Lightened Pasta Carbonara

Oh how I love Pasta Carbonara.  At least until I found out what went into it.  Heavy cream.  Butter.  Eggs.  Half a pound of bacon.  Yeah, I haven't been able to eat like that since I stopped competitive swimming.  I might allow myself to order this dish at a restaurant about once a decade.  If that.  I'm not interested in having a heart attack anytime soon.

It was a pretty exciting day a few years ago when I found a Lean Cuisine version of Pasta Carbonara.  It's still one of my favorites when I go for a Lean Cuisine.  At least I know exactly how many calories I'm getting in a given portion.

I was even more excited when I came across this recipe of a lightened version I could try at home.

And plus, I think this bowl was made for serving Pasta Carbonara.

Recipe: (from Sweet Peas and Pumpkins)
8 oz turkey bacon, sliced very thin
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 pound pasta (I used Barilla Plus spaghetti)
1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 cup milk
1 egg
2 egg whites
1 15-ounce can of sweet peas, drained
parsley to garnish
extra cheese for topping

In a large pan cook the bacon until very crisp, adding the garlic at the very end to cook partially.  While the bacon and garlic are cooking, cook the pasta.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl combine cheese, pepper, milk, egg, and egg whites.  Whisk until frothy.

Once the pasta is cooked, drain it and add it to the pan with bacon and garlic. 

Take some of the hot pasta and mix with the egg mixture to bring egg up to temperature before pouring all of the egg mixture into the bacon pan.  Mix well over low heat until the sauce binds to the pasta.  Add sweet peas and fold gently.

Verdict:
While this recipe in no way compares to the real version you'd get an Italian restaurant, the significantly lessened chance of a heart attack more than makes up for a few textural deficiencies.  It is not as creamy as the original but the taste is great.  The peas weren't my favorite part, but they have never been my favorite vegetable.  Alex loves them though so to justify my love of bacon and pasta, I'll live with the addition of a less than lovely green vegetable. 

I enjoyed eating it, and I enjoyed not feeling guilty eating it!

Louisiana Beans and Rice

If you ate anything like I did for the last few days (er, weeks), you are probably ready for something without sugar, fat, loads of salt and so on...  Possibly something that is easy to prepare as you have probably spent the last few days in a state of semi-controlled chaos.

This vegetarian crock pot recipe delivers high nutrition and low hands-on kitchen work.  Something we all need to help recover from the holidays.

Recipe: (from Sweet Peas and Pumpkins)
1 large onion, diced
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 bell pepper, deseeded and diced
2 celery ribs, diced
6 cups kidney beans (or 3 15-ounce cans)
4 bay leaves
1 tablespoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne powder
1 teaspoon salt
3 - 4 cups water
3 cups cooked rice
optional: hot sauce, cheese, sour cream etc for toppings

Add all ingredients in slow cooker, except water and rice.  Stir well.  Slowly add the water, being sure it fully covers all ingredients, about 3-4 cups, depending on the size of your slow cooker.

 Cook on HIGH for 6-8 hours or LOW for 10-14 hours.

Once done cooking, remove approximately 2 cups of the beans and puree using an immersion blender.  Return to crock pot and stir well.

Serve mixture in a bowl with rice and desired toppings.

Verdict:
Definitely a vote for quick and easy.  I made this dish on a day when I would be at work for eight hours and then had another hour or so at the gym.  It took about 15-20 minutes to chop it all up and throw it in the pot in the morning, and when I came home dinner was ready and the house smelled wonderful!

It was not the best recipe I've ever had but then again it's just beans and rice, so you're probably not expecting culinary perfection here anyway.  It was edible.  It scores healthy points.  And it reheated well the next night.  Tastewise though, I think I prefer this recipe for a slow cooker beans and rice dinner.

Triple Chocolate Cranberry Pecan Oatmeal Cookies

This is it.  The last cookie of my Christmas 2011 baking season.  And I thought I'd make it a doozy.  I mean look at that name.  Could you possibly get any more delightfulness into a single cookie?

I didn't think so.

The name alone is a mouthful.  The cookie happens to be quite a mouthful too.  Get ready for some deliciousness.  

Recipe:  (from Sweet Pea's Kitchen)
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup fresh or frozen cranberries, coarsely chopped
2 ounces white chocolate, chopped (for drizzling)

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt; set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and both sugars until smooth, about 3 minutes.

Beat in egg and vanilla until combined, about 30 seconds.

