The day started out dismally, with a cold breeze and even colder termperatures. I had previously had plans of making a light, grilled meal comprised of spring vegetables and grilled chicken, but as the day moved forward I couldn’t shake the cold feeling in my bones and in search of comfort food I went.

Enter Carbonara.

I’ve written about Carbonara before. It’s a rich, filling pasta treatment which will never be mistaken for health food, but, you know, sometimes you just need it - even if you have to behave yourself for a week to make up for it. I had gone to our local Italian deli, Fraboni’s, this weekend and as usual had spent an ungodly amount of money there, so I had much of what I needed on hand to make this. I had picked up a nice orecchiette pasta, some spicy imported pancetta (sliced into thick slabs, pefect for dicing), and a grated blend of romano and parmesan cheeses (a staple in my fridge). I combined it with some frozen peas (still no peas in my CSA box) and with fresh ramps.

Pasta Carbonara with Pancetta, Peas and Ramps:

1/2 pound pancetta, diced (substitute bacon if you wish)
Olive Oil
1 bunch ramps, bulbs sliced (substitute onion and garlic if no ramps are on hand)
Red Pepper flakes - to taste
3 eggs
3 egg yolks
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 cup grated parmesan/romano cheese
Grated pepper to taste
1 lb pasta
1 cup frozen peas
1 bunch scallions, bulbs and greens sliced

Warm a tablespoon of olive oil to a deep sautee pan. Add diced pancetta and sautee until crisp. Add ramps and red pepper flakes to taste, turn heat to low, stir occasionally, as needed.

In a large bowl, whisk eggs and egg yolks together well. Add cream, grated cheese and pepper. Whisk again. Set aside (this can be done ahead of all other steps, leaving egg mixture to come close to room temperature).

Cook pasta per instructions. As pasta completes, add peas to the boiling water and cook with the pasta for 2 - 3 minutes. Drain cooked pasta, reserving some water. Add pasta and peas to bacon mixture. Stir until incorporated through.

Add hot pasta and bacon into bowl with egg mixture. The heat should cook the eggs through. If sauce becomes too thick or gummy, add some of the reserved pasta water to thin it out. Toss scallions into mixture.

Pour into pasta serving bowl.

Popularity: 20% [?]

Gorgonzola has rapidly become one of our favorite cheeses. We cook with it, we eat it after dinner as a cheese course with wine or port, and we always have it on hand. Much of the reason for this is because we are fortunate enough to live close to one of the top Gorgonzola producers, Hook’s Cheese, in Mineral Point, WI. Read more about them here!

So, what did I do with my latest hunk of Hooks Gorgonzola cheese?

First, I made a Gorgonzola Buffalo Burger. Lean, grilled to perfection, then liberally topped with fresh spring greens (heavy on the arugula!), bruchetta and gorgonzola, this burger can quickly become addicting. Put the gorgonzola on the burger while it is still on the grill so that it becomes a bit oozy. You won’t regret it!

The next thing that I really like to do with gorgonzola is create a gorgonzola compound butter. It’s easy to do. You merely need to take a stick of softened butter and 3/4 of pound of slightly softened gorgonzola. Blend it in your food processor and add your ingredients of choice to the blending. For this particular butter, I added scallions and garlic. Spoon it out of the food processor and onto a sheet of saran wrap. Hand roll it into a log and put it in the refrigerator.

Once you’ve done this, there a plethora of uses for the compound butter. Once such use is to simply glop it on top of a nice, thick, juicy grilled New York Strip (below). You can also use it as a butter spread, or you can toss it in some hot pasta for a quick, simple sauce.

Popularity: 22% [?]

Penne with Grilled Beef and Arugula

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One of the shows that I still try to catch on Food TV is Everyday Italian. It never fails that something is prepared on that show that is sure to make me very hungry. We sit and watch it on Saturday mornings, and comment on the fact that “the skinny Italian chick” obviously doesn’t eat her own cooking.We don’t mean to be disrespectful of the skinny Italian chick by calling her that. But let’s face it. She’s skinny. She’s Italian. And it is a whole lot easier than pronouncing her name: Giada De Laurentiis. Perhaps the chick part is inappropriate, but skinny Italian chick has a lot more color than “the thin Italian lady”.

And I stand by the theory that she does not eat her own cooking.

Recently, I made a dish that was inspired by one of her shows. Here’s what I did:

• Grill a sirloin steak to taste.
• Make a bunch of Penne.
• Whisk some whole grain mustard with some basalmic vinegar , olive oil, grated parmesan cheese and chopped garlic.
• Tear up some arugula and basil.
• Slice the steak into bite-sized pieces
• Toss everything in with the warm, drained pasta.

Popularity: 18% [?]

I’ll start this out by saying that I am not a fan of bell peppers. This has always puzzled me, because it really should be something that I enjoy. Despite that, I could do with a world with no bell peppers.

However, two things force me to cook with them - my CSA produce box, and Greg, who loves bell peppers. I believe that he loves them simply to be contrary.

With the recent abundance of bell peppers in my box, I threw together a quick dish - Chicken braised with bell peppers and onions. The recipe is pretty much what you would expect:

• Brown bone-in chicken breasts in olive oil. Remove from pan.
• Add sliced peppers, onions and garlic to pan. Season with salt and pepper. Sautee until soft and the onions are turning golden.
• Mix a couple of tablespoons of tomato paste in with the vegetables. Cook until paste turns slightly brown.
• Deglaze pan with some wine. I used red, but white wine works too. Choose whichever wine you want to finish off by drinking as you continue to cook.
• Add some chicken stock.
• Put the chicken back in the pan and cover, simmering until cooked through.
• Toss some chopped, seeded tomatoes in towards the end - that way they maintain some texture

We served this over some egg noodles.

Popularity: 8% [?]

White Bean and Bulgar Ragout

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A surprisingly fast, and incredibly filling dish, White Bean and Bulgar Ragout is one of those dishes that you can throw together using just about anything that might be in your refrigerator.

This particular version included some carrots, olives, tonatoes, spinach and chicken thighs. This time it happened to be served with a side of tomato and olive hummus and pita.

I’ll include the psuedo-recipe, though it’s reallly just a list of ingredients - no measurements were taken!

- Chicken thighs, marindated in oregeno, garlic, lemon and olive oil
- Carrots, diced
- Celery, diced
- Onion, chopped
- Garlic, chopped
- Bulgar
- Chicken stock
- Spinach, torn
- Olives, chopped
- 1 can White Beans
- Pesto
- Salt and Pepper to taste

Brown chicken thighs. Remove from pan, place in oven, cook til done.

In same pan, sautee carrots, celery, onion and garlic. Cook til slightly softened. Add bulgar. Stir til slightly toasted. Add chicken stock, spinach, olives. Cook til bulgar softens and thickens, 10 minutes. Add beans and pesto. Season to taste. Serve with chicken atop.

Popularity: 6% [?]