Bacon (no) Pimento Mac & Cheese

So last semester, my daughter had a job out by her school. That meant she rarely came home for the weekend. But one weekend, she ended up with rare time off and was in Pittsburgh.

I wanted to make something to ensure she'd eat at least one meal with us and not be off gallivanting around Pittsburgh the whole time. I was kind of thinking that out loud and Jon said, "Just make Fried Chicken. She'll definitely come home."

He's so right! (Jon, bookmark this page... I put it in writing for the whole world to see!)

One meal sure to get Tawny to the table is Fried Chicken with all the trimmings... mashed potatoes & gravy, greens, corn, mac & cheese, biscuits and sweet tea.

I had just watched an episode of Paula's Best Dishes, where she made Bacon Pimento Mac & Cheese and decided to give it try.



Bacon Pimento Mac & Cheese
6 bacon slices
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
4 cups half-and-half
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
Two 8-ounce packages cream cheese, softened
One 4-ounce jar diced pimientos, drained (I didn't use these)
1/2 teaspoon salt
Cracked black pepper
1 pound small penne pasta or macaroni, cooked, drained and kept warm
3 cups shredded smoked Cheddar
3 cups shredded Parmesan

Preheat the broiler. Spray five 1-cup ramekins with nonstick cooking spray.

In a large Dutch oven, cook the bacon over medium heat until crisp. Remove from the Dutch oven and drain on paper towels. Reserve 1/4 cup bacon drippings in the Dutch oven, and discard any remaining drippings. Crumble the bacon set aside.

Add the butter to the drippings, and heat over medium-high heat until the butter melts. Whisk in the flour, whisking until smooth. Whisk in the half-and-half, and cook until the mixture is thickened and smooth, whisking constantly.

Add the ground red pepper. Stir in the cream cheese and let melt. Add the pimentos and bacon. Season with the salt and pepper. Add 2 cups smoked Cheddar and 2 cups Parmesan.

Spoon the pasta mixture evenly into the prepared ramekins. Top with the remaining 1 cup Cheddar and 1 cup Parmesan. Broil until cheese is lightly browned, about 4 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

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First, I shredded all of my cheeses.


Fry the bacon.


Set bacon aside.

Add butter to 1/4 C of bacon drippings.


Whisk in flour. Whisk until smooth.


Whisk in half & half.


When that's thickened, add cream cheese & red pepper and stir until melted.


Stir in bacon.


And 2 Cups of the Cheddar and 2 Cups of the Parmesan.


When that's all melted together. Stir it into the cooked pasta.


Spoon it evenly into ramekins and top with remaining shredded cheese.


Then under the broiler until golden & melty. (someday I'll have a stove that I don't have to lay on the floor to use the broiler!!!)




Time to enjoy!


Now first let me say this recipe makes WAY more than indicated. It calls for 5 1-cup ramekins. I used 6 2-cup ramekins and still had lots left! So this totally feeds an army.

Second... I made it to go 'with' a fried chicken dinner. This mac & cheese IS dinner. Add a salad to this and you're done!

It's very rich. But it was really tasty.

It would be great on a cold night. Not that there's a cold night likely in our near future, unless you're reading this in Australia. And I don't know for sure how cold their winters get!

If you get a cold snap, this would be a nice dinner. Or just file it away until those crisp fall nights are upon us!

Dying for Lasagna!

I was on the phone with my sister on Father's Day and asked her what they were doing for dinner. Apparently they had a meat sauce cooked up for a lasagna that never got cooked, so even though it was wicked hot, they were making lasagna.

As soon as she said that... I wanted some! I would have gone to her house for dinner, but it's a 10 hour drive.

So I just kept craving it.

But even though it was wicked hot here too, I couldn't hold out for cooler weather.

I wanted lasagna! I was able to wait almost a week before I made some!

There's no specific recipe for this. None of the amounts are exact.

I imagine it's pretty much how my mom made it.



Lasagna
1 box lasagna noodles
1 lb extra lean ground beef
1 lb Italian sausage (I used both hot and sweet)
24 oz ricotta cheese
3 - 4 C shredded provolone & mozzarella cheese
1/2 - 1 C shredded asiago/parmesan/romano cheese blend
1 egg
a couple palm fulls of Italian seasoning
1 medium onion, diced
several cloves of garlic, minced
salt & pepper
6 - 8 C Spaghetti Sauce, your favorite recipe or prepared sauce

Brown ground beef & sausage in a pan with onions & garlic. Drain off fat, add a palmful of Italian seasoning and some salt & pepper to taste; add spaghetti sauce and simmer.

