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Food, Savory

Chicken Carbonara a la Roni

chicken carbonara

 

When you’ve got a cup of heavy cream left in the fridge, sometimes you’ve just got to make some pasta.

For the longest time I thought making a cream sauce was hard work. It was this unattainable meal that I just didn’t know how to recreate. So I would buy it in a can for years, until one day I found the basics in an easy recipe: heavy cream, water (or chicken broth), egg yolk, and garlic. Cook it up and bam. Cream sauce. Who knew?? Add some spices to alter the taste and it can be anything you want, even chicken carbonara… which I think I’m going to try to put on a pizza soon…. But for now, it’s going in pasta.

Chicken Carbonara

Gather:
1 pound of chicken, cubed
1 cup of frozen peas
3 strips of bacon, diced
1 cup of heavy cream
1/3 cup of water
1 egg yolk
1/2 tablespoon black pepper
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 cup of grated Parmesan cheese
1 box of linguini, cooked and drained

In a large saucepan cook minced garlic and diced bacon until bacon is crispy. Add chicken and cook until browned.

In a bowl, mix water, heavy cream, and egg yolk. Add to sauce pan with frozen peas and black pepper. Cook for 10 minutes, or until sauce has started to thicken.

Add pasta and parmesan cheese. Stir and cook until sauce is no longer runny and pasta has absorbed the sauce. Serve and enjoy.

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March 16, 2014 by
Food, Sweet

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

chocolate chip banana bread

 

I overbought food the other day. Saw the bananas, had to buy them, and then, like clockwork, forgot to eat them. Which means they turned that sickly shade of brown that makes me want to just huck them into the trashcan.

Be that as it may, I made a promise to myself not to waste food. Find a solution, and find it fast. That’s my new motto. So I did what any good baker would do, I threw them into donuts… or banana bread… or donuts. I’m really not sure what the ended up being. Well, besides delicious. And I didn’t want to wait an hour to eat them, so I popped the mix into my donut pan and made up a batch of these chocolate chip banana bread donuts… or whatever.

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Gather
2 ripe bananas, smashed
2 & 1/2 tablespoons of melted butter
1/2 cup of sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
Pinch of salt
3/4 cup of all-purpose flour
Handful of chocolate chips (a 1/4 cup seemed too much)

Preheat oven to 350. In bowl, mix mashed bananas and butter. In a seperate bowl, mix sugar, egg, and vanilla. Add baking soda and salt and mix. Add flour and mix. Add chocolate chips and fold into batter.

Fill donut pan ring about 2/3 full without covering the center peg. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Let cool in baking pan for 5 minutes. Remove and enjoy.

Makes six donuts.

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March 5, 2014 by
Food, Sweet

Chocolate Glazed Baked Donuts

chocolate glazed baked donuts

 

A while back I bought a donut pan, hell-bent on baking up a storm. The only problem is, I’m on a diet – technically. Which means, I can’t really eat all these baked goods that I want to make. So that means I’m either waiting for company to come over, or I’m shoving the sweet treats at my co-workers. But, as luck would have it, my cousin is coming to visit me this weekend. And since I didn’t have anything better to do while I was cleaning the house, I decided, why not bake up a batch of donuts. Perfect for breakfast, right?

So I went through my cabinets and oddly enough, I have all the ingredients to make donuts from scratch. Who knew? I even had a can of chocolate frosting, making it way easier than making some.

So bring it on! I’ve got donuts awaiting my cousin’s arrival!

Chocolate Glazed Baked Donuts

Gather
2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 & 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp Salt
3/4 cup milk
2 beaten Eggs
2 tbsp melted Butter
1 can of chocolate frosting

Preheat oven to 425. In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients. Add milk, eggs, and butter. Stir until well mixed. Pour batter into a sprayed donut pan, filling rings about 2/3 full (about 3 tablespoons). Make sure center is not covered.

Bake about 8-10 minutes, or until tops spring back when pressed. Remove from oven and let sit in pan for 5 minutes.

Remove from pan and place on cooling rack.

Heat a half a cup of frosting in a microwave safe bowl for 30 seconds. Frosting should be malleable, but not watery. Dip donuts in frosting, turning in a clockwise fashion to cover the top. Place donuts on cooling rack to rest.

Serve and enjoy!

 

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February 28, 2014 by
Food, Savory

Spicy Cajun Kielbasa Pasta

Cajun Kielbasa Pasta

So this one isn’t entirely made up by me. A long time ago I received a pasta cookbook. It was overly loved and the edges were chewed off by an equally loved pet bird who I like to believe was just trying to help decide which recipe to tackle one day while helping out in the kitchen.

Inside of that lovely cookbook is a recipe for spicy cajun kielbasa pasta made with (of course) kielbasa, peas, and shrimp. And while I love shrimp, I didn’t exactly want to add it into this particular dish. But I did love the fact that it was a white sauce. Anyone who knows me knows I’m not fond of tomato sauces. On chicken Parmesan and inside a lasagna, yes. Dropped over my spaghetti, no.

This recipe turned into one of my go-to meals for when hoards of my male friends would come over and it was my duty to feed them. Depending on how much pasta you put in, you can serve up to six or eight people. (Although with them, three men could finish an entire pan made with a whole box of pasta in a single sitting.) So I’m sharing my altered, feel-good meal with you – a deviliously delicious pasta recipe for those cold winter nights.

Cajun Kielbasa Pasta

Gather:
1-lb link of Hillshire Farms Polish Kielbasa
1 cup of heavy cream
1 egg yolk
1/3 cup of water (optional to swap in chicken broth)
1 cup of frozen peas
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
1/4 cup of white wine (although any wine works)
Olive Oil
1/2 box of linguini pasta, cooked al dente and strained
1/4 cup of fresh grated Parmesan cheese

In a large pan, saute sliced kielbasa on medium-high heat in a 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil until browned. Add garlic and cayenne. Cook for an additional 5 minutes until garlic has released flavor (you’ll smell it) and browned. Add wine to deglaze pan.

In a bowl, mix heavy cream, egg yolk, and water. Add to kielbasa pan with frozen peas. Cook for 7-8 minutes, until sauce starts to thicken. It will still be slightly runny, add al dente pasta and Parmesan cheese. Cook until pasta is coated in sauce and it is no longer runny.

Serve and enjoy.

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February 27, 2014 by