Kids Dish

This will be our third year participating in a local CSA. CSA stands for community supported agriculture. In late January/early February I sent a farm a check to pay for half a year’s worth of fresh vegetables. Starting the first week of June we’ll receive a box of vegetables every week, a small share of fruit every other week, and a dozen eggs every other week. I’m looking forward to our first box of fresh vegetables.

But this year we’ve gone a step further in eating local. Instead of just winging it, buying a few vegetable plants from the garden center, throwing them in pots and hoping for the best, we built three Square Foot Garden boxes. Square Foot Gardening is supposed to be easier and less wasteful than regular gardening. By using a special mix of soil in raised beds sectioned off into square foot plots SFGs are supposed to eliminate weeds, and increase garden productivity.

Our three boxes add up to 48 boxes, half of which have been planted with early spring vegetables. We planted strawberries, peas, spinach, lettuce, and broccolini and started some other seeds indoors. I have a few green bean plants waiting to be transferred outside, basil seeds that have sprouted, and I threw caution to the wind and planted some carrot and onion seeds outdoors, despite the warning to wait until after the last frost, which could be as late as May.

I haven’t figured out what else I want to plant when the summer planting season starts. I know we’ll have some tomatoes, green beans and spaghetti squash but that’s as far as I’ve gotten. I don’t want to plant anything I know we’ll get a ton of through the CSA so chard and kale are out. If all goes well it looks like we’ll have plenty to eat and freeze for next winter.

Sam, our three year old, is having a great time digging holes, planting seeds and watching them sprouts. Even if the garden doesn’t work out as well as I hope, I know he’ll have learned about where food comes from and how plants grow.

The first episode of Food Network Canada’s 100 Mile Challenge starts April 5th. Based on "The 100-Mile Diet” by Alisa Smith and J.B. Mackinnon and hosted by the authors, the show challenges the citizens of Mission, BC to live for 100 days eating only foods that originate within 100 miles of their home.

Episodes will be available online the day after they air in Canada (which is good for me because 1. we don’t have cable and 2. even if we did, I don’t think Food TV Canada airs in Philadelphia). I’m curious to see how the show plays out and if the network shows that eating locally is not only possible, but pleasurable. Because it is reality television, not reality, the six families that sign on for the challenge are forbidden from eating household staples like beer, coffee, tea, chocolate, olive oil, pepper and most spices. (Notice where my priorities are- no beer!)

While that makes for great television, I hope that at some point it’s made clear that eating locally isn’t an all or nothing proposition. Supporting the local economy and local farmers is ideal, but it is not necessary to deprive your family of coffee or bananas simply because they don’t grow in a 100-mile radius of your home. We eat locally as often as possible. Aside from the occasional tropical fruit, just about all of our produce is local from May through November. The majority of our milk, yogurt and eggs (and beer!) are local and I only buy locally pastured meat.

But the rest? I buy locally when it makes sense. Olive oil is a pantry staple and while the shore is definitely within 100 miles I have no intention of harvesting my own sea salt. It would be a fun challenge, but with two small children and very little patience when it comes to shopping with them, I’m not ready to fully participate any time soon. We still do more to support the environment and local economy than most families and I’m proud of our level of participation even if we’re not 100% locavores.

In addition to bits about the 100 Mile Challenge show, the show’s blog features recipes and tips as well as information about different vegetables.

I stopped shopping at Whole Foods a few years ago when we moved and I was no longer in walking distance. As much as I liked the idea of shopping there I always ended up spending entirely too much money on not enough food so it didn’t seem worth the effort of the ten minute drive. I once spent $12 on grapes because I was too embarrassed to put them back after I saw the price at the register. When I heard people refer to Whole Foods as “Whole Paycheck” I completely understood.

A few weeks ago I learned that the wife of a stay at home dad in the neighborhood works for Whole Foods corporate offices. He told me that all of the pork at Whole Foods is locally raised and pastured. I was intrigued. Today his wife came to tot gymnastics in his place so I asked her a few questions. She told me that the pork is pasture based (which isn’t the same as pastured, but my buying club shorted me my two pounds of bacon this month so I’m willing to experiment), the 365 brand yogurt and dairy products are all local, and that Whole Foods will soon be carrying locally grown beef.

Today, armed with a $5 off of $25 coupon, a short shopping list, two kids who hadn’t napped, and a bunch of reusable bags I gave Whole Foods another shot.

