Asparagus with Bacon and Mushrooms

This quick and easy Asparagus dish is loaded with flavor from bacon and mushrooms! Done in 15 minutes or less. Totally gluten-free and low-carb, too.

My family, including my kids, love Asparagus so when we see it on sale we definitely buy a bunch or 2 for cooking. We have our favorite asparagus dishes like the cheesy Asparagus with Parmesan or the  Asparagus Tart but I thought of doing another quick and easy stir-fry type asparagus dish so we don't get bored with the same old, same old.

Easy Bacon Fried Rice

Left-over rice? No problem! Turn it into delicious fried rice flavored with bacon, garlic and eggs! Easy and delicious instant side dish!

If you are a regular reader of our blog, you probably already know by now how much we love fried rice in our house. In fact, I purposely cook a lot of rice in one go for the simple reason that we want left-overs. You know why? Because left-over chilled cooked rice is the perfect ingredient for a delicious and perfect fried rice!

Cooking, on occasion, is a shared chore between my husband and myself. I am so glad for that because there are times when I am not able to cook and when that happens, I am not worried because I know that hubby has a few recipes up his sleeve that he can easily whip up for the family. Sometimes, he just feels like giving me a break, too and then he cooks his favorite recipes that we all enjoy. On other times, things are just hectic and that's when I need an extra hand in the kitchen to help speed things up and that's when he is so handy, too!

Like in this particular day, a few days ago, when we were all set to leave for the UK for a holiday. Our flight was in the evening but we still had to make it early enough to the airport which was in New York so things really got busy in the morning with all the last minute packing and, of course, preparations for breakfast. Thankfully, hubby and the kids came to the rescue! We divided the chore - kids set the table as usual while hubby and I set off to make the food.

We had some food we needed to eat up before we left and we didn't want to just throw them away. We had some assortment of food - quinoa, fresh tomatoes, eggs, bacon and kale. I felt like we were in Chopped trying to figure out what to make with these ingredients. Thankfully, my creative and quick-thinking husband decided he would make quinoa with some scrambled eggs and bacon - which I thought was a fabulous idea! I decided I had to do something with the kale and so my kids would eat it (they had to anyway!) I thought I'd make it a bit more palatable by adding some bacon and garlic. So in the end, we had a delicious breakfast as you can see in the photo - it all came out well. It was a sweet ending as all the food that needed to be used up were not wasted and put to good use. And most of all, I have this quick and easy Kale dish for you to enjoy. Only 3 ingredients to make this tasty and somewhat healthy side dish (it's got Kale!)! Experiment on the seasoning and use either some soy sauce or oyster sauce to replace the salt and pepper to make an Asian-flavored side dish! Enjoy!

Sautéed Kale with Bacon and Garlic

By: Manila Spoon
August 8, 2015


Who says Kale cannot taste good? Add some bacon and garlic and you're all set - Sauteed Kale with Bacon and Garlic. Naturally, gluten-free and low-carb!

Ingredients

• 3-4 Bacon strips
• 3 Garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
• 2 packs (5 oz each) Baby Kale
• Salt and Pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. In a wok or a large skillet, cook the bacon until it has rendered its fat and has turned crispy. Break the bacon into bits. Set aside.
2. Pour out the bacon grease from the pan but leave about 3 tablespoons for cooking. Saute the garlic cloves briefly until aromatic.
3. Add the kale leaves, stir and cook until wilted. This doesn't take very long perhaps about 3-4 minutes depending on how tender you want the kale to be. Season with salt and pepper. If you fancy some Asian seasoning instead, replace the salt and pepper with soy sauce or oyster sauce, to taste (about 2-3 teaspoons).
4. Transfer to a serving plate and garnish with the bacon bits. Enjoy immediately.

Yield: 4 servings
Prep Time: 5 Minutes
Cooking Time: 10 Minutes
Total Time: 15 Minutes

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Chicken and Bacon Chowder

There's something comforting about a hot bowl of creamy soup. The aroma from the soup scooped out straight from the simmering pan conjures an image of something so good and delightful! And when you are in the middle of winter you need a lot of this bowl of deliciousness.

Creamy Pasta with Pancetta and Mushrooms

You can never go wrong with bacon and mushrooms! This creamy and delicious pasta with pancetta is our comfort food for sure.  

I am so happy to be living in New Haven, CT! Two yummy reasons are - Whole Foods and Trader Joe's! When we were in  Michigan the nearest Trader Joe's was 3 hours away - to the west in a Chicago suburb and to the east in a suburb of Detroit. That means when we visit either store, we tend to hoard as we don't know when we will return. My hubby is such a huge fan of their salsas so we haul loads of them back home.

Broccoli Bacon Salad with Raisins and Almonds

The first time I have ever had this wonderful American salad was in our church potluck. I wasn't much of a salad eater when I first came to the US. We only had one type of salad in the Philippines and that was always made with iceberg lettuce and always with a thousand island dressing. For us, vegetables were always cooked with meat so eating it raw (which is better really!) wasn't typical at all. It's only recently I believe that we've had more exposure to different types of salad, well at least for me.

