Spaghetti Carbonara

Here is a great inexpensive and quick recipe.
The whole story of this dish is widely discussed and many theories are out there.
One idea originates the dish to cucina romana. Another idea is that truth lies in translation to it's name alla carbonara. The translation is coal worker’s style and is believed that it was cooked over a coal fire and the coal workers used an abundance of coarse black pepper flakes to resemble coal. What ever the meaning or origin the true fact is that this dish is flavorful, easy, and elegant.






Spaghetti Carbonara

2 cups Spaghetti
4 slices thick cut fatty bacon (rashers)
2 tbsp. oil
3 eggs
3 tbsp. light cream
1 generous cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 cloves garlic finely chopped
2 tsp. chopped chives
2 tsp. chopped basil
salt and milled pepper

Method
1) Cut bacon into thin strips. Fry bacon in the oil in a large pan.
2) Cook spaghetti in boiling, salted water until al dente.
3) Whisk the eggs and cream and season with salt and pepper. Stir in half of the Parmesan cheese and the chives.
4) Remove the bacon from the pan and allow to drain over paper towels. Saute' the garlic in the bacon fat until translucent (do not let garlic burn)
5) Drain the spaghetti well, then place into pan and toss pasta in the bacon fat. Add the basil. Remove the pan from the heat.
6) Pour in the egg and cream mixture and stir until the pasta is coated with the sauce. The residual heat from the pan will tighten up the sauce. Mix in the bacon.
7) Using tongs place a serving on a plate twisting the pasta do it mounds and stands up. Sprinkle remaining cheese over the top of pasta season with more pepper and garnish with fresh basil leaves.


Coming up I do my first restaurant review.

My First Mastery...Meatloaf!

One of the first things I learned to cook in my tiny kitchen was meatloaf. It came about because I needed a meal that would feed my 5 roomates without straining my wallet. It was not uncommon for me to make a 6lb meatloaf. After I moved from my Hawaiian kitchen, it was just me and my old lady so the recipe was reduced to 2lbs. The early recipe was not really all that bad, but I was striving to wow everyone I cooked for so I continued to tweak the recipe until it has become what I believe to be a restaurant quality meatloaf. Now I am not too fond of onions and my old lady absolutely hates both onions and bell peppers. So I was lacking the slightly crunchy texture that is present in classic meatloaf. Out of pure experimentation I found that diced carrots were a great substitute. They added the crunch I was after as well as adding an interesting sweet flavor that added a style all my own to the loaf. When I make the loaf for my friends, the onions and peppers are added or removed based on their tastes however the carrots are always included.
So without furthur ado....

Shown with Garlic Smashed Potatos and Brian's Skillet Corn
(Recipes to follow)

Brian's Bodacious Meatloaf

2lbs ground Chuck
3/4 cup ketchup
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1/4 cup +2tbsp brown sugar
1/4 cup diced carrots
1/4 cup diced onions (optional)
1/4 cup diced bell peppers (optional)
1 large egg
3 cloves garlic minced or pressed
2tbsp smoked paprika
2tbsp ground basil
4tsp worcestershire sauce divided by 2
1tsp salt
1tsp pepper
1tsp soy sauce
1tsp water

Preheat oven to 350•f
In a large mixing bowl fully combine ground chuck, 1/4 cup ketchup, 2tbsp brown sugar, carrots, 2tsp worcestershire sauce, 2 cloves minced garlic, salt, pepper, paprika, basil, egg, and onions and peppers (optional).
Add 1/4 cup breadcrumbs and fully incorporate. Slowly add remaining breadcrumbs mixing completly. The consistancy should not feel gritty and should be able to be formed and hold it's shape.
Place mixture in a large baking dish and form into a freeform loaf shape.
Bake at 350•f for 30-45 minutes until just cooked through.
While meat loaf is cooking...in a small bowl mix 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup ketchup, 2tsp worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, 1 clove garlic minced, and 1tsp water.
Remove meatloaf from oven. Turn on ovens broiler.
Completly cover meatloaf with ketchup sauce reserving 2-3tsp.
Return meatloaf to the oven and broil 2-4 minutes until glaze has set.
Allow meatloaf to rest for 10 minutes.

For serving cut meatloaf into 1 to 2 inch slices. Plate 2-3 slices and drizzle remaining sauce over each portion.

Serves 3-4

For my next post...Rigsby's Curry

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Unrolling the Grandpa's Special

I remember having a sleep over at my grandpa's house. I would wake up and run upstairs to see my grandpa sitting at his breakfast nook, a stack of newspaper holding his attention. He always had a strong cup of black coffee sitting next to him that would fill the whole house until the special took over. He used to say, "Kiddo when you can't smell the coffee anymore and all you can smell is the Grandpa's Special, well then the Grandpa's Special is done."
I would scurry up the tall barstools at the nook to find a Elmer Fudd glass full of orange juice. My grandfather would quietly push the comics section of the newspaper over to me and we would read our sections until that smell of burnt coffee dwindled and the aroma of the special took over.
I always remember how huge it was and was always astonished when the big guy would finish it. He would give me a small nibble and I would make the oh my god it's so hot face and quickly drink down my orange juice only to find my burn even worse. My grandpa would laugh and deliver me with a glass of milk and the horror would be over. It actually took me to age 17 before I could tolerate the special. So without further ado...the Grandpa's Special.


