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January 30, 2005
HOWTO enjoy your weekend afternoons...
I rekindled my interest in cooking over Christmas last year. A colleague threw a fantastic potluck then, and I was given the pleasure to prepare a personal favourite - fettuccine carbonara! Eve had a hand in helping me out initially (thanks woman!), and I've been flying solo ever since ;)
So anyway here's a checklist of what's needed for a single serving:
0.1 You're flat broke and desperately hungry, but happen to have all of the ingredients in your kitchen cabinet ;D
0.2 Your favourite station blasting in the background. Virgin radio preferred for Sunday afternoons
1.0 Fettuccine
2.0 Olive oil
3.0 Bacon strips
4.0 A can of Campbell's cheese and herbs spaghetti sauce
5.0 Full cream milk (heard it makes the white sauce a little creamier)
6.0 Cheese slices
7.0 Button mushrooms (totally optional)
I'd usually start with the bacon first. It's not difficult to prepare them so I'll skip the details. If there's one thing I learned, it's not to overcook them, unless you want it extra crispy. So stop frying the moment it turns brownish.
If you want mushrooms this would be a good time to prepare them, so start slicing already.
Here comes the tricky part - getting the sauce right. I haven't had the oppertunity to use heavy cream, so that can of cheese and herbs would have to do for now. Don't worry it's close to the real thing :P So anyway pop that can open and dump the contents (and the sliced shrooms if any) into the heated pan. But don't discard the can yet, fill it with 3/4 of water and pour it into the mix. Perform the same with milk. Keep stirring till boiling point. When it does happen, unwrap those cheese slices, tear it to little bits and toss them into the mélange. Stir well until sauce is smooth and thick. As you do this, it's a good idea to take a few sips from the ladle to make sure you get the taste right. Personally I'd use 3-4 slices.
Time to fix 'em fettuccine. Depending on the sort you buy, always RTFM. Here's something the instructions don't usually mention: always pour a reasonable amount of olive oil into the boiling pot, before placing the pasta. This will prevent the fettucinne from sticking to each other like a yarn ball when you drain them, after a good boil.
At this point, transfer the warm pasta into a serving plate, followed by the sauce (still warm, hopefully!). Don't forget to chuck in the bacon we fried earlier to complete the look.
Cool, now marvel at your culinary creation for awhile (take pictures, mom would be so proud!) before chowing down :)
Posted by kahjin at January 30, 2005 07:49 PM
Comments
Hmm... finally I came to take a look at the carbonara receipe as I promised I would (ahem... after 2 months?!). Anyway, you really making a receipe book? The pix are great! Reminds me of those receipe books my mom used to collect and they have those step by step pictures with lil' short instructions below each picture. :)
Kaj... Please don't cook so much!!! For ladies, the belief, "The way to a man's heart is through his stomach!" And kaj, now that your stomach is satisfied, how do you expect the ladies out there to get your heart?!
*frowns*
Posted by: Ellie at March 15, 2005 08:47 AM
emm.... very impressive cook !!
not all man are willing to do so... so keep it up eventhough u have support from Prego can, full cream milk, button mushroom .... :p
cheers, jen
Posted by: Jen at March 16, 2005 10:33 AM
heyyy, how come I can't view any of your pics posted ere ?!! I would really love to see how you have improvised my recipe :P
ps: I shall pass on my next recipe - ** 5 minutes helluva pizza** (excluding baking time of coz)
gotta be Campbell again ...get them for free/discounted from Jen :P
Posted by: Eve at July 16, 2005 05:31 PM
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