Sausage and Egg Fried Rice

If there is one dish that I make a few times a week (yes, a week not a month) it has to be Sinangag or Fried Rice. It should not come as a surprise, after all, I have grown up eating rice 3x a day and my hubby, who prefers a more gluten-free diet, also loves it, too. My kids, naturally, are big rice eaters too so it makes a lot of sense for me to always cook a big batch of rice. Perhaps, I am just too lazy to make a small batch of rice each time (after all, I only need to push the cook button on my rice cooker and it does all the job!). However, the truth is, I make a huge batch of rice each time so I have left-overs which means, extra rice for making fried rice the next day. This time I don't mind the extra effort of cooking it - in fact, we don't have any microwave so everything has to be heated up on the stove top every time, anyway.

Sautéed Brussels Sprouts with Bacon (and Garlic)

My husband has always been a big fan of Brussels Sprouts and I wasn't. In fact, I have to confess I have never seen Brussels Sprouts until I went to England over a decade ago. I have never seen them in any of our groceries while growing up though perhaps nowadays with a more globalized market, they may already have arrived sometime ago.

Spaghetti All'amatriciana (Spaghetti with Bacon and Onion)

When it's wintry and cold nothing sounds more comforting than a big plateful of pasta! I specially love it when the pasta sauce has some extra kick in it with the addition of some chili peppers...sure to keep you fired up and warmed up. Here's an easy Italian style pasta dish - Spaghetti All'amatriciana (Spaghetti with Bacon and Onion) that's great for these chilly days!

Ingredients

1 Tbsp. olive oil
4 ounces / ½ cup pancetta or guanciale (or bacon), chopped
1 onion, chopped finely
1 lb. tomatoes, fresh or canned, diced
4 fl. oz. / ½ cup white or red wine
½ teaspoon dried thyme
Salt and pepper, to taste
½ tsp. red chili flakes (or your desired heat level)
½ lb. / 8 oz. spaghetti or any desired pasta
Grated parmesan cheese, to pass around

Procedure

Heat the oil in a deep frying pan. Add the chopped onion and bacon and cook in medium heat until onion is tender and the bacon gives up its fat about 10 minutes. In the meantime, boil the water in a big pan for the spaghetti to cook in.

Add the wine to the bacon and onion and raise the heat and cook until the liquid boils off. Place the rest of the ingredients in the pan except the chili flakes, pasta and cheese and simmer for about 15-20 minutes or just until slightly thickened. Stir in the red chili flakes during the last 5 minutes of cooking. You can add the chili flakes earlier with the other ingredients - I add it towards the end 'cause I don't want a very spicy sauce since I have kiddies to feed. If you don't want a spicy sauce at all, then you can omit this.

Cook the spaghetti until al dente. Drain and toss with the sauce. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Enjoy!



Spaghetti with Bolognese Sauce

The Filipinos have their own version of Pasta sauce. Sweet and spicy meat sauce using tomato sauce or ketchup and some chopped hotdogs thrown in - think Jollibee Spaghetti. It may sound weird to some but Filipinos love it. I do like it, too to be honest. It is flavorful after all. I grew  up with this since this was often our snack for recess during our elementary years. I say this for a fact since  my mom was the Home Economics teacher who help managed the canteen in the public school I attended. I was content with this version of meat sauce (Filipino style for sure!) until I tasted the real thing - I am saying the real Italian Bolognese. You see, a few years ago my husband and I were walking down our street and then we chanced upon a Garage Sale and saw this lovely book "The Ultimate Italian Cookbook" by Carla Capalbo being sold for a whopping $2. I thought then  that it was expensive for a garage sale but the book looked like new and I loved the pictures [hahaha :-)]  so I said, why not? Now it has become one of my priceless treasures and am sure glad it was a $2 well-spent!

One of the many recipes in this book was this beautiful Bolognese Sauce. I was very intimidated at first because it recommended nearly 2 hours of cooking and then some red wine. I haven't really cooked with wine yet at this point (nearly 10 years ago....) and I wasn't sure if I could do this. Oh well, I am one to try a recipe at least once and then see how it goes.

I have never turned my back on this Bolognese Sauce Recipe ever since! Yes, it does take a long time to reach that perfect flavor - but that's a small sacrifice to make to achieve the most wonderful meat sauce that I have ever tasted. I have shared this recipe with a few friends, they've made this and came back to me with a big thank you! They loved it. I served this to some of our guests who came to our house for a visit and to no surprise - they have loved it, too. Now, thanks to this bolognese sauce, I love cooking with wine. I don't drink alcohol but I sure love to cook with it. Makes a huge difference in taste - so from stews, to pasta sauces or even Asian dishes I sure love wine in them!

Try this bolognese sauce - it may take a little effort than a stir-fry and some waiting time - but trust me - a dish this good is worth all the time and effort in the world! Enjoy!

