Laid Up

So, I'm off the running path for a couple of weeks. Monday I had a cyst removed from my right calf. It was nothing serious, not malignant or anything, but the doctor had been telling me it needed to come out for a while and I finally listened. I'm hard-headed that way. In any case, I now have a two and a half inch incision on the back of my leg with lots of stitches. My girlfriend calls it my Frankenstein Leg. One of my first questions to the doctor was, "How long until I can run again?" He told me to give it two weeks. Ugh. It was way less than I was afraid of, but still longer than I wanted. Two weeks of no quiet runs in the morning, no quick three mile loops in the evening to make up for that cheeseburger I had at lunch, no weekend long runs. Oh well. At least I'll have a cool scar right?

Running in the morning

Between work, school, two teenagers and all the other stuff that fills in the cracks between that, I run when the opportunity presents itself. But, given a perfect world, I'd run in the morning. For me, there's nothing quite like it. When I run in the afternoon or evening, it's different. The thoughts tumbling through my head seem to match the pace of the traffic blowing past me and I find my mind wandering. But, mornings are different. In the morning, the streets are all but empty. There's no one out there but me and an occasional fellow runner. The world is still quiet and sleeping and it feels like I've gotten a jump on it, like I caught the day off guard. In the morning my thoughts are focused, free of a noisy world instruding and muddling things up. In the morning, there's just me and the sound of my shoes slapping the pavement. Running has always been a solitary experience for me and in the morning I feel like I have it all to myself. There's only me and the road. And maybe an iPod.

Carbonara is one of the dishes I had no experience with until a few years ago when I began learning to cook. Honestly, I'm not sure I had ever heard of it before then. I've experimented with different Carbonara recipes and had it once or twice in a restaurant, but this one is my favorite. It's the best I've found, if I do say so myself. To me, it's a perfect example of a few simple ingredients creating something that's greater than the sum of its parts. No complicated sauces here, only a handful of ingredients combined in just the right way. I found the following recipe on Epicurious.com. Many of the recipes on Epicurious are a little fussy for my taste (or, maybe they're just beyond my palate and level of expertise) but, this one I like. It also got thumbs up all around from both my kids, a hard to please foodie duo if ever there was one.

Ingredients

(One serving)

• 2 bacon slices, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1/4 pound spaghetti
• 1/2 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1/3 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano plus additional for serving
• 1 to 2 tablespoons chopped tarragon or parsley
• 1 large egg

Preparation

Cook bacon in a 10-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat until crisp. Transfer bacon with a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain.

Meanwhile, cook spaghetti in a 4-quart saucepan of salted boiling water until al dente. Reserve 1/3 cup cooking water, then transfer spaghetti with tongs to a small bowl, shaking off excess water, and keep pan of water simmering.

Pour off all but 2 teaspoons bacon fat from skillet, then whisk butter into fat in skillet over medium heat. Add spaghetti, reserved cooking water, cheese, and a rounded 1/4 teaspoon pepper and cook, stirring, until sauce is thickened and almost completely absorbed, 2 to 3 minutes. Add bacon and 1 tablespoon tarragon and toss. Season with salt and pepper.

Break egg into a cup and gently slide into water. Poach at a bare simmer to desired doneness (we prefer a firm white with a runny yolk, 2 to 3 minutes).

Serve pasta topped with egg (transfer using a slotted spoon). Sprinkle with remaining tarragon if desired.