Bacon Wrapped Stuffed Dates

Oh my...ladies and gentlemen, I think I'm back (in the kitchen)....(for now...)

These little guys were awesome!

Center Cut Bacon Wrapped Stuffed with Gorgonzola and Honey Goat Cheese Dates!

Ingredients: -Bacon (avoid thick cut, I used center cut and it was perfect!), cut in half (or thirds if you have long pieces of bacon)

-Pitted/Dried dates (near the raisins)

-Gorgonzola cheese

-Goat cheese (I used honey flavored, it was really good, but might use plain next time - it was pretty sweet!)

-Seasoning mixture: 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt, 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper,1/3 teaspoon garlic powder (you can eyeball this, and play around with it! You might need to make more depending on how many dates you make.)

Steps:

Preheat oven to 385 degrees F 

1. Mix 1 part Gorgonzola with 1 part goat cheese and set aside.

2. Slit open the dates (make sure not to cut them completely in half) and stuff them with the cheese mixture; press them closed (like a stuffed taco). 

3. Wrap the bacon around each stuffed date and secure with a tooth pick. 

4. Mix the dry seasonings and sprinkle all over each bacon wrapped date. 

5. Place the dates on a rack/cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes on one side (rotate pan once) and then 15 minutes on the other side. Depending on how crispy you like your bacon, you may want to continuously check on the dates, and extend the times as necessary. The good news is that the seasoning helps the bacon crisp up!!)

Enjoy!

Stuffed and wrapped: 

Prepped with seasoning:

All done, crispy and tasty!

Bigos

“Hunter’s Stew” aka “Poor man’s feast”, a Polish national dish!

Serves: 10-12, with leftovers
Prep time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 3-4 hours

Ingredients:

1 head of cabbage, shredded
2 bags of sauerkraut
3-4 carrots (sliced)
3 packages of Polish kielbasa (sliced)
Bacon (cut into small pieces or cubed) - optional
2-3 pound piece of bone-in pork
Peppercorns (roughly 15, just eye ball it)
3 bay leaves
1 tablespoon cumin
2 small cans of tomato paste
1 large onion, diced
1 large pack of sliced mushrooms

 Steps

1. Drain the sauerkraut and reserve the juice.
2. Place sauerkraut into a LARGE pot, cover with enough water to come half way up the sauerkraut (not covering it!).
3. Bring to boil, and simmer for 30 minutes until the sauerkraut is on the softer side.
4. Place rinsed piece of pork into the pot.
4. Toss in carrots, shredded cabbage, bay leaves, peppercorns, tomato paste and add more water (4-5 cups), again, not covering the cabbage, just enough to see it underneath, just over half way. Make sure the pork is covered.
5. Bring to boil, then simmer covered for about an hour. Mix and flip the pork occasionally. 
6. Meanwhile, heat up a tablespoon of olive oil/butter and fry the bacon, kielbasa, and any until browned (and crispy). Add the onion and mushroom until onion is translucent.
7. After about an hour, remove the pork from the pot and clean the meat off of the bone.
8. Return the diced/shredded pork, along with the kielbasa, bacon, onion, mushroom mixture, back into the pot.
9. Cover and cook for an additional hour or 2 on medium low.
*Optional: you may add some of the reserved sauerkraut juice during the final steps if you like your dish tangy.

Better picture coming soon.

Creamy Chicken Jalapeño Supreme

This recipe was adapted from: http://busycooks.about.com/od/chickenrecipe1/r/chixsupreme.htm.

Servings: 3

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 5-6 hours in crock pot

Ingredients:

3 hearty chicken breasts (fat trimmed)

7-8 pieces of cooked bacon, crumbled

½ onion, diced

4 jalapenos, sliced into rings with seeds

4 slices of your favorite spicy cheese (I suggest jalapeno havarti; we used Monterey Jack with jalapenos this first time)

1-2 sliced portabello mushrooms

2 cans of condensed cream of chicken (I will be switching it up and using one cream of mushroom and one cream of chicken next time)

Egg noodles (or rice)

Salt, pepper and garlic salt

Steps:

1.       Cook bacon until crispy and refrigerate until 10 minutes before serving dinner.

2.       Brown the chicken breast in the bacon grease on medium high heat, about 10 minutes.

3.       Dice onion, slice jalapenos, and chop mushrooms.

4.     Warm soup on the stove, add salt, pepper and garlic salt to taste (it's ok if its a bit salty, the juices from the chicken help with this).

5.       Place chicken, soups, onion and mushroom in crockpot, cover, and cook on low for 5 hours (there is no need to drain the juices from the chicken).

6.       After five hours, add jalapenos (if you submerge them in the soup they will cook faster) for 10  minutes.

7.       Once jalapenos have softened to your liking, cover each piece of chicken with cheese and top with bacon pieces.

8.       Cover and cook on high for about 10 minutes until cheese has melted.

9.       Scoop chicken with sauce over egg noodles and enjoy this delicious creation.

Browned chicken in crockpot.

Chicken, soup, mushroom, onion in crockpot.

Added jalapenos after 5 hours.

Cheese and bacon topped over chicken.

After 10 minutes of melting!

Bon Apetit

-SS

Breakfast Quesadilla

Bacon, egg, cheese, tomato, scallion QUESADILLA!

 

 

Ingredients:

1. Burrito wraps
2. Shredded cheddar cheese
3. White american cheese (yep, the processed stuff you typically use for grilled cheese)
4. Bacon
5. Scrambled eggs (your favorite way)
6. Diced tomatoes
7. Scallions

Steps:

1. Heat skillet over medium and spray with Pam.
2. Add tortilla to hot skillet and sprinkle lightely with cheddar cheese all over.
3. Add scrambled eggs to half of the tortilla.
4. Cover the eggs with diced tomatoes and scallions.
5. Top with bit sized peices of crispy bacon.
6. Add one slice of white cheese (I ripped it into three parts)  to the side opposite of eggs.
7. Fold over, cook for one minute, then flip to brown the cheesy side.
8. Serve with hot sauce or salsa.

 

Easy, quick, inexpensive, and delicious! What more could you ask for! Loved surprising Trey with this concoction!