One Pot French Onion Pasta Bake

It doesn't look like much, but this is a super yummy pasta bake with a nice balance of flavours.  I prepoed the recipe half way and refrigerated the onion and mushroom mixture.  All it took was 30 minutes to finished it off for a weekday dinner.

I made a half recipe and substituted a few ingredients to make 2 to 3 Serves.

Slice then sautee two brown onions in 2 tablespoons of butter and half a tablespoon of brown sugar. Use a pot that will be able to go under the grill if you want to save washing up.  Cook at medium high for about 8 minutes or until onions are softened.  Add a bay leaf, a pinch of thyme, half a tablespoon of Worchestershire sauce and half a cup of white wine.    Cook until liquid is evaporated.  Add 200g of sliced button mushrooms and one crushed clove of garlic and cook for 3 minutes (until mushroom are soft).  At this point you can let the mixture cool and refrigerate until you are ready to finish the dish off.

To finish off the dish I added 2 cups of chicken stock and 230g of short pasta.  Mix well and bring to boil.  Allow to simmer for 8 minutes or until pasta is al dente.  Add half a cup of cream, a pinch of cayenne pepper (so good!) and three quarters of a cup of grated lactose free cheese.  Heat and stir until combined then add another half cup of grated cheese to the top and grill to melt.  You could probably top with parsley so it doesn't look so monotone, but I'm not a fan of parsley.

Original Recipe Here

Pasta Carbonara

Pan fry some bacon pieces and put 80g of pasta onto the boil.  Whisk up a mixture of 1 egg, a splash of cream, cracked black pepper and grated parmesan/pecorino.  When pasta is ready, turn the bacon down to low heat and add 2 tablespoon of pasta water to the bacon.  Add the hot drained pasta and egg mixture and stir for no more than 30 seconds.  Pour into bowl and add more grated cheese and serve immediately.

Long time no post......

Sorry long time no post.... been busy eating my way across the USA.  Here's a sample of the things I managed to chow down that you can't get in Lil Ole Perth.

Frozen bananas from Balboa Island, CA. 

Tea and Mochi from the Japanese Tea Gardens, San Francisco, CA. 

Lamb Sultani Chelow Kabab from Shamshiri Grill, LA. 

American Breakfast, with waffles a deli in LA. 

 Sliders, Johnny Rockets, LA

Bacon and Eggs with Breakfast potatoes and a side of sausage 

Fish Taco, Cannery Restaurant, Costa Mesa, CA. 

  Lamb shank with ratatouille and potato cake, A Little Next Door, LA.

 Crab cakes with poached eggs and chipotle hollandaise on croissant,

 Kings Road Cafe, West Hollywood, CA

Pulled pork on croissant with a side of chickpeas, Boulette's Larder,

Ferry Building, San Francisco. 

Crab Chowder, Crab House,  Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco.

 Cheesy garlic bread, Crab House, San Francisco.

 Amazing Garlic Fries, Crab House, San Francisco.

Cheesecake display, Cheesecake Factory, Top of Macy's, San Francisco, CA.

 I forget which flavour, Cheesecake, Cheesecake Factory.

Hershey's Chocolate Cheesecake, Cheesecake Factory. 

"The Matrix" Zog's Dogs, San Francisco. 

Note the extra slit for bacon...

"Shooters" at 5A5 Steak Lounge, San Francisco. 

Waygu Tartare on left, Hamachi on right. 

 Dry Aged T bone steak with Bone Marrow sauce and Bone Marrow Fritters,

5A5 Steak Lounge, San Francisco.

 Dry Aged sirloin with Taragon Bearnaise, 

5A5 Steak Lounge, San Francisco.

 7 degrees of chocolate, 

5A5 Steak Lounge, San Francisco.

 Carrot Cake,

5A5 Steak Lounge, San Francisco.

 Deep Fried Cheesecake, 

5A5 Steak Lounge, San Francisco.

 Artichoke and Spinach Cheese Dip, World's Biggest Applebee's,

Times Square, New York, NY.

Reuben Sandwich (salty++)

Applebee's, New York. 

Prawn pasta, Little Italy, New York 

Pizza, Little Italy, New York. 

Chocolate goodies including delicious chocolate dipped cannoli, 

Ferrara Bakery and Cafe, Little Italy, New York 

 New York Egg Cream. Weird. Junior's Grand Central Station, New York.

Matzo Ball Soup, Junior's, Grand Central Station, New York. 

 Grilled Cheese Sandwich

 Bacon Burger

 New York Cheesecake (sorry a bit mangled as we had it to go)

Junior's, New York.

 Steak from Smith and Wollensky's, New York.

Amuse bouche, Daniel, New York.

 Duo of Beef, Daniel, New York

 Suckling Pig, Daniel, New York.

 Chocolate Dessert, Daniel, New York.

 Pineapple and fancy meringue dessert, Daniel, New York.

 Petit Four, Daniel, New York.

 Hello Deli Club, Hello Deli, New York.

 Cinnamon bagel with bacon and cream cheese, Hello Deli, New York.

 Chilli Fries, probably off the side of the road, New York.

Lobster Roll and Matchstick Fries, Pearl Oyster Bar, New York. 

Farewell meal at In and Out Burger, LAX.

Top: Double Double and Fries

Bottom: Number 2, Animal Style (drool) 

Cheeseburger Animal Style (mustard grilled patty with extra spread, pickles, grilled onion)

In and Out Burger, LAX. 

Animal Style Fries, Spread, Cheese and Grilled onions on fries 

Amazingly I didn't gain weight on this trip. One of life's great mysteries......

Macaroni Cheese

Fast and rich......Nigella Lawson style! Egg, cheese and evaporated milk put through a food processor and then mixed with freshly boiled pasta then baked.