Real spaghetti carbonara

In Virginia, you can find pork jowl bacon in the stores, and this is a great use for it. This has been one of my favorite dishes for years, because I usually have most of the ingredients on hand (although sometimes I cheat and use cooked bacon crumbles, which I keep in the freezer after opening).

If anyone can point me to a source for pork jowl in Sacramento, I'd be most appreciative.

Just the facts? What nutrition labels hide

The old saying - "There's lies, damn lies and statistics" - has some truth to it. And today, I'm here to say Nutrition Facts fall into the statistics category.

I took out the pack of Kirkland Crumbled Bacon from the fridge and heated a tablespoon for an omelet I was making. While I was waiting for it to cook, I got to reading the recipe on the side for Linguine Carbonara and comparing it to how I usually make the dish.

I usually use 2 ounces of uncooked pasta per person, and this recipe called for a pound, so I'm assuming it will feed eight people. The rest of the ingredients are looking pretty good, a pretty nutritious dish, actually - until I saw how much bacon it called for: 1 cup.

For most ingredients and liquids, a cup contains 16 tablespoons. But some things that have a lot of air in them can fluff up and measure out differently. So from my measurement, 8 tablespoons almost filled up a cup, but not quite. So I decided to go by the weight the package said a tablespoon of bacon crumbles was, 7g. Well, according to metric-conversions.org, 56 g (8 x 7g) is approximately 2 ounces. On my kitchen scale, a cup of bacon crumbles weighed in at 6 ounces. If a serving is 7g, then why is Kirkland advocating a recipe that uses three times the amount that is suggested as a serving?

Moreover, I know a lot of families of four eat a pound of pasta at a sitting. Divided by 4, that would be 6 servings of bacon per person in this recipe. That's 12 grams of fat (6 saturated) and 1440 mg of sodium (about 60 percent of the daily value) just from the bacon.

According to Wikipedia, the Nutrition Facts label was mandated for most food products under the provisions of the 1990 Nutrition Labeling and Education Act, per the recommendations of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. It was one of several controversial actions taken during the tenure of FDA Commissioner Dr. David Kessler. The law required food companies to begin using the new food label on packaged foods beginning May 8, 1994.

The government's attitude is consumer beware: below is fda.gov's suggestion for using the label.

The first place to start when you look at the Nutrition Facts label is the serving size and the number of servings in the package. Serving sizes are standardized to make it easier to compare similar foods; they are provided in familiar units, such as cups or pieces, followed by the metric amount, e.g., the number of grams.
The size of the serving on the food package influences the number of calories and all the nutrient amounts listed on the top part of the label. Pay attention to the serving size, especially how many servings there are in the food package. Then ask yourself, "How many servings am I consuming"? (e.g., 1/2 serving, 1 serving, or more) In the sample label, one serving of macaroni and cheese equals one cup. If you ate the whole package, you would eat two cups. That doubles the calories and other nutrient numbers, including the %Daily Values as shown in the sample label.

If anyone wants the recipe after all this, message me or comment below and I'll input it. Or use the one I published here previously: http://lkcafe.blogspot.com/2009/12/simple-but-satisfying-dinner.html  It doesn't take a cup of bacon crumbles.

A simple but satisfying dinner

Spaghetti carbonara always brings to mind the great New Yorker writer Calvin Trillin and his effort to get it to replace turkey at the Thanksgiving table.

Spaghetti carbonara is a staple in the Richardson household throughout the year, although usually it is a dish of last resort when there's nothing fresh to fix. But that doesn't make it a bad thing. It is especially good to serve to company who drops in unannounced; nice but not special enough to inspire repeat unannounced visits.

Here's my recipe for it, although cooked bacon bits (the real thing) from the fridge sometimes sub in for the cooked bacon, making it REALLY fast food. This is for four people, but it is easily halved. Serve with a salad, stewed tomatoes or a side of your favorite green vegetable.

Spaghetti Carbonara
4 slices bacon, diced into 1/2 inch pieces
1 clove minced garlic
Freshly ground black pepper
8 ounces spaghetti, cooked until al dente
2 large eggs, beaten with 1 tablespoon each milk and pasta water
Salt to taste
4 ounces freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley leaves

In a large saute pan or wok over medium heat, fry the bacon until crispy. Remove bacon with slotted spoon or spatula and allow to drain on paper towels. Remove all but 1 tablespoon of the bacon fat from the pan. Add garlic and saute for 30 seconds, and season with pepper. Add back the bacon and pasta and saute for 1 minute. Season the eggs with salt. Remove the pan from heat and add eggs, stirring quickly, until eggs thicken but do not scramble. Add the cheese and taste; adjust seasoning as needed with salt and pepper. Garnish with parsley.

To make with real bacon bits: Sauté garlic in 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add 4 tablespoons bacon bits and the pasta to the pan and season with pepper. Sauté until heated thoroughly. Season the eggs with salt. Remove the pan from heat and add eggs, stirring quickly, until eggs thicken but do not scramble. Add the cheese and taste; adjust seasoning as needed with salt and pepper. Garnish with parsley.

Recipe: Onion Low Carb-o-nara

From "Happy in the Kitchen (2006)" by Michel Richard

Serves 4

Ingredients
4 ounces sliced applewood-smoked bacon
3 large yellow onions (about 12 ounces each)
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 large egg yolk
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus extra for sprinkling

Instructions
Stack bacon slices, wrap in plastic wrap, and place in freezer to firm. This will make them easier to cut.

To cut onions, using a meat slicer, cut off root end of each onion and discard. Then, cut off other ends. With a paring knife, core each onion by cutting a cone-shaped piece from root end of onion, much as you would remove stem of an apple. Stand each onion on one end and cut a vertical slit from top to bottom, just reaching center. This will result in long strands of onion rather than rings when onion is sliced. Set slicer to cut 1/8-inch-thick slices. Place flat end of onion against blade and slice. To cut by hand, leave root ends intact, cut a slit in each onion as above, then cut across onions to make 1/8-inch-thick slices.

Separate onion slices into strands. Place longer strands in a bowl and reserve shorter ones for another use. You should have about 8 cups loosely packed onions.

Place a steamer basket in a pot over simmering water. Place onion strands in basket, cover, and steam 5 to 6 minutes, or until onions are translucent but still "al dente." Remove basket from pot. (This can be done a few hours before serving.)

Remove bacon from freezer, unwrap, and cut crosswise into 1/8-inch strips. Place in a large nonstick skillet and sauté over medium-high heat, stirring often, about 5 minutes, until crisp and browned. Meanwhile in a small bowl, mix together 1/4 cup cream and egg yolk. Set aside.

Transfer bacon to paper towels to drain. Pour out fat, and wipe pan clean with a paper towel. Return pan to burner. Add butter and melt over medium heat. Add bacon and remaining cream and simmer 30 seconds. Add onions and 1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper, toss, and cook 2 to 3 minutes, or until onions are hot. Remove pan from heat and stir in reserved cream mixture and Parmesan. Taste and add additional seasoning if needed.

With pair of tongs, lift each portion, letting excess sauce drip back into pan, and arrange in small mound on serving plate. Serve sprinkled with additional Parmesan, if desired.

Note: If you'd like to try to download this recipe with the per-serving nutritional information for $2.95 on a credit card, click here.  I tried to access the Bee's archive, but it wouldn't let me complete the transaction, so I can't vouch that the recipe or the nutritional information is actually there.