The 365 Brand products are very reasonably priced. The organic milk was close to $.50 cheaper than what I pay at my local supermarket and it’s local. The bread, which is comparable to Arnold’s or Pepperidge Farm is close to $2 cheaper than and only $.20 more than the sale price at my local supermarket. The Cheddar Duckies were less expensive than the Annie’s bunnies, lower in fat and higher in fiber. They were also unfortunately higher in sodium, probably to make up for them being lower in fat. The 365 Brand frozen waffles were cheaper than Earth’s Best and slightly more expensive than Eggo.

The bacon is about the same price as the bacon from my buying club. It’s probably not pasture-finished (though to be honest I didn’t ask) but at least it’s local.

I’d forgotten about the bulk bins at Whole Foods. With my 2 year-old who couldn’t stop himself from opening every bin I didn’t stop to examine prices, but I’m sure it’s cheaper than buying individually packaged items and not much (if at all)more expensive as the bulk bins elsewhere.

The Muir Glen organic tomatoes were slightly more expensive than my local supermarket and much more expensive than the sale prices I’ve seen in circulars the past few weeks. Even though I had a coupon for a dollar off I decided to save it for the next time they’re on sale at a regular supermarket.

Same thing for the Cascadian Farms frozen foods. They weren’t much more expensive than at my supermarket, but since they go on sale somewhat regularly I decided to save my coupon.

Produce prices are pretty reasonable. I didn’t need any produce since my CSA is still delivering through the first week of November, but I wasn’t shocked by either conventional or organic prices. Totes of local apples were on sale for $.99/lb which is less than what we paid for the apples we picked ourselves a few weeks ago.

The most important thing I learned from my trip to Whole Foods is that I’m a much better shopper than I was a few years ago. Instead of buying things because they’re shiny and pretty, I stick to my list and compare prices. There are bargains to be found at Whole Foods, even when you’re buying organic.

Last summer Red Earth Farm’s CSA offered locally grown fruits through their buying club each week. In addition to my fruit share I was able to order extra delivered with my share every other week. This summer I am not so lucky. I did not buy a fruit share and so far, not a single fruit has been offered through the buying club. That means that every Friday I’ve had to arrange my schedule to make it to the Roxborough Farmer’s Market to pick up fruit for the week. The Roxborough Farmer’s Market, though small, offers a great deal of variety. The big problem is that the market is so popular that most of the fruit sells out within an hour or two.

The past several weeks I’ve done my best to get there at 2.00 when the market opens. The line starts even earlier. I was 15 minutes early last week and the line was already ten people deep. I waited in the hot sun for about 20 minutes before I made it to the front of the line. I needed my husband who was towing the toddler in the bike trailer to help me home with the goods. Sam was most excited about the watermelon, which sat beside him in the trailer on his ride home. But once he saw the goods laid out on the kitchen counter it was the corn that got his attention.

In addition to seasonal fruits and vegetables the market also offers baked goods, jams and jellies, eggs, quilts and fresh cut flowers.

How can it be August already? The summer is flying by and all I have to show for it are two cups of frozen shredded zucchini. Half a CSA share does not provide enough food for us to preserve for the winter, but with the new baby it’s a good thing we didn’t go for a full share since most of it would have ended up in the compost bin anyway. I’m a bit behind since we were out of the city most of last week, so here’s a photo of the share from two weeks ago:

3 medium eggplants, 3 red onions, a big bunch of carrots, a bunch of swiss chard, a pint of mixed tomatoes, a big bag of green beans and cheddar cheese and yogurt from the buying club.

Last week’s unphotographed share included a quart of Yukon Gold potatoes, close to a pound of green beans, a 1/2 pint of mixed grape and cherry tomatoes, a 1.5 lb bag of red potatoes, 2 summer squash and 3 pattypan squash, 3 huge green peppers and a quart each of raspberry and peach yogurt.

This week’s share had 1.5 pounds of Yukon Gold potatoes, about a pound of green beans, a quart of mixed tomatoes, half a dozen yellow squash, a pint of jalapeño peppers, and 5 yellow onions.

This summer I find that the half share is enough for us and I haven’t had to supplement with any additional vegetables from the market. Unfortunately the buying club through the CSA hasn’t offered any fruit at all this season, so I’ve had to buy fruit each week. If I don’t make it to the farmer’s market up the street on Fridays I get stuck buying it at the supermarket so it’s not local and frankly not that great.

