Bacon Guacamole Grilled Cheese Sandwich

It should come as no surprise to those of you who read my blog that, given my family's obscene love for cheese, we also love grilled cheese sandwiches. Because of this, I am always on the lookout for fancy, delicious-sounding grilled cheese. Our love of cheese is probably only rivaled by our love of bacon. Seriously, this family of mine can go through some bacon! So, a grilled cheese with bacon?! Awesome! Add in some creamy guacamole, and it sounds freakin' amazing! I used to not like guacamole or avocados. My parents LOVED them, and I never saw the appeal of the weird, squishy food. I was never a vegetable hater (or is an avocado a fruit?), but avocados just never did it for me. When I was pregnant with Boy #1 I had a veggie sandwich for lunch one day and almost threw up when I tasted the avocado and it's squishyness in my sandwich. Yuck. But then somehow after he was born, I embraced the avocado and LOVED it. Go figure...pregnancy does weird things to you. So, anyway, when I saw this sandwich on Pinterest I had to try it!!

Bacon Guacamole Grilled Cheese Sandwich
Source: closetcooking.com via Pinterest
Ingredients listed are for one sandwich

2 slices bacon
2 slices sour dough bread
1 tablespoon butter, room temperature
1/2 cup jack and cheddar cheese, shredded
2 tablespoons guacamole, room temperature
1 tablespoon tortilla chips, crumbled (optional)

Cook the bacon until crispy and set aside on paper towels to drain.

Butter one side of each slice of bread, sprinkle half of the cheese onto the unbuttered side of one slice of bread followed by the guacamole, bacon, tortilla chips, the remaining cheese and finally top with the remaining slice of bread with the buttered side up.

Grill over medium heat until golden brown and the cheese has melted, about 2-3 minutes per side.

*****

This sandwich definitely delivered!! I loved the addition of the tortilla chips in the sandwich for a little bit of crunch. I'm not normally a chip-in-sandwich-eater (except when I'm pregnant...which I'm not, I'm just saying I did it when I was pregnant), but this was pretty tasty. I love making my own guacamole, and if you've never tried it, you really should. It's so easy--mash up an avocado or two or ten (you know, depending on how much you need), add in a little salsa (homemade or from a jar, whatever floats your boat), salt, and maybe a squeeze of lime juice, and you're good to go. My only complaint was that I think I had too much guac and not quite enough cheese for the amount of guac I had used. But, like I said, this was super tasty, and we will definitely have it again!

Twice-Baked Cauliflower

We're going to my mom's house for Easter dinner this year. Well, we generally always go to her house for dinner. I asked what I could bring, and she said we're having ham and turkey, so I said I could either make funeral potatoes or this twice baked cauliflower dish I made when we were doing low carb awhile back. She said either would be fine, so I decided I'd go with the cauliflower because it's healthier and something different. Then I realized I had never posted it on my blog! So, if you're looking for a side dish for Easter dinner, consider this! It's super tasty. We originally had it with Pimento Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breasts and the flavors complimented each other really well! And they shared a lot of the same ingredient which made preparing them at the same time a total breeze.

Twice Baked Cauliflower
Source: Kalyn's Kitchen blog
Serves 6-8

1 large head cauliflower
4 oz. low fat cream cheese (do not use fat free)
1/2 cup low fat sour cream (do not use fat free)
1/4 cup minced green onions
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (If you only have finely grated Parmesan, use a bit less)
6 slices bacon, cooked until very crisp, fat blotted with paper towel and then crumbled
1 cup reduced fat sharp cheddar cheese


Preheat oven to 350F/180C. Cut out stem and core from cauliflower, and cut into small pieces. Cook in large pot of boiling salted water until cauliflower is tender, but not overly soft. Drain well and mash with potato masher, leaving some chunks. Mix in light cream cheese, light sour cream, green onion, Parmesan, and 3/4 of the crumbled bacon.

Spread evenly in a medium-sized glass casserole dish. Sprinkle with low-fat cheddar cheese and reserved bacon. Bake 30-35 minutes, or until hot and bubbly.

*****

I mostly followed the recipe except I steamed the cauliflower instead of boiling it because I've always read that it's a better way to cook vegetables (so they keep more of their nutrients)--especially with cauliflower. I think we'll have 11 people at Easter dinner, so I think I'm going to double this. Plus it's so tasty I really don't mind having leftovers. My mom loves cauliflower, so I hope she likes this.

This is a great substitute for potatoes if you're doing no or low carb. Don't get me wrong, I love potatoes, but the bite of the cauliflower really adds a lot to this, and cauliflower is lower in calories (significantly!) and carbs (even more significantly!) than potatoes Plus Boy #1 doesn't like potatoes (I know, it's weird!), and he loved this.

Mashed cauliflower!

Please excuse the half eaten chicken breast, I forgot to take a picture before we started eating!

Turkle Burgles

We were on a spring break trip in CA last week, and the husband pointed out that I hadn't updated my blog in awhile. I knew he was right, so today I decided to make blog updating a priority. and then I got distracted by Pinterest and going through my picture folders to see what exactly I wanted to blog about, so now I only have time to do one post instead of the two or three I had planned. Oh well! I was amazingly efficient today, so let's hope that carries over to tomorrow. Of course, it helps that Boy #2 is being entertained by an alphabet/phonics video.

This isn't anything we've had recently, but it's super yummy, and Boy #1 keeps talking about them, so I figured I should write a post about them. I have no idea where the name of this came from, but it's something my family has always eaten, especially with leftover Thanksgiving turkey. The sandwiches are so easy to put together, and really tasty! Hey, if my six year old asks for them repeatedly, you know it has to be something good! he even took them for his lunch, cold!

Turkle Burgles
Serves 4

4 hamburger buns or sandwich rolls (I use Oroweat Sandwich Thins)
8 slices cooked bacon
8 slices turkey (or enough for four sandwiches)
4 slices cheese
Thousand Island salad dressing (or homemade with mayo, ketchup, and relish)

Heat broiler. Toast hamburger buns. Place bottom half of buns on a cookie sheet. Top with 2 slices of turkey, 2 strips of bacon (I tore mine in half to get more bacon coverage), and slice of cheese. Place under broiler until cheese begins to melt. Spread dressing on top half of bun and top sandwich.

*****

Seriously, the hardest part of these was mixing up my own Thousand Island dressing. We had these a couple nights in a row when we had leftover turkey after the holidays because 1) they're so easy to put together, and 2) we all loved them. I'm sure they could be made using turkey lunchmeat, too, if you didn't have any leftover turkey meat, I've just always had them with leftover turkey.

