This Easter, stay safe and stay home to stop Coronavirus-19!
And remember to send me your ideas for this week’s puzzle pantry game. Together, we’ll invent dinner, one ingredient at a time.
Hoppy Easter
Invent Dinner using What You Have
Greetings Good Health Heroes,
Let’s invent dinner using what you have! Today we’ll look at a mystery tool and use the Puzzle Pantry Game https://carltoncooks.com/pantry-puzzle-game-makes-delicious-dishes-at-home/to create a meal.
First, today’s mystery tool is:
The mystery tool is a grater. Today, let’s invent dinner together and use the grater to shred some cheese!
TL from Colorado wrote to say that he wanted to play the Pantry Puzzle Game https://carltoncooks.com/pantry-puzzle-game-makes-delicious-dishes-at-home/with us. He has 2 eggs, 2 mushrooms, some dry spaghetti, half a bag of frozen peas, a piece of bacon and a tiny piece of Parmesan cheese. He wants to know if there anything he can make with those ingredients. I say, let’s invent dinner!
Pasta Carbonara https://carltoncooks.com/carlton’s-carbonara/ is a dish you can sometimes order at Italian restaurants. If you speak Italian, the word carbonaro means charcoal burner. Carbonai is the word for coalmen, or the men who make charcoal by hand. Some people think that pasta carbonara might have been created for the carbonai because the pasta has little flecks of black pepper that look like the ashes created by burning charcoal. Today, there are still carbonai in Italy who make charcoal in this traditional way.
With the ingredients that he has, I think TL can invent dinner and make something I like to call, Carlton’s Carbonara https://carltoncooks.com/carlton’s-carbonara/ for dinner, and crunchy cookies called Carlton Kisses https://carltoncooks.com/use-leftover-egg-whites-to-make-crunchy-carlton-kisses/ for dessert.
So let’s wash our hands, go to https://carltoncooks.com/carlton’s-carbonara/ and invent a delicious dinner! Remember to send me ingredient ideas for the Pantry Puzzle Game https://carltoncooks.com/pantry-puzzle-game-makes-delicious-dishes-at-home/
Tell me your ingredient ideas and we’ll invent dinner using what you have!
Love,
Carlton
Carlton’s Carbonara
Today we’ll play the Pantry Puzzle Game https://carltoncooks.com/pantry-puzzle-game-makes-delicious-dishes-at-home/ to make a delicious a pasta dish plus https://carltoncooks.com/use-leftover-egg-whites-to-make-crunchy-carlton-kisses/ a sweet and crunchy dessert! Carlton’s Carbonara is easy to make and uses ingredients found at home.
To make:
Carlton’s Carbonara
Ingredients:
2 eggs (we’ll use the yolks for dinner and save the whites for dessert)
2 mushrooms, sliced
Some dry spaghetti (12 ounces of you have it, Macaroni or any other pasta will work, too).
One-half a bag of frozen peas (frozen corn would work, too)
One small piece of Parmesan cheese or any hard cheese that you have. You can also use the little packets of cheese that come with delivery pizza. Try to shred 1/4-1/3 cup of cheese.
Because this recipe is our own invention, you can also add whatever you have in your own house. I like to add a few slices of crumbled bacon, a handful of browned pine nuts, some sautéed onion and garlic, and maybe some chopped green chile or jalapenos. Sometimes I like to fry an egg and place it on top of the pasta, or serve it with sliced grilled chicken.
And, I’ll tell you a secret. Egg yolks mixed with some saved pasta water will always make a creamy pasta sauce, no matter what other ingredients you add.
Directions:
Shred your cheese and set aside.
Separate your eggs. Place the whites in the refrigerator to use later for dessert.
Put a large sauce pot of water on to boil. If you have salt, add a teaspoon to the water.
Add the pasta to the water and cook as directed on the package.
REMEMBER TO SAVE ONE CUP OF THE PASTA COOKING WATER! Drain the pasta and return it to the stockpot
Next, heat a small frying pan over medium heat. Add a bit of butter or oil to the pan and sauté the mushrooms until they brown at their edges. Add the peas to the pan and set aside.
Beat the egg yolks.
SLOWLY scramble in 1 large ladle full (about 1/3-1/2 cup) of the pasta cooking water into the eggs. The pasta water stops your eggs from scrambling when added to the pasta, and helps to make a creamy pasta sauce.
Add your shredded cheese to the egg and pasta water mixture.
Pour the egg mixture over the pasta. Continue to toss the pasta until it soaks up egg mixture and thickens, 1 to 2 minutes. The mixture will be creamy.
Remove pan from heat and add the mushrooms and peas to the pasta. Sprinkle with black pepper if you’d like.
Tl’s ingredients will make four small servings.
You can use your egg whites to scramble with leftover vegetables for breakfast, or you can go here https://carltoncooks.com/use-leftover-egg-whites-to-make-crunchy-carlton-kisses/to make a batch of Carlton Kisses for tomorrow’s dessert.
Happy cooking. And remember to send me ingredients to use for our next Pantry Puzzle Game https://carltoncooks.com/pantry-puzzle-game-makes-delicious-dishes-at-home/
Love,
Carlton
Carlton Kisses
Once you’ve played the Puzzle Pantry Game https://carltoncooks.com/pantry-puzzle-game-makes-delicious-dishes-at-home/ and made a delicious bowl of Carlton’s Carbonara https://carltoncooks.com/carlton’s-carbonara/ you can use the leftover egg whites to make a crunchy cookie called:
Carlton Kisses
Ingredients:
½ cup sugar
2 egg whites
1 pinch of cream of tartar if you have it
½ teaspoon of almond extract (you can also use vanilla, or omit if you do not have extract)
1 drop of food coloring if you would like to color your kisses
Tools:
Mixing bowl
A hand mixer and beaters
Measuring spoons
Cookie sheet
Directions:
First, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Grease a cookie sheet and set aside.
Next, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar on medium high until the egg whites are fluffy and look like mountains with peaks.
Slowly add the sugar, and continue beating.
Add the almond extract and food coloring if desired, and beat again until mixed.
Finally, using a teaspoon, scoop a spoonful of egg meringue onto the cookie sheet. Continue until you have scooped all of the batter and the cookie sheet is filled.
Put the cookie sheet in the oven. TURN THE OVEN OFF AND GO TO BED!
Your cookies will be ready to eat in the morning.
Love,
Carlton