Pasta Carbonara and Recent Happenings

So it has been a little while since my last post, and alot has happened since!  Last Tuesday I did a Cooking Demonstration at the UT Extension in Bedford County!  We had a great turnout, and they had a wonderful demo stage kitchen!  For more info on an extension office in your county visit UT Extension.
Also I got a job as an Assistant Chef Instructor at The Viking Cooking School at the Factory in Franklin, TN.  I took a class there a few years ago and loved it!  I have been wanting to be in an environment where I can learn from professional chefs and this the perfect place!  Hopefully I can move up to an Instructor position at some point.  If you have never been there you should definitely check it out here: Viking Cooking School/Franklin.  It would make a great date night or just fun activity with friends.

So for the recipe...

We actually eat quite a bit of pasta at our house.  Normally I would say that is not a very good thing...BUT with the whole wheat and whole grain pastas in every shape and size, it's actually packed with fiber and a great excuse to eat more pasta!  Surprisingly, I have never made Pasta Carbonara before, but knew I would love it...creamy eggs to forming a pasta sauce YUM!  So the other night all I had in the meat department was bacon, so I thought, why not try Pasta Carbonara?  Of course, I had to put my own spin on it, and we loved it!  I will definitely be making this again,  give it a try :)
My Pasta Carbonara
Serves 4
Ingredients:

• 4 slices Bacon
• 1 Tbs EVOO
• 2-3 Green Onions
• 2-3 cloves Garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
• 2 Eggs, beaten
• 1/2 Cup Romano Cheese (Parmesan works too)
• 1/2 Cup Basil or Parsley
• 3/4-1 lb Whole Wheat Thin Spaghetti

Looks like Breakfast huh?!

Directions:

• Boil water for pasta and cook according to directions, RESERVING 1 cup pasta water
• Cook bacon in large skillet and reserve 2 tsp bacon grease in skillet, chop bacon and set aside
• Add EVOO to bacon fat, then add in garlic, green onion and red pepper flakes over medium heat, cooking for about 1 minute stirring to prevent garlic from burning

• Add to skillet cooked pasta, along with reserved water, stirring with tongs to coat pasta in flavor
• Turn off heat and add in two beaten eggs, tossing continuously, add cheese and herb of choice as well.

DONE, Serve Immediately...So rich and delicious!  

Three Cheese Broccoli-Spinach Pizza

I told Zach when I made this, don't compare this to a Pepperoni Pizza from Pizza Hut...it's not that kind of pizza!  But honestly I prefer this kind, it's pretty, loaded with flavor, and good for you!  And guess what?  Zach was heating it up for breakfast this morning...now that's the sign of winning pizza!

FYI:  I found this new Pizza Crust Yeast that was really awesome!  You don't have to let the dough rise and directions are right on the back of the pack.  I love it b/c it still gives you that homemade crust feel, just without the wait time!  Of course you could use a pre-baked crust or buy the dough from the store for this recipe.

 It spreads out nice and thin, just the way I like it!

Three Cheese Broccoli-Spinach Pizza
Ingredients:

• 1 large pizza crust
• 3/4 Cup Part Skim Ricotta Cheese
• 1/3 Cup Pesto
• 1 1/2 cups firmly packed baby spinach leaves
• 1 1/2 cup frozen Broccoli, thawed (I had frozen on hand, but if you use fresh just blanch it in boiling water for about 3 minutes and drain)
• 1 cup halved Grape Tomatoes
• 3/4 Cup Part Skim Mozzarella
• 1/4 Cup Romano Cheese (or Parmesan Cheese)
• Salt and Pepper

Directions:

•  Mix together ricotta and pesto, spread evenly on dough

• Top with baby spinach, broccoli, and tomatoes

• Drizzle with about 1 tbs olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper

• Top with Mozzarella and Romano
• Bake according to crust directions for this one, 450 degrees for 12-15 minutes

 

Easiest Peanut Butter and Preserve Truffles

So I wanted to do a Valentines post with a sweet treat you can whip up in no time, but still feels special and is really hard to mess up!  I have seen lots of shows, newspaper, and magazine articles about truffles for V-day this year.  But I wonder how many people will actually get out the double boiler and try it...so I saw a recipe for microwave truffles that I put on twist on.  I wasn't sure if they would come out as luscious as a traditional truffle but let me tell you THEY DID!  Zach said those are the best truffles I've ever had!! We love a good sweet and salty dessert here at the McKinney house and that's exactly what these are.
Also you can change up the preserve flavors and outer coating to anything you like or have a round...have fun with it!


