It's a Keeper: Carbonara and Arugula Salad with Shallot Vinaigrette and Crostini

As far as I am concerned, the minute it starts getting a little chilly out, it's time to but out the comfort food! For me, comfort food means cheetos Bacon and Egg Coal Miner's Pasta: Rigatoni alla Carbonara. I made the suggested side dish for this recipe, too - Arugula Salad with Shallot Vinaigrette and Crostini. You gotta make both!

Carbonara is a family favorite for us. My Mom loved the stuff and even had a special serving dish that was only used for carbonara. Although, I think my mom put cream in hers, which I think means it wasn't necessarily authentic. Rachael's recipe doesn't have cream, but I swear it's just as good as my mom's was! It's also easily made within 30 minutes.

Here's the recipe with my comments in brackets:

Salt
1 pound rigatoni
1/3 pound pancetta, cured Italian meat, available at deli counter, chopped [Sometimes if I have some extra lying around (well, in the fridge of course) I just use bacon]
Drizzle extra-virgin olive oil, plus 2 tablespoons (2 turns around the pan)
4 or 5 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, a few pinches, crushed in palm of hand
1/2 cup dry white wine or chicken stock [Go for the white wine. They also sell little bottles of wine in my store that I sometimes use for cooking, since I don't want to open a whole bottle.]
2 large egg yolks
3 tablespoons (about 2 palmfuls) grated Parmigiano Reggiano, plus more, for sprinkling
A handful fresh parsley leaves, finely chopped
A few grinds black pepper

Place a large pot of water on the stove to boil. When water is rolling, add salt and pasta and cook to al dente, about 8 minutes, reserving 1/4 cup pasta water.

While pasta cooks, heat large skillet over moderate heat. Saute pancetta in a drizzle of oil until it browns, 3 to 5 minutes. Add extra-virgin olive oil, garlic, and crushed pepper flake. Saute garlic 2 minutes. Add wine or stock to the pan and reduce liquid by half, 2 minutes.

Beat together egg yolks, cheese, and while whisking vigorously, stir in a ladle of the boiling pasta water. Beat in parsley and pepper and set aside.

Drain pasta. Add pasta to pan with sauce. Toss pasta with pancetta, then add egg mixture and toss 1 minute, then remove from heat. Continue to toss until sauce is absorbed by and thickly coating the pasta. Adjust seasonings with salt and pepper and serve with extra cheese, for passing.

Giveaway Time at Every Day with Rachael Ray

It's time for a treat! Rachael Ray's magazine is jumping into the holiday season with both feet today as it starts its first-ever holiday gift-away. I'm thinking this is my big chance to finally win something online (although I do get those notifications that I have won the UK lottery pretty often).

Here's what the magazine says about this event:

Launching this Monday, November 17, Every Day with Rachael Ray magazine will be offering over $90,000 in prizes online at www.rachaelraymag.com. Items will include: Rachael Ray cookware, family travel packages, Kay Jewelers gift certificates, and even a Viking range! No catch – just log on and enter, what do you have to lose?!

Readers can enter to win exclusively at www.rachaelraymag.com/giveaway.

Make sure you go back every day to enter, since there are new prizes and you can enter to win the grand prize of tickets to Rachael Ray's talk show. You can check out all the prizes by clicking the link above. I'd be happy with any of them!

So go enter and come back to tell us if you win anything.

This Week on Rachael Ray's Talk Show

Here's what Rachael Ray's talk show says is in store this week:

Monday: "Hey, Can You Cook?!" Week 3
The pressure mounts when the three remaining contestants face a battle with an international twist! See what happens when they hit Ellis Island and three guest judges are calling the shots. Then, Billy Joel's gorgeous wife, Katie Lee Joel, kicks off our Thanksgiving countdown by sharing one of her favorite recipes!

Tuesday: The View's Sherri Shepherd
She's always outspoken on The View, but can Sherri Shepherd handle our "Voices of Daytime" challenge? Then, Jarod Miller is back with wild animals and this time they're on the loose in our studio! And for dinner it's a surefire winner - Rach's new seasoned turkey and gravy meal!

Wednesday: Rach's Thanksgiving All-Stars
Got a turkey 911 emergency? Rachael's Thanksgiving all-star team is here to help as Rocco DiSpirito, Ming Tsai, Sunny Anderson and Aaron McCargo, Jr. guide you through the ultimate holiday feast. And, before you put that bird in the oven, get the butcher's turkey tips you need to know!

Thursday: Vanna White on Staying Sexy After 50
She's been turning letters on Wheel of Fortune for 25 years, and now for the first time Vanna White's doing her gig in our studio! Plus, she's sharing her secret beauty tips to staying sexy over 50. Then, we're tackling the battle against aging as three viewers test anti-aging products in our latest "Human Lab!"

Friday: Rach's Wedding Rescue
When Hurricane Ike ripped through Texas, it swept away the wedding dreams for hundreds of brides-to-be. So Team Rachael Ray is stepping in to pull off a wedding day miracle by turning Minute Maid Park into a field of dreams! From the dresses and the rings to the food and a music superstar, it's a once-in-a-lifetime event.

Clips from Rachael Ray's Talk Show

Felicity Huffman, Part 1:




Felicity Huffman, Part 2:




Felicity Huffman, Part 3:

Rachael Ray Roundup

Everyone I know is sick right now! I have a friend who has such a bad ear infection that her ear is swollen shut. Have you ever even heard of that?I keep waiting for it to hit me, so I started thinking of my favorite soup recipes, like these: Butternut Squash Soup with Sweet and Spicy Pecans, Chicken Mug Pie, and Italian Sub Stoup and Garlic Toast Floaters.

