Lake Lure Cottage Kitchen

One of my favorite side dishes has always been a rice pilaf.  I saute rice in a saucepan with melted butter, then add chicken broth and cook on low heat until done.  It is seasoned with tarragon if I am serving it with chicken.

I was on the pasta aisle of the supermarket recently and saw the bags of orzo; small rice shaped nuggets.  Hmmmm – why not cook it like a pilaf?  That is just what I did and I loved it.  My basil plants are huge this time of year so I seasoned it with a big handful of fresh basil and slathered it with grated Parmesan.

This made a perfect side dish to the stuffed 8 ball zucchini squash that I posted about on Sunday.  I have also served it with grilled chicken.  I think it would also be wonderful with a veal Parmesan.  It is going on my list of everyday meal rotations because it is so easy and I can always have the ingredients in the pantry.  It is a fun way to eat pasta without having to twirl it around a fork.

ORZO PASTA WITH PARMESAN AND BASIL

2 Tablespoons of butter
1 cup orzo pasta
1 14 ounce can chicken broth
1/2 cup chopped basil
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat.  Add orzo and stir in butter.  Cook until orzo is evenly coated with butter and is beginning to brown.  Add chicken broth, bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and cover saucepan.  Cook on low heat until orzo is cooked through and chicken broth is absorbed, about 15 to 20 minutes.  Remove lid and add chopped basil, grated Parmesan and salt and pepper to taste.  Serves 4.

If you have leftovers, you can use them in those cute 8 ball zucchini squash.  I cooked 1/2 pound of ground beef until done, drained the fat, added chopped tomatoes, Italian seasoning and cooked until the tomatoes released their juices.  Then I added the orzo, stirred the mixture together and used it to stuff the zucchini and the small red peppers that I got from the market.   I topped it with buttered breadcrumbs and baked it for about an hour.  The possiblities are limitless.  Because the 8 ball squash tops are so cute I baked them along side the squash and peppers.  I just oiled the underside so that they would not stick to the pan.

Printable recipe Orzo

When the travails of traveling on a motorcyle throughout the Pacific Northwest get you down, there is no better respite than a stop at a magical place called Pondside.  Situated between two limpid ponds with an American ( in our honor ) flag drapped entrance gate, we immediately felt welcomed by my blogging friend Pondside and her husband The Great Dane.  Reading her blog I have always been entranced by her gentle style and great wisdom.  We bloggers sometimes “know” each other without ever being formally introduced.

When I blogged about our trip to Alaska and trip south through Vancouver, Pondside graciously invited us to lunch.  Who could resist?   What a treat it was.  I was hesitant to show up with a camera around my neck and the typical blogger mentality of snapping pictures of everything in sight, so I missed photographing her lovely pasta salad with smoked salmon and asparagus that she credits to  Cathy of Wives With Knives, another great blogger.   It was delicious and will go in my file of favorite recipes.  Thank you Cathy.  David especially enjoyed it because he has had a hard time finding salmon on this trip in spite of the fact that the salmon are running and we saw thousands of them in a river in Alaska.  Here is Cathy’s picture.

Pondside made a dessert of Eton Mess that was just perfect to round out our meal.  I don’t have her specific recipe but it was a mixture of  broken up meringues, whipped cream and Cointreau marinated strawberries.  You can check out Ina’s recipe here.   We chatted over dessert and coffee and found so much in common.  I never thought I would find another fabric junkie like me.  We are even reading the same paperback author right now.

The day turned drizzly for a brief time and we walked around the property to see the ponds and the chickens and ducks.

My visit with Pondside was a delight.

And I love her umbrellas too!  Thank you H and GD for opening your world to us.  We are so much the better for it.

I have been without internet access for the past week or so and am just catching up on my blogs about our trip.  I am home now, but have at least two more posts that I want to share with you.  Also I need to catch up with all of your posts.  Again thank you Pondside for a delightful interlude in our trip.

Pancetta makes everything better.  Many people say that about bacon, but my preference is pancetta.  Pancetta is salt cured pork belly and is not smoked like bacon.  What I love about it is that when diced and fried crisp, it is like eating toffee bits.  It is so crispy and the flavor is intense.  This recipe only calls for 2 ounces, but it is enough.

The asparagus in the markets right now is beautiful; bright green and firm.  I added it to the pasta three minutes before it was done to save on pots.  This is one of those dishes that comes together easily and is perfect for a busy day.

My Brother Bill and SIL Barb are coming from Michigan for a visit starting this weekend and then next weekend we will be heading back to welcome Spring in the North Carolina mountains.  Lake Lure beckons this time of year.

Enjoy!

PASTA WITH ASPARAGUS, PANCETTA AND WALNUTS

8 ounces Penne pasta
1 pound of asparagus, trimmed and cut into pieces
1 clove of minced garlic
1/4 cup toasted walnut pieces
2 ounces of diced pancetta
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Have the deli cut a 2 to 3 ounce slice of pancetta.  Dice the pancetta and saute in a skillet until the fat is rendered and the pancetta is golden brown and crisp.

