Adventures in Thyme

Our adventures in food

Easy Carbonara

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Simple Carbonara by D Fenwick, http://dfenwickphotography.com

Simple Carbonara

 

We were blessed this past weekend with lots of friends and family gathering for a celebration.  To feed the throngs of hungry, we smoked 18lbs of beef and ham – there wasn’t much left over at the end of the day!  Tonight, like most after a long day at work, the final question of the day is deciding “What are we eating for dinner?” Our question went a little more like this “What are we doing with the left over ham?”  And it was a no-brainer really, this is an easy (seriously easy) carbonara recipe.  Enjoy!

1/2 pound Ham
2 or 3 slices Bacon
1 or more cloves Garlic chopped fine (optional)
12 oz. Pasta (We used Gluten Free Penne Rigate)
1 cup grated Pecorino Cheese
2 tablespoons fresh chopped Parsley
1 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Pepper
2 eggs, scrambled in a bowl

While your pasta cooks, fry your bacon until crispy.  You can multi-task here and also cut your ham into 1/4 inch strips about an inch or so long. When the bacon is done, remove it from the pan and drain. (At this point, if you like garlic you can add it to the pan and cook in the bacon fat until it just starts to turn color.  If you don’t like garlic, skip this part.)  Now add the ham to the pan and cook until lightly browned.

Drain your pasta and reserve some of the pasta water. Return the pasta to the pot on the stove. Turn off the burner. Add the ham, bacon, salt, pepper, parsley and cheese to the pot and toss to combine evenly and to keep it from sticking to the pot. Add the eggs. Toss together so the egg coats everything and cooks with the heat remaining in the pan. If it is too thick, add a bit of pasta water and continue to toss. Repeat until you have a light coating on all of the carbonara. This will not be a heavy sauce.

Serve hot with a little more grated cheese.

Sweet Potato Steak Fries

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Sweet Potato Steak Fries by D Fenwick, http://dfenwickphotography.com

Sweet Potato Steak Fries

Tonight we’re sharing our oven baked sweet potato steak fries.  Seasoned with fresh herbs and freshly grated Pecorino cheese they are perfect for a summer evening’s bbq.

Here’s what you’ll need:

3 Large, white Sweet Potatoes
1/4 to 1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 cup grated Pecorino Cheese (Grated Parmesan will work as well, just don’t use the stuff in a cardboard can)
1 1/2 teaspoons Salt
1/2 teaspoon Pepper
2 sprigs fresh Rosemary, chopped fine

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees F.

Peal the sweet potatoes and then cut into wedges or slices about 1/4 inch thick and 1 inch wide. Combine the salt, pepper and rosemary. Toss the sweet potatoes with the olive oil to coat evenly. Then sprinkle the sweet potato fries with the salt, pepper, rosemary and grated cheese (having someone help you makes this MUCH easier) while tossing gently so fries get evenly coated.

Cover a couple of baking sheets with baking parchment. This will keep the fries from sticking and help get them nice and crispy!

Lay out the fries in an even layer on a couple of baking sheets. Place in the oven and bake 10 to 15 minutes. Turn all of the fries over and bake another 10 to 15 minutes or until they start to brown. Keep an eye on them as they can go from under done to burned very rapidly.

Serve hot and sprinkle with a little more grated pecorino cheese.  And don’t forget the Ranch dipping sauce!

Oatmeal Banana Cookies

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Oatmeal Banana Cookies by D Fenwick, http://dfenwickphotography.com

Oatmeal Banana Cookies

We’re baaack!  Unfortunately a nasty viral bug laid us both out for awhile.  We’re getting better and needed a treat to celebrate our survival. So, this is our version of oatmeal banana cookies, they’re easy on the tummy, and delicious on the tongue.

1 cup unsalted Butter
1 1/2 cups Dark Brown Sugar
1 1/2 to 2 cups mashed Banana (2 to 4 bananas depending on size)
1 Egg
1 teaspoon Vanilla
3 cups old fashioned Oatmeal
1 1/2 cups Flour
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 teaspoon Salt
1 1/2 teaspoons Cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon All Spice
1/2 teaspoon ground Clove
1 cup chopped Pecans
1 11oz package Butterscotch Chips

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

In a mixing bowl combine the butter and brown sugar, cream together until light and fluffy. Add the mashed bananas, egg and vanilla and beat until well combined. Scrape down the edges of the bowl periodically.

