These look truly gorgeous. I haven't made crab cakes in forever. It's probably time to give it another go.
I made spaghetti carbonara last night -- with bacon, mushrooms and peas, and I was kind of nervous about it. The idea of cooking your sauce (with raw eggs!!) just from the heat of the pasta seemed ... dicey. But it turned out great and it was delicious. (I know. Gluten.) Do they make any decent gluten-free pasta?
I figured if it bombed we could feed it to the dogs. But the dog's didn't get a look in. I think they're mad about that.
Thank you so much @enchantedspirit, I consider this quite a compliment :) Your carbonara sauce sounds amazing, and I know it's always fun to combine ingredients that are a little sketchy only to find out they compliment one another and your result is so good. I find that so satisfying, bringing joy to someone else with good food. Oh and I love Jovial brand gluten free pasta. It seems to hold up well when cooked unlike most gf pasta. I hope you are able to find it! Glad to hear the dogs didn't get to enjoy your dinner, I'm sure CW was thumbs up happy!
Enchanted Spirit's Refrigerator Garbage Spaghetti Carbonara
1 pound of bacon -- fried, chopped up in the equivalent of Walter
Left over cooked frozen peas from several nights ago
Mushrooms sauteed in butter and white wine, dusted with a little Cajun seasoning (Sssshhh!)
Left over spaghetti noodles drizzled with a little olive oil from a completely other dinner
Combine these in an electric skillet. Cover. Set heat at about 200 - 225. Heat through completely, tossing occasionally to make sure everything is combined and hot all the way through. Dust with a little onion powder & garlic powder while heating. (Or cook chopped onions and garlic w/ your mushrooms if you're feeling ambitious. I may do that next time.)
In my HUGE cookie bowl -- combine five eggs & about 1 c. half-and-half. Beat thoroughly w/ electric mixer. Add about 1 c. shredded Parmesan cheese and a scant 1/2 t. black pepper.
Dump piping hot pasta, mushrooms, etc., mix straight from the skillet into the egg mixture in the cookie bowl. (Get your husband to help. This works better with two people and at least 3 - 4 hands.) Immediately begin churning pasta to coat thoroughly w/ egg mixture -- which will actually melt into a "sauce" -- believe it or not. (I wasn't sure this was going to happen. But lo and behold, it did!!)
Serve immediately. (My trusty spaghetti lifter did great on this part.) Top with extra shredded Parmesan cheese. Yell at yourself for being such a wuss and not brave enough to try this years ago. Enjoy -- 'cause it really was delicious.
I know. There's about 8 ingredients, and you probably can't have 12 of them. Too bad for you. (Feeling pretty smug and cocky after my success.)
Girl, this would make Julia Childs proud! Wow, what a dish, the visual you have just provided is priceless. I can just imagine you and CW in the kitchen whipping up this gourmet meal. 5 eggs! yikes, I would have been terrified too, lol I wish I could have been at the table to enjoy this meal. :) Thank you! I'll have to try this one!
If you're serious about trying this, start with your eggs and cream as close to room temperature as possible so you don't chill the pasta too quickly before the cheese has a chance to melt -- and so the heat from the pasta can do the work of cooking the eggs while still not "scrambling" them. This really was easy once I had all the ingredients assembled and found the courage to try it. Recipes I consulted said it would be -- but I've been lied to before.
No kidding though, this really is simple -- and with enough spice to suit your taste is is truly delicious. You can also make it with different kinds of bacon-y meat -- like pancetta, finely chopped ham, etc. Of course, with a lot of different flavors of bacon available, you can get plenty of variety that way. I'm just grateful -- for all that I tease you about it -- that I don't have some of the food / allergy issues you have to accommodate. We can try almost anything I have the inspiration to attempt. I am a pretty good cook and I enjoy my own cooking immensely -- especially when things go right!!
Some of the best meals I've made are ones where I consulted my ethnic preferences for the night, looked at my available ingredients ... and then just decided to wing it. That's kind of a shame because when it succeeds -- and @catweasel is raving about how good it is, I have to tell him, "Well, enjoy it while it lasts, because you'll never have it again."
The first time I tried chicken tikka masala, I was licking the sauce off the spoon like it was a lollipop. I'm not real sure what "Indian food" is really supposed to taste like -- and The Weasel is no help here whatsoever. He knows what he likes -- and that's the extent of it. I've made some interesting variations of the original since then, but none comes as close (at least in my memory) as the first attempt to being just superb. I do keep trying though. We haven't tossed out anything yet. And my health seems to really prosper from some of the spices those recipes use. I've become such an advocate of using food as medicine. It just feels right.