I really like Maryland, I do.  At first I hated it.  For starters, it's very cold in the winter.  Never the less, over the past four and a half years, it's really grown on me.  But the first thing I do everytime I go home is go to Bojangles (which has the best slogan ever- "Born and Breaded in the Carolinas").  Now, I'm aware that there are a handful of Bojangles north of Richmond.  But I don't trust them.  In high school I went to one, and they didn't serve sweet tea.  And that's just not natural.  What draws me back to Bo's again and again, is their chicken biscuit.  It's a spicy chicken filet on a buttery, flaky, divine biscuit.  

Now, at home I prefer my biscuits with a fried egg, cheese, and a little bacon.  But the actual biscuit itself, well that needs to uphold the standard of delicious biscuits... flaky, buttery, melt in your mouth goodness.  And this recipe certainly does that.  It produces perfect biscuits time and again, and you don't have to worry about sticking to the recipe exactly, it fudges pretty easily.

So let's talk about this recipe.  The measurements I'm going to give you make about ten biscuits.  Now, since I can never seem to find the ability to eat ten biscuits before they go stale, I make a mix, and measure out of that as needed.  In my opinion, the key ingredients here are the pastry flour and the heavy cream.  I also add in fresh rosemary, which is totally optional.  I think rosemary is one of the most heavenly herbs.  It brings a really succulent flavor to the biscuit, which works harmoniously with the flavors in the eggs and bacon, but probably wouldn't be so complimentary to other things.  So feel free to substitute the rosemary with other herbs or spices, or to leave it out completely.

One last note about the tools... Since I recently made hand pies, I purchased biscuit cutters.  Prior to that, I was using a glass cup, which frankly worked almost as well.  Really, even patting the dough into a round shape will produce a biscuit, which is always what I do with the dough scraps.  The only downside to that is that the biscuit tends not to be committed to being one biscuit, so it's no good for cutting in half and loading with other foods.  Like I said, this recipe is nothing to be afraid of.  Frankly, it lets you fudge it here and there, and unlike other biscuit recipes, it actually takes effort to mess it up.

Rosemary Biscuits

1 1/4 cups self rising flour

3/4 cup pastry flour (or cake flour)

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp sugar

4 tbsp cold butter

2 tbsp melted butter (for glazing)

1 1/4 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup all purpose flour (for shaping the biscuits, not to go into the mix)

2 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary

Preheat the oven to 475(f).  Whisk together the dry ingredients and the rosemary.  Use fingers to incorporate cold butter.  With the butter, you really just have to knead it with your fingers until the mixture has a course texture, like corn meal.  Pour in cream.  Stir (preferably with a wooden spoon) until dough forms.  It's okay if the dough is a little sticky, you'll work it out on the countertop.  

Sprinkle the all purpose flour onto the countertop and scoop your dough onto it.  Use your hands to flatten it out.  I like to flatten it a little, flip it, and flatten it some more.  This method ensures that one side doesn't get over worked, which is important.  If your dough (and this goes for any dough, really) ever gets too sticky and unmanageable, pop it into the fridge for twenty minutes or so.  The stickiness is really coming from the butter getting too warm, so cooling it off will allow it to firm up a bit.  Using a biscuit cutter (or whatever you have laying around), cut the dough into circular shapes.  Place on ungreased baking pan.  

Now, I put aside the measuring cup that I used to hold the heavy cream and melt the butter for glazing in that.  It just gives it an extra creaminess.  Using a baking brush (I use a silicon one, but anything will do), brush melted butter on top of the biscuits.  Bake for 10-12 minutes.

One word of advice if you are going to slice these biscuits in half and stuff them with things.  Give them five minutes to cool off before you cut into them.  Otherwise they'll crumble and you'll have a hard time eating anything sandwich style on them.

Here is a brand new hypothesis I just thought up. Every food item in the world falls into two categories: those that can be dipped in chocolate, and those that can be wrapped in bacon. Am I wrong or right? I believe I am right.

Also, and I can't tell you how many times I have thought this (particularly when I have deadlines), but in the movie "Click" Adam Sandler used the remote control in totally the wrong way. He should have paused his life, thus giving him time to finish his work. And he should have gotten the hell out of there as soon as Christopher Walken showed up - I mean, that's never a good sign, is it? It means some serious weirdness is going to go down that you don't want any part of.

