Bacon Cheddar Wedge Salad!

BACON CHEDDAR WEDGE SALAD

SALAD:
Romaine Lettuce, cut in half lengthwise
Shredded Cheddar Cheese
Crumbled Bacon
Avocado Slices
Buttermilk Dressing

DRESSING:
1 cup sour cream
1 cup mayo
1/2 to 1 cup buttermilk (Depending on how thin/thick you like your dressing)
3/4 tsp cracked black pepper
1/2 tsp or more salt
1 Tbsp dill
1/2 tsp garlic powder
few dashes cayenne pepper
few dashes paprika
few dashes worcestishire sauce


1.  Whisk together all ingredients for the dressing and refrigerate for several hours!!!!

2.  Set 1/2 of a head of romaine lettuce on a plate, drizzle with dressing, top with cheese, bacon, avocado, and tomato (which is not pictured).

3.  EAT!!!!

Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf!

I just have to say in advance. . . I hate meat loaf.  I don't remember my mom making it often as a kid, but on the rare occasions that she did, I'd rather starve than eat it. I shouldn't even say this, since I am posting a meatloaf recipe. . .but it always reminded me of the can of cat food I remember my grandma feeding her cats.  Meat does not naturally come in loaf form, so eating and enjoying meatloaf is not something I do often.

I have made meatloaf for my family several times, and still feel the same way about it.  HOWEVER., when you wrap something in bacon, it becomes a WHOLE. 'NUTHA. FOOD.  You can barely qualify this as meatloaf.  It is now a smoky, bacon-wrapped, party in your mouth.  Dave loved it.  He loves just about any form of meatloaf.  I could probably crack open a can of Spam and he'd be happy, (note that I am sure that Spam even has meat in it. . . does it?)  but this meatloaf. . .he really genuinely, loved it.  I will even admit that I MORE than enjoyed this.  It was so good.  The flavor was just right, the bacon crisp yet tender, and the glaze. . .well. . . without it, this meatloaf wouldn't be the same.   

So if you're a meatloaf fan. . . this is a total no-brainer for you.   If, like me, you're not a meatloaf fan. . . I may have just changed your life.  You're welcome. 

BACON WRAPPED MEATLOAF

MEATLOAF:
1 cup heavy cream
6 slices of italian/white bread
2 lbs lean ground beef
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp fresh cracked black pepper
1/4 tsp garlic powder
few dashes of cayenne pepper
4 eggs
12ish slices of bacon

GLAZE:
1/2 cup ketchup
3Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp mustard
few dashes of Worcestishire Sauce

1.  Break bread into bite sized pieces and pour the heavy cream over the bread pieces.  Let soak while you move on to the next step.

2.  In a great big bowl, toss in your ground beef, parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, and eggs. 

3.  Toss the bread soaked in cream into the bowl with the other ingredients.

4.  Now comes the part that makes me want to gag every time. . . dig your hands all up in that business and mush until all the ingredients are combined.

5.  Line a cake pan or jelly roll pan with foil, and form meat into a loaf in the center of foil-lined pan.  (I did a longer rather than wider loaf.  It helps cook a bit faster and is easier for covering with the bacon.)

6.  NOW comes the fun part, grab that bacon, and just cover the meatloaf with it.  Tuck the ends in under the meatlaof to keep it from falling apart!

7.  Toss in the oven at 350 and bake for about 50 minutes. 

8.  While meatloaf is baking, whisk your glaze ingredients together.  After the meatloaf has baked for about 50 minutes, pour glaze over the top of the meatloaf and return to oven for another 15 to 20 minutes. 

9.  Once you remove the meatloaf from the oven, let set for ten to fifteen minutes before slicing!

Bucatini All'Amatriciana

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Giada DeLaurentiis! She is my favorite cook on the Food Network. (Well, she and Paula Deen are tied.) Over the years I have made MANY of Giada's recipes. When I found out that Target was carrying her brand I was so excited! Her pasta recipes always look so fresh and delicious.
One thing I realized when watching her show, however, is that she always cooks with pasta shapes that I cannot find in stores. Now I know that to a lot of people, pasta is pasta. Who cares about the shape, but after two years of searching for Bucatini noodles, I wanted to SCREAM when I found this!It's basically Spaghetti Noodles, only thicker, and with a tunnel down the center of them!
I cannot WAIT TO EAT DINNER! I actually just took the recipe from the back of the box, and followed that with a few minor changes. So here it is:



