The Yum Yum Factor

So, we just got back from a trip to Paris and Rome and my head is so full of recipes that I want to replicate that I almost don't know where to start. Keep any eye for all of my upcoming posts about the trip so I can share all of the great things we ate and the fun stuff we did, but for now, here is my first recipe inspired by our travels. I bet this guy could use a good carbonara You can't go to Rome and not binge on carbonara and even though that is exactly what we did,  here we are, needing more. We make carbonara all the time and I can't believe that I haven't used the Instant Pot to cook the pasta all this time. I am the first person to lecture about adapting EVERYTHING to the pressure cooker, whether it's suited to it or not, but because this dish relies on the starchy pasta cooking water,  it makes even more sense to cook the pasta in the pressure cooker. When you pressure cook pasta, you are always left with this thick, starchy water...

Okay, I don't do New Year resolutions, for the most part but I am kind of making one anyway. Due to high level adulting that my life has required over the last 6 months, I have not been cooking enough. It's gotten to the point where our waitress worries about us if we haven't been to the pub in a couple of nights and that is just kind of sad, seeing that cooking is kind of what I am supposed to do over here. Enter my Instant Pot. Because of this stupid, crazy amazing thing I no longer really have an excuse to skip cooking dinner. I can throw together a delicious, nutritious stew like this in almost no time. Honestly, from the first chop of an onion to slopping it into a bowl and slamming it down on the table, this dish takes under 45 minutes. This is my favourite type of recipe because it's more of a template than a recipe.The possibilities are endless and the flavour combinations are only limited by what you happen to have in your kitchen at the moment. Ye...

Anyone who knows me, knows that I love making risotto and to me, it's something I often resort to when I am out of food, have no ideas and if dinner isn't served within the hour, I am going to have children's services knocking at my door. I know that to some people it is an intimidating, special occasion dish but to me, it's cooking for dummies. At it's most desperate - I mean simple, it's just a cup or so of arborio rice, whatever vegetable I find lying at the bottom of the crisper, scrape the ice off of a handful of frozen shrimp or the last dregs from the bag of peas that I found when I was scrounging around in the freezer for the shrimp, a carton of low sodium chicken broth, a bit of butter and fresh parmesan and dinner is on the table in half an hour. Out of white wine? Use some beer or port or sherry or skip that part altogether.  Sure, you are chained to the stove for 20 minutes of constant stirring but that also means you are forced to drink the wh...