Every Day with Janey Ray?

Yes, I am posting a Rachel Ray. It's one that I tried for the first time
this week, and it was easy, fast, and filling.
I usually try to avoid bacon, being the little strips of death that they are
(cardio-wise), but I figured in this case, it was permissible, and my
bacon fans agreed. Of course, they're the same people who think bacon is
a food group. I include dark chocolate in my nutritional pyramid, so I guess
I'm no better.

Anyway, for a fast and easy entree' on one of those hectic nights ahead,
I give you.....




Rigatoni with Bacon and Parmesan
(adapted from Every Day with Rachel Ray)

Ingredients:

1 1/3 pound rigatoni pasta
1/4 cup EVOO
1 1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for topping
3/4 pound bacon, fried crisp and broken into bits*
salt and pepper



Method:

In a pot of boiling, salted water, cook the pasta until al dente. Drain.
At the same time, heat chicken broth in large frying pan with high (not sloping) sides. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and add the pasta and toss.
Remove the skillet from the heat and stir in 1 cup of Parmesan and the bacon.
Season with salt and pepper; toss again. Place remaining Parmesan in a bowl to
serve on the side.


*I'm not sure where I picked up this idea, but I've been using this method for months now and would never go back to the old way of frying bacon.
I used to avoid recipes that used bacon or omitted it because of all the mess of frying it. It always left the stovetop an immense mess.
Now I spray an old cookie sheet (the ones I no longer use for cookies but let the kids use it for baking oven french fries or pizza rolls-don't worry, I don't eat the horrendous things) with Pam and place the bacon strips on the pan and cook it in the oven until it looks crispy.

One caveat: do not forget to spray the cookie sheet with Pam or a reasonable
facsimile thereof. Once I fused the bacon to the pan and had a devil of a time getting it off.


I'll be damned, but I forgot to take a picture of this one, too. In all fairness to me, though, the Mongol hordes were so hungry that they swarmed the kitchen and there really wasn't time for me to grab my camera, let alone focus and snap a pic.

Another Lame Post Without Photos

Big Pasta with Mushroom, Parsley, Garlic and Thyme


Let me begin by saying, "Whoo, Doggies!" This was
a g-r-r-r-eat recipe!

I had to make a few concessions on ingredients which
actually worked out. Can you believe it?!?!
(See previous post for context)

This is the first Nigella recipe I tried and I was a
little sceptical. She makes everything look so-o-o
effortless. I happened to catch the Food Network
episode where she made this. I found it attractive
because 1) my family will enthusiastically eat
casseroles (which this dish is, basically) and 2) because
it makes a bloody great roaster-pan full,
another plus when you can count on at least two to three
extra mouths to feed along with the usual four in the family.
You see, I have three sons with big appetites and they have lots of
friends with same. Ours is The Kool-aid house. You
know the one: that certain house where all the neighborhood
kids congregate to hang out, swimming in the pool or
staring glassy-eyed at video games on the TV.
I've come to the conclusion that no one in this community
bakes anymore, least of all from scratch, judging by
their kids' reactions to the cookies, cupcakes,
and other goodies I set out for them.
It's really a subtle form of bribery: as long as the Mongol
Horde is chillin' here, I don't have to wonder where my kids are,
what they're doing, and who they're with.
Chocolate chip cookies ensure that they make our house their
headquarters. The price of cokes and baked goods
are cheap in exchange for the peace of mind.

But back to The Domestic Goddess. I have two of her cookbooks
and I must admit I love reading them. She's a terrific writer-her prose
is wonderful, very appealing to the senses.
And of course the food is sublime.

Big Pasta with Mushrooms, Parsley, Garlic, and Thyme

Ingredients:

Bechamel-

1 stick butter
1 cup all-purpose flour
8 cups milk
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Freshly grated nutmeg

Mushroom mixture-

2 tablespoons butter, plus 1 stick
1 tablespoon oil
3 oz. dried porcini mushrooms, soaked in 2 cups boiling water*
1 pound, 8 oz. mixed mushrooms, chopped
3/4 cups fresh parsley leaves, chopped, plus 3/4 cup, plus 1/4 cup more for garnish
1 teaspoon dried thyme or fresh thyme leaves
3 fat garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup amontillado sherry**
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan, plus 1 cup
Salt
3 pounds rigatoni or other big pasta of choice
few sprigs fresh thyme for garnish

Special equipment: large roasting pan, approx. 12 3/4 by 16 1/2 inches***.


Method:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

In a saucepan, melt the butter for the bechamel, and add the flour, stirring gently to make a smooth paste. Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the milk. Turn the heat back on to medium, and stir the bechamel until it begins to thicken and come to the boil. Let it bubble for about 5 minutes to get rid of the floury taste. Take off the heat and season w ith salt, pepper, and nutmeg.

Melt 2 tablespoons butter and the oil in a large wide pan. Drain the porcini, reserving the liquid, and chop before adding to the pan with 3/4 cup chopped parsley, the dried or fresh thyme, and garlic. Stir for a couple of minutes then melt the remaining 1 stick of butter in the same pan and add the chopped mushrooms, stirring for about 5 minutes. The mushrooms will appear dry at first but will eventually start to give off some liquid.
Add the porcini soaking liquid, which the mushrooms will largely absorb, but keep stirring and add the sherry and let it bubble away. Turn off the heat when you have a bronzed, syrupy stew.

Stir the mushroom mixture into the bechamel and add 1 cup of the Parmesan and the other 3/4 cup of the chopped parsley. Put a big pan of water on for the pasta, and when it boils, salt it well. Cook the pasta until al dente, then drain and add to the mushroomy white sauce, stirring it the best you can to get the pasta covered.

Turn into the large roasting pan and sprinkle over the remaining 1 cup of Parmesan. Bake for 30 minutes or until the top begins to turn golden in places.
When the pan comes out of the oven, decorate with the remaining 1/4 cup chopped parsley and some springs of fresh thyme.



*Instead of dried porcinis, I used readily available buttons, sliced, and compensated with a little extra chicken broth I had on hand.

**I couldn't find amontillado sherry to save my life. In the end I had to substitute some white wine I had on hand and it was marvelous.

***I used my bigass turkey roasting pan, holds a 24#er every November.