Spaghetti carbonara is possibly my all-time favorite food. This recipe is good, easy, and true to the principles of the dish: eggs, parmesan, fatty pork, and pasta. I recommend sauteeing the onions until they are super soft. Rich (I get the feeling this is an Americanized version of the dish) but good.

Reviewed On: Sep. 8, 2008

I liked this, and I had three guys helping me making it, which cut down on the prep time. We went to the Mexican grocery market for fresh chorizo, and bought saffron boles there as well. (Thanks to the reviewer who pointed me to Mexican saffron! Or azafran, as the package label calls it.) We steamed mussels and added those. Yummy. You can also add the steamed "juices" from the shellfish to the paella sauce, if you so desire. The rice turned out wonderfully. I gave this whole recipe four stars as I wasn't thrilled with it necessarily, but it was good and certainly worth making. The rice was five star rice for sure.

Reviewed On: Sep. 8, 2008

I made this last night, with chicken, and it tasted like what you'd get in a restaurant. So said my boyfriend and his roommate, anyway. I used peanut oil instead of vegetable oil, and did not use the tamarind pulp because I couldn't find it at Safeway. (The Asian + Hispanic foods aisle failed me!) Instead, I used lime pulp. Nor could I find chives, oddly enough, so I used green onions instead. I chopped the peanuts in a food processor, and added a little extra (1.75 cups instead of 1.5). If you're a meat eater, I seriously advise the addition of chicken and/or shrimp. You can add these in the beginning stages (with the oil + garlic), and they'll make it a more filling dish. Remember to soften your noodles in SUPER HOT water for 25-30 minutes. Oh, and I think 1/2 cup is way too much oil. I love oil as much as the next person, but if you use enough to cover the bottom of the wok (1/4 cup or so), that should be plenty.

Reviewed On: Jun. 2, 2008