I started my garden late this year and haven’t been paying much attention to it. My husband’s been doing all of the watering without any instruction from me. I should have told him that tomatoes tend to do better when they’re watered thoroughly every few days, letting the soil and the roots dry completely in between. My tomato plants aren’t looking so hot. The leaves are yellowed and the fruit is suffering from end rot. The one ripe tomato I’ve seen was completely rotten inside.

Luckily the CSA has plenty of healthier tomatoes to offer. The last pint of tomatoes I received was a gorgeous mix of orange, yellow, brown, green and red cherry and grape tomatoes. The colors were stunning and the tomatoes were small and sweet. Sadly, I’m still not much of a tomato person. So I cooked them.

Sam was hungry and demanding noodles so when I put on the pot of water to boil I heated a tablespoon of olive oil in a large pan and added a handful of leeks I’d chopped and rinsed earlier. I chopped the pint of tomatoes into quarters or halves depending on the size, smashed a couple of cloves of garlic, chopped a carrot, and cut some oregano and basil from the garden. When the leeks were soft I added the carrot, garlic and tomatoes, seeds and all, to the pan with a large pinch of kosher salt. While the tomatoes cooked I chopped the oregano and tore the basil leaves. I let the sauce cook on medium heat for the amount of time it took for the pasta cook and drain, stirring every few minutes. When I turned off the heat I stirred in the oregano and basil.

The tomato sauce was sweet and chunky and made entirely from local ingredients. It cooked in the time it took to boil the water for and cook a pot of whole wheat penne. It was beautiful. I wish I had taken a picture.

We went berry picking last week at Linvilla Orchard, a local pick your own that has a wide variety of fruit available throughout the year. Last week was the end of strawberry season, the height of raspberry season, and we missed blueberries, which were closed for ripening after the first of the season were picked out.

This was Sam’s third trip to the orchard- fourth if you count a trip when I was pregnant. Last summer we picked blackberries, tomatoes, and peaches. In the fall we went with a group of friends and skipped the apple picking but we went for a hayride, drank apple cider and walked through the pumpkin patch. Sam remembered the place and kept insisting that he was picking strawberries in the pumpkin patch.

We got there later than we’d hoped and ate lunch at a picnic table before taking the hayride out to the strawberry patch. It was hot and humid and Sam hadn’t had a nap. Ben was strapped to my chest in a wrap with built in SPF. The rest of us were slathered in sunscreen and sweaty. Sam didn’t know where to find the strawberries so I picked up the leaves and showed him how to find them. We got to work with our separate boxes. Sam preferred to “pick� strawberries from mama and dada’s boxes, transfer them to his box, and eat them immediately. He was soon covered in strawberry juice.

Three quarts (and about a thousand strawberries consumed later) we took the hayride back to the raspberry bushes, adjacent to the parking lot. Sam was still in good spirits but he was tired. The raspberry picking appealed to him because the raspberries were at a good height where he could pick them without bending or searching. He ate a ton and ran up and down the rows before asking to go home. We got about two quarts of raspberries before paying and heading home.

It’s been a week and we’ve consumed all five quarts of fruit. I planned on freezing some of it, but I never got around to it and it was so good we just kept eating it. I’ve been eating granola with yogurt and berries every morning for breakfast and eating berries every time I open the fridge.

A few ideas for berry storage:
Berries should be washed before storing. Rinse them in 3 cups of water mixed with 1 cup of vinegar then run under fresh water from the tap. Drain in a colander. Line a salad spinner with several layers of paper towels and spin the berries until dry.

Store the berries loosely covered at the front of the refrigerator. They are cold sensitive and will last longer.

To freeze, put the berries on a baking sheet in rows so they’re not touching. Freeze, then transfer berries to freezer bags for storage.

It occurred to me last year that I may be the only person on earth who has never eaten anything with rhubarb in it. At least not that I know of. I never remedied the situation last year, but on our last trip to the farmer’s market, when I saw both rhubarb and strawberries fresh from Lancaster County for sale I couldn’t resist buying them both.

The problem was what to make. The strawberries were so perfectly ripe and sweet we ate one of the two quarts in the car on the ride home. I am not a pie person and strawberry rhubarb pie is the most popular dessert using the two ingredients. But once again, Smitten Kitchen came to the rescue with this fantastic crumble. It’s easy to make and it used ingredients I had in the kitchen except for the Demerara sugar which I substituted with dark brown sugar. Serve it with ice cream.