Typing this out and looking at the pictures almost makes me want to find a turkey to cook...almost!

Pimento Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breasts

I was going back through the pictures for my blog to see what I hadn't posted about yet and couldn't believe I hadn't done this one! This came from our no carb week a few weeks ago. I found it on Pinterest.com and thought it looked awesome--and low carb! I'm pretty much a sucker for anything pimento cheese, so I knew we had to have it. Oh yeah, and it had bacon in it. Sign me up!

Pimento Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breasts
Source: Weight-Watchers-Recipes.net via Pinterest.com

1 slice applewood-smoked bacon
3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
2 tablespoons minced green onions
1 1/2 tablespoons diced pimientos
1 tablespoon canola mayonnaise
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon canola oil

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. Cook bacon in a large ovenproof skillet until crisp. Remove bacon, reserving drippings in pan; crumble bacon. Combine bacon, next 6 ingredients, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Cut a 1-inch-wide slit into the thick end of each breast half; carefully cut down to the center of chicken to form a deep pocket. Divide cheese mixture evenly among pockets. Secure with wooden picks. Sprinkle chicken with 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper.

3. Heat pan over medium-high heat. Add oil to drippings. Add chicken to pan; saute 4 minutes. Turn chicken over. Bake at 350° for 12 minutes; let stand for 5 minutes.

Makes 4 Servings

Nutritional Info Per Serving: Calories 204, Carbs 20 g, Fat 11 g, Fiber 3 g, Protein 7 g

*****

I changed this up just slightly, like by adding more bacon. Actually I was making another dish that used bacon, so I cooked up quite a bit to be included in both dishes. I love cooking things in bacon grease. I'm sure it's a fast track to a heart attack, but it's so delicious. This recipe worked out great with the dish I had planned to go with it because there were a lot of similar components. Don't you love when that happens?!

This was something we all really loved, and I will definitely make it again. Ooey, gooey cheese and bacon and bacon drippings?! Hells yeah!

Canlis Salad

Seattle has a ton of amazing restaurants, in case you didn't know that. Some of them are swanky, some are not. One of the swankiest is Canlis. I've never had the privilege of dining there, but my luck friend Jess got to go for her birthday last year. After she posted about it on Facebook I spent some time drooling over their website (their Q&A page is pretty amusing, I thought). Incidentally, in honor of the restaurant's 60th anniversary they apparently had some contest in Seattle where they had hidden golden menus around town and I think gave out clues. My brother told me all about it, but I don't remember all the details because I have two children that have sucked away most of my brain power. One of his friends found one and the price was a dinner at Canlis with 1950 prices. How freakin' awesome is that?!

Anyway, back to the website. When I was perusing it after Jess went I saw they had a recipe section. "Really?! Canlis recipes?! I could make the food myself without having to use one of the husband's entire paychecks to eat there?!" is what I thought to myself (okay, it probably wouldn't be an entire paycheck, but I don't think we'll be going to any swanky restaurants for awhile after our Joel Robuchon dinner). I saw this salad recipe and thought it sounded awesome. The first time I made it was over the summer when we had our friends Cindi and Derrick over for dinner, but apparently I never posted the recipe. When my mom and I were figuring out what we should have for Christmas Eve dinner, I thought of this salad. And this time I took a picture so I could post it! It's really pretty easy and so, so tasty!!

Canlis Salad
Source: Canlis restaurant website

Salad
1 large head Romaine hearts, cut into 1" pieces
(Wash individual leaves in warm water, drain and dry in colander then chill in refrigerator. Don't ever, ever toss a Canlis Salad with warm or wet leaves!!)
8 cherry tomatoes cut in half
1/2 cup thinly sliced green onion
3/4 cup freshly grated Romano cheese
1/2 cup very well done chopped bacon
1/2 cup thinly sliced fresh mint*
1 tablespoon thinly sliced oregano leaves
1/2 cup croutons*
kosher salt and fresh ground tellicherry black pepper to taste

Dressing
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground tellicherry black pepper
1/4 teaspoon minced garlic
1 coddled egg*

Ingredient notes:
Mint - you can't use too much mint (experiment yourself)
Coddled Egg - Pour boiling water into a cup and put a whole egg (in the shell) into the hot water , let sit for 1 minute. You may substitute with pasteurized egg mixture (found in the dairy section in cartons).
Croutons - We make our own croutons. Butter and Italian seasoning.

Directions:
To make the dressing, put the salt and pepper, lemon juice, oil, and coddled egg in a bowl and whip vigorously, then reserve. To a salad bowl add the prepared Romaine, green onion, cheese, bacon, oregano, and mint. Pour dressing over salad and toss thoroughly. Split the salad on to four chilled plates and arrange croutons, a sprinkle of Romano cheese and halved cherry tomatoes on the salad to finish the presentation.

*****

It's actually pretty easy to make and relatively inexpensive, too, which is awesome. The first time I made it I used Egg Beaters instead of coddling an egg. For Christmas Eve I went all out and did the real deal. Okay, it was only because I didn't have any Egg Beaters, but I wanted to try it the real way anyway. The dressing is so good...I just love homemade salad dressings. They taste a bazillion times better than anything you can get in a bottle at the grocery store. The mint in this adds such an interesting flavor, too. I heart fresh mint and would probably eat just about anything that contained it.

Just typing this and reading over it makes me want to have this salad with our dinner tonight. Hmmm...I think I have everything on hand except the oregano...



(Look, I even busted out my fancy china!)

Bacon Salted Caramel Brownies

Did you just do a double take at the title of this blog post? Because when I first saw the recipe I sure did. Bacon?! Caramel?! Brownie?! Yes, please!!

My friend Jen told me recently that the Pioneer Woman's cooking website, TastyKitchen.com, had added a section for brownies and bars and there were some good looking recipes. So I went to check it out for myself. Lordy mama, were there ever some good looking recipes!! These pretty much had me at bacon (of course, just about anything that starts out with the word bacon has me).

As an aside, my brother and husband invented this whole bacon/chocolate craze that's happening right now. Or at least the three of us are sure they did. We were at a restaurant for brunch for my grandma's 90th birthday, and they had one of those chocolate fountains. My brother--the vegetarian--dared my husband to dip a piece of bacon in the chocolate fountain and he'd give him $1. I've mentioned before that we're bacon lovers in our house, so of course he went for it. Apparently they got quite a few strange looks at the fountain, but not long after that there were articles all over the place about the bacon and chocolate combo. I have to assume that some foodie of some sort was there for brunch that day, saw their concoction and made it their own.

