Spaghetti Carbonara

"I have nothing to make for dinner."

Sound familiar? How many times a week do you say that to yourself? Whenever I think that, I remind myself that I almost always have the ingredients on hand for one of my favorite comfort food dishes, spaghetti carbonara.

Serves 1:

1/4 lb. spaghetti
2 slices center cut bacon
1 egg yolk (I've tried the entire egg, but prefer the creaminess the yolk provides)
a handful of grated parmesan cheese (~ 1/4 cup)
1 clove garlic, minced or run through a garlic press
splash (1/4 cup) dry white wine (I've also used sparkling wine and beer with success)

Cook spaghetti according to package directions.

Meanwhile, cut bacon into 1/4 inch wide strips.
Cook bacon in a non-stick skillet over medium heat in 1 Tbs olive oil until bacon is crisp. Remove and drain on paper towels.
Add garlic and cook until fragrant, but do not let it brown
Add wine and cook for a moment, letting it bubble.
In a separate bowl, beat egg yolk with parmesan cheese and a pinch of pepper
As you drain the pasta, reserve about an ounce of the pasta water.
Combine the egg and cheese mixture with the pasta water.
Add cooked, drained pasta to the pan with the garlic and wine. Quickly add the egg, cheese and pasta water mixture to the pan. Using tongs, toss the pasta with the sauce until the sauce has thickened and turned creamy.
Toss reserved bacon into the pasta and serve immediately.

With a glass of white wine, this dish never fails to put me in a good mood.

Notes:
* This recipe is easily modified to feed more. Figure 1/4 lb pasta per person and 1 egg yolk per person. Change the rest accordingly.
* When I buy bacon, I immediately wrap two slices at a time and put in a freezer bag in the freezer. In my own use, I rarely need more than 2 slices at a time for any one recipe. I find this cuts down on waste and thawing time.

Tipping for Take-Out

There are many points of view on the topic of Tipping for food-related services. Keeping in mind I have a lot of friends in the food service industry, here is my point of view on tipping for take-out:

I don’t do it.

Does that make me a bad customer or a bad person? I don’t think so. Let’s look at my tipping philosophy in other types of establishments:

At a sit-down restaurant:

Generally 20% AFTER tax.

Unless the service is really bad. When I say really bad, I mean, sitting for 20 minutes with an empty wine glass, not having ordered my food and then it comes out burnt and then I sit with the burnt food for an additional 20 minutes before someone comes over and says, “…and how is everything?” (true story)

Then they might get 10-15%.

For delivery:

Usually $3-4 or up to 10% of the bill.

There are many factors in determining this amount though: the weather, what I’ve ordered (McDonald’s or sushi), how many of us ordered and how quickly it gets there. Generally it’s about $3-4 or up to 10% of the bill, whichever is more.

Back to take-out:

Most of the time, at least in this country, the kitchen workers aren’t receiving the tip. It’s the servers and sometimes bus staff. So when I order take-out, the kitchen staff prepared, packaged it and probably walked it up to the front where it awaits pick-up. No one from the restaurant has served it to me, set my table or cleaned up my mess.

Therefore, unless I ordered some crazy $300 order for 12 people, I’m not going to leave a tip for take-out. And, I won’t feel guilty about it, damnit.