Strawberry-Rhubarb Crumble
For the topping:
1 1/3 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons Demerara sugar (or turbinado sugar, or Sugar in the Raw)
Zest of one lemon
1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
For the filling:
1 ½ cups rhubarb, chopped into 1-inch pieces
1 quart strawberries plus a few extras, hulled, quartered
Juice of one lemon
½ cup sugar
½ cup flour
Pinch of salt

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Prepare topping: In a mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, sugars and lemon zest and add the melted butter. Mix until small and large clumps form. Refrigerate until needed.
2. Prepare filling: Toss rhubarb, strawberries, lemon juice, sugar, flour and pinch of salt in a 9-inch deep-dish pie plate.
3. Remove topping from refrigerator and cover fruit thickly and evenly with topping. Place pie plate on a baking sheet, and bake until crumble topping is golden brown in places and fruit is bubbling beneath, about 40 to 50 minutes.

Thursday’s box contained two quarts of shelling peas, a bunch of beets, a bunch of baby pak choi, a bunch of lacinato kale, and a bunch of shard. I still had some green onions, the entire bunch of turnips, some of the lettuce and a head of regular sized pak choi left from the week before when I was sick and couldn’t bring my feverish self to the kitchen.

To make sure I’m using all of the vegetables in a timely manner I’ve been making a list on the fridge and crossing the vegetables I use off as I go. We didn’t do too badly last summer and so far we’ve only lost a bit of lettuce to the compost bin. Two heads of lettuce is more than we can eat in a week, but since that box was farmer’s choice I don’t blame myself.

The two year old has become quite the picky eater as of late, subsisting mainly on fruit and noodles. I’m not too concerned. I know that this will pass and until it does I’ll just keep offering. I don’t cook him a separate meal (though we do cook more pasta then we need so we’ll have leftovers at the ready) so he gets what we eat on his plate and if he doesn’t eat it I’ll bring out something from the fridge or cabinet so he won’t go to bed hungry.

So what do you do as an adult if you’re stuck with something in the CSA box you don’t like? I don’t like radishes and last summer our radishes (I ordered them once on a whim) ended up in the compost after a month or two in the fridge. This time I did a search and found a recipe for radish sandwiches. It sounded pretty awful- just baguettes, butter and thinly sliced radishes, but the reviews said they worked. And sure enough they did.

Here’s the recipe from epicurious.com

2 1/2 bunches radishes, trimmed
Unsalted butter, room temperature
20 1/4-inch-thick diagonal slices baguette
Maldon sea salt or coarse kosher salt

Place radishes in medium bowl of ice water and chill at least 30 minutes and up to 2 hours. Drain radishes and slice thinly. (use a mandoline or v-slicer if you have one)
Spread butter generously over baguette slices and sprinkle lightly with sea salt or coarse kosher salt. Arrange radish slices atop buttered baguette slices and serve.

I skipped the chilling, used 3 large radishes and salted butter. I also toasted the baguette. If you have radishes to use up this is a palatable way to do it.

I apologize for the long absence, but I went and had a baby. The arrival of number two basically put all cooking on hold and I’ve been relying on the freezer stash, pasta, and the kindness of others for meals these last four weeks. Now we’re in the middle of a god-awful heat wave and the idea of cooking makes sweaty, even in the air conditioning.

The good news is that last week was the first week of the Red Earth Farm CSA share for the season. We signed up for a partial share this season, since with a newborn in hand and a toddler underfoot I didn’t think I’d be able to preserve all of the extras we’d be unable to eat. My partial share included a bunch of pak choi, a bag of perpetual spinach, a head each of red leaf and green leaf lettuce, a bunch of radishes and green onions.

The CSA is also offering fruit, egg, herb/flower shares and yogurt shares this season. The herb/flower share is new this season and all flowers and herbs are organically grown on the farm. The yogurt share, also new, is a partnership with Pequea Valley Farm in Lancaster. The cows on the Lancaster farm are grass fed and hormone and antibiotic free. CSA members can choose from a plain share and a variety flavor share that includes two quarts of yogurt biweekly. The buying club through the farm is currently offering cheese from Oak Shade Cheese and medicines and other herbal products from Avena Botanicals.

I’m sort of sad that we didn’t go ahead and buy a fruit share, but last summer’s fruit share just wasn’t worth it until late summer/early fall when each share had tons of apples and pears. I guess there’s always the buying club and the farmer’s market up the street. No shortage of local produce, it just requires some extra legwork on my part.