Bucatini All'Amatriciana

1 lb Bucatini Pasta
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 lb Peppered Bacon, fried and crumbled (this is different than her recipe, hers calls for 6oz of pancetta, but I used bacon, and a lot of it! This is a mostly meatless pasta but I thought that by adding the bacon I could use it as a main dish.)
1 yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
1 14oz can of crushed tomatoes
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 cup grated Romano cheese

1. To a large, heavy skillet add onion and olive oil. Cook for about 5 minutes till tender.

2. Add in garlic, red pepper flakes, tomatoes, salt, pepper, and bacon. Simmer, uncovered, over medium heat for about 15 minutes or until sauce slightly thickens.
3. Cook pasta according to directions and toss with sauce.

4. Stir in cheese, and serve! Garnish with additional grated cheese.

Creamy Ranch Chicken

I'm part of a recipe exchange group on facebook, and this recipe was shared by a friend from high school. Any time you're throwing bacon and chicken together, it's a winner for me!

Creamy Ranch Chicken

6 slices bacon

2 Tbsp. flour

1 1/4 c. milk

1 Tbsp. finely shredded Parmesean cheese

4 chicken breasts, skinless, cut into bite sized pieces

2 Tbsp. dry ranch salad dressing mix

3 c. medium egg noodles

1. Cut bacon into narrow strips.

2. In a large skillet, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp.

3. Drain bacon on paper towels, discard all but 2 tablespoons of drippings.

4. In the same skillet, cook chicken in reserved bacon drippings, turning to brown evenly, until tender and no longer pink.

5. Sprinkle flour and salad dressing mix over the chicken; stir well.

6. Stir in milk. cook and stir until thickened and bubbly.

7. Cook and stir 1 minute more. Stir in bacon.

8. Serve chicken over noodles or mashed potatoes.

9. Sprinkle with Parmesean.

NOTE: I added a few handfuls of frozen peas to this.

Chicken Bacon and Ranch Bagels

This was a leftover dinner. All of it. Leftover Everything bagles, leftover chicken, leftover bacon. Last nights dinner, revamped to become this nights dinner.

Chicken Bacon and Ranch Bagels

1 Everything bagel
3 Tbsp ranch dressing
1/2 chicken breast, cooked and diced
2 thick slices of cheddar cheese
2 slices of bacon, fried crisp and chopped

1. Toast bagels in toaster just until warm and slightly crisp. Not even browned.

2. Top each bagel half with 1 1/2 Tbsp of ranch dressing. You can do more or less. I made this for Dave, and he loves his ranch dressing.

3. Top ranch with diced chicken.

4. Layer cheese on top of chicken.

5. Sprinkle with bacon.

6. Bake at 350 for about 10 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Creamy Spinach Noodle Toss

Easy and fast! I do have to say one thing about it that freaked me out. . . the recipe actually uses the bacon drippings in the sauce. I just can't bring myself to do it, so I replaced it with butter.

Creamy Spinach Noodle Toss

1 12 oz pkg. of egg noodles, I used Amish Kitchen Kluski Noodles
4 strips of bacon, diced
2 Tbsp finely chopped onion
3 Tbsp flour
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 cups milk
1 9oz pkg. of fresh baby spinach
3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

1. Cook noodles according to package directions.

2. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook bacon and onion until bacon is crisp.

3. Using a slotted spoon, remove bacon and onion bits to paper towel to drain.

4. Stir the flour, salt, and pepper into the bacon drippings until blended.

5. Slowly add in milk and bring to a slow boil, stirring constantly.

6. Add spinach and stir until spinach is wilted.

7. Drain noodles and transfer to a serving dish.

8. Toss noodles with sauce and cheese.

9. Top with bacon and serve.

Bacon Carbonara

I'm admittedly a TV Cooking Show JUNKIE! I watch them all. I record them all. I copy them all! Last night I was watching a new show called Kitchen Boss. It's the guy from Cake Boss, only he's not baking cakes. . .he's cooking Italian food! On this episode he was making an authentic Pasta Carbonara.

