…Where 'La Gourmandise' is not a sin!

Pasta

As mentioned earlier, last weekend was so hectic that I did not even had a chance to post the Daily Express. We were planning to relax and in the end we ended up rushing to the point that we forgot we even had to eat. It was late in the day Saturday when we realized that we were both extremely hungry and that we had not even thought about what to prepare. After a few minutes of quick thinking about what we had in the refrigerator, I decided to prepare a quick Capellini Alfredo. The very thin spaghetti like pasta in combination with an ersatz Americanized version of the original fettuccine with butter and cheese sauce was very satisfactory and very quick to prepare.

Since I had a few leftover hot dog buns form the day before I got an idea to make some garlic buns and to used the prepared garlic butter to make the Alfredo sauce. I made the garlic butter with a large clove of garlic and some fresh basil from the plant that is growing so nicely in Normita’s office. It was dying over the winter when it was in the living room, and since we moved it there has been thriving.

Fresh garlic and basil ready to make the bread and sauce

Starting with a basic garlic and basil butter I prepared the buns and then disinfected some romaine lettuce to make a nice fresh green salad. I boiled the capelettis and when ready, which only took a few minutes as they are so fine, I drained the pasta and in the same pot added the garlic butter, a bit of milk and heavy cream, salt, and pepper and brought that to a slow simmer. Once simmering I added some fresh Parmesan and when that was well melted and incorporated added the cooked pasta and tossed it in the butter and cheese sauce. We served it with a bit more Parmesan and a fresh grating of black pepper for toppings. It was just great and took almost no time at all to prepare.

The plated Capellini Alfredo ready to be devoured

Lucito

The pasta I finally chose for today’s meal was spaghetti rigati. I cooked it to a perfect al dente, and with the heated sauce the meal turned out very good yet again. We relaxed a bit during the meal while watching a bit of TV, and now we are back at work for a few hours.

The cooking meal, sauce in front and pasta in the back

The plated spaghetti rigati all bolognese

The meal turned out exactly as I wanted. Very easy to prepare, as the sauce was from my private frozen stash, and also very tasty as the sauce was perfect as usual and the pasta was cooked like we like it. A great meal to end a great weekend.

Lucito

When I went spelunking in the freezer this morning I came across the last container of my Bolognese sauce that I made last month. I have been making my adaptation of this sauce for more than 30 years and it is very versatile. I make large patches and freeze it in individual portions. This was the last container so I should be making more in a few week. We normally do not eat pasta twice in the same week, but I was looking for something that would be tasty without any preparation. I will just have to boil some water for the pasta of unknown type I will make, and heat up the sauce. It will make a nice filling meal with no real intervention on my part, which is exactly what we need after a long day of work around the house.

I will see if I can convince Normita to make some nice fruit juice for the tropical punch while I go take a long-deserved shower…

Lucito

As mentioned earlier this afternoon I was planning to make some form of carbonara, but I was not sure exactly what and how I would make it. Finally it turned out more traditional than I thought, but with a twist. I did find a bit of Parmesan in the back of the refrigerator and with that and most leftover ingredients I also found I made a nice pasta that turned out stunning. We like it so much that we had some seconds, and the boyz will enjoy the leftovers tonight with their meals.

The process, like most of what I cook during the week, was simple and fast. While the pasta was cooking, some miniature tortiglionis, I simply sauteed some diced thick bacon and salami until golden. I added some finely diced garlic and onions with some fresh asparagus and mushrooms with a splash of olive oil.

Here is the bacon, salami, garlic, onions and asparagus cooking

The sauteed ingredients with the mushrooms added

I drained the pasta once it was cooked and then added it to the rest of the ingredients. I tossed it around still on high heat then took it of the burner.

The dish almost ready prior to the addition of the eggs and cheeses

I then mixed 2 eggs with the leftover Parmesan and mozzarella I found and poured the mixture in the pasta and rapidly blended it well so it did not turn into an omelet. I served it topped with a bit more Parmesan and a generous grating of fresh black pepper.

