If you are looking for a relatively quick chicken recipe that is going to make you look like you are ready to compete on Hell’s Kitchen..well look no further. This recipe is so simple, so good, and so quick…it takes less than an hour. The portobellos are sauteed with bacon, onion, and garlic and finished with a bit of balsamic vinegar. They end up with a rich, full flavor and creamy texture that is addictively satisfying.

The chicken breast is covered with a dusting of herbes de provence, to which I added fennel pollen. If you don’t have the fennel pollen …read more

Mashed potatoes are one of the major four comfort foods; chocolate, ice cream, mac and cheese, and mashed potatoes.  They are great plain, with plenty of butter and maybe some gravy, but when you want serious comfort food give these a try.  Smoky bacon, garlic, onion, and cheddar combine with the potatoes to create something amazing.

I served them with ham, but they make a great topper for shepherds pie, or anything where you want flavorful mashed potatoes.  Not sure that you would want to dump gravy on these…
1/2 lb bacon
1 onion, peeled and chopped
1 clove garlic, peeled and chopped
3 lbs …read more

This is my pasta entry for  Presto Pasta Nights…which I remembered this week.  This week’s host is Pam of Sidewalk Shoes.
This week I made a penne with leeks, bacon and smoked gouda, inspired by a recipe in the March issue of Bon Appetit.

I really liked the smokey flavor of the cheese combined with the bacon and leeks.  I used a whole wheat penne which seemed to me to handle the depth of the flavors better than normal pasta would have.  The sauce was smooth and rich and I really liked the way this pulled together.

Penne with Smoked Gouda, Leeks, and …read more

Do you ever feel like a short order cook in a restaurant?  I sure do.  Sometimes it seems like every one wants something different and breakfast seems to be the main problem.
What is it about breakfast that makes otherwise non-picky people so darn picky?  I have some that want pancakes, daily, others that want homemade granola, and still others that would prefer French toast.  The worst offenders, in my opinion, are those that claim not to be picky, claim they don’t care and then proceed to sigh and push their food around the plate with a fork.
To this, I have …read more

This is my entry for Presto Pasta Nights, but it may not be my only one.  It is Presto Pasta Night’s 100th posting date and I wanted to do something special..This was incredible but I am still working on a more incredible birthday surprise..which may or may not work.
Seriously.  Cajun Black Bean Fettuccine. Yum.  You have to like spice for this…and you have to go to Bacon Freaks and get the cajun bacon.
This is spicy.  And different.  And good.

Remember the awesome bacon that I reviewed the other day? Well, check this out!  The company is offering one lucky reader some of their Maple Bacon Pancake mix.
Here’s what you do:

I got two pounds of bacon in the mail the other day.  Now, this isn’t a random happening as you may think.  I don’t just randomly get bacon in the mail.
No, this was planned bacon in the mail.

I am not really sure why I started calling htis quiche recipe Alsatian, only that I did.  It isn’t at all a fancy thing; good stick to your ribs food really.  With having our own chickens, quiche is not only an easy meal, it is a cheap one.
The first time I ever tried quiche I ws 17.  I took my boyfriend’s mom, who I adored, out to shop at a local, upscale mall.  She was from Europe and had not been in the states too long.  We went to a restaurant that I thought she would like and as we …read more

Yep.  Pizzaria style.  Hand tossed.
The thing is I always make hand tossed pizza.  I have been doing it for years..I can even get it spinning.  I thought..aha! This will be a piece of….cake pizza.

So, here it is, the first day of fall…80 degrees here in Texas but that isn’t the point..it is now, quite officially…potato soup weather.
I grew up with potato soup.  Not this potato soup but my mom’s version..the one SHE grew up with..and she was born in 1918.  I hardly ever deviate from that recipe, my comfort food both when I was a kid and as an adult.