My Favourite Guilty Pleasure, Spaghettini Carbonara

I actually cooked this 2 days ago, but I wasn't feeling well, so I didn't post it. But anyway this dish is by faaaaar my favourite guilty pleasure food ever (part of it because I really shouldn't have bacon and pork, for a religious reason! But don't tell anyone).

I love the creamy-ness of the sauce from the grated parmesan and eggs, and I'm sure if you like bacon and eggs you would love this dish because it's basically like bacon, cheese and eggs on spaghettini. If you prefer another type of pasta, I would recommend small pasta just because it is easier to mix it.

Ok you would need;
- 2 slices of middle bacon, cut into small pieces
- 1 free range egg, beat it.
- around 1/4 cup (or more if you like them extra cheesy) of finely grated parmesan cheese. I would recommend good quality cheese, trust me, it's worth buying. I'm on budget so I bought some from Victoria Market deli, it's good and cheap, it's about $3 to $4.
- 3 serves of spaghettini.
- chopped parsley to garnish (optional)
You can easily get all the ingredients for under $8.

All you have to do;
1. Cook pasta in boiling water with some salt.
2. At the same time, cook the bacon pieces with a little bit of olive oil. The goal is to have the pasta ready  around the same time the bacon is cooked. I like the bacon pieces slightly crunchy. I like the contrasting texture of the pasta and the crunchy bacon.
3. When the pasta is al dente, drain it and then pour the bacon bits with all the grease to the pasta. Make sure you do it straight away, you need to do all this step when the pasta and the bacon are still hot.
4. Add in the beaten eggs and stir well for a few second, and sprinkle the parmesan cheese, and stir thoroughly.
5. Add chopped parsley to garnish.

You would see how you actually don't need any cream for this dish. The combination of the egg and cheese and the heat of the pasta makes the creamy sauce. It's so simple and of course, cheap. I normally have this dish on saturday night when I don't feel like going out. I'd just stay in, cook this (preferably home alone and not having to share with anyone),  have it with a glass of red, while watching tv. And don't even worry about the carbs :) Yes, that would be the best guilty pleasure food, trust me.

Osso Bucco

I invited some friends to have dinner at my place last night. I know what you're thinking, dinner party isn't exactly cheap. But to me personally it was a cheaper alternative to spending my weekend and having a good time. See, I would normally go out for drinks with friends and may be watch a film, or just partying and believe me that costs more than throwing a dinner party.

A good dinner party doesn't have to be fancy and expensive. I like them simple and homey, and it's just basically having a quality time, just me and my close friends. And this recipe for Osso Bucco is super cheap, it only costs me $30 for 6 serve (that's only $5 per serve!). And if you want ask your guests to bring some drinks or desserts, it's even better :)

I went to Victoria Market to shop for the ingredients;
- 6 Osso Bucco cuts, it's around $6 a kilo in Victoria Market butcher, and you can get special too. Some of them do $10 for 2 kilos. It costs me $12 dollar in total.
- half of whole celery, $1! Cut them in chunky bite size.
- 3 big carrots, $1! Slice them just a little bit thick.
- 1 brown onion, chop it finely.
-  flat-leaves parsley.
- a can of chopped tomato (If you live around Melbourne CBD area, go to UCG Wholesale Grocer on A'Beckett street, I got it for only 90 cents!)
- 1 liter liquid beef stock, (I normally use Premium Beef Stock, and I really don't like the other brands because they normally have this strong artificial smell, but this time I compromised and used Campbell's Real Stock and I added some water to make it less strong and it actually works really well.)

Also some of these, that I've already got at home;
- 2 tablespoon of tomato paste.
- 2 bay leaves.
- some white multipurpose flour to coat the meat.
- butter
- 1 cup of red wine.
- olive oil.
- 1 tablespoon of garlic paste.
- salt pepper and sugar.

It took me about 2 hours to cook this dish, so make sure give yourself enough time before your guests come;
1. coat Osso Bucco cuts with flour, salt and pepper. Brown them quickly with olive oil on high heat on both side and put it aside.
2. Use the same pan with all the meat's fat and browning flour on it, melt 2 tablespoon of butter, and brown onion, then add in chopped carrots and celery. Cook for a minute only, and add a dash of red wine and make sure you scrape all the brown bits at the bottom of the pan.
3. Move them to a big pot and add in beef stock, and a cup of water. Boil on high heat.
4. Add in the garlic paste, chopped tomato, tomato paste, a handful of chopped parsley, bay leaves, and the remaining of red wine.
5. Turn heat to low when it boils, and add in all the meat, make sure they're all covered in the sauce because it's gonna make them really tender and full of flavour!
6. Cook for 1.5 hour, covered.
7. Add salt and pepper to taste, and a teaspoon of sugar.
8. Garnish with chopped parsley.

That's it. I serve them with rice, but you can serve it with risotto or mash potato as well if you want... And when I served them, I did it the lazy Indonesian way, just the whole pot in the middle of the table, and everyone helped themselves with the food and the wine. Less dishes to wash :) Nothing fancy, we didn't even worry about table manner, I was just having a good time with my friends.