Little by little I’m emptying my extra freezer of the fruits (and vegetables)of last year’s CSA share and the meat we ordered over the summer. I no longer have a deep, chest freezer in the basement. We sadly had to sell it after realizing it was costing us more than $30 a month in electric bills. We just have a regular sized refrigerator in the garage with a regular sized freezer. Our kitchen fridge is a side-by-side model, which I hate, so having the extra freezer space is a necessity. Without it there would be no frozen Trader Joe’s pizzas on hand, whole chickens, and a place to store freezer meals for when the new baby comes next month.

I don’t know when I’m going to be motivated enough to start cooking, or what exactly I’m going to cook. The meat pickings are slim right now, so I may have to stick to mostly pasta based meals, which is fine since they freeze well anyway. I do have a few whole chickens, so I can make some chicken dishes too. I think I’ll make lasagna, a dish of chicken enchiladas, eggplant parmesan, a baked ziti, and a chicken potpie. Other than the potpie, the other dishes can be cooked in advance then frozen in individual or smaller sized portions. That way we won’t have to defrost a lasagna then be stuck eating it for days in a row.

I’ll probably make a few batches of muffins using the last of the grated zucchini and the sour cherries so I’ll have quick one-handed breakfasts. Pancakes also freeze well. If I keep making full-sized batches of pancakes over the next few weekends I’ll be able to build up a nice stash so I can pop them in the toaster oven and feed Sam without too much trouble.

What else do you make and freeze?

On a whim I picked up a bunch of leeks from the produce stand last week and now I don’t know what to do with them. I planned on making a nice, hearty, wintery leek and potato soup but then I used all of my potatoes to make a last minute Shepherd’s Pie. Ordinarily I’d just use the leeks in recipes that call for onions, but I’ve still got half of a five pound bag of organic onions in the pantry that look like they’re getting ready to sprout so I’ve been erring on the side of using them first.

Last week my mom came to visit and we took Sam to the bookstore to play with the trains. My mom went to the cafe to get some coffees for us and returned with a few stratas as well. Ordinarily I’m not a fan of most egg dishes, especially when I’m pregnant, but the strata, made with spinach, artichoke hearts and roasted peppers was delicious. Sam liked it too.

Back to the leeks. I’ve also got half a dozen eggs from local, pastured chickens in the fridge. I’ve been using them for cooking and baking as needed, but I keep reading that high quality eggs should be showcased in dishes that are egg focused. Again, I don’t love eggs, but perhaps this recipe for a Leek and Swiss Chard Tart that uses frozen puff pastry could help change my mind. I’m a sucker for anything in puff pastry. If I finely chopped the handful of baby carrots I have remaining from the five pound bag I bought (please someone remind me that I need to stay far, far away from five pound bags of anything perishable) I could add some color and texture and save some more veggies from the compost bin.

Double posted from Farm to Philly

One of the unfortunate side effects of pregnancy for me is an aversion to most vegetable matter. Ordinarily I cook several vegetable heavy meatless meals a week, but since learning I was pregnant in September we’ve mostly eaten take out pizza, meals involving ground beef, and cheesy pasta dishes. This does not bother my husband at all. My taste for vegetables eventually returned, but my desire to buy and prepare food other than pizza and cookies has been lackluster at best. I used to go out of my way to shop at the farmer’s market in Ardmore every week. Now I’m feeling ambitious if I manage to stop in to the Marketplace at East Falls on our way to the zoo or Smith Playhouse. Our refrigerator has never been so bare. One week we even forgot to get our Meadow Run Farm monthly meat order from the pick up site and sheepishly found it still on the porch the next day. It’s a good thing it’s cold outside.

Yesterday, after eating a cupcake and Utz (local!) pretzels with Bobbi’s (local!) hummus for lunch I figured it was time to cook something that wouldn’t be found on a school cafeteria menu. I knew I had a butternut squash still in the dark cabinet beneath the pantry and decided to use it. I found a recipe for Butternut Squash, Bacon, Rosemary and Phyllo Pizza on Epicurious and scoured the kitchen and freezer in the garage for the rest of the ingredients.

In the freezer I unearthed some bacon from Meadow Run and my rosemary plant is still thriving out back. I didn’t have scallions or red onion, but I had a regular onion that I sautéed in reserved bacon drippings with a clove of garlic from my CSA I found hiding behind the squash. There was half of a package of phyllo dough in the freezer, and to add some greens to the dish (since I had no intention of making anything other than the pizza for dinner) I pulled out some Swiss Chard I’d frozen early in the fall when I couldn’t bring myself to eat it.

