Every Day with Janey Ray?

Yes, I am posting a Rachel Ray. It's one that I tried for the first time
this week, and it was easy, fast, and filling.
I usually try to avoid bacon, being the little strips of death that they are
(cardio-wise), but I figured in this case, it was permissible, and my
bacon fans agreed. Of course, they're the same people who think bacon is
a food group. I include dark chocolate in my nutritional pyramid, so I guess
I'm no better.

Anyway, for a fast and easy entree' on one of those hectic nights ahead,
I give you.....




Rigatoni with Bacon and Parmesan
(adapted from Every Day with Rachel Ray)

Ingredients:

1 1/3 pound rigatoni pasta
1/4 cup EVOO
1 1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for topping
3/4 pound bacon, fried crisp and broken into bits*
salt and pepper



Method:

In a pot of boiling, salted water, cook the pasta until al dente. Drain.
At the same time, heat chicken broth in large frying pan with high (not sloping) sides. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and add the pasta and toss.
Remove the skillet from the heat and stir in 1 cup of Parmesan and the bacon.
Season with salt and pepper; toss again. Place remaining Parmesan in a bowl to
serve on the side.


*I'm not sure where I picked up this idea, but I've been using this method for months now and would never go back to the old way of frying bacon.
I used to avoid recipes that used bacon or omitted it because of all the mess of frying it. It always left the stovetop an immense mess.
Now I spray an old cookie sheet (the ones I no longer use for cookies but let the kids use it for baking oven french fries or pizza rolls-don't worry, I don't eat the horrendous things) with Pam and place the bacon strips on the pan and cook it in the oven until it looks crispy.

One caveat: do not forget to spray the cookie sheet with Pam or a reasonable
facsimile thereof. Once I fused the bacon to the pan and had a devil of a time getting it off.


I'll be damned, but I forgot to take a picture of this one, too. In all fairness to me, though, the Mongol hordes were so hungry that they swarmed the kitchen and there really wasn't time for me to grab my camera, let alone focus and snap a pic.

Turn Up The Heat!
(Michigan Winter State Motto)

I didn't notice when I fixed this spread or when I first photographed it, but DAMN,
it's freakin' colorless!
Maybe a little lightly sauteed chopped red pepper or some fresh jalapeno diced
and thrown into the fray would help.

And the heat level--well--it didn't really measure up to my sons' standards (yes, I got
the apostrophe in the correct place--I've got three sons (And no, I don't want
to hear any of you humming that 60's TV show theme song, or see you doing
the big arm swings over your wing tips).

I may have mentioned in a previous post that my guys are quite sadistic
when it comes to spicy food: if it doesn't make your forehead sweat, it just isn't
hot enough for this bunch.
Personally, I like to be able to taste the rest of the meal so I go a little lighter
on the jalapenos.
But this recipe is not exactly tastebud-scorching, even for me. Next time I make it,
and it is
good enough for a repeat, I will drip a few drops of Frank's Hot Sauce or some
juice from the pickled jalapeno jar into the mix just to keep it interesting.

Jalapeno Popper Spread

(from Allrecipes)

Ingredients:

2- 8oz. bricks of cream cheese, softened
1 cup mayo, the full of fat kind
1 - 4oz. can of chopped green chilies
1 -2oz. can of canned diced and drained jalapeno peppers*
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 bag of your favorite dippers, either traditional tortilla chips or fresh vegs.

Method:

Stir together cream cheese and mayo in a large bowl until smooth. Stir in green chilies and jalapenos. Pour mixture into microwave-safe dish and sprinkle the Parm. on top. Microwave on high for a few minutes until hot**

Another option is to bake in the oven for about 15-20 minutes until hot. Add the cheese the last couple of minutes of baking time.***



*I used a 6 oz. can of diced jalapenos

**This is the original wording of the recipe. It seems a bit vague, but maybe you're fine with flying by the seat of your pants. I take comfort in some structure, like more precise heating information, especially until I've made a recipe a couple of times and know what the ingredients will do when heated; there's also a lot of variation in microwave wattage to be considered. This said, see ***.

***I heated the stuff in the oven at about 375 degrees F. for 30 minutes, then added the Parmesan cheese and replaced in the oven for another few minutes until top was light golden.