Add flour mixture and oats and stir until blended.  (Diva Note: I was able to use the mixer paddle for all of the flour mixture.  From the oats on, I stirred by hand.)

Stir in all chocolate chips, nuts, and cranberries.

Roll a heaping tablespoon of dough into a 1 1/2 inch ball and place on prepared baking sheet, about 2 inches apart.   Bake cookies, one sheet at a time, until edges are lightly browned, about 14-16 minutes.  (Diva Note: I set the timer for my first tray for 14 minutes and the cookies were burned.  I set the timers for the rest of the trays for 12 minutes, and they were much better.  It could easily just be my idiot oven but start watching them around 12 minutes or so.)

Cool on sheets about 5 minutes; transfer to racks to cool completely.  While cookies are cooling, melt chopped white chocolate in 30 second bursts in microwave until almost melted.  Whisk until smooth.  Drizzle melted chocolate on cooled cookies.

Verdict:
First of all, oatmeal, nuts, and cranberries?  Could anything be healthier?

Except maybe an actual bowl of oatmeal with nuts and cranberries.  And minus the butter, sugar, and three kinds of chocolate.  But what fun would that be?

In all seriousness, these were an interesting and delicious twist on the oatmeal chocolate chip cookie of which I am a huge fan.  The combination of three kinds of chocolate satisfy just about any sweet tooth in existence.  The oatmeal and pecans add some heartiness so these actually feel satisfying for awhile.  And the cranberries add just a touch of zing to offset the incredible sweetness of three different kinds of chocolate.

What sick chocoholic dreamed up this recipe?

A genius chocoholic, that's who.

Merry Christmas to all!

Candy Cane Pretzel Treats

Running out of time and looking for something quick yet festive?

This is it!

We've been making variations on Hershey's Kiss pretzel kiss treats for years, usually involving round pretzels, milk chocolate kisses, and seasonally colored M & Ms.  They are always a favorite.  Recently we've gotten creative with the new flavors of Hershey's Kisses.  Peanut butter with peanuts.  Caramel with pecans.  Dark chocolate.  Yummy.

Here's a new seasonal twist for Christmas. 

What You Need: (from Cookies and Cups)

and waffle shaped pretzels.  That's all!

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.  Place pretzels on baking sheet about 1/2 an inch apart.

Place an unwrapped candy cane kiss on top of each pretzel.

Heat in oven to melt kiss, about 2 - 2 1/2 minutes.  The kiss should be shiny when you remove tray.  Press a second pretzel on top of each kiss.

Place tray in refrigerator until set, at least 15 minutes.  Store in airtight container up to 2 weeks.

Verdict:
Salty and sweet?  Yes please!  So simple yet so delicious.  They will quickly add a festive touch to any cookie tray.  Honestly, the hardest part was finding room for the cookie trays to be placed in the refrigerator!

I think that looks-wise, I still prefer the round pretzel treats.  The waffle shape on top does tend to hide the candy cane pattern.  Plus, the flavors of the round pretzel treats are more universally appealing.  I will probably go back to those next year, but these were a fun twist for a season.

For those of you familiar with the round variety of pretzel treats, a few key differences: unlike the round pretzels, these do not contain all of the melted kiss within the pretzel's walls, so don't place them too close on the cookie sheet; pepperminty white chocolate may ooze out the sides; the peppermint variety of Hershey Kisses have a hard peppermint candy in the center, so they may not appear to press as fully down as the milk chocolate varieties.

But they will be delicious!

Chocolate Mint Thumbprints

Dark chocolate + white chocolate + Andes mints + peppermint = sign me up!

Last weekend I had to go to a cookie exchange.  Seriously.  I was given no choice.  Invitations were sent out in early December to everyone that lives in our townhouse complex.  I never planned on attending.  Until I looked at the calendar and realized that the cookie exchange was scheduled to take place during my Sunday shift in the office.  Meaning I had to be there.  And I didn't want to be the Grinch that shows up to the neighborhood cookie exchange without any cookies.

So now I had to decide on a recipe.  I thought about making more Oatmeal Gumdrop cookies since I've always believed that one purpose of a cookie exchange is to share one of your favorite recipes.  But I was in the mood to try something new since the blogs I read are oozing with delicious cookie recipes this time of year.

Shocking.

I decided on this recipe from Sweet Pea's Kitchen because it sounded different enough that someone else probably wouldn't also bring it (my greatest cookie exchange fear!), didn't contain nuts (and I had zero clue about allergies with this group) and because chocolate and mint is one of the greatest flavor combinations there is.  Peanut butter and chocolate wins.  But mint and chocolate definitely ties with caramel and chocolate.  To dislike it is practically un-American.

