Recipe #80 - Super Bowl Snacks: Hot Bacon-Blue Cheese Dip

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I originally bought the ingredients to this recipe for a football game. A kinda of tail gating dip if you will. However, I got behind so I made it as an appetizer for one of my entrees.

In a large skillet, fry the bacon over moderate over moderate heat till almost crisp, drain on paper towels, and crumble coarsely. 

Pour off all but about 2 tablespoons of fat from the skillet, add the onion, and stir 3 minutes. 

Add the flour and stir 3 minutes longer. Whisking, add the milk and beer, then add the Worcestershire and cayenne. Bring mixture to a low boil, whisking, cook for 2 minutes, and remove from the heat. 

Add the bacon and blue cheese and stir till the cheese is melted. 

Transfer the dip to a small bowl and serve with pita chips or bread sticks. 

Now I'm not the biggest blue cheese fan (unless it's in an olive). Teresa was the one that convinced me to make this recipe. I couldn't get over how overwhelming the taste of the blue cheese was. I couldn't even get past the second chip, so I'm not the the best to one to judge this recipe. However, everyone else inhaled it. For me the only redeeming quality was the bacon!

Rating: I would say 3, but the blue cheese lovers would say a lot higher. 

Time: 25 minutes

Serves: 6-8

Ingredients:

6 thick slices lean smoked bacon

1 small onion, minced

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/2 cup whole milk

1/2 cup lager beer

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Cayenne pepper to taster

1/2 pound blue cheese, crumbled

Your favorite breadsticks

Recipe # 41 - Cream Stuffed, Bacon Wrapped Jalapenos

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Let's add some spice to this blog! And by spice I mean friggin' hot jalapenos! 

Now I wanted to serve some hor d'oeuvres to my friends and family on the 4th of July. After a little research, I found this recipe. However, it only had three ingredients: jalapenos, cream cheese and bacon. Talk about blah! I took the idea and added a few of my own ingredients. 

If you try making these, one thing I recommend (actually, I insist upon) is using gloves when preparing the jalapenos. I did not. For the rest of the day every time I put a finger up to my mouth it started burning. Then it spread to my upper and lower lips and was amplified by the sun - it was miserable! Thanks to my clever aunts, I learned that if you apply either lemon or lime juice to the jalapeno burn it recedes almost immediately. 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Set out cream cheese and bacon to soften.

Start by rinsing the jalapenos and cutting them in half. Take a spoon or knife and remove all of the white membrane and seeds. Seeing as the seeds are what gives the jalapenos their main punch, you can leave a few inside to spice it up. I wasn't that daring :-/ Seeds be gone!

Mix the cheddar, mozzarella, cream cheese and sour cream in a medium bowl. Then stir in the green onions and chives. 

Next, cut the package of bacon in half. Wrap each jalapeno in a half strip of bacon. You can use more if the pepper is larger. You may also secure the bacon with a toothpick if needed. 

Place the peppers on a grilling rack and pop them into the oven for 20-25 minutes (until the bacon is crispy). They put off a lot of juice so I placed the grilling rack on a cookie sheet pan to catch the juices. Serve immediately or at room temperature.  

When I told people that I was going to be making these, I got a lot of "yucks" and "uh I think I may skip that one". But when these came out of the oven, I literally couldn't stop people from eating them! They smelled and tasted better than any of us had anticipated. I had to smack a few hands to make sure everyone had the chance to try at least one. 

I would definitely recommend these as an easy, tasty and fun to make hor d'oeuvre for any time of the year.

Rating: 10

Time: 40 minutes 

Serves: 20 (you know, unless everyone loves them, then about 10!)

Ingredients:

20 jalapenos

2 - 8 oz. blocks of cream cheese

1-2 pounds bacon (I used a little over 1 pound)

2/3 cup sour cream*

1 1/2 cup cheddar cheese*

1 cup mozzarella cheese*

3/4 cup green onions, diced*

1/3 cup chives*

*You can eye these measurements, if you feel like it needs more or less, then by all means!

Recipe #29 - Bird's Nest Breakfast Cups

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I found this one on my friend Clay's Facebook page. Actually it popped up on my News Feed after he liked it. Nevertheless, it looked amazing and had to try it.

This was originally was supposed to be a "healthy" recipe. All the way from turkey bacon to the egg substitutes. Of course I scratched all that and used the good shiz.

So, it's that time of the year again, time to take an extra long time to make egg recipes because I have to tap out the top and shake the heck out of the egg to try and extract the insides. All in the effort to have enough confetti eggs on Easter to turn our back yard into a confetti war zone.

Oh well, it's always worth it in the end... Lol. I digress. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium size bowl, beat together the eggs, milk, parsley, salt and pepper. Set aside.

In a large skillet, cook bacon over medium heat for 2 minutes on each side or until partially set but not crisp. Coat six muffin cups with butter; wrap two bacon strips around the inside of each cup. Fill each with 1/4 cup egg mixture; top with cheese.

Place into the oven for 18-20 minutes or until set. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan. I served with a side of biscuits. Dad presumed to put his whole Bird's Nest inside the biscuit, which actually looked yummy.

However, I think this recipe is all for show. It tasted just like bacon, eggs and cheese in a different form. Maybe if it had a sauce or something to compliment it, then it might have been a little more interesting end result.

Time: 30 minutes
Rating: 6
Servings: 6
Ingredients:
12 pieces of bacon
5 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon parsley
Salt & pepper to taste

Recipe #19 - Zucchini, Corn, and Basil Fusilli with Bacon

I wanted to make something with zucchini, mainly because I don't have a lot of experience with it and wasn't sure if I even liked it. I think that zucchini, like cauliflower, is not a very memorable veggie. No matter what one do it it seems.

This recipe was super quick and easy. Thirty minutes tops, start to finish. Probably even more quick if you bought pre-cooked bacon.

I started by cooking the bacon in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium heat, turning occasionally, until crisp. Depending on how fatty the bacon, drain on paper towels; discard drippings from skillet.

Meanwhile, cook fusilli in a pasta pot of boiling salted water (3 tablespoons salt for 6 quarts water) until al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup pasta-cooking water, then add vegetables to pasta in pot and cook, partially covered, 2 minutes (water will stop boiling). Drain.

Add pasta with veggies to skillet along with pesto and 1/4 cup reserved cooking water and toss. Season with salt and moisten with additional cooking water if necessary (in my case it was necessary).

Serve onto a plate then top with crumbled bacon and a generous amount of freshly ground pepper. I also added crumbled feta cheese, which was not part of the original recipe, but definitely added a little something something to it.

Time: 30 minutes
Rating: 7.5
Ingredients:
6 bacon slices
1 pound fusilli pasta (extremely cute pasta)
3 ears corn, kernels cut from cob (I used frozen corn)
1 1/2 pound zucchini, coarsely chopped (1/2 inch pieces)
1 (1- to 7- ounce) container basil pesto