However, the bacon prize now goes to Matty Brown for having a bacon shaped wound from working out. Congratulations Matty!! That is HOT HOT HOT!!

lunch: onigiri (rice balls), marinated carrots & niratama (scrambled egg with chinese chives)

dessert: more jellies. the purple sweet potato mousse & grapefruit with cheese mousse.
おさつババロア＆グレープフルーツゼリー

dinner: miso soup with tofu and nameko mushrooms, tofu with myoga ginger, sauteed bacon and dried japanese radish & a bit of rice (not pictured)

Another The L Word marathon. I'm on to season 3 now. Here comes Alan Cumming. Yes!

I went out just once for a little bit to get my prescription drug. They had a massage chair there at the store. These really hard massage balls go up and down your back. It hurt like hell but felt so good.

Hi, everyone.  I have nothing else to say as I've been watching too much TV!

Each one is worthy of its own post, but today I'm going to write about the one on the bottom left: Doré de l'Abbaye.  It is a washed-rind cheese, so I expected it to be pretty strong and stinky.  Not so.  Very similar to Port Salut, it has a thin orange rind which is edible but not particularly tasty.  The off-white cheese inside is semi-soft with a very mild stinky-cheese flavor.  An entry-level washed-rind cheese, I would not hesitate to serve this one to newbies or people who are apprehensive about esoteric cheeses.  The texture of it reminded us a bit of Monterey Jack, and we hoped that it might be a good cheese for melting.

Which brings me to the tartiflette-of-sorts.  One of Nick's colleagues (the one who told me about tartiflette to begin with) brought him a box of buckwheat pasta squares, which had a variation of the recipe on the back.

While I love the idea of pasta, cream, bacon and cheese baked together in a gooey, delicious mess, I thought I should attempt to sneak some vegetables into the dish, so as to make it a more complete meal.  Considering the sauce is basically the famous bacon-onion dip, I figured I could bulk that up with a leek or two without drastically affecting the flavor.  Then I saw the first winter squash display of the season.  After much internal debate, I chose the patidou.

About the size of an acorn squash, the patidou has smooth flesh and a sweet, nutty flavor akin to butternut squash.  I just knew it would be delicious in my tartiflette-like dish.  So I peeled and diced it and sautéed it in butter until it started to brown.

I moved it to a bowl and used the same pan to start the bacon cooking for the sauce.  When it had given up most of its magical fat, I added a large leek, sliced into little pieces, and let it soften and begin to caramelize.  All this joined forces with a container of crème fraîche, and I set that aside for a moment, too.

Meanwhile, I was boiling water for the crozets.  When they were ready, I drained them and poured them into the bowl with the patidou.  I plopped the leek mixture on top and gently stirred it all together.  Into my baking dish it went, and I topped it with the diced remains of the Doré de l'Abbaye (remember that?).  A few minutes in the oven to heat it through and melt the cheese, and dinner was served.

As predicted, the cheese melted beautifully and melded wonderfully with the rest of the flavors in the dish.  It may not have been traditional, but it was a hearty, warming meal for one of the first cold nights of autumn.  Thanks, Sabine!

Originally published on Croque-Camille.

1    lb    Linguini
16    Jumbo shrimps
4    Bacon strips cut into 2" pieces
1/2 lb    Fresh asparagus cut into bite size pieces
1/4 cup    White wine
1   cup    Heavy cream
2   Tbs    Fresh chives
4   Tbs    Olive oil
1   tsp    Lemon rind
Salt and pepper to taste

Boil Linguini according to package directions rinse and set aside.
Peel shrimp set aside in fridge until ready to use
Cook bacon until crispy and drain the fat out of pan. Set bacon aside.
Add olive oil to pan and cook aspargus until just about tender. Add white wine and cream, bring to simmer, add bacon, lemon rind and shrimp and cook until shrimp is pink
Mix pasta and sauce together with fresh chives.