I’m pretty good with phyllo so the whole thing took about an hour from start to finish. I wasn’t sure at first, but after my second slice I decided the pizza was delicious. It could have used a bit more rosemary, and the squash puree needed some seasoning other than salt and pepper, but on the whole it was good. Really, I’m a sucker for just about anything made with phyllo dough. (And it was a lot easier to make than the butternut squash and caramelized onion that filled my house with smoke last month.) I would definitely make it again as party appetizer using phyllo cups instead of sheets.

The local ingredients were bacon from Meadow Run Farm, butternut squash, garlic and Swiss chard from Red Earth Farm CSA and rosemary from my backyard.

Tomorrow is the day that I pick up my monthly meat order from Meadow Run Farm. Meadow Run, a local farm, offers humanely raised, pastured meats, the only kind of meat I feel comfortable buying to prepare at home. I’ll admit that since I’ve been pregnant I’ve been pretty lax about eating meat out and about, but on the whole I prefer to eat meats that come from animals who eat the things they’re meant to eat and are treated as respectfully as animals meant for food can be treated.

The New York Times reports that a California company issued a recall of 143 million pounds of beef, the largest recall in history. Some of the meat recalled was to be used in school lunch programs.The recall was spurred by the Humane Society of the United States who distributed an undercover video on Jan. 30 that showed workers abusing sick cows.

It was prompted by a Department of Agriculture investigation that found that Westland/Hallmark did not always alert federal veterinarians when its cows became unable to walk after passing inspection, as required.

Cows that cannot walk are banned for use in the food supply because they pose an added risk of mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, a fatal disease that eats away at the brain. There have been three confirmed cases of infected cattle in this country since 2003.

I don’t know if the abuse in this particular case was an isolated incident, or if this type of animal abuse is widespread. I’m just glad I know where the meat I purchase comes from. The idea of my son eating meat that comes from the sick, abused animals in this video is horrifying.

You can find locally raised, pastured meats through Eat Wild.

In the past few weeks I’ve seen carbonara recipes all over the place and for the first time ever they started to appeal to me. Carbonara is basically bacon and eggs pasta. I’ve heard rumors that it’s Italian hangover food. I love bacon but I’m not a huge fan of eggs which is why the idea of carbonara never intrigued me. But lately? I don’t know, for reasons I can’t explain I needed to give it a go. I’m so glad I did.

Carbonara is not a recipe for people on low fat, low cholesterol diets or for people who live in permanent fear of getting sick from what they eat. The three eggs used in the sauce are not fully cooked. The recipe I used calls for heating an oven-proof serving bowl in the oven while the rest of the dish is prepared so the combination of hot pasta and hot bowl cooks the eggs just enough. I recommend using the freshest, locally grown eggs from humanely raised chickens you can find for this dish. The whole thing takes about 30 minutes start to finish. Heat up a loaf of fresh bake Italian bread along with it and serve with a salad and a simple steamed vegetable. We skipped the salad last night and inhaled the entire bowl of pasta with some leftover steamed broccoli and half a loaf of bread.

Sam, after deciding the fork was entirely too much at the pasta by the handful. He ate two and half bowls crying “More noonoos” each time his bowl was empty. Since he was eating by the handful, we refilled his bowl using spaghetti spilled on his tray and bib three or four times. Seriously, he loved the pasta. Loved it. This is the first thing he’s loved since my leftover pot pie and it took him two or three days to warm up to that. This he couldn’t get enough of from the first bite.

Spaghetti Carbonara

When the pasta is still slightly firm (al dente) drain in a colander, first reserving 1/2 cup of pasta water. Leaving the pasta slightly wet, add it to the pan and toss it with the bacon and reduced wine. Add in the egg and toss with tongs until well combined. Transfer to warm serving bowl, add fresh parsley if using and salt and fresh ground pepper to taste and serve hot.

I loved this pasta, but I plan on modifying the recipe the next time I make it. I don’t think the bacon needs to cook in olive oil. Well, perhaps it does if you’re using pancetta or another more authentic Italian bacon, but I used locally raised cured bacon and it didn’t need any extra oil. I’ll skip the oil, drain the crisp bacon on paper towels, pour off all but a tablespoon of the bacon grease and follow the recipe as written from there.

Because it’s all I have in the house I used whole wheat spaghetti. Next time I want this I’m going to use regular spaghetti to make it more like comfort food. And if you don’t have white wine you can substitute vermouth or chicken or vegetable broth. If you use broth, add a tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice to the egg mixture.

If you’re sketched out by the barely cooked eggs, this recipe from Emeril calls for cooking them slightly.