese sandwiches. God, I use to love the two; creamy soup and gooey fake cheese sandwiches. I loved how the butter would brown the edges of the bread (white bread, too) and the gooey Velvetta would just ooze everywhere. Now, the soup. Nothing is better than creamy tomato soup but add a pat of butter to it and you have heaven. My grandmother on my father’s side would add a big pat of butter to the soup. I loved watching it bob up and down in the bowl, the edges melting into the creamy soup, leaving little pools of butter. I would always slurp up the buttery parts first.
Those memories are what I needed to stir up this fantastic soup recipe. I used canned tomatoes, only because the fresh ones are not quite there yet. As well I threw in a red pepper to give it some added depth. I skipped the cream, too, the thing with pureed soups, you really don’t need it. And I replaced the butter pat with fresh basil. I did serve it with grilled cheese but this time it was on country bread with a spread of French Tapenade and Gruyere cheese. Same buttery edges though! It was delicious. It was comfortable.
Recipe: Roasted Tomato Soup
Did you ever enjoy a Velvetta Cheese Sandwich as a child? Or as an adult?
The past two weeks have been heavy meat eating weeks. Don’t get me wrong, we love to eat and we love to socialize with our friends over food, but, it has been a little nutty. This week we decided to take it a little easier with some meals that we could extend over a few days. Quiche was one of the first meals that came to mind.
I love making my quiche crust-less. Yes, it makes me feel less guilty about all those eggs and cheese. If you don’t mind a crust, please by all means do use one. I used the same recipe that I use for all of my quiche recipes but I made a few minor adjustments. This particular quiche was heavily scented with fresh thyme. I used some zucchini blooms as the main veggie ingredient. The addition of grey salt and a sprinkle of espelette pepper brought all of the ingredients together. Served with a green salad and warm bread, it was the perfect meal.
Recipe: Zucchini Blossom Quiche
I received an email from a reader a few weeks ago asking if I had an asparagus soup recipe. The email captured my attention immediately as Loreen started talking about how it was almost asparagus season in Northern Nevada. This brought me back to a childhood memory of picking asparagus with my Aunt Adele, when I was about 4 or 5 out at the Woodward Ranch. I remember that day well, we were around the back, near the kitchen window, and the area was really wet. She had an apron on and we were swashing through the water, snapping tender slim pieces of asparagus. I remember loving it. I continued to read Loreen’s email while cherishing this memory. The next paragraph was her introduction to me about how we were related. I had to go back a couple times to re-read what I thought I had read. There was a distant cousin who found me through Chez Us. What a small world….. the Internet continues to amaze me.
I love asparagus soup but it is one of those things that I normally only order when out. We were both pleasantly surprised at how delicious this recipe came out. It really did not need the cream as the texture was perfect; but, it could not be considered cream of asparagus soup without it. Thank you, Loreen, for inspiring me to make this soup!
Recipe: Cream of Asparagus Soup
click the above link for a downloadable recipe
It was evident at the market this past weekend, that the last of the winter time squash are just barely hanging on. Butternut squash is definitely one of my favorite things to cook during the cold winter months. I love it roasted, cooked with risotto, served alongside a nice pork roast, steamed with a little butter and most of all as a soup. I made this wonderfully creamy soup with a rich chicken stock, lots of toasted cumin, caramelized onions and a little carrot. I was craving meat and spicy but did not want the flavors to overpower the sweet butternut squash, so I decided to slowly cook slices of Portuguese chorizo and use it as a garnish. It was …. delicious, so delicious, that I am thinking I may have to make a couple batches to freeze so we have some lazy evening suppers!
Recipe: Butternut Squash Soup with Crispy Chorizo
1 medium butternut squash, about 3 pounds, peeled and cut into chunks
1 yellow onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons olive oil
cumin, did not measure, used by taste, approximately 2 tablespoons
6 cups rich chicken stock
kosher salt, to taste
fresh cracked black pepper, to taste
1 portuguese chorizo, cut into thin slices
handful of fresh thyme, for garnish
black sea salt flakes, for garnish and flavor
drizzle of olive oil or the yummy fat from the chorizo, for garnish
Heat the olive oil in a large soup pan. Add the onion and cook over medium heat until soft. Add the garlic, stir. Add the butternut squash and cook over medium – low heat until caramelized, about 20 minutes. Add the cumin, stir. Add the stock and simmer until the squash is tender and starting to fall apart. While this is cooking, you can pan fry the chorizo slices until crispy. After they are cooked remove from the frying pan with a slotted spoon and lay on a folded paper towel, this will absorb extra fat. When the squash is cooked, puree the mixture in small batches in a food processor. It will be very hot so be very careful. Season with kosher salt and pepper to taste. Put into soup bowls and garnish with chorizo, thyme, black sea salt flakes (if desired) and a drizzle of olive oil or the oil left from pan frying the chorizo. Serve. Eat.