Now, back to the brownies. I'm not a baker...too much measuring and too many dishes to clean up afterwards it always seems. But these had me. I had never before in my life made caramel, nor had I made brownies from scratch (at least I don't think I have). But I decided from the title (and pictures) alone, these were going to be worth the trouble.

Bacon Salted Caramel Brownies
From www.tastykitchen.com and savour-fare.com

For the Bacon Caramel:
2 slices bacon
1/2 c. heavy cream
1 c. sugar
6 T. salted butter

In a small saucepan, fry two slices of bacon until crisp (I find it’s easiest to do this when the bacon is cut in half). Remove bacon, set aside, reserving bacon grease in the pan. Add cream to hot pan and let cool. When bacon is cool, crumble or chop finely.

In a larger pan, heat the sugar over high heat until the mixture is liquid and a deep amber color. Add the butter and the cooled bacon cream all at once, and stir until the butter is melted. Add the chopped bacon and let the mixture cool thoroughly.

For the brownies:
8 T salted butter, cut into pieces
6 oz. bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
3 large eggs
1 c. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 c. flour
Salted Bacon Caramel

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Line an 8 inch square pan with two sheets of aluminum foil that covers the bottom and sides of the pan. Grease the foil with butter or a little Baker’s Joy.
In a large microwaveable bowl, melt the butter and the chocolate together in the microwave (start with 30 seconds, and stir thoroughly, then microwave for 10 seconds at a time, stirring between each bout of nuking, until the chocolate is melted and incorporated into the butter) (You can also melt them together over the stove). Add the cocoa and whisk until smooth, then add in the eggs, one at a time, and the sugar, vanilla and finally the flour. Stir only until combined.

Scrape half of the batter into the prepared pan. Then drop about a third of the bacon caramel, evenly spaced, over the brownie batter in the pan. It doesn’t have to cover the whole batter, but should be in splotches. Spread the remaining brownie batter over the top, then drop spoonfuls of the remaining caramel sauce over the top of the brownies and swirl.

Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, but err on the side of underbaking. Remove from the oven and cool completely. The caramel will be pretty gooey still, so you might want to wait to cut these until just prior to serving, and/or store in the refrigerator.

Cut into small pieces and enjoy the gooey, salted caramel bacon goodness.

*****

Let me first say that I got roped into making breakfast as I was working on these since I was already cooking bacon. This recipe took me just about all morning to prepare, but in my defense there is a lot of cooling involved. It worked out because we were getting ready to go out of town for the weekend, so I'd do a step or two, then work on packing or making something else to take along.

I didn't change any of this because I don't typically make changes when baking since it's so finicky. I loved the idea of putting foil in the pan to make the clean-up (and brownie removal process) easier. Oh, and I just used chocolate chips instead of having to chop up some chocolate myself.

When I took these out of the oven I was worried I had over-baked them. I checked on the pan at 35 minutes and it still seemed really gooey and wet, so I put them back in for another seven minutes. Then I was worried they were too done, but they weren't at all.

Man alive...these were some of the best brownies--nay, dessert/treat--I have ever had. I sampled one (of course) before we left for our trip and was astounded. Then that night when we got to the cabin, the husband, my mom, and I all had a little amuse bouche of brownie. It took a whole lot of self control to not sit there and eat the whole pan. The bits of bacon were almost like toffee bits, you couldn't really tell they were bacon, just a little something crunchy mixed in with everything else. The brownies themselves were so dense and rich and chocolatey. Wow. These were definitely a major pain in the ass to make, but they were totally worth it. I may make them again next week for my last bible study.

I took some pictures of the process.

Bacon grease + heavy cream = heart attack in a saucepan


The caramel process...

Sugar in a saucepan. Really? This is going to turn into caramel?


I was still pretty skeptical at this point.


Wow, look at that!! Caramel!!


Creamy, caramely, bacony goodness in a pan...


Brownie batter:


First layer of brownie + middle caramel layer = (see picture)


And this is when I was worried I had baked them for too long...but I didn't. They were just fine. And honestly even if they sucked I probably would have eaten them anyway for all the time and effort I put into them!


I figured since I was somewhere scenic with the brownies I might as well take a scenic picture of them. I guess it's not super scenic since the background is blurry. That's one of Jen's babies in the background, by the way.

Barefoot Contessa's Caesar Club Sandwich

One more Barefoot Bloggers recipe that I missed posting in the correct month and finally got around to doing! I think I only have three recipes left (one of which I'm making Friday night) and then I'm fully caught up. woo hoo!! One is a cookie recipe, so I'll have to enlist the boy's help for that one as he loves to help make cookies.

Anyway, this recipe was chosen back in March by Karen of Shortbread. It's from the Barefoot Contessa at Home cookbook, which was the first Ina cookbook in my collection. My sister-in-law got it for me for my birthday many years ago. This sandwich was always one I wanted to try, but I'm not sure why it's taken me this long to make it. Let's see, I got the cookbook in April 2005, so five years?! Good lord. I'm serious when I say I have a major procrastination problem. In seeing what BB recipes I'd been slacking on preparing I saw this one and figured I'd go ahead and add it to the meal plan.

Barefoot Contessa's Caesar Club Sandwich
Copyright 2006, Barefoot Contessa at Home, All Rights Reserved

2 split (1 whole) chicken breasts, bone in, skin on
Good olive oil
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
4 ounces thinly sliced pancetta
1 large garlic clove, chopped
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 1/2 teaspoons anchovy paste
1 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 1/2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 cup good mayonnaise
1 large ciabatta bread
2 ounces baby arugula, washed and spun dry
12 sun-dried tomatoes, in oil
2 to 3 ounces Parmesan, shaved

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place the chicken breasts on a sheet pan skin side up. Rub the chicken with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for 35 to 40 minutes, until cooked through. Cool slightly, discard the skin and bones, and slice the meat thickly. Set aside.

Meanwhile, place the pancetta on another sheet pan in a single layer. Roast for 10 to 15 minutes, until crisp. Set aside to drain on paper towels.

Place the garlic and parsley in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade and process until minced. Add the anchovy paste, mustard, lemon juice, and mayonnaise and process again to make a smooth dressing. (Refrigerate the Caesar dressing if not using it immediately.)