4 servings

4   Bacon slices; chopped thick
4   Green onions chopped
½  cup Whipping cream
1/2 cup Parmesan
1/2 cup Romano
1/3 cup    Basil chopped fresh
½ lb Fettuccine
2 Tbs Olive Oil
ground pepper to taste
Parsley

Cook fettuccine in large pot of boiling salted water until al dente.
In a skillet over medium heat cook bacon until beginning to brown. Drain grease. Set Bacon aside.
Heat Olive Oil, add green onions and cook until softened.
Add cream and simmer until beginning to thicken. Mix in Romano and Parmesan cheese and chopped fresh basil.
Add pasta to skillet and coat with sauce.
Serve on platter topped with parsely garnish

Serves 4

Prep Time: 15 min
Total Time: 6 hr 15 min
Makes: 10 servings, 1/2 cup each

• 3 cans (15 oz. each) pinto beans, drained, rinsed
• 1 cup KRAFT Original Barbecue Sauce
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 2 slices OSCAR MAYER Bacon, chopped

1. Place all ingredients in slow cooker; mix well. Cover with lid.
2. Cook on LOW for 4 to 6 hours (or on HIGH for 3 hours).

**Personal Review: No Review Yet**

You don't have to do anything more complicated than make brownies and chuck some cooked bacon in, though I diverted a little from the recipe on Bacon Today by making the brownies from scratch rather than using a ready made batter.

The resulting brownies are actually rather good, they don't taste much different to normal brownies, they're just a little saltier and have strange chewy bits in them. The bacon doesn't add much depth to the flavour and it's certainly not a new experience for the tastebuds, but at least you don't gag on the first mouthful.

Yum yum.

xx

This is all I could ever ask for. Maple-Bacon flavored suckers.

Cook macaroni according to directions on box until just tender. In a bowl mix the macaroni with the sour cream. Melt the Velveeta in the microwave. Pour into the bowl with macaroni. Add the broccoli and bacon. Mix well. Put into a oven safe dish and Sprinkle breadcrumbs over the top. Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Serves 6

Prep Time: 15 min
Total Time: 30 min
Makes: 8 servings, one filled crescent each

• 1 can (8 oz.) refrigerated crescent dinner rolls
• 4 oz. (1/2 of 8-oz. pkg.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup finely chopped tomatoes
• 1/4 cup finely chopped red peppers
• 4 slices OSCAR MAYER Bacon, crisply cooked, drained and chopped

1. Preheat oven to 375ºF. Separate dough into eight triangles; spread with cream cheese. Top evenly with remaining ingredients.
2. Roll up, starting at shortest side of each triangle. Place, point-sides down, on baking sheet.
3. Bake 12 to 15 min. or until golden brown. Serve warm.

**Personal Review: No Review Yet**

Catelyn is a pretty happy girl, and she loves to say "Hi!" to people. I think it surprised her when some people didn't say "Hi!" back during our day in D.C. Her favorite animals at the zoo by far had to be the fearless peacocks and peahens... they hung out with Catelyn for a good fifteen, twenty minutes, basking in the rays of an early afternoon sun through the habitat that is the outdoor aviary.

Catelyn needed Momma's help to see over the railing to look at some cranes in a pool at the top of the outdoor aviary walk. I think she was also comforted by Sarah's presence -- those birds are tall!

Leaving the zoo, we stopped at Coldstone Creamery for some ice cream (both of the Jones women were craving some chocolately goodness, while I opted for vanilla) before heading down to the Metro station. Catelyn really liked the trains, and made sure to say "Goodbye!" to everyone when they got off at their stops. Once back to our vehicle, Catelyn opened up her Dora book to read and barely made it out of the parking lot before nodding off, probably dreaming of her new peacock friends.

The next morning, Catelyn The Fussy Eater suprised everyone by asking for a piece of just-cooked bacon. This request, coming from the child who won't eat pasta, rice, chicken... (the list goes on). But for some reason that morning, she wanted - and got - her own piece of bacon. Which she insisted on eating right next to poor Scout, who couldn't help but wish she'd suddenly decide to not like bacon anymore, or to practice her sharing.

Scout, the weimaraner. My goddog, the patiently photographed, and the coveter of bacon.

