Spicy Carrot Sandwiches (p26 Food & Wine March 2012) with Hummus
Once again, very good. Such a nice combination of flavors.
Roasted Delicata Squash Stuffed with White Beans, Greens & Sage (via Cleverley Farms via Eggs on Sunday)
So this was suggested by the fine folks at Cleverley Farms. And I thought, hey why not, we'll expand our vegetable choices. So a little bit of prep, a little roasting and then putting it together. They came out of the oven all nice and warm and not overly impressive. However, combining the savory parmesan and breadcrumb top, with the mild bitterness of spinach, a bit of creaminess from the beans, and the slightly sweet, soft flesh of the delicata squash.
It was very good.
Chive Chèvre Frittata
Eggs, some of Lois's Chèvre , a little bit of milk, salt and pepper, and it was done. Certainly the easy meal that I was talking about. It turned out well. It didn't hurt that I used La Quercia applewood smoked Iowa White spread.
Baked Penne with Sausage and Creamy Ricotta
I was a bit distracted while making that. Having polite conversation with a guy I had never met before about me going back to church (I don't find value there). He had apparently stopped by the night before, and I didn't bother to go upstairs to answer the door (my brother did). So even though it came out tasting pretty good, I wasn't happy with how it looked, thus no picture.
Grant's Mac & Cheese
So I was thinking this would be a normal Mac & Cheese with some bacon in it I suppose, but as I started to follow the recipe, I kept thinking, hey how am I going to make a roux with this.
The roux was made with the rendered bacon fat (and a bit of butter).
Which really explains as to why it was as simple as it can be yet still have such flavors. Not only bacon by the La Quercia Tamworth Bacon, which I affectionately call dream bacon (it tends to give me very vivid dreams, Shannon has had them just once). So after working to get it into the oven, and resisting the temptation to add breadcrumbs, it tasted good, very good. The only issue here is that I was uncertain how to know if I would've added enough salt. Clearly the amount of salt in bacon varies, and that's probably why they don't suggest the right amount, but this did, in the end, need a little bit of salt, I think (I didn't add any). Luckily you can add salt after the fact.
Not good for you, but damn, it's good.