Slice the ciabatta in half horizontally and separate the top from the bottom. Toast the bread in the oven, cut side up, for 5 to 7 minutes; cool slightly. Spread the cut sides of each piece with the Caesar dressing. Place half the arugula on the bottom piece of bread and then layer in order: the sun-dried tomatoes, shaved Parmesan, crispy pancetta, and sliced chicken. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and finish with another layer of arugula. Place the top slice of ciabatta on top and cut in thirds crosswise. Serve at room temperature.

*****

I only changed things up slightly. Well, maybe a little more than slightly. I pounded out two chicken breasts so they'd be thinner and then cooked them on my grill pan instead of Ina's oven method. I also had some homemade Caesar dressing I'd made (shoot...did I ever post that? It's a Rick Bayless recipe...), so I skipped that part of the recipe and just used up what I had. And I used bacon instead of pancetta because I already had some. And I used regular tomatoes instead of sun-dried. Want in on a little secret? I'm not really a fan of sun-dried tomatoes. If they're in something and I don't have to taste them on their own, I don't mind them. But I got quite a few tomatoes from my produce co-op last week, so I went with that instead.

So, after FINALLY trying this, I'm so sad I waited five years!! This was an awesome sandwich!! We had something going on at our house on Sunday when I made this, so dinner was going to be ready really late. We ended up feeding the kids chicken nuggets, then the husband and I had this after they had eaten so as to not postpone their bedtime. Honestly I'm glad we didn't have to share it with them. We each ate a third of the sandwich, then he took the leftover piece to work for lunch the next day. This was really easy to throw together, especially since I already had Caesar dressing made up in the fridge. I foresee us having this on a regular basis over the summer when it's too hot to cook.

Ina, you've done it again!! You never cease to amaze me!!

Bacon, Ranch, and Chicken Mac and Cheese

Ummmm...bacon and ranch in mac and cheese? Catches your eye doesn't it? It did mine when I was flipping through a Cooking Light magazine at my mom's recently. I stopped subscribing to it because I don't like the new layout. I was sad to stop taking it as I've gotten it since 2003 or 2004, but I just didn't dig it. Plus my mom gets it, so I might as well read hers and then go to the website and email myself the recipes I liked from it. I'm quite the money saver, can't you tell?

Anyway, I'm pretty much a sucker for mac and cheese to begin with, then when I saw bacon in the title it was a done deal that my family would be having this for dinner at some point. When the boy asked what we were having for dinner the night I made this, and I told him "mac and cheese" he responded with, "Oh boy! My favorite!!" What can I say, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

Bacon, Ranch, and Chicken Mac and Cheese

8 ounces uncooked elbow macaroni
1 slice applewood-smoked bacon
8 ounces skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups fat-free milk
1/3 cup condensed 45% reduced-sodium 98% fat-free cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
3/4 cup (3 ounces) shredded six-cheese Italian blend (such as Sargento)
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh dill
1/2 teaspoon salt
Cooking spray
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded colby-Jack cheese

1. Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat; drain.
2. Cook bacon in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until crisp. Remove bacon from pan, reserving drippings in pan. Finely chop bacon; set aside. Increase heat to medium-high. Add chicken to drippings in pan; sauté 6 minutes or until done.
3. Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat; sprinkle flour evenly into pan. Cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly with a whisk. Combine milk and soup, stirring with a whisk; gradually add milk mixture to saucepan, stirring with a whisk. Bring to a boil; cook 2 minutes or until thick. Remove from heat; let stand 4 minutes or until sauce cools to 155°. Add Italian cheese blend, onion powder, garlic powder, dill, and salt, stirring until cheese melts. Stir in pasta and chicken.
4. Preheat broiler.
5. Spoon mixture into an 8-inch square baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle evenly with reserved bacon and colby-Jack cheese. Broil 3 minutes or until cheese melts.

Nutritional Information
Calories:497
Fat:17g (sat 9.2g,mono 4.7g,poly 1.4g)
Protein:33.3g
Carbohydrate:51.7g
Fiber:2g
Cholesterol:74mg
Iron:2.4mg
Sodium:767mg
Calcium:368mg

*****

My family loves bacon. Generations of my family have loved bacon, as have generations of my husband's family (or at least his parents do, so I'm assuming it goes back longer than that), so when I read this only called for one piece I figured that just wouldn't do. Kind of like I always add more cheese than what is called for. I figured a second slice wouldn't hurt anything, so I cooked up two. As soon as my guys smelled bacon cooking all three of them were in the kitchen. I damn near had to smack their hands. Just kidding--about the hand smacking, they did all come in asking for bacon, but I told them it was for dinner. I also didn't use the canned cream of whatever soup because I've vowed to stop buying it because it's really nasty stuff. Or at least the ingredients in it are nasty. I try to stick to a rule of "if I can't pronounce it, I shouldn't eat it" when it comes to buying food. In the Make it Fast, Cook it Slow cookbook, Stephanie O'Dea has a recipe for cream of whatever soup you can make yourself and substitute for the canned stuff that's really easy to put together. You can find the recipe on her blog here.

Because I had to make my own cream of whatever soup and needed to make a separate roux for the mac and cheese, this took a little longer than I thought it would, but it all worked out in the end. I didn't have colby jack cheese to use, so I used some shredded cheddar instead.

This was yummy!!! I ended up adding in a little too much dill (I go a little crazy with fresh dill because I heart it so), but it wasn't too overpowering. Just stick with what's listed in the recipe!! If I recall correctly (and I'm pretty sure I do in looking over what else we've eaten recently), the husband had thirds and kept going back for little bites until he had finished off the pan. So, we liked it. The boy and baby liked it, too. This is definitely something I'll make again, I'll just have to plan my time out a little better.

Rick Bayless' Chipotle Meatballs (Sandwich Style)

Oh man...words do not express how freakin' excited I am to try this dinner tonight!!! Months and months ago when I was holding the Rick Bayless Mexican Everyday cookbook hostage from the library I saw this chipotle meatball recipe in it. Sounded good and then I thought, "Hmmm...you could probably make a Mexican version of a meatball sandwich with those." And then the idea just had to sit in my brain for a long, long time. I don't know why I haven't made this sooner given my excitement for it!!

So, first I'll post the recipe from his cookbook and then how I'm doing my sandwich take on it after the recipe.