In another bowl, combine the oatmeal, flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, all spice and clove. Stir until well combined.

Add the dry mixture to the wet ingredients a bit at a time and mix on a low speed or stir with a spoon to combine. Do not over mix.

Add the pecans and butterscotch ships and fold into the cookie dough. The dough will be very soft.

Scoop balls of dough out onto a cookie sheet. (My scoop holds about 1 tablespoon.) Bake 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Makes between 7 and 8 dozen 2 inch cookies.

Banana Bread with White Chocolate

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White Chocolate Chip Banana Bread by D Fenwick, http://dfenwickphotography.com

White Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

 

Dad’s Day has come and gone, and  I usually bake a loaf of yumminess to send home with the Dad-in-Law at the end of the evening.  This year, I had the remains of a bag of white chocolate chips (from last week’s blondies recipe) so I decided to add them to a favorite banana bread recipe.

Did you know bananas are some of the most thrown out food in our households?  Sure they get brown and squishy – but that’s just sugary goodness for baked banana bread.  So before you throw out those little darlings – try this recipe (even if you don’t have the chips to add to it) and give it to someone you love and make their day a special one!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Prepare two loaf pans by buttering the inside evenly.

1 cup softened Butter
2 cups Sugar
2 teaspoons Vanilla
4 beaten Eggs
2 cups mashed Bananas (the browner sweeter ones)
Sift together:
4 cups Flour
2 tablespoons Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Salt
1 cup White Chocolate Chips

In a mixer, cream the butter and sugar well.  Add the vanilla and eggs and mix again, then add bananas.  Now mix in half the sifted ingredients, when it starts to incorporate evenly, add the remaining dry ingredients.  Remove the bowl from the mixer and fold in the chips.  Pour half the mixture into each pan and bake about 45 mins.  Check with a toothpick, if it comes out cleanly, you’re done, otherwise, cook in increments of 5 or 8 mins until it passes the toothpick test.

Let cool 20 or 30 minutes, loosen the edges in the pan and turn out onto cooling racks.  Let cool and enjoy.  For a little extra fun, serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream for dessert.

 

 

 

White Chocolate Blondie

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White Chocolate Blondie by D Fenwick, http://dfenwickphotography.com

White Chocolate Blondie

 

Do blondes have more fun?  The jury is still out on that question, but what I can say is that this “blonde brownie” is a sweet delight for the dairy free or alternative flour crowd.  Indeed as far as this recipe goes, blondes ARE more fun!

Ingredients:

3/4 cup smooth Almond Butter
1/4 cup Coconut Butter (we used Organic Coconut Spread by Earth Balance)
2 large Eggs
1 teaspoon Vanilla
3/4 cup packed Brown Sugar
1/4 cup Soy Flour
3/4 cup Almond Flour
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
~ 1 cup of White Chocolate Chips (these can contain milk products – read the label carefully)
dash of Salt

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and prepare an 8″ square baking pan with parchment paper.  The paper is not going to want to stay put so just place a coffee mug on it inside your pan while you get the batter ready.  Right before you pour in your batter you’ll want to grease the paper slightly with either some coconut spread or cooking spray so it doesn’t stick.

With an electric mixer cream the first two ingredients.  Next add the eggs, vanilla and sugar.  Mix well.  In a separate bowl combine the dry ingredients (except the chips), then add to the wet and mix gently.  Fold in your chips making sure they are distributed throughout the batter then pour into the prepared baking dish.

Bake for about 30 mins and check the firmness with a toothpick.  It won’t come out clean (it’s hot almond butter!), but the toothpick shouldn’t be heavily coated.  Another way to check is bump the pan lightly and check the jiggle.  There shouldn’t be much in the middle, but if it looks jiggly, bake another 5 mins then remove and cool on a rack about an hour.  Remove the blondie from the pan, cut and serve.  Enjoy!