B L T Pasta – I’ll Have the Bacon Lettuce and Tomato…Hold the Sandwich

I love Twitter for many reasons, but stumbling upon recipe ideas is probably my favorite. I recently saw a picture posted by my friend, Mardi from eat. live. travel. write, for something called, “BLT Pasta,” and I immediately had one of those, “why didn’t I think of that” moments. By the way, I have four or five of those moments a day.

Since I get so many food wishes for pasta recipes, I figured I would give it a go. Plus, as luck would have it, I had some arugula in the fridge just begging to be used. I knew that this combination would taste great, but I wasn’t prepared for just how great.

I decided to use crème fraiche as the main sauce ingredient, and it worked beautifully. It was just rich enough, and the fermented cream’s subtle nuttiness was an excellent foil for the smoky meat, sweet tomatoes, and bitter greens. As I mentioned in the video, crème fraiche is pretty easy to find, but of course we’ll encourage you to follow this link and make your own.

If you can’t find or make some, just use heavy cream along with a squeeze of lemon juice to mimic that essential tanginess. Thank you Mardi (and Twitter) for the inspiration, and if you’re looking for a quick, easy, and very summery pasta idea, I hope you give this a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 4 portions:

1 tbsp olive oil

8 oz bacon

2 garlic cloves minced

2 tsp lemon zest

2/3 cup crème fraiche

2 cups halved cheery tomatoes

3-4 cups roughly chopped arugula or other salad greens

2 cups macaroni, cooked, drained
grated Parmesan

View the complete recipe

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Twice Baked Potatoes with Bacon Mushrooms and Cheddar

With the holidays right around the corner, its the perfect time to make these absolutely loaded twice baked potatoes; but theyre so darn good, youll want to make them all year round. Filled with plenty of bacon, chunks of sauteed mushrooms, and best of all, ooey gooey cheese pockets, then topped with even more cheese for a browned and bubbly cheesy crust, can it get any better? These potatoes are a favorite of Steven and I and have been a holiday tradition for the last few years. Traditionally, a twice baked potato is a regular baked potato with the filling scooped out, mixed with a few more things, then added back into the potato skins, topped with cheese, and baked again. They look great with that browned skin, bursting with filling, and bubbly cheese, but restuffing each potato can be a pain. So instead, the potatoes are simply baked in a large baking dish. For the holidays, digging into a big dish and scooping out mounds onto your plate is fantastic but for something a little more elegant, the filling can be baked in ramekins for individual servings, which is much easier than trying to coax the hefty potatoes back into their skins.

One of the best things about this recipe is the ooey gooey cheese pockets. When I first made this recipe, I mixed shredded cheese into the potatoes and by the time they came out of the oven, the cheese had melted into the potatoes and disappeared. Then I came up with the great idea of cutting cubes of cheese and mixing that into the filling. After the potatoes come out of the oven and you break through the cheesy crust to find the melty cubes of cheese formed golden pockets of deliciousness. If the cubes are too small, they will melt and disappear into the potatoes, if they are too big, they might be too overwhelming; 3/8 inch to 1/2 inch cubes are ideal. And if youre feeling particularly adventurous, you can add in some of the bacon fat from rendering the bacon (only about a tablespoon) and make sure to get the browned bits at the bottom. As for the leftover potato skins, some people really like them, so you can cut them into strips, pan fry them in a little oil (or bacon fat) or brush some oil on them and bake until theyre crisp, add a little salt and pepper, and serve them on the side of the potatoes.

Notes:
- My Kitchenaid capacity makes enough for a 8 x 8 dish. To make a 9 x 13 dish, youll need to mix everything in two batches. Mixing by hand is possibly doable but tedious.
- For such a tasty dish, its a shame the photos were taken after dark. But with the sun setting at 5pm, its hard to get a good photo of dinner.

Twice Baked Potatoes with Bacon, Mushrooms, Green Onions, and Cheddar

2 lbs russet potatoes, about 5 - 6 medium potatoes
8 oz. thick cut bacon, chopped 1/2 in pieces
8 oz. mushrooms, chopped into small pieces
4 - 5 green onions, thinly sliced, separate white part from green part
Half of a 16 oz. container of sour cream (regular kind but you can get away with low fat, but definitely not nonfat)
8 oz. sharp Cheddar
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
Salt and plenty of freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Scrub the outside of the potatoes. Using the tines of a fork, poke holes in the potatoes to allow the steam to escape. One time I forgot to do this and a potato exploded in my oven, wasnt pretty. Bake until a knife slides easily into the potatoes with no resistance, about an hour. To speed up the process and cut the baking time in half, you can microwave the potatoes and cook them about halfway and then bake them in the oven until they are fully cooked, will take about another 20 - 30 minutes, make sure a knife can glide through easily.

Meanwhile, heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat and add the chopped bacon. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the bacon bacon pieces are crisp and the fat has been rendered. Remove the bacon pieces to paper towels to drain. Pour out of bacon fat and reserve. I used about 3/4 C of bacon bits.