Rick Bayless' Chipotle Meatballs
Copyright 2005, Rick Bayless' Mexican Everyday

3 slices bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces
3 garlic cloves, peeled (divided use)
2 large eggs
1/2 cup dried bread crumbs (3/4 cup if they're the coarse-textured panko)
Salt
1-1/4 pounds ground pork
1/2 cup (loosely packed) coarsely chopped mint leaves, plus extra leaves for garnish if you wish
1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes in juice (preferably fire-roasted)
1-2 canned chipotle chiles en adobo, stemmed and seeded
1-2 Tbsp chipotle canning sauce
1 tsp dried oregano, preferably Mexican
About 1-1/2 cups beef or chicken broth

Turn on the oven to 450 degrees. In a food processor, combine the bacon and 1 garlic clove. Process until finely chopped. Add the eggs, bread crumbs, and 1 teaspoon salt. Pulse several times to combine thoroughly, then add the pork and mint. Pulse the machine a ew more times until everything is well combined--but not at all processed into a paste. Remove the blade.

With wet hands, form the meat into 16 plum-size spheres, spacing them out in a 13x9 inch baking dish. Bake until lightly browned (they'll be browned more underneath than on top), about 15 minutes.

While the meatballs are baking, combine the tomatoes, with their juice, chipotles, canning sauce, oregano, the remaining 2 garlic cloves (cut in half) and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a blender or food processor. Process to a smooth puree.

When the meatballs are ready, spoon off any rendered fat from the baking dish, then pour on the tomato mixture, covering the meatballs evenly. Bake until the sauce looks like tomato paste, 15 to 20 minutes.

Microwave the broth for about a minute to heat it (or heat in a small saucepan). Divide the meatballs among four dinner plates, leaving most of the sauce behind. Stir enough broth into the sauce to give it an easily spoonable consistency. Taste and season with additional salt if you think the sauce needs it. Spoon the sauce over the meatballs, decorate with extra mint leaves, if you wish, and serve.

*****

My mouth started to water a bit there while I was typing out the recipe. Rick has yet to do me wrong, so I cannot wait to try this! The only substitution I'm making is to use ground beef instead of pork. I have 1.5 pounds of ground beef left in my freezer, and I gave the husband a couple options that I could do with it, and this is what he chose. We're trying to get back to no (or very little) red meat, so we won't be having anything like this for awhile.

So, now my sandwich take on them. These sounded really similar to meatballs in marinara my friend Laura makes and then uses for meatball sandwiches. So I thought why couldn't I do a Mexican version, using this sauce instead of marinara, and queso fresco instead of mozzarella. So that's what we're having for dinner tonight! I was telling my friend Jen about these last night when I talked to her, and she thought they sounded awesome, too. She suggested putting avocado or guacamole on them, too. I do have an avocado that needs to be used up, so I might try that and see how it is.

I can't wait to report back to you on how these turn out!!

*****

Oh man...oh MAN!!! I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Rick Bayless is a god among men, or at least when it comes to food. These meatballs were AMAZING. The sandwiches were so-so, but I think that's mostly because I forgot to toast or somehow heat up the sandwich rolls before assembling. Oops. They were so filling, too. Neither of us finished the sandwich.

I ended up using one chipotle pepper and a few spoonfuls of the canning sauce because I didn't want it to end up too spicy. I figured better to start with less and then go from there if I needed to, but I think that was just the right amount for our taste. Smokey with a little heat but not overpowering.

I loved the hint of bacon and mint in the meatballs. The flavor was fantastic and captivating. The smokey sauce really added to them as well. This is something I will definitely make again, although since we're giving up ground beef for awhile I may try them with ground turkey, or I'm hoping to get a food grinder attachment for my Kitchenaid mixer for my birthday, so if I do I could grind up a lean cut of pork and make them that way. As it was I used 93% lean ground beef, and they turned out fine. Oh, my food processor was not going to be big enough to add the meat with the bacon/bread crumbs/egg/garlic mixture, so I added the mint in with all that and then combined that mixture with the ground beef in a bowl and mixed it by hand.

Just thinking about them makes me want to go over to the fridge and have one cold!

(I took pictures, but they're on my phone, so I'll upload them later.)

Cook's Illustrated Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf

This was the only new thing we had this past week, so I probably won't bother posting the other recipes. I love meatloaf. My mom makes a version similar to this with bacon on the top, only hers has significantly less bacon. My brother and I would always fight over who got to eat the bacon off the top of the meatloaf because it was so good with the ketchup-y sauce on it. This recipe, though, solves that problem by having bacon go cross-ways on it instead of long-ways. And, yes, those are both official terms.

I had mentioned recently the Best Of Cook's Illustrated magazine I got recently at Costco. This was in it, and I'd been dying to try it. I recently bought a ton of ground beef (okay, not literally a ton, but it was six pounds which is quite a bit) and figured this was a good time to make it. Plus I could get it assembled during naptime and then just throw it in the oven when it was time for dinner. Thankfully I found it typed out online already because you know how I hate to type out recipes if I don't have to.

Cook's Illustrated Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf

Brown Sugar - Ketchup Glaze
1/2 cup ketchup or chili sauce
4 tablespoons brown sugar
4 teaspoons cider vinegar or white vinegar

Meat Loaf
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped medium
2 medium cloves garlic , minced
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon table salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
1/2 cup whole milk or plain yogurt
1 pound ground beef chuck
1/2 pound ground pork
1/2 pound ground veal
2/3 cup Saltine crackers, crushed (about 16), or quick oatmeal, or 1 1/3 cups fresh bread crumbs
1/3 cup minced fresh parsley leaves
6 - 8 ounces bacon, thin sliced (8 to 12 slices, depending on loaf shape)

1. For the glaze: Mix all ingredients in small saucepan; set aside.
2. For the meat loaf: Heat oven to 350 degrees. Heat oil in medium skillet. Add onion and garlic; sauté until softened, about 5 minutes. Set aside to cool while preparing remaining ingredients.
3. Mix eggs with thyme, salt, pepper, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, pepper sauce, and milk or yogurt. Add egg mixture to meat in large bowl along with crackers, parsley, and cooked onion and garlic; mix with fork until evenly blended and meat mixture does not stick to bowl. (If mixture sticks, add additional milk or yogurt, a couple tablespoons at a time until mix no longer sticks.)
4. Turn meat mixture onto work surface. With wet hands, pat mixture into approximately 9-by-5-inch loaf shape. Place on foil-lined (for easy cleanup) shallow baking pan. Brush with half the glaze, then arrange bacon slices, crosswise, over loaf, overlapping slightly and tucking only bacon tip ends under loaf, (see illustration 1, below).
5. Bake loaf until bacon is crisp and loaf registers 160 degrees, about 1 hour. Cool at least 20 minutes. Simmer remaining glaze over medium heat until thickened slightly. Slice meat loaf and serve with extra glaze passed separately.