Ingredients 

2 Tablespoons Olive oil

2 Tbsp Butter
4 garlic cloves, crushed  or finely minced (I do whatever strikes my fancy when I make this)
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3-4 pancetta (Italian bacon) or regular streaky bacon strips, finely chopped or cut (I use kitchen scissors to cut them and if you don’t like the fat you may trim them out, which I usually do too when I use regular bacon)
1 medium carrot (or about 8-10 pcs baby carrots), finely chopped

1-2 celery sticks, finely sliced

1 lb / ½ a kilo ground beef

¾ cup red wine (white is fine but I prefer the stronger taste of red)

½ cup milk

3 roma tomatoes, diced or 1 (14 oz) can diced tomatoes

1 bay leaf

½ teaspoon each –  dried thyme and oregano

Salt and pepper, to taste

1 lb spaghetti or any favorite pasta cooked al dente.

Chopped fresh parsley to garnish (optional)



Procedure

Heat the olive oil and butter in a deep saucepan. When the butter has melted, sauté the onions and garlic just until aromatic, about a minute.

Add the chopped bacon and cook until it begins to render its fat between 3-5 mins.

Stir in the veggies (carrots and celery) and cook for a further 3-4 mins. Add the ground beef and crumble with a fork to separate. Cook until it is no longer red. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.



Pour in the red wine. Raise the heat slightly and cook until most of the wine has evaporated. Add the milk and continue to cook until it evaporates, too.



Stir in the tomatoes with their juice (if using canned) and the herbs including the Bay Leaf. Bring the sauce to a boil and then simmer uncovered on the lowest setting, stirring occasionally, for at least an hour (pref. 1 ½ hours). Don't worry, it's meant to be a little drier than other pasta sauces. In the end, sprinkle with a little salt and pepper, to correct the seasoning, if necessary.

Garnish with fresh chopped parsley (if desired). Serve with parmesan cheese on the side. This recipe is indispensable for lasagna or for Baked Bolognese. Enjoy!

If you wish to print the recipe, there's a print-friendly icon at the end of the post. Click on the "remove images box" for easy printing.

This recipe was adapted from "The Ultimate Italian Cookbook" by Carla Capalbo.

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Spaghetti with Zucchini

I love the Farmer's Market! I can get all my local produce during their peak season. For me fresh is best, indeed. One of the lovely summer veggies is zucchini or courgette, also known as summer squash. Zucchini is very versatile for it is not only great with savory dishes, it's perfect for baking too. Add it to a sweet bread recipe and you're sure to have a yummy moist bread. My favorite is the combo of zucchini and blueberries but I will do that for another post.

Spaghetti with Roasted Peppers and Bacon

It's summer time! That means bell peppers are aplenty. That also means they are cheaper than usual. When this time comes, I load my fridge with bell peppers 'cause they are one of my favorite veggies. Not only are they pretty to look at - love the variety of colors -they are packed with Vitamins A, C, B6 and folate. Very nutritious, indeed. In fact, I read somewhere that those who are trying to lose weight need to include bell peppers in their diet because the vitamins in them provide tremendous health benefits for both fat burning and overall good health. Ok, I am sold!

I especially love to use roasted peppers in pasta. The taste is so subtle and yet quite wonderful.

Here is the recipe, originally from Giada De Laurentiis' book Everyday Pasta, which I have adapted. Her version is meat-free because it was used as a side dish. I wanted to make it more of an entree or a stand-alone meal, hence, I added some bacon to give it a more robust flavor.

Enjoy!


Ingredients

6 large bell peppers, choose your fave color
1-2 Tbsp olive oil
6 strips of bacon (chopped or you may crumble it later after you've cooked it)
1 large onion
salt and pepper, to taste
1 cup white wine
1 14 oz can chicken broth
1 lb spaghetti
1/2 cup fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped (optional)
Grated parmesan cheese, to taste

Procedure

Roast the peppers under the broiler or, better yet grill them above the flame, until their skins turn brownish-black and start to pull away. Turn the peppers occasionally and roast/grill for roughly 20-25 mins (broiler method).

Set aside the peppers until they are cool enough to handle. Others place them inside a plastic or paper bag as it helps make the peeling of the skin easier. Remove the skins and seeds and cut them into strips.
Heat a little oil in a large deep pan. Add the bacon. Cook the bacon until brown and crisp. Transfer to another plate and set aside. You will use bacon as topping later. I remove half of the accumulated fat on the pan too but you can use all of it if you wish.

Stir in the chopped onion and saute for about 3 mins. Deglaze the pan with a little wine to remove the brown bits on it.

Add in the pepper strips. Season with salt and pepper and continue to saute for another 2-3 minutes. Pour in the wine and chicken broth and simmer on low heat for about 15-20 mins.

While you are simmering the peppers, begin to cook the pasta.

When all's done, check the seasoning on the pepper sauce and mix in the pasta, parsley and some parmesan cheese. It will be a little watery but once you put some cheese, it will thicken. The cheese can sometimes stick to the spatula so I only put a small amount and just add more on my plate.

Don't forget to sprinkle the crumbled bacon on top! Have a fun Italian dinner!