While that's simmering, boil lasagna noodles according to the directions on the box, rinse in cold water.

In a bowl, combine ricotta, provolone & mozzarella (reserve 1 - 2 C provolone/mozzarella), asiago/parmesan/romano cheese blend, egg, a palmful of Italian seasoning and some salt & pepper. Combine well.

Now the noodles, meat sauce and cheese mixture are all ready to be assembled.

Reserve 1 - 2 cups of meat sauce. Put a little sauce in the bottom of a lasagna pan. Top that with a single, overlapping layer of noodles. Then evenly spread half of the meat sauce over the noodles. Next evenly spread half of the cheese mixtures over the meat sauce. Top with another layer of of overlapping noodles and repeat. When you get to the top layer of noodles, cover with reserved sauce and reserved cheese. Bake at 350F for 45 minutes. Let stand for 15 - 20 minutes before serving.
Enjoy!!

So that's the jist of it.

Now when I was making this lasagna, I was totally yackin' on the phone with my sister. I was VERY excited because I found out that my schedule WILL allow me to attend my cousin Annie's wedding in August. Unfortunately Jon's schedule isn't going to allow him to go with me, but Tawny & Bobby will definitely go too. In addition to that, my cousin Charlie will be there WITH his daughter Nadia! I was VERY VERY excited! Can't wait to go to the wedding, can't wait to see Charlie, can't wait to finally meet his beautiful daughter in person, can't wait to see everyone who will be at Annie's wedding!

Sooo... excited and blabbering on the phone equals not paying too much attention to what I'm doing in the kitchen!

I was taking pictures, but totally forgot the onion and garlic with the meat.

So brown up the sausage & beef, with onions & garlic.
(Wanna add peppers or olives? Go for it! Toss in whatever you like!)

Drain and add sauce. I used canned sauce this time.


At this point I realized I forgot the onion & garlic, so I added onion & garlic powder with the Italian seasoning.


Let that simmer.

Boil your noodles according to the directions and don't forget to add salt to the water!

Mix up your cheeses!




Rinse the noodles in cold water.


Time to assemble!







Now into a 350F degree oven for about 45 minutes.

Pull it out of the oven and let it rest for at least 15 - 20 minutes. If you cut it too soon, the pieces will slide apart.



Take that time to throw some garlic bread in the oven and toss a big garden salad!

Now it's dinner time!!

Mmmmmm.... big meaty cheeses pieces of lasagna!




Jon likes it even better the next day.




Four minutes in the microwave and it's time for wicked good leftovers!


Sometimes it's worth being in a wicked hot kitchen when you just have to have some lasagna!!

Linguine with Garlicky Clams & Peas

Why do I always forget that eating healthier isn't all rabbit food...

...it doesn't have to be boring...

and... in fact...

It can be totally delicious!!

I don't know!!



This is another Cooking Light recipe.

I just changed the basil to flat leaf parsley. You can use whatever herbs you like.

Linguine with Garlicky Clams & Peas
1 9oz package fresh linguine
2 TBLS olive oil
4 large garlic cloves, minced
3 61/2oz cans of chopped clams, undrained
1 C vegetable stock
1/4 C dry white wine
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
1 C frozen peas
1/2 C Parmesan, shredded
2 TBLS fresh parsley, chopped

Cook pasta according to direction on package.
Drain and keep warm.
Drain clams, reserve clams and 1/2 C clam juice; discard remaining juice.
Saute garlic in olive oil in a large skillet. Add 1/2 C clam juice, stock, wine and crushed red pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Add clams and peas and cook until heated through. Add cooked linguine to pan and toss well. Sprinkle with shredded Parmesan and chopped parsley.
Makes 4 hearty servings.

Per serving:
Calories: 403.8
Fat: 11.5
Carbs: 46.4
Protein: 24

This is all you need.


Cook pasta according to direction on package.
Drain and keep warm.


Saute garlic in olive oil in a large skillet.

Add 1/2 C clam juice, stock, wine and crushed red pepper.

Bring to a boil.

Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.

Add clams and peas and cook until heated through.




Add cooked linguine to pan and toss well.

Sprinkle with shredded Parmesan and chopped parsley.


This was so tasty and delicious!!

Add a nice green salad and you're all set!