*****

I used oatmeal for this because it's what I had. I buy instant oatmeal packets at Costco, but none of us like the plain ones. This was a great use for them--two packets was just the right amount! Also, I just used two pounds of ground beef because, again, it's what I had. I ended up brushing some more glaze on top of the bacon when there was about 20 minutes of cooking time left. Oh, and I wrapped a cooling rack in foil and poked some holes in it and placed that on a cookie sheet with the meatloaf on top of the cooling rack. In hindsight I should have covered the cookie sheet as well because it was a pain to clean off the spillage.

This was REALLY good! Like I said, I love meatloaf, so I was really excited to have this. We had leftover mashed potatoes with it from Thanksgiving #2 and some cooked carrots. I will definitely make this again, and laying the bacon cross-wise made sure that everyone had some bacon on their piece and no fights had to take place because of it. And trust me, in this house, a fight would break out over bacon!

Honestly, as much as I liked this, I view meatloaf strictly as a means to have meatloaf sandwiches the next day. As much as I love meatloaf, I love meatloaf sandwiches even more. And that's exactly what we had for dinner the next night. :)

Fisher Nutty Bacon Cheese Ball

This is one of the recipes I meant to blog about but never did. The pictures had been uploaded, so I figured I'd go ahead and post it. The Christmas party for my MOMS Club was one night last week, and everyone was asked to bring an appetizer or dessert. I chose appetizer, and was trying to come up with something to make when I remembered this cheese ball recipe I'd made once before several years ago. I saw it on an episode of Oprah around Christmastime and had bookmarked it. I don't know how I thought of it, but I figured it would be tasty. I mean really...cheese and bacon?! How can you go wrong?! Paula Deen prepared the recipe, but apparently it's from a KitchenAid mixer cookbook, so any of the mixer references in the recipe refer to that.

Fisher Nutty Bacon Cheese Ball

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese , softened
1/2 cup milk
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/4 cup (1 ounce) blue cheese , crumbled
1/4 cup finely minced green onions (white part only)
1 jar diced pimento , drained
3/4 cup Fisher pecans , divided
10 slices bacon , cooked, drained, finely crumbled and divided
Salt and pepper
1/4 cup minced parsley
1 tablespoon poppy seeds

Place cream cheese in mixer bowl. Attach bowl and flat beater to mixer. Turn to Speed Two and mix 1 minute. Stop and scrape bowl. Turn to Speed Two and gradually add milk, mixing until well blended about 1 minute. Stop and scrape bowl. Add cheeses, onions, pimientos, half of the bacon and half the pecans. Turn to Speed 4 and beat until well blended, about another minute. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Transfer mixture to a large piece of plastic wrap. Form into a ball and wrap tightly.

Repeat with the remaining mixture. Refrigerate (or freeze) at least 2 hours.

Combine the remaining bacon and remaining pecans, parsley and poppy seeds in a pie plate. Then, remove the plastic wrap and roll the cheese ball lightly in the bacon/nut mixture until evenly coated. Wrap it back up in plastic wrap and refrigerate again until ready to use.

*****

Since it had literally been years since I made this I didn't really remember anything about the recipe. I questioned the addition of the milk, but I went with it...and then regretted it. I really don't think it was necessary as the mixture didn't hold together hardly at all. I put it in the freezer for two hours hoping that would help bring it together more than just having it in the fridge, but when two hours was up the outside of the ball was frozen and the middle was still really squishy. I reshaped it in the plastic wrap and let it go a little longer. I thought about taking something different, but I didn't want to have to stop at the store, so I went ahead and took it, even though it was more cheese blob than ball. THere were only a few bites left at the end of the night, so it tasted fine, it just didn't look the greatest. I think next time I will either skip the milk entirely or cut it back to 1/4 cup or less. I made two cheese balls out of the recipe and have the second one in the freezer, saving it for Christmas.





I have to say that I was pretty pleased with my "plating." Since I had to take it somewhere I wanted an easy way to transport it, so I stuck the cheese blog in a pie plate and then surrounded with crackers. I thought it was ingenious!!

Barefoot Contessa's Cheddar Corn Chowder

I forgot last week when planning out my menu that it was a Barefoot Bloggers recipe week! Oops! So I decided I'd make it this week to have for lunches. It's still not soup weather here in AZ (really it's only soup weather for maybe a week or two out of the whole year), but it's cooler so I figured it would work. Plus I love a good soup! This recipe is from The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook, but it's also available on the Food Network website. Jill from My Next Life chose this recipe for us to try.

Cheddar Corn Chowder
Copyright, 1999, The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook, All rights reserved

8 ounces bacon, chopped
1/4 cup good olive oil
6 cups chopped yellow onions (4 large onions)
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 cup flour
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
12 cups chicken stock
6 cups medium-diced white boiling potatoes, unpeeled (2 pounds)
10 cups corn kernels, fresh (10 ears) or frozen (3 pounds)
2 cups half-and-half
8 ounces sharp white cheddar cheese, grated

In a large stockpot over medium-high heat, cook the bacon and olive oil until the bacon is crisp, about 5 minutes. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and reserve. Reduce the heat to medium, add the onions and butter to the fat, and cook for 10 minutes, until the onions are translucent.

Stir in the flour, salt, pepper, and turmeric and cook for 3 minutes. Add the chicken stock and potatoes, bring to a boil, and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes, until the potatoes are tender. If using fresh corn, cut the kernels off the cob and blanch them for 3 minutes in boiling salted water. Drain. (If using frozen corn you can skip this step.) Add the corn to the soup, then add the half-and-half and cheddar. Cook for 5 more minutes, until the cheese is melted. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Serve hot with a garnish of bacon.

*****

I read the ingredient list and thought, "Wow, that makes A LOT of soup!" Then I realized it said 10-12 servings. I'm really the only person in my house that eats soup, so that was going to be way too much. I decided to cut it in half. I also figured there were a few things I could do to make it slightly healthier. I figured since the bacon would render a lot of fat, and the recipe called for butter I could easily cut down on the olive oil. I used maybe two teaspoons, but it was probably closer to just one. I also used fat free half and half. I wasn't about to skimp on the cheese because I heart cheese. :)

*****

I sat down to have a nice bowl of this soup for my lunch once both kids were down for their naps. I was a bit leery of it because the picture in the cookbook didn't really look like a chowder to me, it looked more broth-y. Mine ended up looking like chowder, but I definitely had my reservations while it was cooking until it had that creamy chowder look to it. I'd read another Barefoot Bloggers review of this recipe, and she thought it was under-seasoned as it's written in the recipe and had added in Old Bay. I was ready to add some in if it needed it, but I really liked the flavor of it without adding anything additional. I had one bite that had the perfect amount of cheese flavor, a bacon piece, potato, and corn in it...it was fantastic!! The other bites were good but that one especially was great.