Slice up bacon in to small pieces and cook until just crisp. In a bowl add ranch dressing, sour cream and Parmesan, mix well.
Add in the bacon. Chill for 1 hour and serve with veggies or chips

Prep Time: 25 min
Total Time: 32 min
Makes: 4 servings, two topped potatoes each

8 small new potatoes (3/4 lb.), about 1-1/2 inches in diameter
1/2 cup water
4 slices OSCAR MAYER Center Cut Bacon
2 Tbsp. KRAFT Zesty Italian Dressing
1/2 cup KRAFT Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese

Place potatoes and water in 2-qt. microwaveable dish. Microwave, uncovered, on HIGH 10 min. or until potatoes are tender. Let stand 5 min. Meanwhile, cook bacon in large nonstick skillet on medium heat 8 to 10 min. or until crisp, turning frequently. Drain on paper towels.

Drain potatoes; place on work surface. Press each potato with bottom of small bowl or saucer to flatten to 1/2-inch thickness.

Heat dressing in skillet on medium heat. Add potatoes; cook 4 min. or until bottoms are golden brown. Meanwhile, crumble bacon. Turn potatoes over; sprinkle evenly with cheese and bacon. Cover skillet with lid. Cook an additional 2 min. or until cheese is melted.

**Personal Review: No Review Yet**

Réfléchissons. Noël est une christianisation de Yule, la fête de l'hiver; l'Halloween est une commercialisation de Samhain, la fête celte des morts et des ténèbres; la Saint-Jean Baptiste est une christianisation (et une déplorable politisation souverainiste) de la fête d'été des païens scandinaves... Mais l'Action de grâce, c'est quoi ? Serait-ce une dérive de Mabon, la fête automnale de la fin des récoltes ? Mais Mabon est à l'équinoxe d'automne, on est donc loin de la date...

Je soupire à l'idée que la rationnelle de ce congé de trois jours, en fin de compte, est peut-être purement catholique, sans aucune racine dans des traditions plus anciennes et plus intéressantes... Sigh...

Baooon, allons faire du bacon. Ça va me changer les idées. :P

I found this on the baconfreak.com blog and felt moved to share it with everyone. Ten minutes before your alarm goes off, two halogen lamps begin cooking the slice of bacon you put in the night before, and you awake to the sweet, smoky smell of love. How can you possibly have a bad day?

]]> http://magiesplacerecipes.wordpress.com/?p=75 Fri, 10 Oct 2008 17:25:44 +0000 magiesplace http://magiesplacerecipes.pt.wordpress.com/2008/10/10/cheesy-potato-skins/ Potato Skins

Brush shells, inside and out with the butter. Place back in a 450-degree oven 20 minutes until crisp and brown. Take from oven and distribute the cheese in each. Replace in oven until cheese melts. Place on platter, top with a spoon of sour cream and top with bacon bits. Serves 6

Christina got her two truffles first--one with curry, and the other with Tallegio cheese inside--and went and sat down. By the time I purchased mine, one of hers was gone, and she had the most blissed-out look on her face. Bedroom eyes, chocolate mouth. Anyway, I found out why when I bit into mine. It was dark chocolate with a little bit of applewood-smoked bacon, which, once you get past the strange idea of it, is truly inspired: slightly smoky, slightly fruity, it accessed taste memories of bacon with maple syrup poured all over it. I might have moaned a little bit. Once I came back to myself, Christina just looked at me: "See what I mean?"

I did.

Her Taleggio cheese one was, apparently, really cheesy, which is unsurprising considering the a-bomb of flavor involved. Delicious, but I think her heart was won over by the curry truffle.

Delightful as they were, that was kind of insubstantial for dinner, but, tummies grumbling, we stumbled on a place that one of G's friends had recommended. Thank you, friend of Christina. It's called Il Corallo Trattoria, and we ate like queens (or pigs, depending on your lights). Christina had a fennel, chicken, carrot, pea, and garlic pasta dish with olive oil, and I had artichoke ravioli in a creamy tomato sauce, and, natch, slices and slices of bread drizzled with olive oil. We ate like we had never seen food before, and it came to $12 for each of us. In Soho. Including tip. Truly, it's a pretty magnificent feat, but Ms. G is a wonderful restaurant guide--if it weren't for her, I'd probably go to the same three places, or continually end up miserably eating soup in a crappy, expensive cafe.

Tomorrow I'm off to the island! I'm trying to plan a nice surprise for my madre, considering it's her birthday and she seemed a little sad, but I'm planning on buying cupcakes and singing to her in the car on the ferry. I apologize in advance to any of my fellow passengers on the boat--I wouldn't sing unless it were for a really good cause! Anyway, I'm really looking forward to it.

