Shrimp Carbonara

Do you ever see a recipe and instantly know you have to try it? That was the case with this one. I was sitting at home one lazy Sunday afternoon watching the Food Network and saw Giada make this on her show. I’ve never had any sort of carbonara, but I instantly knew I wanted to try this dish. It just looked so flavorful. Plus it was the perfect excuse to use some of the fresh basil I just planted. This dish tasted amazing! I changed it up a bit by adding the shrimp and omitting the fried egg on top but still the basil aioli was awesome and full of flavor! Another point for Giada on this one!

Giada’s Carbonara (with my alterations)

1 bunch asparagus, ends trimmed, rubber band left on
1 pound linguini (I used spaghetti)
1 cup Basil Aioli, recipe follows
1 cup shaved pecorino (I used parmesan)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 tablespoons butter
4 to 6 large eggs (I omitted these)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

*14-16 medium shrimp, tails removed, thawed if frozen

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the asparagus and cook for 3 minutes. Transfer the asparagus to a bowl of ice water and let sit until cool, about 5 minutes. Remove from the water, remove the rubber band, and cut into 1-inch pieces.Meanwhile, add the pasta to the large pot of salted water used to cook the asparagus and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain pasta into a large bowl. Add the Basil Aioli, cut asparagus, shaved cheese, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine and place on a long, rectangular serving dish. Saute the shrimp in a skillet with a couple Tbsp olive oil until done. Add a pinch of salt and pepper. Add these to the dish with the pasta.

I skipped the next step and used shrimp instead of fried eggs in the dish.

Place the butter in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add the eggs and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Fry the eggs to your liking. Place the eggs on top of the pasta and serve immediately.

Basil Aioli:
1 clove garlic, minced
2 large egg yolks*
2 teaspoons mustard
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh basil leaves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 cup vegetable oil (I only used 1/4 cup. I felt it had enough oil)
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oilYield: 1 cup
Prep Time: 5 minutes

Combine the garlic, egg yolks, mustard, lemon juice, basil, salt, pepper, and cayenne in a food processor and run the machine to mix. With the machine running slowly drizzle in the vegetable and olive oil. Basil Aioli can be kept, covered, in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

*RAW EGG WARNING
Food Network Kitchens suggest caution in consuming raw and lightly-cooked eggs due to the slight risk of Salmonella or other food-borne illness. To reduce this risk, we recommend you use only fresh, properly-refrigerated, clean, grade A or AA eggs with intact shells, and avoid contact between the yolks or whites and the shell.

Source of original recipe: Food Network

Hardly a garden

I’ve mentioned before that my great-grandparents were all farmers in south Georgia. That’s how they made their living for many, many years. Somehow along the line, their green thumb passed me by. It’s a well known fact that I don’t do well taking care of plants. For instance the ivy from my wedding that I fully intended on keeping for years to come as a keepsake…dead within 2 weeks. The little maple tree my mother-in-law gave me to someday plant in our yard…may it rest in peace. So why am I now trying to grow herbs? Ever since I really got into cooking I’ve started using more fresh herbs in my dishes. Well have you seen the price of some herbs lately? Not to mention the price of everything else at the grocery store. So I decided I wanted to give herb growing a try. I figured I’d start small and simple, knowing my track record with growing things, and just try sweet basil and parsley to begin with. It’s hardly an herb garden, but it’s a start. It’s only been a couple days since I’ve had them and so far so good. If I can keep these alive and actually be able to use them, I will feel very accomplished! I might even try a bigger garden next year.  I just hope I don’t forget to water them. : P

My first for real cheesecake

I love it when a plan comes together. I think someone from the A-Team said that originally, but for the purpose of this post, this statement works for me too. : ) I have been wanting to make a “for real” cheesecake with my new spring form pan for a while now. And by for real I mean, homemade crust, homemade filling and baked in a spring form pan type of cheesecake. The ones I’ve made before were made with a pre-made crust so they weren’t truly homemade in my mind. I had the perfect excuse to make my “for real” cheesecake this weekend. Some friends of ours asked us to come over to help them with some projects in their new house and in exchange they were grilling out for us for dinner. I offered to bring a dessert, not because I wanted to be nice, but because I was secretly yearning to bake this cheesecake and I needed a reason to justify making it. (just kidding of course) Somehow I was stuck on making a peanut butter cheesecake but as usual, I had no recipe in mind. I googled peanut butter cheesecake and found a few recipes that were okay, but sounded more complicated than what I was wanting to do for my first for real cheesecake. So I decided to use a recipe I have used before but make my own crust and just add in what I wanted. I was nervous about how it would turn out since I’m pretty novice when it comes to cheesecakes, but thankfully it all worked out! It was very rich but very good. Definitely a keeper.

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cheesecake

3 tablespoons butter, melted
1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs (I used chocolate graham crackers)
1 tablespoon white sugar
3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese

1 cup creamy peanut butter
3 eggs
3/4 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

2. In a small bowl, combine the melted butter, graham cracker crumbs and 1 tablespoon sugar. Press into the bottom of a 9 inch springform pan. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes. Allow to cool.

3. In a large bowl, cream the 3/4 cup of sugar and cream cheese together until smooth. Stir in peanut butter until combined. Add eggs, one at a time, and vanilla. Pour into the spring form pan.

4. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 45 minutes. Let cool. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

(I baked mine in a water bath to prevent cracking)

Neglect

My poor blog. I feel that I’ve neglected it over the past few weeks. Between not having a camera for a week or so, vacation and life in general, I haven’t been cooking or blogging very much. So I decided I at least needed to post this recipe that I tried a few weeks ago. It was the recipe I chose to christen my new Le Creuset dutch oven. Sorry, but there is no picture. I made this the week our friend borrowed our camera. But let me tell you, it was awesome! My husband and I enjoyed it very much. Hopefully this will be the first of many new blog posts for me in the next few weeks.

Smothered Pork Chops

1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons onion powder
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon cayenne
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 pork chops, 3/4-inch thick, bone-in
1/4 cup olive oil
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup buttermilk
Chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, for garnish

 

Put the flour in a shallow platter and add the onion powder, garlic powder, cayenne, salt, and pepper; mix with a fork to distribute evenly. Pat the pork chops dry with paper towels to remove any moisture and then dredge them in the seasoned flour; shaking off the excess.

Heat a large saute pan or cast iron skillet over medium heat and coat with the oil. When the oil is nice and hot, lay the pork chops in the pan in a single layer and fry for 3 minutes on each side until golden brown. Remove the pork chops from the pan and add a little sprinkle of seasoned flour to the pan drippings. Mix the flour into the fat to dissolve and then pour in the chicken broth in. Let the liquid cook down for 5 minutes to reduce and thicken slightly. Stir in the buttermilk to make a creamy gravy and return the pork chops to the pan, covering them with the sauce. Simmer for 5 minutes until the pork is cooked through. Season with salt and pepper and garnish with chopped parsley before serving.

Source: Food Network (Tyler Florence)