Bacon and Eggs Pasta?

One word: Carbonara. One of the easiest, most delicious dishes to make-with very few ingredients. I need fast dishes like this with the little one. He doesn’t like mommy to do anything that doesn’t include him, so it has to be done quickly while he entertains himself for all of 5 minutes. (Seconds)

Okay, so I’m an eyeball-the-ingredients-kinda-gal, so I’ll do my best to give you the measurements I used-but trust me when I tell you that my best dishes (hubby will vouch for me) are the ones I make using what I have in the fridge and cupboards and just throwing it together. Usually when I follow a recipe my husband can tell. So if yours looks OK with less than the recipe calls for, or needs more of something, by all means, follow your instinct! You are the chef in your house, try things out. Cooking should be fun, creative and always made with love.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s get started!
Here’s what you’ll need:

1 pound long-cut pasta, I used whole grain Angel Hair (reserve about a cup of starchy water)
1-2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
Salt and pepper, to taste
Pinch-1/2 tablespoon Crushed Red Pepper Flakes (I used a little more than half a tbs, adjust to your taste)
4-6 slices of bacon (I used center cut)
5 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 cup white wine (I used Pinot Grigio)
2 large eggs
Parmesan or Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, grated
Chives or Parsley to taste, thinly sliced (I used both)

Boil water for pasta, cook according to directions on the box (about 30 seconds to a minute less if you want al dente). When water starts to come up to a boil, add lots of salt. The water should taste like the ocean. Before draining the pasta, reserve about a cup of the pasta water. (I use a mug to scoop the water out) While water for pasta is boiling, chop bacon into small cubes. Heat skillet on medium heat until hot. Add olive oil and let sit for about 30 seconds or so and then add the bacon and crushed red pepper flakes, pepper, and a pinch of salt. Let the bacon cook for about 2 minutes before touching. Continue to stir bacon every few minutes until just shy of desired crispness. Push all the bacon to one side of the pan and add the garlic. Mix the bacon and garlic together. Cook-stir for a minute or so, until garlic is fragrant and soft. Crank heat up a little to medium high and add the wine. Using a wooden spoon, scrape up the browned bits from the bacon at the bottom of the pan. Let wine reduce by half. Make sure sauce is ready for the pasta; pasta needs to be hot when you add the egg. Mix the egg, pepper, pinch of salt, and enough cheese to mix with the egg in a bowl, making a slightly thick consistency. Use about 2 tablespoons or so of the hot pasta water to temper the eggs. Drain the pasta and add straight to the bacon mixture, turning to coat in the bacon fat. Remove pan from heat. Add the egg/cheese mixture, constantly mixing the pasta with tongs. Mix well. If pasta seems too dry, add some of the reserved pasta water to make a creamy, glossy sauce. (Use as much or little as you need) Add the parsley and/or chives and taste for seasoning. Mine usually needs a pinch of salt, more pepper (I love it!), and lots of cheese! (I’m part rat.) And Voilà! This dinner is simple yet so delicious! Enjoy with a nice glass of wine, a side salad and some garlic bread- or as is!

Wine isn’t pictured. I was too busy enjoying a glass. 🙂

Mmm…bacon.

With the wine…

The egg/cheese mixture, garlic, and the wine decides to make an appearance.

Are you drooling yet?

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What about now?

Buon Appetito!

Gotta start somewhere…right?

