#LetsLunch November: Food for seduction

This month my LetsLunch group decided to choose sexy or seductive foods in honor of our friend Rashda's book debut, The Djinn's Dilemma. I'm a bit late to the party, as I've been sick, but here's my post.

Others in our group picked smoky soups, stews, donuts and jellies. Food for love, food for romance, all to fit the theme of Rashda's new romance novel!

Me? I went back to the place where I first learned how to cook. I started cooking in college and when I started, I began with a lot of Rachael Ray dishes.

I remember reading a quote she had in Good Housekeeping:
""I knew my boyfriend was the man to marry when I asked him what he would like for his birthday dinner," Rachael Ray writes in her cookbook Cooking 'Round the Clock. "I offered up lobster, steak, fine foods of all nationalities, to which he replied: 'Can I just have some of your carbonara?' Whoa! I was right about him.... 

Read more: Rachael Ray Recipes - Carbonara Recipe by Rachel Ray - Good Housekeeping

I had never heard of carbonara, but I knew I wanted to try it. Now I'm a newly-wed myself, and my husband absolutely loves when I make this dish. It's one of our favorites!

So, for November's LetsLunch, raise a glass to our dear friend Rashda for her book release, and dig in to some lovely, creamy carbonara.

Carbonara starts with bacon or pancetta. I only had turkey bacon in the house, so use a little extra olive oil when cooking. Once the bacon is cooked through, add 3 cloves minced garlic and lower the heat. Then add one small palmful of red chile flakes and 1/3 cup white wine (only use something you would actually drink! And if you're cooking for seduction, you ought to have an open bottle of wine on hand). While this is all going on, cook 3/4 a pound of pasta to al dente. Reserve 1 cup pasta water.

In a separate bowl, beat 2 egg yolks and 1 egg. While whisking continuously, slowly drizzle in about 1/2 cup of the pasta water to temper the eggs. Add salt and pepper and a big handful of shredded cheese. If you're using fresh herbs (parsley, basil, etc) chop and mix into the egg. If you want a creamier carbonara, add about 1/3 to 1/2 cup half and half or milk here. This will give the pasta a shiny, glossier finish and add a little decadence (as if pasta with bacon and tons of cheese isn't decadent enough).

Toss the pasta with the bacon mixture and mix well to coat, then pour the egg mixture over. Remove from heat and stir to combine. Let stand for 5-8 minutes and allow sauce to thicken. Serve with more cheese and freshly cracked pepper.

LetsLunch is a monthly meeting of food bloggers from around the globe. Send us a note on the hashtag #Letslunch if you'd like to join us! I'm @emmacarew

See what others have posted this month:

Rashda's Spicy Seafood Soup

Linda's West African Groundnut Stew

Joe's Overnight-Marinated Swordfish Stew

Grace's Pasta Puttanesca

Cathy's Roasted Pepper Jelly

Leigh's Apple Cider Donuts

Steff's Flirty Italian Snack


See you next month for festive sides!

Gnocchi + carbonara sauce

Post-Disney there wasn't a ton of food in the house, so this dinner came about as sort of a pantry/fridge dump.

This is also only the second time I've used gnocchi, and I severely under-salted the water. I also forgot to set aside 1 cup of "pasta" water before draining the gnocchi for the sauce. *sigh*

Anyway, I went with a garlicky "pseudo" carbonara sauce, spinach, tomatoes, bacon and artichoke hearts. Turned out pretty well for an on the fly meal, and it's made up of mostly staples, so give it a try for your next last-minute dinner.

Garlicky Gnocchi Carbonara
1 lb gnocchi (I used the ones from Trader Joes)
1 package frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed of excess liquid
3 to 6 cloves of garlic, minced
1 package frozen artichoke hearts (you could also use canned - drain & rinse them)
1 small can diced tomatoes, rinsed and drained
4-6 slices of bacon or pancetta, chopped
1/3 c white wine (if you have it on hand, you can sub 1/4 c olive oil)
1/2 to 1 tsp red chili flakes
2 eggs + 1 egg yolk
3/4 c grated Parmesan cheese
lots of freshly cracked pepper


* Bring a pot of well salted water to a boil, and cook gnocchi one minute less than directed on the package. They will continue cooking a little in the sauce.

* In a skillet, fry the bacon to your liking (not too crisp), then lower heat and add garlic, red chili flakes and artichoke hearts

* When the artichokes are softened, pour in the wine (if using) and scrape any brownings off the bottom of the pan. Mix in the tomatoes and spinach.

* In a separate bowl, beat the eggs then temper with 1/2 c of the gnocchi water. Mix in the cheese.

* Remove the skillet from heat, and mix the gnocchi with the wine and bacon sauce. Pour the egg and cheese mixture on top, and combine. Top with lots of freshly cracked pepper, and parsley if you have it.

Dreaming? of my last meal in Disney World at Teppan Edo in "Japan"

Recent cooking adventures: barbecue ribs, beer brats, homemade calzones, and penne carbonara

Just because I've been a bit neglectful of the blog doesn't mean I haven't been continuing to cook!

Take a peek at a few things I've been up to lately - beer brats last weekend, then a major cooking marathon of side-by-side barbecue ribs and homemade calzones, then last night's creamy carbonara:



Carbonara is one of the first dishes I learned how to make when I started cooking for myself sophomore year of college. I had never even heard of it, but read an article about Rachel Ray, and how it was a special meal for she and her husband. I loved how it was nicknamed "coal miner's pasta," and I decided to make it myself.

The worst screw up I have ever had cooking this dish was making the mistake of drinking some of the wine while cooking, then laying down on the couch while the bacon and garlic browned. Lesson learned: never walk away from the stove for a quick lie down. Especially not while you are an overworked college student.

I recently had a pasta special at the little cafe next door to my office that was called carbonara but was a really creamy sauce, almost as thick as alfredo.

I decided to try to incorporate a little of that creaminess into my dish this weekend.

Penne carbonara recipe:
(adapted from Rachel Ray)

1 lb pasta (I like rigatoni for this, you can use regular spaghetti. I used penne this weekend), cooked to just before al dente in salted water. Reserve 1 c of the pasta cooking water.
1/3 lb pancetta or about 8 slices of bacon
4-6 cloves garlic, minced
1-2 tsp red chili flakes
1/2 c white wine, like pinot grigio
2 whole eggs + 2 egg yolks, beaten
1/2 c heavy cream or half&half
3/4 c shredded or grated Parmesan cheese (can use a mix of Italian cheese)
handful of chopped parsley
black pepper

Fry bacon until not quite crisp. Remove from pan and chop roughly. Drain the fat from the pan. Reserve entirely if you have uses for it, otherwise keep just 1 TBS

Heat 1 TBS bacon fat over low heat, return bacon to the pan and stir in the garlic and red chili flakes. Saute about 2 mins (do not burn the garlic), then stir in the wine. Increase the heat and allow alcohol to evaporate. The liquid will reduce by about half. Turn off the heat.

In a separate bowl, beat together the eggs and yolks, then slowly stir in about 1/3 c of the pasta water to temper the eggs. Mix in the half&half (if using) and the cheese.

Slowly stir in the egg mixture into the pan sauce, then quickly toss in the pasta. Season liberally with freshly cracked black pepper and parsley.

And, if someone has a good way of reheating carbonara that *doesn't* cause the egg in the sauce to scramble, please let me know.

Dreaming? of my next Disney trip, in just one week!