I've been looking for a good recipe for a Carbonara for a long time. There are many different versions of it out there. The one thing I find in common is that they all call for raw egg. (Now, the egg does get cooked by the heat of the noodles, but the actual use of raw egg just freaked me out.)

But I've done some research and came to the conclusion that the heat of the noodles cooks the egg enough to be safe. If there is a concern about the egg, you can use the pasteurized ones.

I will tell you this, the velvety texture of the pasta with the egg, seasoned with the saltiness of the bacon, is to die for. It is so good.

Bacon Carbonara

1 lb bacon, fried and chopped
12 oz of spaghetti noodles
4 eggs
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1 cup frozen sweet peas
salt
pepper
milk or half and half
1. In a large pot, bring water to a boil for cooking pasta. Heavily salt the water.

2. Once water comes to a boil, add in pasta and cook as directed on package.

3. Meanwhile, in a large glass bowl, whisk together the eggs and parmesan cheese.

4. Once noodles are cooked, drain and immediately toss with the eggs and parmesan.

5. Toss to coat.

6. At this point, the pasta will be fairly thick. Toss in the bacon and peas.

7. Add in enough milk or half and half to thin out the sauce a bit. Now's a good time to season with salt and pepper as well.

8. Serve immediately.
NOTE: This does not reheat well!

Bacon Cheddar Cracker Spread

Mmmmmmm. . . Bacon. I adore this lovely mixture. It is so good. I mean, honestly, it's bacon and cheese.

I had this for the first time at a party and I HAD to have the recipe. It has become a Holiday Staple in our home. It's at almost every get together.

You can put it on anything, and it will taste delicious. I like to eat it with Wheat Thins. It's something about the salty bacon with the sweet cracker. Yum. We've also topped baked potatoes with this as well, and it gets all melty and cheesey.

You HAVE to make it. Just do it.

Bacon Cheddar Cracker Spread

1 lb cooked, crumbled, bacon
2 bunches of chopped green onions
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
enough mayo to hold ingredients together

1. Mix together the bacon, green onions, and cheese.

2. Mix in mayo. You only need enough mayo to hold the ingredients together.

3. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.

4. Serve with crackers.

Bacon Fried Corn

Packed with heavy cream, butter, bacon, and bacon fat. . .this is not a very healthy veggie. But for the Holidays, it sure is a delicious one! I mean, really, how can you go wrong with this combo?

Bacon Fried Corn

6 slices bacon
2 to 4 Tbsp butter
1 10oz bag of frozen corn, thawed
2 Tbsp finely chopped onion
1 to 2 Tbsp sugar
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
Salt
Pepper

1. Chop bacon into tiny pieces. Fry until crisp.

2. Save 2 Tbsp of bacon fat.

3. In a separate saute pan, melt butter.

4. Add in corn, onion, and 2 Tbsp bacon fat.

5. Sprinkle on the sugar, salt , and pepper.

6. Add in the cream, and stir continually until corn is tender and slightly browned.

7. Toss with crumbled bacon and serve.

Bacon Cheddar Quiche

This quiche could be served for brunch or lunch, along with mixed fresh fruit or a tossed salad. Use prepared pie pastry or a frozen thawed pie shell if you need to cut time. I made this for Fathers Day for my husband. It was a hit with everyone. I mean really, how can you go wrong with bacon and cheese?

Bacon Cheddar Quiche

CRUST:
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cold butter, cut in small pieces
2 to 3 tablespoons ice-cold water.

1. In a mixing bowl, mix together flour and salt.

2. Cut in cold butter with a pastry blender until coarse crumbs form; add water, a little at a time, until dough holds together and forms a ball.

3. Shape into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for about 30 minutes.

4. On a lightly floured surface with a floured rolling pin, roll out dough into a circle about 11 inches in diameter.

5. Fit dough into a 9-inch pie plate or quiche pan. Trim edges, leaving a little overhang, about 1/4-inch all around the edge. Prick dough with a fork.

6. Bake at 375 for 10 minutes.

FILLING:
8 strips lean bacon, cooked and crumbled
4 large eggs
1 1/2 cups half-and-half or heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon dried leaf thyme
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese

1. In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, cream, thyme, and pepper. Pour into the baked crust.

2. Crumble bacon over the top with the shredded Cheddar cheese.

3. Bake at 375° for about 30 minutes, or until quiche filling is set and top is lightly browned.