Bacon and Cheese Puffs! Gads! January 8, 2010
Posted by Teresa in : Snacks/Party Food , add a commentBacon and Cheese Puffs
Although this recipe seems a bit strange when you are making it, these little nibbles are truly scrumptious! Go buy bacon now, start crisping it (“Ready Crisp” bacon works great) or use leftover ham! And they aren’t even deep fried…..!
Ingredients Supplies/Equipment
1 cup water heavy saucepan
1 cup white flour wooden spoon
4 eggs cookie sheet
1/3 cup butter
1 cup crisp bacon, or ham, finely chopped
1 1/2 cups sharp (old) cheddar cheese, grated
4 oz can jalapenos, or less (optional)
1/2 – 1 tsp dry mustard
Make sure you have enough bacon or ham already crumbled or chopped. Combine water and butter in heavy saucepan and bring to a boil. Meanwhile, grate the cheese and chop the jalapenos (if you’re using them). As soon as the butter-water mixture boils, remove from heat and add flour at once. Beat with a wooden spoon until well mixed. Return to medium heat and beat until moisture leaves sides of pan and mixture forms a ball. Remove from heat and one at a time, crack an egg, beat lightly, and add to pot to form a smooth mixture — be patient and beat thoroughly. You may build muscles! Stir in cheese, ham or bacon, mustard and jalapenos. Drop by small teaspoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet. Bake at 400°F for 15 – 20 minutes. Reheat if frozen in 350°F for 5 – 10 minutes. Be careful; they are addictive!
Best Nachos Ever… mmm Bacon! April 15, 2009
Posted by Teresa in : Snacks/Party Food , add a commentHere’s another great recipe from Michael Smith… oh, you’ll never want to go back to regular nachos!
Ease of Preparation: Easy
Ingredients:
- 6 slices bacon, roughly chopped (I think I used almost a whole package!)
- 2 x onions, finely diced (I only used 1)
- 1 jalapeno pepper, seeds removed and minced (I used canned ones, and they seemed fine)
- 2 cups grated cheddar cheese
- 1 bag restaurant style tortilla chips
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Heat a skillet over medium-high heat and add bacon.
3. Let brown and then add onions and jalapeno and cook until they have softened and are beginning to caramelize.
4. Cool slightly and then pour into a bowl and add grated cheese.
5. Toss to combine.
6. Spread the tortilla chips in a single layer on a large baking sheet and top each one generously with a spoonful of the cheese mixture.
7. Bake for 10 minutes or so until chips are golden and cheese is melted and bubbling.
Pasta Carbonara March 13, 2009
Posted by Teresa in : Dinner, Lunch , add a commentI wanted to try a Carbonara sauce, so I found this one on the web and made it today… it turned out pretty yummy!
- 4 eggs
- 1/4 c. butter
- 1/4 c. whipped cream
- 1/2 lb. bacon, cut up
- 1 lb. fettuccine or spaghetti
- 1 c. grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
- 1/4 c. snipped parsley
- Pepper
Serves 12 side-dishes.
Eggs-traordinary Toasty Baskets November 3, 2008
Posted by Teresa in : Breakfast, Dinner, Lunch , add a commentThis recipe is another gem from Rachel Ray’s 365: No Repeats cookbook! Great for any meal (not just breakfast). Preheat the oven to 400 °F.
Get out your muffin tins!
- 1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
- 4 slices bacon, chopped
- 1 garlic clove, chopped
- 1/2 small onion, chopped
- 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 4 slices soft white bread (but I used multigrain and it was delicious as well)!
- 3 Tbsp. melted butter (unsalted)
- 1 tomato (vine-ripened, if you have), chopped
- 4 eggs
- grated parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, or other cheese
Preheat a small skillet over medium heat, add 1 Tbsp olive oil (once round the pan) and the chopped bacon, and cook for 3 minutes, or until the bacon is crisp. Add the garlic, onions, crushed red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Cook until the onions start to turn translucent, about 3 minutes.
With a serrated knife, cut the crusts from the bread. With a rolling pin (or a large jar or glass), flatten each slice or bread as thins as you can get it. Nestle each thin slice of bread into the cup of a non-stick standard 1/2 cup muffin tin, pushing the bread down on the bottom of the tin and pushing it up the sides. It should be all the way up the sides, or slightly above. If the bread rips, don’t worry about it, just smoosh it together a little. If your muffin tins aren’t non-stick, put some melted butter in first, then the bread. Either way, once the bread is in, brush it lightly with melted butter.
Add the tomatoes to the bacon and onions. Turn the heat up a little to evaporate some of the liquid of the tomato, about 1 minute. Also, one time when I made these, I cheated and used bacon bits (gasp!) instead of real bacon, and it worked okay! I just don’t buy bacon very often! So I added the bacon bits now, after the tomatoes, and stirred it all together.
Working one at a time, crack the eggs into a small bowl and the carefully transfer to the bread-lined muffin tins. The goal is not to break the yolk. Alternately, you can scramble the egg and pour it in that way. I found that I had to pick the smallest eggs I had – the large ones would flow over the side. So, I was also thinking that if your eggs are big, you could scramble 3 and pour them into 4 muffin tins (I’m going to try this next time I make them). Anyways, you get the idea. Sprinkle the egg with salt and pepper. Top each egg with some of the tomato-bacon mixture (1/4 each) and then a little cheese. Place in the hot oven and bake for 15 minutes! How easy was that?!? You could also change up the ingredients a little – like using feta cheese (my idea), adding green olives or sausage instead of bacon (Rachel Ray’s idea). Experiment (but don’t go crazy)! 
Corn Chowder October 6, 2008
Posted by Teresa in : Dinner, Lunch , add a commentVery yummy! Makes about 6 cups of delicious soup!
Cook 4 slices bacon (chopped), stirring, in a soup pot over medium-low heat until beginning to crisp, 10-15 minutes. Leaving the bacon in the pan, spoon off all but 2 tablespoons of fat. Add and cook, stirring, until tender and slightly browned, 10-15 minutes:
- one small onion, chopped
- 2 medium celery ribs, diced
Meanwhile, remove the kernels from:
- 6 small ears of corn (I used 4 large ones and that seemed to work well too).
Set the kernels aside and add the cobs to the pot, along with:
- 4+1/2 cups milk (I used half chicken stock and that was good too)
- 2 medium potatoes, diced
Submerge the corn cobs in the milk. Bring the milk almost to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer, covered, until the potatoes are tender, 10-15 minutes. Remove the cobs. Stir in the reserved corn kernels, with:
- 1+1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. white or black pepper
Simmer gently until the corn in tender, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat. With a slotted spoon, remove 1+1/2 cups of solids from the soup and puree until smooth (I also needed a little soup to make it move in the blender). Return to the soup and add:
- 1 Tbsp. butter
Let stand until the butter is melted, then stir and serve. Enjoy! This recipe comes from a great resource, the massive cookbook/text book The Joy of Cooking by Irma S. Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker, and Ethan Becker.