Sit down kids, it's time for a story. A year ago two of my co-workers went to an apple orchard. On the way home, they stopped at a butcher and bought, among other things, cinnamon bacon. Now, they didn't plan this, but once cinnamon bacon and apples were in the same car, it was only a matter of time before someone said "Bacon Apple Pie!" And so it came to pass.

A pie was attempted that very day. It was made with care, with love, and yes, with bacon. And yet somehow the pie was bad. In fact the words used to describe this pie were "tasted like bile." Immediately upon hearing this story, I denounced the failed pie-maker and I swore that I could successfully make a bacon apple pie...one that would be not just good, but transcendent.

I made plans with another co-worker to make this holy grail of pies. But somewhere along the line, things got a bit off course. We decided to use pears instead of apples. Then we decided not to make a pie at all. Maybe it was nerves, maybe it was just a creative inspiration...it was a year ago, I honestly don't remember the reasons. But suddenly our plans for bacon apple pie turned into a bacon pear clafouti and a pear upside down bacon cake. They were both quite good, especially the upside down cake, but neither could be considered a pie by any stretch of the imagination. Nevertheless, I congratulated myself on a job well done and forgot about the whole thing.

Until this year when I went to the orchard with my family. Suddenly I had an abundance of apples and no plans for them. And so, I embarked upon an epic quest to create the perfect bacon apple pie.

That quest, unfortunately, has not yet been completed. I have, however, created a very good bacon apple pie. It's sweet, salty, a little meaty, just a bit smoky with a hint of spices. The thing is, it doesn't quite feel like a cohesive whole. It's more like a good apple pie with some bacon. The flavors complement each other well, but they haven't quite merged into that transcendent whole-is-more-than-the-sum-of-its-parts experience that i just know this pie could (and eventually will) be. That said, this pie as is tastes pretty great; I have no qualms about posting this recipe. But that doesn't mean I won't continue to tweak it in search of perfection.

Footnote: Before I made my pie, I did a few quick searches to see who else had already made bacon apple pies in blogland. The answer, shockingly, was almost no one. (Although I did steal the bacon lattice top idea from one of them.) Even with the full saturation of bacon into the blogosphere, it seems bacon apple pie is nearly untouched.

Cæsarsalat

3 skiver daggammel loff i terninger
1 ss olivenolje
1-2 fedd hvitløk
4-8 salatblader
1/2-1 hode isbergsalat eller annen grønn salat
litt parmesan i tynne skiver

Dressing:
1 dl majones
2 ss hvitvinseddik
8-10 hakket ansjosfilet
2 ts fransk sennep
1 fedd preset hvitløk
2 ss yoghurt naturell
3 ss vann
salt
pepper

Framgangsmåte:

Forbered ingrediensene, men bland salaten først like før servering.

Lag brødkrutonger ved å steke loffterningene sprø og brune i olivenolje. Press hvitløken over terningene. Avkjøl.

Rør sammen alle ingrediensene til dressingen. Smak til med salt og pepper.

Anrett salatbladene på et fat eller på tallerkener og ha hakket salat over. Fordel dressingen, krutongene og osten over. Serveres umiddelbart.

Tips: Cæsarsalat er godt med stekte kyllingskiver og stekt bacon. Man kan også ha for eksempel løkringer, soltørket tomat og hardkokt egg i salaten.

Jeg gjorde det veldig enkelt i dag og kjøpte ferdige krutonger på butikken, men det er veldig godt å lage det selv også. Da jeg laget salaten startet jeg med å lage dressingen. Jeg gjorde litt om på oppskriften fordi jeg ikke hadde alle ingrediensene, så sausen jeg laget er uten ansjos og yoghurt. Den ble veldig god likevel. Til selve salaten bestemmer man selv hvilke salater man vil bruke. Jeg la først blader av grønn lollosalat på tallerkener. Deretter tok jeg en halv isbergsalat og delte opp i korte strimler og la dette over salatbladene. Deretter delte jeg to kyllingfileter opp i biter og stekte dem. Da de var ferdige stekte jeg noen skiver bacon. Jeg fordelte brødkrutongene, kyllingfiletene og bacon over salaten, fordelte så dressing utover og drysset revet parmesanost på toppen.