Category Archives: Pasta and Rice

SPAGHETTI CARBONARA

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I found this vintage French copper mold on ebay.  It’s actually one of a trio of molds:

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I’m not sure what you would mold in these — maybe pate or aspic?  Maybe they’re just decorative.  Of the three, the pig with his curly little tail is my favorite, and the inspiration for today’s recipe.

Have you ever wondered why a whole roasted pig is usually served with an apple in its mouth?  One urban myth is that it’s to keep the pig’s mouth open in order to let toxic gasses from the pig’s stomach escape during roasting.  It turns out that it’s purely aesthetic.  Reportedly, as the pig roasts, its jaws tighten into an unsightly grimace, and the apple helps prevent, or at least minimize, that.  It is also believed by some that the tradition, which goes back 800 years, may be symbolic of the pig’s life cycle.  In the fall, pigs were fattened up on apples, and an apple in the pig’s mouth is thought to have been a way to symbolize the life and death cycle.

I’m not a big fan of the whole roast pig with an apple in its mouth thing.  Maybe it’s because my dog Jasper likes to pretend he’s a whole roast pig with an apple in his mouth:

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photo-8 copyYou can put lipstick on a pig . . . .

Not long ago, I came home to discover that my friend had dropped off a bunch of leftovers from a business dinner, including roast pig:

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Although there wasn’t enough for a meal for our family, there was plenty to use in Spaghetti Carbonara.  The recipe is adapted from one from Martha Stewart, and although most traditional recipes call for pancetta, you can use any smoked pork product — bacon, Canadian bacon, prosciutto, roast pig — and it will be just as good.  Martha’s calls for half a cup of half and half, but do yourself a favor and just use 2 tablespoons — you’ll still get the desired taste and effect.

The kids were so happy to have this rich dish for dinner that I earned a “thanks for making dinner, Mom.”  They literally pigged out on it.  Were they happy enough to help with the dishes?  Yeah, right, when pigs fly!

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SPAGHETTI CARBONARA
Author: 
Recipe type: Pasta
 
Ingredients
  • 1 pound spaghetti
  • 3 eggs
  • ¾ cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus extra for serving
  • 2 tablespoons half and half
  • ⅓ cup minced roast pig (can substitute bacon, ham, etc.)
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
  1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add spaghetti and cook according to package instructions until al dente.
  2. While pasta is cooking, whisk together eggs, Parmesan cheese, and half and half in a medium bowl.
  3. Drain pasta and transfer to large bowl, Immediately add egg mixture to hot pasta and toss to combine (the heat from the pasta will cook the eggs). Add roast pig, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with additional Parmesan cheese, as desired, and serve immediately.

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Kids were happy as pigs in mud eating Spaghetti Carbonara!

BAKED PECAN RICE

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I found this cast iron nutcracker at a garage sale.  I bring it out every year around this time, and the kids enjoy putting the nuts in the squirrel’s mouth and cracking them.  I’m sure over the years other things have made their way to the squirrel’s mouth, but I am thankfully unaware of them.

I don’t know about you, but I think squirrels are the cutest members of the rodent family, not that there is a lot of competition for that title.  The squirrels in my neighborhood are hilarious.  Like this little guy that made himself at home in my neighbor’s bird feeder:

Biosphere squirrel

Another one of my neighbors has squirrels in her attic, and it’s hilarious watching them poke their faces out (she didn’t think they were so hilarious when I pointed them out to her, and called the exterminator):

Peek-a-boo!

 Is the pizza here yet?

There was a church near us that was completely overrun with squirrels.  They tried just about everything, but couldn’t get rid of them.  Finally, they baptized the squirrels and registered them as members of the church, and now they only see them on Christmas and Easter.  🙂

When my son was in fifth grade, he had one of those projects that make you want to call the teacher at midnight from a pay phone with a sock over your mouth, as you (and unfortunately, I do mean you) are finishing the project on Mother’s Day (thanks, Teach), and scream into the receiver “WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?”  The project was to write 25 poems using different literary techniques (e.g., alliteration, rhyming, etc.).  If you have school-age children, you know that the project didn’t end with the drafting of the poems — they had to be typed, mounted on construction paper, illustrated, and bound — after all, by fifth grade your mom should be pretty good at that.  My son drew a blank when it came to writing a haiku involving nature.  This was at about the point where I didn’t care if he got an F on the project, so I told him to just write about the dead squirrel we saw in front of our house that morning.  This is what he came up with:

Dead squirrel on sidewalk

Did you fall from tall treetop?

No acorns for you!

We still laugh about that one.  (I am aware that in some parts of the country the word squirrel is pronounced as two syllables — i.e., skwur-uhl — but in our neck of the woods, and especially for purposes of coming up with a 5-syallable haiku line near midnight, we prounouce it skworl.)

Our neighborhood squirrels have lots of acorns, nuts, and seeds to choose from, but pecans are among their favorites.  Once, a squirrel in a tree in front of my house started screaming at me when I stepped out the front door.  It kinda hurt my feelings, as it had been one of those days when it felt like everyone was screaming at me.  I guess he felt bad about it afterwards, because the next morning I found this pecan on my doorstep (and I don’t have a pecan tree), which I honestly believe was the squirrel’s way of saying he was sorry:

Inspired by the squirrel nutcracker and the antics of my neighborhood squirrels, I made Baked Pecan Rice.  My Dad told me it tastes like Thanksgiving, so I think it’s particularly timely.  The pecans, butter, and herbs combine to make this a satisfying dish that goes nicely with a holiday meal.  I think I might put a little dish out for my squirrel friends to enjoy this year.

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BAKED PECAN RICE
Author: 
Recipe type: Pasta and Rice, Side dish
 
Ingredients
  • 2 cups uncooked white rice
  • 4 tablespoons butter
  • 4 cups chicken broth
  • ¼ teaspoon oregano (optional)
  • ¼ teaspoon thyme (optional)
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • ¾ cup chopped fresh parsley
  • ¾ cup diced celery
  • ¾ cup diced onion
  • 1 cup chopped pecans
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Melt butter in a nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add rice and cook until golden brown, stirring frequently. Transfer to a 2-quart casserole and add 3-1/4 cups chicken broth, oregano, and thyme, mixing to combine. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and bake for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
  3. Add the remaining ¾ cup chicken broth, parsley, celery, onions, and pecans, stirring to combine. Cover and bake an additional 45 minutes.

 Browning the rice in butter

 A perfect dish for squirrels, family, and squirrelly family