Ahhhhhhh!!!!! Am I really starting this blog? Finally?? Okay. I have been bouncing back-and-forth in my head for months now about whether or not to write this here blog. Who am I? And more importantly, who cares what I have to say? What if my recipes aren’t that good? Do I really “gotta start somewhere” or should I just not start at all? Let’s start with a little about me; I’m Melissa. Hence the oh-so-creative play on words that is my username. Caramel. Issa. Okay, so it’s not that clever. But I did the best that I could with the time I had to name it. (All of 5 seconds) I was shooting for a play on the word caramelize and landed somewhere between a play on said word, and caramel. In my defense, I wanted to do CaraMel-Issa but this site wasnt having it. I wanted to get started and knew that if I didn’t just pick a name and do it now, id still be trying to decide whether to do it or not. I quickly chose a (not-so) clever name and here we are. Back to who I am. (Again, does anyone care? Just in case my moms reading…) I am a 30-year-old Housewife and Mother of one. I have a beautiful and perfect 8-month-old boy named Nico(las). While perfect, he is also quite active and requires lots of attention and time. I also have a beautiful and perfect 30-year-old husband named Nico(las). While also perfect, he is also quite active and requires lots of… I think you know where this is going. My boy and my man need me in different ways. But they both rely on me when it comes to their food. I prepare all of their meals for them. I make sure my husband has lunch to take to work (almost) every day, a hot meal waiting for him when he gets home from work every night, and a nice breakfast on Sunday mornings. (usually French toast per his request) I make my sons food in our baby food processor. I like to know that we are eating healthy (most of the time) and saving money. I’m an old-fashioned type of wife and mother. I love to cook. I love to nurture. I love to take care of my boys! Okay, maybe that isn’t old-fashioned. However, I love fulfilling my role as a woman and I love the same of my husband fulfilling his role as a (my) man. To me, part of those roles includes the wife (me) staying home and taking care of our child and our household, while the husband goes to work and provides for his family. Aha! Old fashioned. Hear me out. Both of my parents worked when I was a kid. I would go to my grandma’s house after school until my mom picked me up. My granny is great and took great care of me, but there’s nothing like having your mom home to take care of you. I wanted to be able to be the one raising my son. I wanted to be able to send my husband off to work with a lunch that I packed, knowing he would have food to eat that was (semi) healthy and would save some money. I wanted to have dinner on the table every night. I just love the idea of taking care of my little family. I also love the security my man provides. But don’t let my Suzie-homemaker ways fool you; I wasn’t always this way. Let me backtrack a bit. When I met my husband, I knew how to “cook” very few things. French toast (only bread and egg-blech) and grilled cheese sandwiches (again, just bread and cheese) were about as good as it got. My mom is the best cook and when I lived at home, there was no need for me to cook because she always did. She stopped working when I was in my teens, but she always had dinner on the table whether she worked or not. I was into makeup and going out, not cooking. Something about my husband (then boyfriend) made me want to learn how to cook for him. And me. But mostly him. I wanted to do something special for him to show him how I felt about him and express it in a way that I hadn’t. I wanted to feel womanly and take care of my man that way. I have always wanted to know how to cook. But I was afraid that I just wouldn’t be any good at it. The thought of it overwhelmed me. But now, I was ready! I called my mom and asked her how to make her famous spaghetti, which includes lots of garlic and spices. Turned out, I only had garlic and tomato sauce, so that’s what I used. (I know!) Knowing what I know now, I’m positive that it didn’t taste good. But that night, to me, it tasted great because I had made it myself and I had made it with love. (Corny but true.) I started becoming interested in cook books and cooking shows. After reading some cook books and watching cooking shows for a few days, I decided I was ready to try to take on something else. Something gourmet. Something by a “real chef”. I found a Rachael Ray recipe for Ginger-Garlic Fish in Parchment (paper) and Lemon-Chive noodles. Sounded easy enough, throw some veggies and fish in parchment paper, boil some pasta…piece of cake, right? I went grocery shopping since I didn’t even have any spices, much less the makings for a “gourmet” meal. I remember calling my mom asking her where to find an item and she suggested that I could substitute if I couldn’t find it. What!? No way! I had to get everything the list said verbatim. Now, some of my best meals are the ones where I take a look at what I have and create something out of it. But I digress. I went home and started carefully reading the directions and following along. This was a breeze! Dump some stuff in a bowl, a chop here, a boil there and BAM- I had prepared an entire meal! I was a grown-up. A meal preparing, fancy grown-up! I set up some candles and tried to create a cozy environment complete with a movie, and this fancy dinner I had prepared. I was so excited to dig in! I cut open my fancy parchment pouch. What an aroma! I instantly smelled the ginger, garlic, and the sweet and sour scent of the soy sauce-honey-rice vinegar mixture. I anxiously took my fork and cut a piece of the fish along with some mushrooms and scallion. I had to try my creation all at once! (Dramatic much?) Not bad! I definitely didn’t mince the ginger enough and it could use some more salt and pepper, but overall it was good! Success! Onto the noodles! Now I LOVE noodles. LOVE NOODLES. I also love lemon. And chives. I am extra excited for these. I dig in. Hmm…that’s an odd flavor. Not at all what I had dreamed up in my head. That’s…sour. And bitter! That’s terrible. Ter-rible. I look over at my guy who is eating them up with a smile. Was he crazy? He isn’t a big fan of asian cuisine (I learned this post-“realchef”-meal) or lemon. He claimed to love it and even insisted on eating the leftovers. Had I missed something? These tasted like battery acid with a hint of chive, so either he was lying or he was lying. We laugh about it to this day because he always declares me to be the best cook and “everything she makes is amazing!!…except for those lemon-chive noodles.” Ha! I love him. He ate those disgusting noodles simply because he appreciated that I had made him a meal and didn’t want to hurt my feelings. What a guy. Had he not done that I might have not had the will to want to continue to try more cooking for him. This is my way of saying your sour noodles are amazing too! So go for it…get your hands dirty and have some fun in the kitchen! Put on your cutest apron that you never use, blast some tunes and make passionate love to your food. 😛 I hope you enjoy my recipes as much as we do. Happy cooking! 🙂

‘mel-issa