Rosemary Garlic Bread

I'm sure I'm not the first one to come up with this combination, but I thought it was pretty tasty. We have a rosemary plant that is being criminally underutilized, so that's mainly why I came up with this. All the kids liked it (as well as the missionaries we had over for dinner).

Ingredients:
1 loaf French bread, sliced in half length-wise
1 cube softened butter (please use salted butter, or this will not taste good)
1-2 cloves garlic, pressed
2-3 sprigs fresh rosemary (it needs to be fresh, or you'll feel like you're eating pine needles)

Strip the needles from the rosemary and chop them with a sharp knife. Press garlic cloves and add them to butter, along with chopped rosemary needles. Mix with butter. Spread liberally over sliced bread.

Put on baking sheets and put in 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes (long enough for the butter to melt and soak into the bread). Then put under broiler for 2-3 minutes until butter begins to turn brown. Watch carefully so you don't burn it! It should look like this:

Slice and enjoy!

Pasta Carbonara

I love this dish. Whenever I eat it, I feel like I'm at the Macaroni Grill or Jonny Carino's. It's a total "restaurant quality" entree. This is also something I make with leftover ham, although the recipe calls for pancetta or bacon. When I use ham, I add a little oil to sautee the onions and garlic (otherwise, the bacon provides the grease for that). This is a great dish to make for Valentine's Day. It's out of the ordinary, and if you add some crusty artisan bread and some olive oil with balsamic vinegar for dipping, you have a truly romantic and wonderful meal.

(This recipe makes a boatload, so I usually only make half).

Pasta Carbonara

1 pound linguine or thin spaghetti
4 eggs
1 pound bacon or pancetta
1 1/2 cups parmesan cheese
8-12 cloves garlic
1 large onion
2 cups chicken stock
1/4 cup butter (optional)
1 handful fresh parsley (optional)

1-2 Tbsp. black pepper (optional)

Slice up bacon into one-inch-wide pieces. Put in stainless steel pan and cook until crispy. Remove from pan with slotted spoon and add chopped onion. Cook on medium-high heat for a couple minutes. Then add the chopped or pressed garlic. Cook for a couple more minutes, then remove from pan and discard the grease.

Place the pan back on the burner and pour in half of the chicken stock to deglaze the pan. Use a wire whisk to scrape all the brown bits off the bottom of the pan. Return bacon, onions and garlic to the pan and add the other cup of chicken stock.

Meanwhile, boil your pasta until al dente.

In your serving bowl, crack your eggs and add most of the parmesan cheese and the parsley (reserve a little of both for garnish). Mix well with a fork.

Drain the water from your pasta. Immediately afterward, pour the pasta into the bowl with the egg/parmesan mixture. The hot noodles will cook the eggs. Then add the bacon/onion mixture and put in the butter. Mix all together. Pepper to taste. Garnish with parmesan and parsely. Enjoy!