bolognese in a hurry- my new favorite pasta

I visited a restaurant here in Grenada called La Boulangerie and found many types of pastas on their menu.  I wondered to myself, why is it that I only know how to cook traditional Spaghetti and Chicken Alfredo when there are many other different other pastas out there to cook?  I decided to venture out.  I glanced at the restaurant's menu and took a mental note of the name of a pasta that stood out- "Bolognese."  I read the description and was immediately drawn into the idea of adding white wine into a pasta sauce.  Wow, I thought... Just add one more special ingredient and you come up with a completely different type of pasta.  The grape taste from the white wine definitely shines throughout the dish.  The usual recipe calls for carrots and celery, but I didn't have any at the time so I used just garlic and onion instead.  I'm sure they would've made the sauce taste completely different than what I came up with but without them, the dish turned out delicious.  I will definitely try it out with celery and carrot next time and when I do, I'll  be sure to update you guys! 

3-4 servings;15-25min
Ingredients:
11oz spaghetti 
salt

1 1/2 tbs oil
3 cloves garlic finely minced
1 medium onion diced
salt/pepper
1tsp dried parsley flakes or dried basil
pinch red pepper flakes
1/4tsp paprika
1 6oz can tomato paste

3/4 - 1 lb ground beef
salt pepper
3/4 cup white wine (I used a chardonnay)
1/2 cup chicken broth
2 tbsp ketchup

Directions:
1. Boil a pot of salted water.
2. Prepare onions and garlic.
3. heat pan of oil. medium high heat. add garlic and onion. add a little salt to draw water out. cook until translucent. Add parsley, red pepper flakes, and paprika. stir and cook for 1 min. cooking spices in oil will bring out flavors.
4. add spaghetti noodles to boiling water. boil until al dente (slightly undercooked). drain but do not rinse. it's okay if there's a little water left. do not cover or water will boil over. stir occasionally. 
4. add tomato paste and stir constantly. cook for 2-3 min until you start to see oil separate.  add white wine. stir and cook for 2 min on high heat to cook out alcohol.
5. add ground beef, chicken broth, and ketchup. stir occasionally. cook meat through and thicken sauce ~5-10min.
6. add in spaghetti noodles and stir to mix until sauce sticks to noodles. it should stick right away but just in case there's excess water from your noodles, cook until water evaporates.

*Click HERE for a cooking dictionary. 

Carib Sushi Menu

*Click on pictures to enlarge them

 

thinly sliced shashimi, onions, and olive oil

thin rolls with wrapper on the outside

*Chirashi- This is a Sushi dish which is made of seafood, mushroom, vegetables and sushi rice.
*Ceviche- Raw fish or seafood pickled and "cooked" in the acidic juice of citrus fruit. Ceviches are often flavored with herbs, chiles and other ingredients.

a piece of raw fish (or other topping) on top of a small oblong brick of sticky white rice.

A Japanese dish of bite-sized pieces of raw fish eaten with soy sauce and horseradish paste: "tuna sashimi".

Rolls that have been created "inside-out" with rice on the exterior, and nori on the interior. Uramaki are typically sized in between futomaki and hosomaki, filled with two or more ingredients, and coated in sesame seeds or small fish roe.

*Temaki- Cones of nori (dried seaweed) filled with sushi rice, as well as fish and/or vegetables. Similar to maki, these are also known as hand rolls.
*Futomaki- Thick, large, oversize rice and seaweed rolls, up to an inch and a half in diameter, filled with fish or vegetables.

 

Pan Fried Chicken+Tomato Sauce Reduction+ Bacon Bits served with a side of Potato Pancakes- Breakfast Dressed up for Dinner

Peanut Butter and Jelly is to Chicken and Bacon hahaha.  Then again, Bacon with anything is good period.

For an American, Breakfast is an integral part of life.  Ronald Mc Donald, Denny's, IHOP, and Aunt Jemima taught me this.  Even my non-English Speaking parents knew this fact of American life.  That being said, I've grown dependent on breakfast.  It's the fuel that get's me going in life.

Since I've grown up a bit and got a lot of exposure to the Food Network, I've been putting spins on my favorite foods left and right.  I took a look around my fridge-eggs, bacon, ketchup, and around my counter- potatoes and flour, and decided to put a spin on breakfast.

I made a real tomato and tomato ketchup combination sauce (ketchup packets) to top off my grilled chicken (Chicken Mc Nuggets) and fried a potato, flour, and egg mixture (hashbrowns). O, and of course, topped everything off with crispy bacon bits.

2-3 servings; 30-40min
Ingredients:
Potato Pancakes-
1 1/4cup packed shredded White Potato (I used Russet, 2 medium potatoes)
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp four
dash cayenne pepper
dash cajun seasoning
1 tsp dried parsley flakes
1 egg
oil for frying

Chicken-
4 strips bacon cut into 1/2'' strips (keep 2 tbs fat rendered from bacon)
1 lb chicken thighs thawed out, room temp.
2 garlic cloves minced
1tsp. minced ginger (~1/4'' slice)
salt/pepper/cajun seasoning for dusting chicken
2 medium tomatoes diced
1/2 cup frozen peas and carrots
juice of 1/2 medium lemon (1/4 cup)
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp ketchup
1/2 tsp cajun seasoning
pinch salt
1tsp bay leaf powder (can purchase at MNIB in excel plaza, one of my fav. spices)

Directions:
Potato Pancakes-
1. Peel Potatoes, Shred, rinse and drain 3-5 times until water runs somewhat clear.  Strain and squeeze out as much water as you can. Transfer to mixing bowl.
2. add salt, flour, cayenne pepper, cajun seasoning, parsley, and egg. Mix well.
3. Cover with plastic wrap and store in fridge for 20 min.
4. heat pan on medium high heat. add oil ~2tbsp.
5. Drop in 3 heaping spoons of potato mixture into pan and flatten out with back of spoon in an even layer (the smaller the scoops, the crispier the cakes will be).  Wait until one side browns, you can check by lifting with spatula.  Then flip and brown other side. Repeat until potato mixture is gone.


Chicken-
1. Dust chicken with a thin layer of salt, pepper, and cajun seasoning on both sides.
2. heat non stick pan medium high heat. add bacon bits and lay out in a layer (doesn't have to be even even) stir frequently constantly coating them in its own oil so they can cook evenly.  Once cooked to liking (I prefer Crispy), place aside in a bowl.
3.  Dump excess oil, leaving behind ~2tbps bacon fat.
4. Add chicken strips (they usually come packaged this way from Foodfair) in an even layer. Don't Stir! wait until chicken has cooked 3/4 of the way (~6min depending on your stove).  When you see just a little pink left at the top,flip and finish cooking.  Scoop out chicken and place to the side leaving fat and bits behind.
5. Add ginger and garlic. Cook ~2min. Add tomato, peas, and carrots. stir to cover in fat. cover and cook for ~4min or until tomato turns into mush and peas become tender.
6. in a bowl mix lemon juice, sugar, ketchup, cajun seasoning, salt, bay leaf powder.
7. add lemon mixture to tomatoes peas and carrots.cook without cover (reduce) for ~4min.

8. Top chicken with tomato sauce reduction and bacon bits. serve on top of white rice and a side of potato pancakes.  Enjoy!

*Click HERE for a cooking dictionary.