The Grandpa's Special

Ingredients
1/2 cup Grandpa's green chile sauce(see recipe in my blog post "my first step")
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups frozen hash browns
1 1/2 cups shredded Pepper Jack cheese
1/4 cup salsa
1/4 cup sour cream
3 tbsp butter
2 large tortillas

Preheat oven to 350•f
Prepare hash browns per package directions. Set aside.
In a non stick skillet add butter and heat over medium high heat until the butter starts to pop.
Add eggs and cook to over medium.
On a flat surface over lap tortillas slightly.
Place hashbrowns on center of tortilla.
Place eggs on top of hash browns.
Cover eggs with 1/2 cup of cheese.
Pour green chile sauce over cheese.
Roll the tortillas carefully creating a burrito and place burrito in a lightly buttered casserole dish.
Cover burrito with remaining cup of cheese.
Bake for 20 min or until cheese is bubbling.
Top with salsa and sour cream.

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My First Step...The Hatch Green Chile

My grandfather was a very influencial person in my life. I remember him explaining to me what the green chile was all about. In his backyard in Canyon City, Colorado he grew multiple varieties of peppers and chiles. He liked them hot and from a cousins' dare that I so niavely took I can tell you it was most definantly his Scotch Bonnet pepper. He could never get his green chile hot enough so he would import a beautiful pepper from a moderatly growing community 40 miles north of Las Cruces. The city is known as Hatch. He made a batch of his green chile weekly making enough chile for his "Grandpa's Special" which he ate every morning over his newspapers.

Hatch enjoys the distinction of being the home of "The World's Best chili pepper", according to a report by the BBC World News. Hatch chile is best prepared by roasting over an open flame. Each year during chile season, dozens of chile vendors can be found lining the streets of Hatch roasting the local chile.

Green chiles are those that are picked unripe; they are fire-roasted, then peeled before further use. Unlike the ultra-mild canned supermarket green chiles, New Mexico green chiles can range from mild to (occasionally) hotter than jalapeños, and come in grades of spiciness at markets that cater to chile aficionados. The climate of New Mexico tends to increase the capsaicin levels in the chile compared to other areas.

To understand the Grandpa's Special, you first have to understand grandpa's green chile. With it never being written down, I have had to write a recipe from memory and built solely on what I saw him do and explain in his kitchen. Even though I have gone through numerous revisions and will go through a few more I'm sure, the recipe is very close to the exciting flavor and the awesomeness of the spice.
Grandpa's Green Chile

Ingredients
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 1/2 pounds cubed pork stew meat
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
5 Hatch green chilis charred, peeled and rough chopped
1 scotch bonnet pepper halved
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1 3 oz can fire roasted tomatos diced
3 1/2 cups water
3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 cloves of garlic diced
Juice of 2 limes
salt and black pepper to taste
Directions
In a plastic baggy add cubed pork, vinegar, garlic and tomatos.
Marinate overnight in the refridgerator.
Heat oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium-high heat.
Remove pork from marinade and pat dry on a paper towel. Put marinade aside.
Lightly dredge pork in the flour and lightly pat the excess off the pork. Add pork to skillet. Cook pork, turning once, until cooked through about 15 minutes.
Remove meat and allow to cool for 15 minutes.
In the same skillet add marinade and bring to a boil stirring occasionally. Add water and bring back to a slow boil scraping bits off the bottom of the skillet.
Add chile peppers, skotch bonnet, onions, and salt and pepper
Reduce heat to medium and reduce 25% to the consistency of guacamole.
Remove scotch bonnet pepper.
Add lime juice

Makes 7 servings.

NewMexico.org



Wikipedia article

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Something I have wanted to do for so long.

There are so many food blogs out there so I guess I'm really just trying to find a style for this blog. Really I think I'll just let the blog evolve and maybe a style will materialize through my experiences.
I'm attempting to do this blog solely by my mobile device so adding media may be slow until I figure out exactly how to do it.
I'm not a professional chef but a food lover...foodie is what I hear us called in the mainstream...which I need to find a name that is not so accepted!
"Bubblehead" is a slang term for a Submariner, endearing to me, similar to terms like Jarhead, Swabbie, Ground pounder e.t.c. I did 11 1/2 years in the United States Submarine Force as a SONAR technician. My love for cooking actually came about through necessity rather than passion. Being a bachelor in my young Navy life I needed to eat and could not stand the food at the mess hall, but could not afford to eat out daily. I found myself cooking in the barracks more and more needing more and more variety. One Christmas my Mom bought me a Emeril Lagasse cookbook and my passion began to grow.
Before my career ended I was living with a few of my shipmates and my girlfriend when I started hosting large BBQs. I loved slow cooking meat and reinventing side dishes that my mother and grandmother taught me when I was younger. One of the coolest things anyone has ever said to me was from my roomate Mark. He said "Brian it is amazing how you can take a cheap piece of meat and make it taste like something from a restaurant.". His smile as he was eating was gift enough for me but the words hit home and my food trek went into warp drive.
I guess what I ultimately would like to do is research regional cooking. America was built by immigrants and I want to know the obscure history of how immigrant cooking evolved from homestyle recipes to new recipes using the ingredients from the new land in which they were making home.
I hope, as any blogger I would imagine would, my blog gets read by others and I can meet some new people to enjoy my passion with and learn both blogging but cooking from the great Americans foodies.
Oh and one thing...I'm not a great writer so if your a grammer/spelling Nazi please don't badger me with comments on how to fix my writings.

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