Capellini with Vodka Cream Sauce

 

So we were in the supermarket the other night and I saw hubby looking at a bottle of vodka sauce. It was rather interesting, I have never heard of "vodka sauce" in my whole life, and looking at the bottle, I thought it looked like crab fat (aligue). It was orange-y in color, not your typical red spaghetti sauce.

Needless to say, we were cooking it a few days later. Hubby just wouldn't stop talking about it (I promise, he was relentless) and I was also curious of the taste, so it was a win-win.

It was really delicious - and it reunited me with one of my favorite ingredients - shrimp! Yes, we are having shrimp again (cue music: O happy day!). Our self-imposed seafood ban has been lifted and I am now a happy camper! But enough about the shrimp - the sauce of this dish was the real star of the show. Try it! 


What you need:

1/4 of a large Vidalia onion, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, minced
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
1 cup Vodka
1 cup chicken broth
1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes
1/2 cup heavy cream
dash of red pepper flakes
1/2 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
salt and pepper, to taste
fresh basil for garnish
cooked capellini (angel hair pasta) 


What to do:

Heat olive oil over medium heat in a pot. Saute garlic and onion for about a minute, then very slowly pour in the vodka and simmer over low heat. When vodka is reduced to half the amount (about 2 to 3 minutes), add chicken broth and cook for about a minute. 

Add in crushed tomatoes, whipped cream, then season with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Let cook for another 2 to 3 minutes, or until heated through.

The heavy cream gives the sauce its orange-y hue

Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and set aside.

Saute shrimps in 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil over medium heat until they turn pink. Set aside.

Place cooked noodles into plate. Top with vodka sauce. Garnish with shrimps and freshly torn basil. 


Tips, Tricks and Tweaks:

1. Try using scallops or Italian sausage instead f shrimp.
2. There are so many ways of cooking this, some even add vodka after tomatoes and such. I prefer to cook it this way so as to cook off most of the alcohol content in the vodka.
3. This would also be good with penne or other thicker type pasta.
4. If you let the sauce simmer longer, it would be more flavorful!

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Decadent Baked Mac and Cheese

This is truly a decadent and delicious mac and cheese dish. Hubby found the recipe after searching through several cook books and cooking sites. Truth be told, I love his enthusiasm in the kitchen. He is always very adventurous and his palate is ever-increasing. He is my taste-tester, ingredients-buyer, sous chef, and number one fan. ;-)

When we were newly weds, we would often buy boxed mac and cheese for quick side dishes. We still buy them now, although less frequently because we love to experiment nowadays with whatever we have in the pantry. 

Hubby was very eager and excited when we were making this dish. And for a good reason - the original recipe was from chef Joe Randall, who is one of the top chefs in Savannah, GA and also has his own cooking school! We tweaked the recipe a bit, to use the ingredients we have,  and it was sooo good that hubby almost ate all of it in one sitting. 

What you need:

1 cup elbow macaroni
1 egg
1 cup evaporated milk
1 1/4 cup grated cheddar cheese
1/4 cup grated smoked gruyere cheese
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1/4 cup butter, melted (divided)
1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt
pinch of paprika
pinch of cayenne pepper


What to do: 

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Cook macaroni according to package instructions. Drain and rinse with cold water, then set aside.

In a large bowl, beat the egg with milk, 2 tablespoons melted butter, salt and cayenne pepper. In a separate bowl, combine grated cheddar and gruyere cheese.

Place half the cooked macaroni in a buttered casserole dish and top with half the grated cheese. Repeat this procedure with the remaining macaroni and cheese mixture. Pour the egg mixture over the macaroni and cheese.

In a small bowl, mix breadcrumbs with paprika, remaining butter and Parmesan. Sprinkle over mac and cheese. Bake until brown and bubbly, about 40 to 45 minutes.


Tips, Tricks and Tweaks: 

1. Gruyere or any other cheese like smoked applewood, gouda, etc. will be good for this recipe.
2. Halve the bread crumbs mixture if you don't like crust on your mac and cheese (it is delicious, though!)
3. Be creative with your pasta! You can use gemeli, farfalle, shells - any kind of pasta that would be good in "holding sauce."
4. A bit of crumbled bacon on top would do this dish wonders! (Everything's good with bacon, right?)

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Lemon Thyme Couscous

The thyme leaves got buried... but I promise, it was there!

No, that is not rice you're seeing on the plate. That's actually couscous, a coarsely ground pasta made from semolina wheat. It is similar to rice in the sense that they are both carbs, but a bit  different in texture.

Anyway, I decided to make couscous instead of rice just to shake things up a bit. The box of couscous has been sitting in my pantry for a few months now, so I thought it was time to use it. I also had a little bit of help from the herbs in my garden. 

As for the meat, I just marinated it with Mama Sita BBQ mix. I always keep a packet or two in my pantry for those days when I crave for Pinoy BBQ. Not to be confused with American BBQ which is usually smoked meat, Filipino BBQ is small slices of meat (usually pork) threaded on a skewer. And because it is usually sold as "street food", it gets its fair share of smoke from the vehicles that pass by (hahaha). 

Ingredients: 

1/2 cup couscous
3/4 cup water
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon thyme 


What to do: 

In a medium-sized pot, bring water to a boil.

Add couscous, olive oil, lemon juice and thyme. Cover and boil for one minute.

Remove from heat and let stand for about 5 to 8 minutes. Before serving, fluff couscous with a fork.

Serve with your favorite meat dish! 


Tips, Tricks and Tweaks: 

1. This turned out a bit tangy so you might want to reduce the amount of lemon juice to 3/4 tablespoon.
2. Some people like using Grapeseed oil instead of olive oil.
3. For a stronger herb flavor, double the amount of thyme.

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