I have been seeing a lot of white bean soup out there in the big virtual kitchen. Unfortunately, they have all been pureed. What about keeping those pump white beans together and creating a creamy soup? That is exactly what I did here.
One of my food goals for this year is to stop using canned products as much as possible. I am trying to cook up a batch of beans every other week and then tossing them into the freezer. Don’t be scared, you too can do this. It is simple. I soak the bean of choice overnight and then cook them the next day. I don’t add anything except a clove of garlic and some fresh herbs and water, of course. After I am finished cooking them, I drain them, put into containers and then into the freezer. We have fresh beans, which taste a lot better than canned, for at least a couple weeks. The texture and the taste is really outstanding and it is completely worth the time. This week the bean is the white bean!
Recipe: White Bean Soup
30 ounces of white beans or two cans of white beans
1 small yellow onion, diced
3 carrots, scrubbed and sliced into chunks
3 tablespoons olive oil
6 cups of veggie stock
fresh thyme, handful, gently crushed
kale, washed, dried and thinly sliced
kosher salt, to taste
good olive oil, to drizzle
Heat olive oil in a large stock pot. Add onion and carrots, cook for about 10 minutes, until soft. Add the beans, the stock and the fresh thyme. Cook for about 1 – 2 hours, depending on how crunchy you like the beans. I feel that the longer, the better as the flavor really develops. I cooked for 1 1/2 hours. During the last 15 minutes, gently smash with the back of a spoon or a masher. Don’t puree, you want texture. Right before serving, stir in the kale and gently warm for about 5 minutes. Season. Drizzle a little olive oil over the top. Serve. Eat.
Remember those beautiful chanterelles we received? Well we had two fairly good sized ones left, which left us with the delemma of what to make. We both love grilled steaks with mushrooms … need we say more!
The chanterelles are so flavorful that they really do not need too much added to them. I sauteed them simply with olive oil, thyme, a little shallot, garlic and then finished it off with butter. Perfect companion for these beautiful grass-fed steaks!
These chanterelles would also be lovely on a piece of toasted baguette.
Recipe: Sauteed Chanterelles
2 medium sized chanterelles, thinly sliced
3 tablespoons of olive oil
1 small shallot, thinly sliced
1 small garlic clove, minced
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
1 tablespoon butter
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste
Heat olive oil in a medium frying pan. Add the shallot and garlic, give a stir and cook for about 3minutes, to soften. Add chanterelles. Stir. Lower heat and cook until soft and golden, about 15 minutes. Stir on and off during this process. Add thyme and butter, stir. Season with salt and pepper. Serve. Eat.
Some friends of ours went chanterelle picking over the weekend – 100 pounds later, I scored a pound! This was definitely one of the best birthday gifts I got – notice how I said one, the best was the weekend away with Lenny!
I decided to use half of the mushrooms to make a savory tart for dinner. I wanted the flavors to be delicate as not to overwhelm the earthy chanterelles. I decided I would make a savory pastry dough with fresh marjoram and a heavy dose of fresh cracked black pepper. I created the tart with layers – dough, shallots, cheese and then the chanterelles. I slowly cooked shallots with olive oil until they were a nice caramel color – not crispy, still soft but a golden color. Then I added a layer of blue cheese that was made with goat’s milk and finally the creme de la creme of the tart – buttery chanterelles. I served the meal with a simple salad dressed with dijon, a side of radishes and a very nice glass of red wine.
I forget how lovely a simple tart or quiche is for dinner, it makes the perfect meal when served with a simple salad. Delicious! Fresh! Beautiful!
Recipe: Chanterelle and Blue Cheese Tart
Tart Dough
2 1/2 cups flour
pinch of salt
handful of fresh herbs – I used marjoram but have used rosemary, thyme and verbena
8 oz. cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/2 cup very cold water
Put flour, salt and herbs into a food processor. Pulse to just mix up. With processor running add the butter one piece at a time, until all of the butter is used and the mixture is mealy. Slowly drizzle the water in, until the mixture comes together. Pulse a couple times. Remove from the food processor and roll into a disk. Put into the refridergator for at least 30 minutes, up to an hour.
Filling
1/2 pound chanterelles, brushed clean of any dirt and thinly sliced
3 medium shallots, peeled and thinly sliced
a wedge of blue cheese
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
maldon salt, to taste
Heat oven to 425. Add olive oil to a large frying pan, gently heat. Add the shallots, stir and lower heat. Cook until soft but a nice golden color. Remove from heat and set aside. In the same pan melt the butter. Add the chanterelles, stir, lower heat and cook until slightly soft, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside. Butter a tart pan. Roll out your dough and form into the tart pan. Spread the layer of shallots over the dough. Then crumble the blue cheese over the shallots. Last sprinkled the buttery chanterelles over the top. Bake for 15 minutes. Lower heat to 375 and bake for 20 minutes. Serve. Eat.
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