Peanut Butter and Preserve Truffles

Ingredients:

• 1 Cup Semisweet Chocolate Chips
• 1/4 Cup Heavy Cream
• 1 1/2 Tbs Peanut Butter
• 2 Tbls Raspberry Preserves (Strawberry, Blueberry, or any other berry would work!)
• 1 Cup Pretzels, crushed (You could do this in a food processor or with a Ziploc bag and rolling pin)

Directions:

• Place first 4 ingredients in a bowl and microwave for 30 seconds, stir and continue microwaving in 10 sec intervals, stirring until melted (This should not take longer than about 40-50 seconds total, so be careful not to burn the chocolate)

• Allow mixture to cool about 10 minutes, then beat on medium speed for 1 minute.  

• Cover and place mixture in the refrigerator for about 1 1/2 hours, or just put it in the freezer for about 30 minutes.  You just want it to be hard enough to roll into balls.
• Once it has hardened roll into about 1 inch balls and roll into crushed pretzels to coat.  
• Place coated truffle in the fridge for at least an hour until ready to eat.  

YUMMY..you are going to love these!

Chicken with Roasted Garlic Tomato Sauce

First and foremost I want to say, DO NOT LET THIS TITLE SCARE YOU AWAY!  This is a VERY simple recipe that anyone can do, but it feels fancy and tastes great!  I use a secret ingredient for the sauce that I picked up from that Hungry Girl show.  She used canned tomato soup as a pasta topping, and I thought why not use it to make a sauce for grilled chicken?  I had this can of tomato bisque soup sitting in the pantry that just never seemed that appetising...until now.  It has a wonderful creamy, sweetness you don't get from a marinara.  As far as the roasted garlic part of this, you will be shocked at how simple roasting garlic is and the sweet wonderful flavor it has!
For the Roasted Garlic:

This is the recipe I use: http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/roasted_garlic/
-It has great pictures and explains each easy step, so give it a try!

 Chicken with Roasted Garlic Tomato Sauce
Serves 4
Ingredients:

• 1 head of garlic, roasted and mashed with a fork
• 1 cup of creamy tomato soup (I used Select Harvest Tomato Bisque)

• 1 oz 1/3 less fat Cream Cheese
• 4 Chicken breasts
• Salt and pepper
• 2 Tbs Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Fresh basil or Parsley to garnish

Directions:

• Season chicken breast on each side with salt and pepper
• Heat a grill pan or skillet to medium high heat, add olive oil
• Place chicken on grill/skillet and cook on each side for 6-7 minutes depending on thickness.
• Meanwhile heat soup and mashed, roasted garlic bulbs over medium heat in a skillet

• Add cream cheese to soup and stir occasionally over the heat until cheese melts into sauce 

• Once chicken is done cooking, plate and spoon sauce over chicken, top with fresh basil or parsley

I served this with Oven Roasted Zucchini:
Place 3-4 zucchini, sliced, on a sheet pan.  Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, season with salt, pepper, and Italian bread crumbs.  Spray coated zucchini with cooking spray and place in a 350 degree oven for 12-15 minutes until browned.  Simple as pie side dish!

Barbequed Lettuce Wraps

So after my fried chicken and pie weekend I've been keeping it light this week.  One thing I love to do is take my favorite restaurant foods and make my own lightened up versions.  So,  after looking at the requests from my give-away I decided to do an Asian themed post with one of my favorite Chinese dishes,  lettuce wraps!  This version is made with ground pork, but I have made it with ground chicken and turkey as well.  I KNOW you can make this, it's really easy and a nice change from the usual weeknight meal.


Barbecued Lettuce Wraps 
Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb Ground Pork (90/10)
• 2 cloves of Garlic, minced
• 2 tsp fresh Ginger,  chopped 
• 1/2 cup Carrots, shredded
• 1/2 Cup scallions, chopped
• 2 Tbls BBQ Sauce (I used just a store bought hickory smoked sauce, but you can also use Hoisin sauce a Chinese style BBQ sauce found in the ethnic foods aisle)
• 2 tsp Worcestershire
• 1 Tbls Lite Soy Sauce
• Juice of 1 lime
• 1/2 cup chopped Water Chestnuts
• 1 head of Bibb or Iceberg Lettuce

Directions:

• Brown and break up pork in skillet over medium heat, drain fat if desired

• Add  garlic and ginger to pork, and cook for about 1 minute, stirring until fragrant
• Combine next six ingredients and add to pork mixture, stirring to combine

• Lastly toss in chestnuts, and fill lettuce leaves with mixture, Enjoy!