Prosciutto Wrapped Tiger Prawns Pasta

I was in a Seafood mood tonight so here is what I came up with. I saw this method at Rachel Ray's show but I tinkered with it a bit more and added pasta into it for some carbs.

Ingredients for the Shrimp:
~ 6 Tiger Prawns or any prawns that are big enough for skewer (deveined)
~ 6 pcs. Sage
~ 6 pcs. prosciutto or bacon
~ Black Pepper for taste

Turn your oven on to 450F
* Cut the back of the shrimp, where you usually butterfly a shrimp; insert a sage leaf and season it with pepper, no salt since the prosciutto is salty enough to flavor it.
* Wrap the shrimp with sage in prosciutto make sure they are tuck in nicely; they would stick together anyway.

* Place your shrimp in a grilling pan with olive oil. Add a sprinkle of olive oil on top of your shrimp to help the prosciutto crisp (they are not as fatty as bacon).
Set aside and prepare the pasta.

Ingredients for the Pasta:
~1/3 cup of fresh Italian flat Parsley
~1 tbsp. fresh Mint
~ground black pepper
~salt
~Parmesan Cheese
~2 fresh cayenne chili or 1/2 teaspoon red crushed pepper (ground cayenne would change the flavor so please don't use it)
~3 garlic gloves sliced lengthwise
~good olive oil
~a splash of white wine, any white wine that you would normally drink; if you don't have this pasta water would be just fine
~half a lime
~Linguine, cooked al dente

Put your Prosciutto Wrapped Shrimp in the oven to cook 5-8 minutes.

*Cook the pasta according to the packet but 3 minutes less.
*In a pan on medium heat splash a good amount of Olive oil and let it heat for 30 seconds.
* Add the chili and let the chili infuse the oil about 1-2minutes.
* Add the garlic and let it turn golden brown not dark brown. If it is, start over again. It would make the whole pasta taste bitter and too much garlic flavor.
* Add the pasta directly, do not drain them.
* Add the herbs, dash of pepper, and a dash of salt not too much; remember the prosciutto is salty enough.
* Splash of white wine, not a dollop just a splash probably about 2 tbsp. Let your mixture emulsify; meaning do not stir them just wiggle the pan back in forth.
* After 4mins do stir them and let it cook for another 2 minutes.

By this time your shrimp is probably cooked. Remove them from the oven and start plating. Put the pasta first on your plate and sprinkle enough Parmesan Cheese, then add the shrimp on top and spritz lime. Serve hot and pair it with Pinot Noir 2008 from Oregon; or any wine that you like.

Free Range Brown Eggs or White Eggs?

It is definitely a question of " Can I afford it?". For most of us we don't care which is which, but how much is the price difference? The Brown Eggs are definitely more expensive about 1.5x more. But let's say we are comparing it via taste, here is what I found: I found that Brown Eggs are better when you eat the egg by itself, like boiled, scramble or anything that just the egg. You can definitely taste the flavor that everyone is talking about and the quality is there. I also, found that when I boiled my brown eggs it taste more savory and creamier; I like my boiled egg a bit runny. Also when you open the brown eggs it has more white in it and less yolk; which is good when you are making a meringue. And also, less fat if you look at how much whites are in it. Brown eggs are not necessary when you are baking since you only use eggs to bind whatever it is that you are baking and you can not really taste it.

I found that when I cooked my White Eggs; boiled the way I liked it, it was fishy. I almost threw up, I discarded it and just had a piece of toast instead. In baking I was not able to taste the difference between the two. I would say use Brown Eggs when you are cooking breakfast, but use White Eggs when you are baking. You could balance your budget this way and also, get the taste and flavor that everyone seems to be talking about!

No Mess, No Splatter, Perfect Crisp Bacon

If you are like me, who likes bacon every weekend but don't want splatter and possibly be hurt and don't like grease especially cleaning them; then this is for you. This is how I make my bacon every Sunday. They are perfectly cooked, crisp, less greasy and you don't have to constantly stand in front of the stove while cooking them. I also find that cooking it this way the bacon doesn't shrivel or shrink. Here's how:

Cooling rack or anything that you have that can make the grease drip through. Baking sheet to put the cooling rack on. Bacon of course, I used Hormel Bacon. Turn your oven to 350f or 175c.

Lay your bacon on top of the cooling rack, you can probably put around 8 pieces in there; which for me and my husband is more than enough. Put it in the oven for about 20 to 30 minutes. Check on them about 20mins through to see if they are cooking to your liking. If you want your bacon extra crispy raise the temperature about 375 F for 5 minutes and it will do the job. The only con on cooking like this, is that it takes longer to cook it unlike cooking in the pan, which will take about 10 mins. But I like the flavor and the crispiness of it this way.

Whoa La my Perfect Crisp Bacon!