This was pretty easy to put together, and really tasty. I used frozen corn for mine and thought it was fine. Plus it's much easier to pour some frozen corn into the soup pot than having to cut the kernels off cobs.

I will definitely make this again at some point! Oh, and I put the recipe into the Recipe Calculator on the Weight Watchers website, and it came out to seven Points per serving, which I thought was pretty decent, considering chowders can be pretty decadent soups.

Bacon & Feta Stuffed Chicken

I couldn't believe I hadn't updated my blog since last Wednesday, then I remembered just how crazy the past few days have been, and it all made sense. Friday night the husband and I did our usual mini date night and had this for dinner after the kids went to bed. I apparently cut this out of a magazine at some point, but I have no idea when or what one it was from.

Bacon & Feta Stuffed Chicken
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/4 cup crumbled cooked bacon
1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 cans diced tomatoes (14-1/2 ounces each)
1 Tbsp dried basil

Carefully cut a pocket in each chicken breast. Fill with bacon and cheese; secure with toothpicks. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. In a large skillet brown chicken in oil.

Drain one can of tomatoes, discarding juice; add to the skillet with the undrained can of tomatoes. Sprinkle with basil. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Uncover; simmer 5 minutes longer until chicken is no longer pink and the tomato mixture has thickened.

*****

This was REALLY tasty! The bacon and feta was a great combination. Instead of using oil I used some of the bacon grease that was left in the pan after frying up the bacon. I poured most of it out and left a tablespoon or so, since that's the amount of oil that was called for. I also used organic chicken for the first time. I found some on clearance at the store a couple weeks ago and snatched it up. I thought it tasted different than conventional chicken, but the husband couldn't tell the difference. It's not something I'd spend the extra money on regularly, but if I can ever get it for cheap like that again, I will for sure. I'm not sure if the boy would like this, but the husband and I both really enjoyed it.

Slow Cooker Pinto Beans

I don't know why I've been slacking on posting lately. Monday was a pretty bad day at our house, and our dinner was easy, just tofu stir fry. Yesterday I don't know why I never got around to posting. Who knows. This is what we had. I'd seen a recipe for slow cooker pinto beans in a vegetarian cookbook I have and thought I'd try it. Then I saw my friend Jen B. had a recipe for them, and there is also one in my new favorite cookbook, Rick Bayless' Mexican Everyday. I decided to kind of combine all of them into one and see what I got.

Slow Cooker Pinto Beans

1 lb. dried pinto beans
1 onion, chopped
6 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
2 slices bacon, cut into chunks
2 bay leaves
2 Tbsp kosher salt
1 Tbsp black pepper
1 Tbsp Ancho chili powder
1 Tbsp cumin
1 Tbsp coriander
1 can beef broth
5 cups water

Sort through beans for any debris, pebbles, or sticks. Throw everything into slow cooker and cook on low 8-10 hours. When beans are done, strain liquid into a separate container and save for another use. Remove bay leaves and any other chunks you don't want in there (although I left the bacon in and thought it was yummy).

*****

I made refried beans out of some last night. For that I used two tablespoons of butter and probably two cups of the beans and a few ladlefuls of the cooking liquid and mashed it up first with a potato masher and then I switched to using my immersion blender. That worked a lot better.

Oh man...these were fantastic beans!! The flavor of them was so much better than anything I've ever had in a can. I think I'm a homemade refried beans convert now. I used them last night for tostadas, and for that I just fried some tortillas in oil to get them crispy (my oil took forever to heat up--I didn't think we were ever going to eat!) and then topped with the refried beans, cheese, lettuce, tomato, sour cream, guacamole, and salsa. They were quite tasty!! I had leftovers for lunch today and was just as pleased as I was last night!

Brooke's Breakfast Casserole

My bestest friend Brooke sent me this recipe for a breakfast casserole over the weekend. The timing was pretty impressive because I had to take food for my MOPS meeting this morning. I was going to do a different casserole, but she said she and her husband LOVED this one, so I figured I'd give it a try. And I had everything on hand for it except hashbrowns--and you know I LOVE when that happens! She found it on a blog she visits to find coupon deals in Boise, but since she sent it to me, I'm dubbing it Brooke's Breakfast Casserole.

Brooke's Breakfast Casserole
1 package Grands biscuits
4-5 cups frozen hashbrowns, thawed
1 package bacon (1 lb?), cooked and chopped
1 bag shredded cheddar cheese
8 eggs

Preheat oven to 350. Spread 6 biscuits in the bottom of a 9x13 pan to cover the bottom. Sprinkle hashbrowns over the biscuits. Season with salt and pepper (I used Lawry's Seasoned Salt). Place pan in oven for 10 minutes. Remove pan and top hashbrowns with chopped bacon. Spread cheese over bacon. Beat eggs and pour over top. Bake uncovered for an additional 30 minutes or until eggs are set in the center.

*****

This was really yummy! I had planned to take a picture of it once it came out of the oven, but we had to be getting out the door, so that didn't happen. There was none left to bring home, so I'll just have to make it again sometime so I can get a picture of it. :) It was really tasty, although I think I used too many hashbrowns. I didn't measure them out, just threw some handfuls into the pan. I might increase the number of eggs, too. I had to use mozzarella cheese because I was out of cheddar (okay, I had a block of it but didn't want to have to shred it), but I don't think it made a big difference. Oh, and I cut up the bacon using my kitchen shears before I cooked it. I prefer to do that over cooking it and then cutting it. Bacon is so doggone tasty. It was a good thing I didn't give myself a lot of time between when the bacon was done and I needed to put it in the casserole because I could have easily eaten all of it.

Chicken Bourguignon

I have to say that I am SO EXCITED for this dinner. My awesome sister-in-law Tracie sent me this recipe four years ago when they were living in Switzerland for a year. She got it from a cookbook they bought once they moved there and said it was one of their favorites. It kind of got lost in my email recipe folder, and I just recently came across it again when I was organizing four years worth of recipe emails. Hey, at least I finally got around to organizing!! Don't judge me.