Cook the pasta according to package directions and 3 minutes before it is done, add the asparagus.  Drain, reserving some of the pasta water.  Put pasta mixture in a bowl and add the garlic. 

Combine the lemon juice, olive oil, and salt and pepper.  Whisk together.  Drizzle over the pasta mixture; toss well to coat and add a little pasta water if it is too dry.  Sprinkle with the pancetta, walnuts and Parmesan.  Mix together and serve.  4 servings.

Printable recipe 

We returned to Florida yesterday after an exciting week spent with the new parents and our, now, two grandchildren.  It was hard to leave them.  The weather in Cary had turned spring like the day Michael and Kristen brought Cameron home from the hospital so I made them a lovely and healthy pasta primavera.  After a week of takeout food and hospital food I thought it would be a welcomed change.

The recipe came from Giada De Laurentis.  Kristen has all of her cookbooks.  What I loved about this recipe was the fact that all of the vegetables are roasted first so that they have a nice caramelized flavor.  This can be done ahead of time.  Also there is no heavy sauce; just the olive oil and caramelized bits from the pan, the pasta water and the nutty Parmesan cheese.  The only addition I made to the recipe below was asparagus.  You can’t have a primavera without asparagus.

My thanks to all of you for your congratulatory comments.  The blogging community is truly a wonderful place.

PASTA PRIMAVERA

3 carrots, peeled
2 medium or 1 large zucchini
2 yellow summer squash
1 yellow bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
1 onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon dried Italian herbs
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1 pound dried farfalle pasta (bow-tie pasta)
15 cherry tomatoes, halved
3/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to450 degrees F.  Cut the carrots, zucchini, squash, and bell peppers into thin 2-inch long strips.  On a large, heavy baking sheet, toss the vegetable strips, onion, oil, dried herbs, and 2 teaspoons each of salt and pepper to coat.  Transfer half of the vegetable mixture to another large, heavy baking sheet, and arrange the vegetables evenly over both sheets.  Bake, stirring after the first 10 minutes, until the carrots are tender and the other vegetables begin to brown, about 20 minutes total.

 Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Add the farfalle and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender but still firm to the bite, about 8 minutes.  Drain, reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid.  In a large bowl, toss the pasta with the cooked vegetables to combine.  Add the cherry tomatoes and enough of the reserved cooking liquid to moisten.  Season the pasta with more salt and pepper to taste.

Transfer the pasta to bowls.  Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and serve.

Printable recipe

While in Atlanta we had dinner at Brio Tuscan Grille.  Although it is a chain restaurant, it has the feel of a traditional neighborhood restaurant.  The ambiance is enhanced by dark green walls adorned with a multitude of oil paintings that appear to have been collected over the years.  One of the reasons I wanted to have dinner there was because I was craving pasta; in particular pasta carbonara.  I remember having the best carbonara in a small Italian restaurant in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.  Instead of bacon, the creamy carbonara was studded with speck.  Speck is a juniper flavored Italian ham.  The dish was wonderful and I have had an obsession with carbonara ever since.

Now granted, I did not expect an Italian chain restaurant to have a carbonara to rival my favorite, but I was willing and anxious to give it a try.

Even though it does not look as creamy as the original, it was moister than my first attempt.  With the addition of all that extra butter, it should be.  I compensate for all of that richness by eating less.  The next time I make this I will add the alfredo sauce while the pasta is fresh from the pot and I have a feeling I will be closer to  what Brio did.   This was a good experiment.  I like the concept and the flavors, but a classic carbonara will always be my favorite.

GARGANELLI CARBONARA  (ala Brio Tuscan Grille)

3 strips of bacon
1/2 pound of chicken tenders, cubed
1 clove of garlic
1 10 ounce package of frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese, grated
2 eggs, beaten
Splash of white wine

Alfredo Sauce:
4 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 cup cream
6 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

1/2 pound penne pasta

Cook cubed bacon in a large saute pan until crisp.  Remove to drain.  Add cubed chicken and saute until no longer pink.  Add garlic and cook a minute more.  Add chopped spinach and cook until warmed through.

Meanwhile cook pasta according to package directions.

Beat together the eggs and Parmesan cheese.

Make the alfredo sauce.  Melt butter in a sauce pan.  Add the flour and stir together for a minute to let flour cook.  Slowly add the cream and whisk until thickened.  Add the cheese and continue cooking until cheese is incorporated.

Drain pasta and add to skillet.  Immediately add the egg mixture and toss to cook the eggs.  Add the alfredo sauce and stir to combine.  Pour pasta into a serving dish and sprinkle with bacon and extra Parmesan cheese if desired.