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| CI's Foolproof Spaghetti Carbonara http://cookaholics.org/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=4008 |
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| Author: | auntcy1 [ Fri Mar 06, 2015 10:47 am ] |
| Post subject: | CI's Foolproof Spaghetti Carbonara |
This is interesting. In step 1 you are instructed to "bring bacon and 1/2 cup water to simmer in 10-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat; cook until water evaporates and bacon begins to sizzle, about 8 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low and continue to cook until fat renders and bacon browns, 5 to 8 minutes longer." Anyone ever use this method to cook bacon? http://www.cooksillustrated.com/recipes/7325-foolproof-spaghetti-carbonara?tag=atkntk-20&extcode=LN15C1QAA&cds_response_key=IEN15CA1B |
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| Author: | TheFuzzy [ Fri Mar 06, 2015 11:30 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: CI's Foolproof Spaghetti Carbonara |
Nancy, Obviously I have no input to offer on cooking bacon. Could I make fun of the CI recipe, though? |
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| Author: | JesBelle [ Fri Mar 06, 2015 11:31 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: CI's Foolproof Spaghetti Carbonara |
What? Their original foolproof carbonara didn't have enough steps? |
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| Author: | Linda [ Fri Mar 06, 2015 12:39 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: CI's Foolproof Spaghetti Carbonara |
I've seen this technique for bacon recently in several of the recipes I've received from various cooking sites. Haven't tried it myself, though. I may have seen Ina do this. |
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| Author: | TheFuzzy [ Fri Mar 06, 2015 3:19 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: CI's Foolproof Spaghetti Carbonara |
Shouldn't "fool proofing" be a way to bring mousse up to room temperature? |
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| Author: | Paul Kierstead [ Sun Mar 08, 2015 6:56 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: CI's Foolproof Spaghetti Carbonara |
Just looked this up in my Eat Your Books, for my bookshelf (which is very very light on Italian food). Some kind of dairy makes an appearance in a surprisingly number of them; Milk (frugal gourmet), Cream (modernist cuisine, family meal with Adria), Ricotta (Zuni), creme fraiche (Delia Smith). Blumenthal at Home and Sauces/Peterson don't have additional dairy beyond the cheese. Sauces is very close to CI, except he uses pancetta; harder to get then bacon, easier then to get then Guanciale (which seems to be the traditional choice?) but not as ubiquitous as bacon, which I am sure was chosen by CI purely for its availability (pancetta, especially thick pancetta, is still pretty rare in lots of supermarkets). A couple had peas in it; this is likely some kind of English impulse to dump peas in everything, though Zuni was one of the peas. A wider search shows that many many more Italian books don't seem to have extra dairy. Still, sauces is very very close to the CI one, less garlic (2 vrs 3) and more eggs (would be 6 for a lb of pasta). I've made the CI one with pancetta and thought it was pretty great, but thing they are a little off their rocker on the setup for the piece; I'm usually pretty forgiving of their "we tried 10 crappy recipes and they all sucked", but this one was looking pretty hard for a problem. Not infomercial level, but still working. Still, the recipe, mostly as it is written, is very tasty (though with good quality bacon is too smokey, so I use pancetta, last time very lightly blanched and rinsed). |
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| Author: | TheFuzzy [ Sun Mar 08, 2015 11:13 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: CI's Foolproof Spaghetti Carbonara |
Paul, According to my Roman Italian language teachers, the traditional recipe, for two people, is: 200g spaghetti 1 egg, beaten 50-100g parmigiano, grated 50-100g guanciale, chopped small 14g (1 Tbs) olive oil (optional) 1 clove garlic, mashed or sliced (optional) Salt, pepper, water Boil the water with some salt. Fry the guanciale and garlic in a dry pan or in a little oil depending on how fatty it is, until it renders. Cook the pasta. Immediately when done, while still hot and dripping, toss with the guanciale, oil, beaten egg, parmigiano, and some salt and pepper. Serve immediately. You can see how this very simple recipe reflects one of the stories of the origin of the dish, and its name: that supposedly it was a dish which coal miners would actually prepare down in the mine over an improvised coal fire (there is no proven origin of Spaghetti alla Carbonara, and at least 4 competing stories). Certainly adding cream/dairy to pasta sauces is a purely American thing; you rarely see it in Italy, and there it's generally for special "sweet pasta" dishes. The main reason for the dairy is to give those dishes "holding power" so that you can leave them under a heat lamp or a warming drawer for half an hour without the sauce separating, something an Italian would never do. |
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| Author: | TheFuzzy [ Sun Mar 08, 2015 11:19 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: CI's Foolproof Spaghetti Carbonara |
Here's our "lighter" vegetarian version: Pasta Non Carborundum I think this one came from one of those “healthy cooking” magazines—you know, the ones where it’s always a shock to find a good recipe? Anyhow, this is sort of a lighter vegetarian version of Pasta Carbonara. 2 eggs (optional, could use just the whites instead of the whole egg) 1⁄2 c. dried tomatoes cut into strips or 4 T dried minced tomatoes (you can leave them crunchy or reconstitute them by soaking in warm water for a few minutes, as you like) 1⁄4 c. olive oil 1⁄2 c. freshly grated Parmesan 1⁄2 c. chopped parsley—Italian, if possible 2 cloves garlic, crushed 1 T lemon juice 3⁄4 lb. linguine Salt & pepper to taste In large serving bowl, whisk eggs, tomatoes, oil, cheese, parsley, garlic and lemon juice to blend. Set aside. Cook pasta until tender. Add to bowl and toss with 2 forks to mix, then adjust seasonings. Serves 2 - 4 |
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| Author: | TheFuzzy [ Sun Mar 22, 2015 11:14 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: CI's Foolproof Spaghetti Carbonara |
So, I just tried out something tonight which works surprisingly well: I added shaved asparagus to Carbonara. To do this, slice asparagus into paper-thing slivers using a vegetable peeler. Toss the shaved asparagus with the pasta. |
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| Author: | Paul Kierstead [ Mon Mar 23, 2015 8:45 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: CI's Foolproof Spaghetti Carbonara |
I presume you're putting it in raw, but it's thin enough to cook enough in the hot pasta? That sounds very good (though this is not the time of year around here to buy asparagus, it is very woody) |
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