Live, Laugh, Love: April 2010

Thursday, April 22, 2010

In New York......

.....Central Park To Visit

Beautiful Hotel Lobby Floral Arrangements

This photo is for my sister Ashley.

Goes back to one of our NYC family visits staying at The Plaza.

Great Food

Original Brasserie
(They filmed here on some of the Sex And The City episodes we were told that included the final episode - the staff always enjoyed when the cast and crew came especially since most of them are actors and got to be extra's.)

Sushi of Gari

Spaghetti Carbanara by Crispo

"The Three P's" dish. I must say Chef Jim's (as I call him) tasted a little better, but Chef Frank was out that night so we will have to have another showdown again soon.

The NY Bagel - The Best Bagel!

Ess-a-Bagel

Dim Sum - Cheers!

Red Egg

Great Sites

Rockefeller Center

On our way to have a coffee at Dean and Deluca

Chrysler Building

Great Cathedrals

St. Patrick's

St. Bart's

A Cappuccino in SoHo at Le Petit Cafe

Of course there is shopping to be done in NYC, and I did some of that. Many tourist sites which Jim and I try to avoid as much as possible, although of course, some tourist things everyone should do even locals - at least once. We made our way to Time Square which keeps getting more and more obnoxious with each visit, but hey it's New York, and we gotta keep up with Tokyo.

NYC is a city that truly has it all, and while the saying of locals goes something like this...."We couldn't live anywhere else, but why would anyone want to visit," I say it's definitely worth a visit to the "Big Apple" for any & all! New Yorkers are wonderful people while my husband may not let me be a fan of the Yankee's I'm a big fan of the people. Even when I don't order right or take too long - they are good people regardless of their sometimes tough exterior. They have to be tough to have endeared and overcome all they have! But they would do what they could to help their neighbor and those in need. The are true corkers! And as Frank Sinatra Sang, "If you can make it in NYC - you can make it anywhere."

Spring Family Fun

It's always nice spending time with family, and taking time to do fun things! We recently did just that.....

Alexa gardening at Mimi's and Papu's

Andrew and Jim

Bubbles

Prepping Dinner

Seafood Risotto and Caesar Salad

Girl Time.....

Alexa and Emma playing "ring around the rosy"

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Spaghetti Carbonara

Our friend Tom directed us to this recipe, and it's our favorite Pasta Carbonara recipe to date!

Ingredients
•8 to 10 oz dried spaghetti
•2 oz thickly sliced pancetta, cut into 1/2-inch dice
•2 oz thickly sliced smoked pancetta or 2 slices smoked slab bacon, cut into 1/2-inch dice
•2 oz prosciutto di San Daniele (substitute di Parma), cut into 1/2-inch dice

•1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
•1 cup frisée lettuce, chopped
•3 tbsp Italian parsley, chopped
•Coarse salt and ground black pepper
•1 tbsp unsalted butter
•2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
•1/3 cup grated Parmigiano mixed with ⅓ cup grated pecorino Romano (preferably Locatelli)
•2 extra large eggs

Poaching liquid:
•2 cups cold water mixed with 3 oz (6 tbsp) white vinegar and 1/4 tsp kosher salt
Instructions

1. In a gallon of abundantly salted water, cook pasta until al dente, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain but do not rinse. 2. Bring egg-poaching liquid to boil and leave on low heat. 3. In large (12-inch) sauté pan over moderately low heat, cook diced pork until fat renders and meat is slightly crisp, about 10 minutes. Add broth and simmer to reduce by 1/3, about 8 to 10 minutes. Add lettuce and parsley and salt and pepper. Add drained pasta, raise heat to high, and toss to coat with sauce. Add butter and olive oil and toss until pasta is well coated. Turn off heat, sprinkle in cheese, and toss. Evenly divide pasta between two warm serving bowls. 4. Working one at a time, carefully crack each egg into a small bowl and very gently slide into barely boiling poaching liquid. Cook until whites set but yolks are still runny, about 2 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, lift each egg out of the water.

Tip: After you lift the egg, if you touch the back of the slotted spoon to a kitchen towel, it will lose the excess water clinging to the bottom.

To serve: Place an egg atop each bowl of pasta. Add a generous grind of black pepper. Eat immediately, mixing up the pasta to spread the egg and yolk throughout the bowl.

Serves 2

Frank Crispo is the chef and owner of Crispo in New York City. They received an award for "Best Spaghetti Carbonara" by New York Magazine in 2004. Recently when Jim and I were in NYC we decided to see how Chef Frank's dish held up to ours. More to follow on the "show down."