Everything's Better with Bacon

I'm back. My blog at blog.com is still not working and I can't seem to get any help on what the problem is. I'm tired of blog.com's inconsistency, so I will be moving my old posts here. At least I hope I will - I have to figure out how to do that when the site comes back up.

In the meantime, I don't want to lose momentum. Last night, I asked a friend what kind of recipe I should blog about. First, I got a response of "crockpot" but as we continued talking she told me about a new thing she tried recently, red velvet French toast with bacon baked around the edge. That's when we decided a bacon recipe was the way to go. I mean really - how can you go wrong with bacon?

Bacon & Cheese Meat Loaf

Ingredients:

1 tsp. oil     1/2 c. shredded carrot     1/2 c. chopped onion     1 c. soft breadcrumbs
1/2 lb. bacon strips, crumbled           2 eggs, lightly beaten    4 tsp. worcestershire sauce
2 tsp. garlic powder                            2 tsp. pepper                  1 tsp. salt
2 lbs. ground meat                          

Topping:    3/4 c. crumbled blue cheese     2 tbsp. minced sage     2 tbsp. minced chives

Directions:

1. In a small skillet, heat oil on medium high.
2. Add carrot & onion. Cook until tender.
3. In a bowl, combine bread crumbs, bacon, eggs, worcestershire sauce, spices and carrot mixture.
4. Add beef and mix lightly but thoroughly.
5. Shape into 8 x 4 in. loaf in an ungreased 13 x 9 baking dish.
6. Bake, uncovered, at 350 for 1 1/4 - 1 1/2 hrs.
7. In a small bowl, combine the topping ingredients. Mix well.
8. Pat onto meatloaf and let stand 10 minutes before serving.

As always, have fun!

Serve Yourself - It's Game Time!

Super Bowl week I plan on busting out all my wing, appetizer and dip recipes in honor of the big day. In the meantime, I thought I’d grab a fun pair of recipes for playoff time that you can have ready to go before or easily do during your favorite playoff game. I will try and insert ideas of way to cut down time on both so you don’t miss your favorite quarterback’s touchdown.

BBQ Meat Loaf Minis

Ingredients:

6 oz pkg. stuffing mix (I stayed neutral but you could try your favorite flavor)

1 c. water     2 tbsp. bbq sauce     1 lb. ground meat     1 c. cheddar cheese

Directions:

1. Combine stuffing mix, water and bbq sauce.
2. Mix in your ground meat.
3. Place 1/3 c. of mixture into each of 12 ungreased muffin cups.
4. Bake at 375, uncovered, 18-22 minutes or until a thermometer reads 160.
5. Sprinkle tops with cheddar cheese and bake 2-4 minutes longer.

Flo’s Potato Salad

(Who is Flo? Ask Emeril – I got it from one of his cookbooks)

Ingredients:

6 large eggs (can be boiled earlier in the day or the night before)

3 lbs. potatoes (I used bags of homefries to avoid the whole boiling and chopping)

1/2 lb. bacon (can be fried in advance or you can use precooked from the store)

3/4 c. mayo     1/4 c. whole grain mustard (important for flavor)     1 tbsp. garlic

3 tbsp. lemon juice     1 tsp. hot sauce     3/4 c. onion     1/2 c. green onion

Directions:

1. Boil eggs – after they are cool – peel and chop them.
2. Fry the bacon.
3. Boil your potatoes and chop them.
4. Or, if like me you want to save time, cook your homefries according to the package.
5. Combine mayo, mustard, lemon juice, hot sauce, onion and garlic.
6. Whisk to blend.
7. Add eggs, bacon and potatoes – toss to coat.

So, I know some of you were thinking it would be worse trying to handle two recipes at the same time, but I think you will do just fine. Besides, once the prep work is done, you can leave both items out for folks to serve themselves pretty easily and you can get back to the playoff game in peace. Good luck to your team, unless they are going against mine. Then it’s every woman for themselves!

As always, have fun!