The plated Pasta alla Carbonara with a generous grating of black pepper

We were very happy with the results which turned out great and light enough to be enjoyed on a hot day like today. Now I have to plan something to do tomorrow with that other leftover piece of bacon and the little bit of salami left…

Lucito

Early this morning I was going through the freezer to see what I could cook later today. I came across a piece of thick bacon and had a sudden craving for some carbonara. I looked around the refrigerator and could not find any Pecorino Romano or Parmesan to make it so I started looking some more and found some fresh asparagus, mushrooms, and grated mozzarella so I thought that I could prepare some pasta dish inspired by a proper “Pasta alla Carbonara”. When I go prepare our meal around 3pm I will see how I get inspired in preparing it. I have been oscillating all day between a lighter style dish with just a bit of olive oil to make the sauce in the more traditional way to something heavier with lots of cheese and cream in a more Americanized version. Since it is around 30C (86F) in my office right now I will probably go with something lighter with the veggies added. I will report on it later with what I actually will prepare and some pictures.

Lucito

Last weekend when we went food shopping we found on sales some huge shrimps at a price so low to make a ham and cheese sandwich look expensive. Strangely enough they were actually fresh, or at least freshly thawed, and they did smell like proper shrimps.

The nice fresh shrimps we unexpectedly found1

The nice fresh shrimps we unexpectedly found!

In the last year in the area where we now live, due to the financial crisis, the availability of any decent produce has been marginal at best and normally leaves us wondering about what to eat. A lot of times even the dogs do not want to eat what they sell around here. It is one of the main reasons we want to move back closer to civilization as the local stores do not stock anything decently edible as it does not sell at all. Besides chicken which is somewhat edible when you are lucky, normally any meat or fish is a luxury as nothing of quality or that is actually safe to eat is on sale. Judging from the smell in the stores, most of it just rots away, and we are talking major supermarket chains like Wal-Mart or others.

Some of the ingredients.

Some of the ingredients.

In any case we were pleasantly surprised to find very nice large shrimps at a very low price and we bought some for our Sunday meal. I had planned to do some brochettes or something similar on the grill, but the weather did not cooperate. I ended up inventing a recipe on the spur of the moment with whatever leftover ingredients I encountered in the larder.

The cooked meal.

The cooked meal.

With what I found it ended up to become a nice pasta in an Mexican-Oriental style that turned out extremely good and satisfying. It was a long time that we had not enjoyed something so good at home, just due to the unavailability of good products at the supermarket.

Ingredients
¾ to 1 pound cleaned and deveined large shrimps
1 medium échalotte chopped fine
3 chiles guajillos seeded, deveined, and cut into thin strips
3 pieces of candied ginger finely chopped
3 garlic cloves
3 sundried tomatoes in oil
A small handful of shelled walnuts
½ tsp Sambal Oelek chili paste
2 tbs of a mixture of dried citrus peels, salt, pepper, and sesame seeds
Tequila reposado
Olive oil
½ pound dried pasta of your choice
Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation
1. Cook the dried pasta until al dente in plenty of boiling salted water.
2. Once cooked strain the pasta, return it to the pot, and fill with cold water to stop the cooking.
3. After a minute or so strain the pasta again and return to the pot. Put a tablespoon or two of olive oil on the pasta and mix well with a spoon. Cover and set aside for now.
4. About 10-15 minutes before cooking the meal, place the cleaned and deveined shrimps in a bowl, sprinkle the mixture of citrus peels and sesame seeds, and add a few tablespoons of the tequila.
5. In a very hot wok sauté the shrimps in a little olive oil. When they start to be opaque carefully add some tequila to the wok and flambé them. Return them to the bowl.
6. Add a bit more olive oil to the wok and briefly sauté the échalotte, guajillos, and garlic.
7. Add the reserved pasta, the sundried tomatoes, the walnuts, the candied ginger, and the Sambal Oelek. Sauté until warm.
8. Add the shrimp and warm them up in the mix and add a splash of tequila, and some sesame oil to finish them.

Lucito

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