a cream thursday and a sad farewell

our best mate woody just needed to get to the next place, he left this world on saturday the 28th, his decision... bugga you woody!

we were going to do a cream post, b even took the pics...

but instead as a tribute to woody we are going to post our recipe for creamy carbonara - you see on sunday the 5th of May 1991 woody first introduced b to carbonara, it was the night his daughter max was born, it was a celebration meal... and now, to us, carbonara will always be a celebration, we love you woody!

ah carbonara... bacon, eggs and cheese... what is not to love? it's a little creamy, salty and best of all, it will always remind us of woody

serves 4-6 and you will need:

about 450gm or 1 pound dried spaghetti

about 2 tablespoons kosher salt for pasta water

7 slices thick cut bacon, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup cream

1/4 cup freshly grated Romano cheese

1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

2 eggs

fresh cracked pepper

fresh chopped parsley

bring 8+ pints or 4-6 quarts water to boil, add salt and stir in pasta. cook until al-dente 9-11 minutes. strain, reserve 1/4 cup pasta water.

meanwhile, in a large pan fry bacon until crispy. strain on paper towel. reserve 2 tablespoons bacon drippings. add garlic to bacon drippings. cook until softened. pour cream over onions and garlic. Cook 2 - 3 minutes. Return bacon to pan.

add pasta to pan with cream, garlic and bacon. toss with tongs to coat. cook until the pasta is hot and absorbs the sauce about 1 minute.

beat together eggs and both cheeses. slowly add a couple of tablespoons of reserved pasta water to temper the eggs. remove the pasta from the heat. pour egg mixture over the pasta and toss with tongs constantly until the pasta is coated. add remaining pasta water only if pasta seems dry or is sticking together.

sprinkle with fresh cracked pepper and chopped fresh parsley. toss once more. serve with love.

the recipe is very forgiving, as was woody, do with it anything you want, omitting or replacing the cream with some white wine works wonders for the waistline!

oh and b, don't forget our house is cream too...

next week blue's challenge is aqua gulp!