Recipe:

For the Cookies:
2 ounces dark chocolate (60-72%), chopped
2 ounces mint chocolate, chopped (Target sells bags of pre-chopped Andes mints for baking.  Score!)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup granulated sugar + 1 cup for rolling
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
2 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the Filling:
3 ounces white chocolate chopped
3 tablespoons heavy cream (Can they please start selling heavy cream in smaller containers????  I never use it to cook and the few times I need it to bake, I have to buy a ridiculous-sized carton and throw the vast majority of it away.  Sigh.....)
1/2 teaspoon pure peppermint extract

In a microwave safe bowl, melt the dark chocolate and mint chocolate in 30 second intervals until nearly melted.  Whisk until smooth; set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, and salt.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter until creamy.

Add the 1/3 cup granulated sugar and brown sugar and beat at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

Beat in the egg yolks and vanilla.

Pour the melted chocolate into the bowl and mix just until incorporated.  Add the dry ingredients and mix, scraping the side of the bowl occasionally, until smooth.

Transfer the dough to a sheet of plastic wrap and shape into an 8-inch disc.  Refrigerate 30 minutes.

 Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.  Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.   Roll a heaping tablespoon into a 1 1/2 inch ball.  Roll ball in sugar; place on cookie sheet.  Repeat with remaining dough, placing balls about 2 inches apart.  With your thumb, press an indentation into the center of each cookie.  Bake 10 minutes or until slightly firm; remove from oven and using your thumb press an indentation into the cookies again.  Return to oven and bake an additional 4 to 5 minutes.

Cool on rack.

To make white chocolate filling, put the white chocolate into a heat-proof bowl.  Put the cream into a microwave-safe bowl and heat at high power until boiling, about 30 seconds.  Pour the hot cream over the white chocolate and let stand until melted, about 30 seconds, then whisk until smooth.  Stir in peppermint extract.

Fill the thumbprints with the white chocolate ganache and refrigerate until set, about 30 minutes.

Verdict:
There are a lot of steps, so they seem complicated to make.... but really the steps weren't difficult (just a lot of dishes to wash!).   As far as taste goes, Alex and I both found them fabulous.  Chocolaty.  Minty.  Sweet. Fresh.  Christmasy.

Note: I'd make a little extra of the white chocolate filling.  I had about 6 cookies that didn't get filled, and they just don't cut it plain.

Don't worry, they didn't all go to the cookie exchange; I reserved a few for family and friends back home!

Christmas Biscotti

This is the first truly new recipe in my Christmas baking line-up.  I found the recipe several months ago back at one of my regular blogs: Sweet Peas and Pumpkins.

I had never made biscotti before, nor did I recall my mom ever having done so, but the combination of pistachios and cranberries sounded too good to pass up!

Recipe:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 egg
1 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup pistachios (roasted and unsalted - if you use salted pistachios, you may choose to omit the 1/4 teaspoon salt)

(Apparently you can buy these babies pre-shelled.  Who knew?  Not me, so I spent some time de-shelling.  Thank goodness I hadn't gotten my nails done.  That would have been a catastrophe.)

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Mixing by hand, combine the oils and sugars, then add the egg and vanilla until well blended.

Combine flour, salt, and baking powder.  Add to wet mixture.

Last, add pistachios and cranberries.

(Diva Note: At this point, we literally had to mix with hands in order to get everything fully combined.  And it was very sticky.  If my mom hadn't been here, there would be no pictures from this point on...)


On a baking sheet covered with parchment paper or Silpat liner, shape the dough into a log that is about 10 inches long by 4 inches wide.

Bake for 30-33 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool slightly, 1-2 minutes.  Using a sharp knife, cut into 3/4-1 inch slices by pressing firmly (do not try to saw).

Reduce oven to 275 degrees.  Turn biscotti on sides and bake for 10-12 minutes or until lightly brown.

Verdict:
So good!  Sweet, slightly salty, and a hint of citrus from the cranberries.  And isn't sweet and salty the greatest taste combination ever?  And you know, they even look Christmasy without being quite the typical red and green combination - like red and green all grown and classed up!

Perfect with a cup of coffee or tea... So I guess this is another sweet I'll be able to justify eating for breakfast on the 26th...

My only tip: you may as well mix up two batches of dough while you're at it.  One log only makes about 10 biscotti, and that won't last long when you have to share!