Here are some Rachael Ray posts from around the blogosphere this week. If you see a post that you think would be good for the Roundup, or you write one yourself, e-mail me so I can be sure to include it.

• Talk Show Ratings Update: According to Broadcasting and Cable, "Rachael Ray climbed 6% to a season-high 1.8, after increasing 18% to a 2.0 on Halloween...."
• Patsy of Family, Friends, and Food made Rachael's Spiced Popcorn Snack Mix.
• Bethany of Happy to Be Called Mommy made Rachael Ray's recipe for Rosemary Potato Wedges.
• Keetha at Cooking in the Kudzu Kitchen was not impressed by Rachael's recipe for Florentine Mac and Cheese with Chicken Meatballs. When I tried it, I loved absolutely loved this recipe!
• Bay Area Foodie made a dish I was eyeing - Chicken with Apples, Pears and Camembert Mashed Potatoes. Sounds like it was quick, easy, and yummy.
• Tiffany and Tim at Feed the Moose made Rachael's Pasta with Pumpkin and Sausage.
• Dina of Dina in Suburbia made a Rachael Ray recipe I have never heard of before - Moroccan Chili with 10,000 Grains of Sand. Don't you want to make it just so you can tell people what you had for dinner?
• Vegetarian Star gives Rachael some recognition for including a chapter on vegetarian recipes in her new cookbook.
• Jen at Frugal, Freebies, and Deals sent Rachael Ray a letter about her recent segment on the Fat Tax. Mrs. LC offered her thoughts on it, too.
• 6ABC tells us that Racahel Ray will be participating in Philadelphia's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
• AJC at Flavanoids had a fun time at a taping of Rachael Ray's talk show.

It's a Keeper: Sloppy Buffalo Joes and Mashed Potato Skins

Ooooh, this is a good one. Ever since Rachael Ray's Buffalo Chicken Chili was the number one recipe from the first season of her talk show, Rachael has been on a tear with buffalo flavored stuff. Her new cookbook is full of them, including this recipe for Sloppy Buffalo Joes and Mashed Potato Skins (although she calls then Sloppy Hot Wing Joes in the cookbook).

I've mentioned that I hardly ever make the same recipe twice, but I have no doubt I will be making these again. My husband thought I should create a new category higher than "It's a Keeper" because he loved these so much. I felt the same, with the caveat that you have to be in the mood for comfort food for this to really hit the spot. Since it's made with ground chicken or turkey, it's still pretty healthy though.

It took me longer than 30 minutes because it took awhile for the potatoes to cook, but the joes were easily done within 30 minutes. Here's the recipe for the joes with my comments in brackets.

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 pounds ground chicken or turkey breast
1 carrot, peeled and chopped or grated
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 yellow onion, finely chopped
2 to 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped or grated
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 to 1/3 cup hot sauce (recommended: Frank's Red Hot)
1 cup tomato sauce
1 cup chicken stock
8 good quality burger rolls, split and toasted [I used whole wheat to make it a little healthier.]
1 cup blue cheese crumbles [I definitely used more than was called for, since I consider the cheese to be the most important part of any burger.]
2 large dill pickles, chopped [No pickles on mine! Ewwww.]

Heat a large skillet with extra-virgin olive oil over medium-high heat. Add meat and break it up with wooden spoon, cook 5 to 6 minutes. Add in carrots, celery, onions and garlic, season with salt and freshly ground black pepper, cook 7 to 8 minutes more. In a bowl combine the vinegar, sugar, Worcestershire, hot sauce, tomato sauce and stock. Pour into the pan and stir to combine. Simmer a few minutes more. Pile sloppy Buffalo filling onto buns and top with blue cheese and chopped pickles.

Rachael Ray on Good Morning America

Rachael Ray appeared on Good Morning America today and shared recipes for Ceasar Stuffed Eggs and South by Southwest 7-Layer Sliders from her new cookbook, Rachael Ray's Big Orange Book: Her Biggest Ever Collection of All-New 30-Minute Meals Plus Kosher Meals, Meals for One, Veggie Dinners, Holiday Favorites, and Much More!.

Rachael refers to the book as BOB, which cracks me up. She said she put it together based upon all the requests she got over the past year, for everything from kosher meals to meals for one. She also pointed out that this book has more pictures than ever but still costs about as much as a CD. Check out my thoughts on BOB here.

In the video clip, Rachael demonstrates how to make the seven layer sliders, which look pretty easy and definitely yummy. She's very excited about Tom Jones coming to visit her show this season!

Rachael Ray Roundup

I'm a little overwhelemed with new recipes to try now that I have Rachael Ray's new cookbook, Rachael Ray's Big Orange Book: Her Biggest Ever Collection of All-New 30-Minute Meals Plus Kosher Meals, Meals for One, Veggie Dinners, Holiday Favorites, and Much More!, in hand. I know I already wrote about it this week, but I am really excited to give the recipes a try! From now on, I think Rach will only be publishing one book a year, so we need to savor this one for awhile.

Here are some Rachael Ray posts from around the blogosphere this week. If you see a post that you think would be good for the Roundup, or you write one yourself, e-mail me so I can be sure to include it.

• Aggie of Aggie's Kitchen tried Rachael Ray's Linguini with White Clam Sauce.
• Ellen of The Happy Wonderer tweaked Rachael's recipe for Pasta Puttanesca.
• According to Pegasus News, Rachael and her husband were in Dallas and watched a NASCAR race from one of the pits.
• Katharine Millet of Fresh Dish is no Rachael Ray fan, but she had good results when she adapted Rachael's recipe for Mini Meatloves with Blue Cheese and Mushroom Gravy.