Heat one tablespoon of vegetable oil in the same skillet and add the mushrooms. Add some salt and pepper to the mushrooms and cook until the water from the mushrooms has evaporated and they start to brown. Remove to a bowl and set aside.

Finally, heat up the second tablespoon of oil over medium heat and add the sliced white part of the green onion. Cook in hot oil for about a minute to bloom the flavor, then add the sliced green parts, cook for another 30 seconds and remove from heat.

When the potatoes have finished baking, cut them in half and scoop the flesh out from the skins into a large mixing bowl. Leave the oven on at 400 degrees F. I like to use my KitchenAid and the paddle attachment to mix everything together. Let the potatoes cool a little before proceeding, otherwise the cheese will melt. You can finish prepping the rest of the ingredients as the potatoes cool.

Cut 3/4 of the cheese into 3/8 inch to 1/2 inch cubes. Grate the remaining 1/4 of cheese.

When the potatoes have cooled slightly, add the bacon pieces, cooked mushrooms, green onions and oil, half the 16 oz. container of sour cream, 1/4 tsp of salt (sprinkle it evenly across the potatoes), and plenty of freshly ground black pepper. Mix until everything looks about halfway evenly incorporated, then scatter in the cheese cubes and try to separate the cubes that are stuck together. Taste the mixture to determine if it needs additional salt. Usually the bacon and cheese add plenty of salt but depending on the salt content of your bacon, you may need to add a little more. I like to go light on the salt but add plenty of fresh pepper. Mix until everything is evenly mixed.

Transfer the potatoes to a 8 x 8 inch baking dish and scatter the remaining grated Cheddar on top. Bake until the potatoes are hot and the cheese is bubbly and slightly browned, about 40 - 45 minutes minutes. For individual ramekin servings, you will only need to bake about 20 - 25 minutes.

Links:
To see other food bloggers favorite Thanksgiving recipe, check out the November Monthly Mouthful over at Chew on That.

Final Note:
Ive been extremely busy recently (prepping for one of the most important interviews of my life) and havent had much time to visit all my favorite blogging buddies. Im sorry guys! :( With three weeks to go, its going to get even more stressful, and Im sad to say Ill have very little time for blogging. Ill try my best to not neglect this humble little blog and Ill visit everyone in a few weeks!

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Bacon Wrapped Wings

I did early this month but was busy to blog about it. I had bought the wings to make another dish but my husband called to informed that he wont be able to return home for dinner. Hence, I decided to make these instead and we can have it anytime. This is my sons favourite wings recipe because of the bacon. :P



Im using low sodium streaky bacon here (which is what I have in the fridge). If you are using normal streaky bacon, do not include salt in your marinade.

Ingredients:

• 8 Mid Joint Wings


• Juice of 8 Kalamansi


• 1 1/2 sprig Rosemary, leaves only and chopped finely


• 1 pinch salt


• 4 slices low sodium Streaky Bacon, cut into 2

How to do it:

1. Marinate the wings with Kalamansi juice, salt and chopped Rosemary for 1 hours.


2. Leave some chopped Rosemary for later use.


3. Wrapped 1/2 piece of bacon around the wing.


4. Secure with skewer; soaked in water before hand.


5. Sprinkle the remaining chopped Rosemary on the bacon.


6. Grill in preheated oven at 200C for 25 minutes.


7. Turn over wings in-between grilling.


8. Serve with a squeeze of Kalamansi juice if you like.

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Roasted cauliflower with bacon and garlic

First of all, thank you all for your kind feedback about the upcoming Nami-Nami Cookbook! Your support means a lot to me...

Im trying to blog more often this month, as the amount of dishes that Id love to share with you is actually rather impressive - and now, that the cookbook is out of my hands, so to say, I may have more time. Well see. Ill start with something rather easy, yet super-yummy that we had for dinner last night. It was exceptionally well received both our little daughter (shes 1 year and 9 months already, and a very good eater!) as well as her 74-year-old grandmother who was visiting. So this dish appeals potentially to a very wide age group :)

The recipe is from Jadens Steamy Kitchen. I cannot even really say that Ive adapted it in any particular way - apart from specifying the amount of bacon in the recipe (sold in 100-125 g packets around here) and changing the cooking times a little. I roast cauliflower quite often (usually just sprinkled with salt and drizzled with oil), and used the same timings and temperatures Im used to (and these were both different from Jadens).

Roasted cauliflower with bacon and garlic
(Röstitud lillkapsas peekoni ja küüslauguga)
Serves 4

1 large cauliflower, cut into rather small florets
6 cloves garlic, cut into thick slices
100-125 grams smoked bacon, cut into bite-sized pieces
2 Tbsp olive oil
sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 200 C. On a large baking sheet, toss together the cauliflower florets, garlic slices and bacon bits. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
Roast in the middle of the pre-heated oven for about 30 minutes until bacon is crisp and cauliflower is cooked and slightly golden brown here and there. Taste for seasoning, and serve at once.

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