They Say It's My Birthday

Or it was. (I am finally 25 this year, wink-wink.) My birthday tradition is to indulge myself by making Spaghetti Carbonara, which I get to eat once a year.  When you read the recipe, you’ll see why…that bacon fat is NOT drained off! But don’t let that scare you; it melds with the raw eggs (don’t be scared of that either) and cheeses (stay with me!) into a rich sauce of silky perfection.

Anyway, this recipe is from Cook’s Illustrated, and it will seem fussy, but like most of their recipes, if you follow the directions precisely, you will be rewarded.  And how! Whatever you might think spaghetti carbonara is from American Italian restaurants, I promise you this is 1000x better and not that hard to make. Definitely worth those nine zillion calories!

Spaghetti alla Carbonara

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil

½ pound bacon (6-8 slices), slices halved length-wise, then cut crosswise into ¼ inch pieces [A little larger is okay]

½ cup dry white wine

3 large eggs

¾ cup finely grated Parmesan (about 2 oz)

¼ cup finely grated Pecorino Romana (about ¾ oz)

3 small garlic cloves, pressed through garlic press or minced to paste

1 pound spaghetti

Salt

Freshly ground pepper

1.  Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position, set large heatproof serving bowl on rack, and heat oven to 200 degrees.  Bring 4 quarts of water to rolling boil in large Dutch oven or stockpot.

2.  While water is heating, heat oil in large skillet over medium heat until shimmering, but not smoking. Add bacon and cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned and crisp, about 8 minutes.  Add wine and simmer until alcohol aroma has cooked off and wine is slightly reduced, 6-8 minutes. Remove from heat and cover to keep warm.  Beat eggs, cheeses, and garlic together with fork in small bowl; set aside. [It’s actually helpful if you do this ahead of time and let the eggs rest at room temperature for a short while.]

3.  When water comes to boil, add pasta and 1 tablespoon table salt; stir to separate pasta.  Cook until al dente; reserve 1/3 cup pasta cooking water and drain pasta for about 5 seconds, leaving pasta slightly wet. Transfer drained pasta to warm serving bowl; if pasta is dry, add some reserved cooking water and toss to moisten.  [I rarely need to do this.]  Immediately pour egg mixture over hot pasta, sprinkle with 1 teaspoon sea salt flakes or ¾ teaspoon table salt; toss well to combine.  Pour bacon mixture over pasta, season generously with black pepper and toss well to combine. Serve immediately.

4-6 servings. 

Note:  This is not the kind of recipe you can halve or double, so make this amount exactly. It’s best this first day, but leftovers are still good for lunch: let them sit at room temperature or heat VERY briefly in the microwave. You don’t want to heat even close to “hot.”

GWU Free Community Workshop in CNF: App Deadline 8/22

The George Washington University

Jenny McKean Moore Free Community Workshop

Fall 2014 – Creative Nonfiction Workshop

Wednesdays, 7:00 – 9:00 p.m.

10 September 2014 – 10 December 2014

Led by Brando Skyhorse

Come and take part in a semester-long creative nonfiction workshop! To apply, you do not need academic qualifications or publications.  The class will include some readings of published writings (primarily memoir and the personal essay), but will mainly be a roundtable critique of work submitted by class members.  There are no fees to participate in the class, but you will be responsible for making enough copies of your stories for all fifteen participants.  Students at Consortium schools (including GWU) are not eligible.

To apply, please submit a brief letter of interest and a sample of your writing, 12 pt type, double spaced, and no more than 7 pages in length.  Make sure you include your name, address, home and work telephone numbers, and email address for notification. Application materials will not be returned, but will be recycled once the selection process is completed.  Applications must be received at the following address by close of business on Friday, 22 August 2014.

JMM Creative Nonfiction Workshop

Department of English

The George Washington University

801 22nd Street, NW (Suite 760)

Washington, DC 20052

All applicants will be notified by email of the outcome of their submissions no later than Saturday, 30

August 2014.

Brando Skyhorse is the 2014-15 Jenny McKean Moore Writer-In-Washington at George Washington University. He is the author of Take This Man: A Memoir, and a novel, The Madonnas of Echo Park, which received the 2011 PEN/Hemingway Award and the Sue Kaufman Award for First Fiction from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He has been awarded fellowships at Ucross and Can Serrat, Spain. Skyhorse is a graduate of Stanford University and the MFA Writers’ Workshop program at UC Irvine.