Pasta Carbonara

This is one of my favorite dishes, despite the fact that it is in no way "healthy," when judged by today's dietary standards and concerns. Nonetheless, it's easy and relatively inexpensive, and uses ingredients that are almost always on-hand in the pantry and refrigerator. The following quantity makes a generous main course for two, or enough to serve 4-6 as a starter. This is traditionally made with prosciutto, which is an unsmoked Italian bacon; i use plain bacon, whatever i have in the meat drawer, and if it is strongly flavored of hickory, i sometimes rinse it first.

• 3-4 slices of bacon, chopped
• 1-2 cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed
• splash of olive oil
• 1/2 # of spaghetti, linguine, or other straight pasta
• 2-3 eggs
• 1/2 cup of grated Parmesan cheese
• salt & pepper

Combine the bacon, garlic, and olive oil in a skillet, and set on low heat. Stir regularly, and slowly increase the heat to render the fat and cook the bacon 'til crispy - this will likely take 15-20 minutes. Drain the bacon, reserving the fat in the skillet.

In the meantime, cook the pasta according to the package directions.

Beat the eggs in the serving bowl you plan to use, and then stir in the Parmesan cheese.

Combine the pasta and bacon fat, and then stir carefully into the egg and cheese mixture - if you aren't careful, you can end up with scrambled egg, instead of the creamy sauce. When pasta is well-tossed in the cheese, egg, and fat mixture, season to taste with salt and pepper and divide into individual bowls. Sprinkle each serving with the cooked bacon bits, and serve immediately. Pass extra Parmesan cheese at the table.

Venison & Salmon Stew w/Potatoes & Carrots

No, that's not what i made for supper tonight; that's what my DOG had for supper!  i keep Kit on an all-natural diet as much as possible, & i came across the Old Mother Hubbard brand of dog foods advertised at PetFoodDirect.com - they had them on sale for $1/can, & with an additional 22%-off coupon, it brought the price to 78¢/can, which is a phenomenal deal for all-natural dog food.  i got a case each of Venison & Salmon Stew, Duck & Sweet Potato Delight & Lamb with Spinach & Apples.

We, on the other hand, had leftover Hamburger Pot Roast with homemade egg noodles.  i'd never made noodles or pasta from scratch before & was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was & how yummy the egg noodles were.  i followed a recipe i found on AllRecipes.com - as usual, it's transcribed below with any changes i made in red.

Next time, i'll divide the dough into 2 or more portions before rolling, which i believe will make it easier to roll it out thinner & more evenly.  None of mine were more than 1/8" thick, but we thought those were a little too thick; we preferred the ones that were cut from the edges where i was able to roll the dough out quite a bit thinner.  It took a good 5-6 minutes for the thicker noodles to be properly cooked; i threw a few Knorr tomato & beef boullion cubes into the water for added flavor.  I cooked 1/2 the batch last night for supper & the other 1/2 is in the freezer for another night.

Egg Noodles (from AllRecipes.com)

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Pinch salt

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup milk (i used 1/4 cup skim milk & 1/4 cup half-&-half)

1 Tbsp butter

1. In a large bowl, stir together the flour and salt.  Add the beaten egg, milk, & butter.  Knead dough until smooth, about 5 minutes (i used the dough hook on my mixer).  Let rest in a covered bowl for 10 minutes (i let mine rest more like 30 minutes).
2. On a floured surface, roll out to 1/8" or 1/4" thickness.  Cut into desired lengths & shapes.
3. Allow to air dry before cooking.
4. To cook fresh pasta, in a large pot with boiling salted water cook until al dente.