Pasta with Bacon and Brussels Sprouts

This turned out to be a very simple and easy dish to make. And since I only had a few ingredients on hand, namely bacon, pasta, and brussels sprouts, it was the perfect dish. If you think you don't like brussels sprouts, I highly recommend trying to cook them in this dish, because it makes them crispy and gives them great flavor. And don't laugh at my paper plate because in the place I am, there are never any clean plates.

Here's the recipe adapted from the NY Times

Ingredients:
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. butter
3 slices of bacon, diced
8 oz. of pasta (I used rotini, which was great for this recipe, but you could use any round tube shape)
5-6 brussels sprouts, thinly sliced
Pinch of red pepper flakes
Parmesan cheese
Salt
Pepper

Directions:
1. Add olive oil to saute pan on medium heat. Add bacon and cook until translucent.

2. Heat heavily salted water and cook pasta al dente.

3. Add brussels sprouts to bacon. Add butter. Cook until sprouts are browned and bacon is done cooking. Add pinch of salt.

4. Drain pasta and add to bacon and brussels sprouts. Toss together until pasta is done.

5. Serve with pepper and some parmesan cheese.

Guinness Shepherd's Pie

It's almost St. Patrick's Day! I heard of this dish somewhere recently, and decided it would be a perfect dish for the holiday weekend. I had to make it a day early because people weren't going to be home to share it with on the actual day, so I made it tonight, and everyone can just binge on leftovers for the next couple of days. It was also a nice excuse to get some Guinness beer for celebrating as well! ; )

I looked online for a good recipe for this, and I'd say it turned out pretty good. I think next time though I'd adapt my original Shepherd's Pie recipe I normally use and add the Guinness to it. But this one works pretty well. I had to adapt it a little so I could dirty fewer dishes and some of the original ingredient amounts didn't quite work. Anyways, check out the recipe below.

Here's the recipe adapted from The Hungry House Wife.

Ingredients:

1 ½ pounds ground lamb

1 (1lb) bag frozen mixed vegetables, thawed (I used a combination of two different vegetable bags, but this can be adapted to anyones tastes)

2 packets of dry Brown Gravy Mix

1 medium onion

Olive Oil

2 bottles Guinness Beer (I used Guinness Extra Stout, which reduced nicely, but you could also use drought)

2 Tablespoons Tomato Paste

1 cup Sharp Cheddar Cheese (We had some Mexican blend cheese already shredded in the fridge so that's what I used)

3 pounds baking potatoes

¼- ½ cup milk

1 stick butter

Salt and pepper

Green onions

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375.

2. Boil the potatoes in salted water until fork tender.

3. Drain completely and place back in pot so all of the water evaporates.

4. Add butter to pot with potatoes along with some salt and pepper.

5. Mash until smooth, while adding the milk for a medium consistency. Then use a hand mixer to whip until all lumps are smooth.

6. Cook and drain ground beef.

7. Place drained beef back in skillet and add onions, cooking until translucent.

8. Add tomato paste to meat

9. In a medium sauce pan, prepare the brown gravy according to package directions, however, use beer for half the liquid called for (1 cup water, 1 cup beer)

10. Add one bottle of beer to meat mixture, cooking until beer is almost completely evaporated.

11. Pour gravy mixture into meat mixture and cook all together until you get a nice thick gravy.

12. Add mixed vegetables to the meat and stir together.

13. In a 2 quart baking dish, add meat as bottom layer with the vegetables, and then add the mashed potatoes. Spread with a spatula so it completely covers all of the meat, sealing it completely. Top with shredded cheese.

14. Cook at 375 for about 20 minutes or until cheese in nice and bubbly. (You may want to put it under the broiler for the last few minutes of cooking time, because it won't get golden and bubbly at the regular baking temperature.) Top with some chopped green onions and serve!

Frozen Sweet Potato Fries with Spicy Fry Sauce

I may not have mentioned this before, but I really love dips and sauces. I love making them, I love eating them, and I love swirling my food around in them. Wait, what? Anyways, I especially love dips for my fries. I've recently acquired a love for sweet potato fries, used to hate them, but now I love them. Funny how that works. So, I got some of these frozen ones because lets' face it, fries take too much time and effort to make from scratch. Screw that. These are the Alexia brand, which if you've had any of their products, you know you're in for a treat. They were delicious, you pop them in the oven, stir half way through the cooking time, and they come out crispy and crunchy just like sweet potato fries are meant to be.

Of course I had to make a sauce for these wonderful fries. Something spicy is what always comes to mind when it comes to making fry sauces at home. One of my favorites is just ketchup with some sriracha, but I wanted to up the ante on these. So I mixed, are you ready for it?, equal parts ketchup and mayonnaise, along with a little sriracha and chipotle chile powder which we had in the spice drawer. To be more exact, it was 2 Tbsp ketchup and 2 Tbsp mayonnaise, 1/2 - 1 Tbsp sriracha, and 1/2 tsp of the chile powder. Top it off with a sprinkling of some Kosher salt. That's it! This sauce would be great with regular fries also.

10,000 Views!

I wanted to write a quick post today to celebrate a small milestone on my blog. I just surpassed 10,000 views and wanted to give some quick thanks to everyone who has visited, stopped by, enjoyed, or made any of the recipes on my blog.

I started this blog a little over a year ago as a side project to showcase the food I've cooked, enjoyed (and sometimes not so enjoyed) to help me remember and also to show anyone else that cooking isn't so difficult to learn to do yourself. I taught myself to cook from watching my mom, cooking shows on TV and lots of practice. Not everything I make turns out wonderful, but it's about trying and sometimes failing, that helps you learn an essential skill like cooking that I believe everyone should know the basics of.

I hope you all enjoy my food as much as I do. And maybe take away from this little project that cooking is something you want to try yourself, and have the courage to give it a shot. Thanks again for stopping by!

Lemon Pepper Shrimp Scampi

I finally had a night at home, and my usually my mom gives me a recipe she wants me to make. Tonight, it was Lemon Pepper Shrimp Scampi with Orzo. I just used frozen shrimp, rinsed it under cold water, and then peeled it. Drain it on some paper towels, then use for the recipe.

*Don't worry, I'm posting this the same night I made it, but I will be getting to past posts I have saved up in iPhoto.

Here's the recipe adapted from Cooking Light Magazine

Ingredients:
1 cup uncooked orzo
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
3 Tbsp unsalted butter, divided
1/2 pound peeled and deveined jumbo shrimp (I just used a few for each plate, 3-4)
2 teaspoons minced fresh garlic
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

1. 1. Cook orzo according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain. Place orzo in a medium bowl. Stir in parsley and 1/4 teaspoon salt; cover and keep warm.
2. 2. While orzo cooks, melt 1 tablespoon butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle shrimp with remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt. Add shrimp to pan; sauté 2 minutes or until almost done. Transfer shrimp to a plate.
3. 3. Melt last tablespoon of butter in pan. Add garlic to pan; cook 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Add cooked and drained orzo to pan with last tablespoon of butter. Stir in shrimp, juice, and pepper; cook 1 minute or until shrimp are done. Serve with more lemon juice and parsley.