Anyway, I read the recipe and started drooling all over my keyboard. I vowed once chicken legs went on sale I'd make it. Then what happened? Chicken legs were on manager's special the next time I went grocery shopping. Woo hoo!! I love when the stars align in my favor. I've had them in my freezer for a couple weeks now and was going to make this last week, but then we were all sick. I know, I know...why did I hold on to them for so long when I was so excited to make it? I have no answer. But I'm making it tonight and CANNOT WAIT!

Chicken Bourguignon

4 chicken legs w/ thighs attatched
salt and pepper
1 Tbsp butter
2 cups sliced mushrooms
1 cup cubed thick raw bacon
1/2 bottle white wine
1 small can whole tomatoes, cut up
4 cups chicken broth (add enough to almost cover chicken)
1 whole branch of rosemary
1 whole branch of thyme
2/3 small jar of pearl onions in vinegar, drained,washed
chopped parsely to garnish (optional)

Salt and pepper the chicken. Saute in large skillet with butter till brown. Remove chicken and keep warm. Throw away fat.

Saute bacon in same pan till cooked well. Add mushrooms and stir. Add wine and simmer till liquid is reduced by half.

Add tomatoes and juice from can and let cook 5 minutes. Add broth, and herbs and let slowly boil. Rinse onions and add to sauce. Place chicken back in sauce and simmer slowly for 1 - 1 1/2 hours. Remove herb branches, season with salt and pepper if needed. Garnish with parsely (optional). Serve with steamed rice.

*****

Oh how I wish I had a Le Creuset dutch oven to cook this in!! I don't think my 3.5 quart enamel pot will do the trick. Sigh. Life will go on, I suppose.

Have I mentioned how excited I am to try this???

Baked Egg Tchoupitoulas

Today was my friend Laura's baby shower. My friend Jen B. was in charge of food, and I asked if she needed help with anything. She said she needed another egg dish, so I said I'd make this one. We had it for Christmas breakfast last year, and it was really good. It's a lot of work and soooooooooooooo unhealthy, but it was a special occasion. I told the husband as I was finishing it up this morning that the amount of cholesterol in it must be staggering. You'll see why! I found this recipe on a website my mother-in-law sent me from a Lousiana tv station. I had kind of forgotten about it until I thought of this egg dish. I need to check out the list of recipes and see what else is on there.

Baked Egg Tchoupitoulas
2 pats butter or margarine
2 cups French bread, broken into small pieces
1 cup whole milk
8 large eggs
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. coarse ground black pepper
4 Tbsp. salted butter, melted and cooled
3/4 cup fully cooked breakfast sausage links, thinly sliced
3/4 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 lb. Lorraine or baby Swiss, shredded or sliced
10 slices bacon, fried, drained and crumbled
1-1/2 cup soft bread cubes, sauteed in butter

First, grease a 9 X 13-inch (2-quart) baking pan with butter or margarine and set it aside.

Then, almost as if you were making a bread pudding custard, mix the milk with the bread, gently knead it together with your fingers, and set the mixture aside to soak and form a slurry.

In the meantime, whip the eggs gently with a whisk or electric beater. Then stir in the salt, pepper, and butter until they are fully incorporated and gently combine it all with the milk and bread slurry.

Next, pour everything into the pre-greased baking pan and gently swirl into the eggs the sausage pieces and the cheddar so that they are uniformly distributed. Then cover the pan tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate it overnight.

Then when it's time to cook, evenly layer on the bacon, top it with the Swiss cheese slices, and crown it all with the sautéed bread cubes. All that's left is to bake the casserole at 400 degrees on the center rack of the oven for about 25 to 30 minutes or until the eggs have set. When you're ready to eat, just spoon out a generous helping right from the pan and chow down.

Most New Orleanians prefer to serve this breakfast dish with a hot cup of cafe au lait, a chilled glass of milk or orange juice, and a stack of toasted and buttered English muffins.

*****

I received a lot of compliments on it at the shower. It really was pretty tasty, if I do say so myself. I left what was remaining for Laura to take home becuase John can't eat this, and I didn't need to eat how much was left on my own.

John had a boys night out tonight, so no dinner at our house. Will had some tortellinis, and I don't know what I'll have. I'm still kind of full from the feast at the shower this morning!

Fisher Nutty Bacon Cheese Ball

I hope everyone had a good Christmas!! Ours was great, although it looks like a toy tornado swept through our house. My son is the only grandchild on my side of the family, so he gets completely spoiled. My family spoiled the husband and me quite a bit this year as well, so pretty much the entire downstairs of my house is pure chaos. We have some errands to run this morning and then I'm cleaning house and hopefully making this place look presentable once again!

I've gotten a few days off from cooking which has been nice. We spent Christmas at my mom's last night and had quite the feast. All I had to take was a cheese ball and cranberry sauce. I saw this recipe on Oprah a couple weeks ago and it looked freakin' awesome. I was so excited to try it.

Fisher Nutty Bacon Cheese Ball
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup milk
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/4 cup (1 ounce) blue cheese, crumbled
1/4 cup finely minced green onions (white part only)
1 jar diced pimento, drained
3/4 cup Fisher pecans, divided (Of course, any nut will do!)
10 slices of bacon, cooked, drained, finely crumbled and divided
Salt and pepper
1/4 cup minced parsley
1 Tbsp. poppy seeds

Place cream cheese in mixer bowl. Attach bowl and flat beater to mixer. Turn to Speed Two and mix 1 minute. Stop and scrape bowl. Turn to Speed Two and gradually add milk, mixing until well blended about 1 minute. Stop and scrape bowl. Add cheeses, onions, pimientos, half of the bacon and half the pecans. Turn to Speed 4 and beat until well blended, about another minute. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Transfer mixture to a large piece of plastic wrap. Form into a ball and wrap tightly. Repeat with the remaining mixture. Refrigerate (or freeze) at least 2 hours.

Combine the remaining bacon and remaining pecans, parsley and poppy seeds in a pie plate. Then, remove the plastic wrap and roll the cheese ball lightly in the bacon/nut mixture until evenly coated. Wrap it back up in plastic wrap and refrigerate again until ready to use.

*****

I initially tried to make just one big ball, but that wasn't working, so I ended up spliting the mixture in half and making two. There were 13 people at Christmas dinner last night, and we only went through one of them. The finished product after you roll it in the mixture was really pretty--and festive with the red pimentos in the cheese and the green parsley. I just realized I forgot to put poppy seeds in it, but I don't think it made any difference. It was totally awesome, if I do say so myself. I served it with Wheat Thins, but really any cracker would do or maybe even celery sticks.

Tonight it's back on track for dinner. I think we're going to have pizza, but I'll decide for sure later in the day.