Week 8 Tuesday: Bacon Tomato and Cheddar Breakfast Bake with Eggs; Macaroni and Cheese w/Ham / Green Peas/ Peanut Butter Cookies

It's Tuesday of Week 8

Up on the menu today is  Bacon Tomato and Cheddar Breakfast Bake with Eggs. This dish takes some time to make - so I got going a little earlier than usual. It's a fun dish with interesting flavors - smoky bacon, rich slightly spicy tomatoes, bacon flavored-onions, chives and pungent cheddar baked into a bread base with peppered eggs baked on top.

 

On the dinner menu is a classic comfort food - macaroni and cheese with ham. I love this recipe. It's slow cooked in the crockpot for 3-4 hours which results in an amazingly creamy cheese sauce. The longer than normal cooking time allows the flavors to meld in a way I've never tasted in a traditional baked macaroni and cheese dish. I can't wait.

 

For dessert is another comfort food - classic peanut butter cookies. This peanut butter cookie recipe is one I found years ago and have stuck with ever since. Some peanut butter cookies have a flavor that is more cakey or floury than I like - so that the peanut butter is masked and almost imperceptible. But this one - tastes strongly of peanut butter with the perfect combination of sweetness and is soft through-out with an only slightly crunchy sugar top. These are PERFECT!

 Bacon Tomato and Cheddar Breakfast Bake with Eggs

Macaroni and Cheese w/Ham, Green Peas and Peanut Butter Cookies

 

BREAKFAST:

 

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Cut a loaf of bread into cubes and layer on a baking sheet.

 

2. Sprinkle the bread cubes with olive oil. (I also cubed up the remaining rosemary bread from last night and added it to the mix). 

 

3. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes of so - until crisp. I actually turned the oven on to Broil and let them crisp quicker this time because I was worried about getting it done in time. It worked well. Turn over at least once - with a spatula- so all sides of the bread are crisp.

 

4. Meanwhile, chop a pound of bacon into pieces.  

 

 

5. Heat a skillet over medium high heat. Grease a large frying pan. Cook the bacon pieces until crisp. 

 

6. Chop the onion and set aside.

 

7. Remove bread cubes from oven and set aside.

 

8. When the bacon is cooked and crisp, remove it from the pan and place on paper towels to drain. (Keep pan with bacon drippings on the hot stove for now).

 

9. Put the chopped onion into the hot bacon grease to cook. Cook until translucent and soft.

 

 

10. After the onion is cooked, drain the bacon fat from the pan but keep the onions in the frying pan. 

11. Add canned tomatoes and crushed red pepper to the onions. 

 

12. Stir and cook the tomato mixture on medium high until the liquid (mostly evaporates). 

 

13. Because I use bouillon instead of broth, I heated a cup and a half of water with two chicken bouillon cubes in the microwave to use as broth.

 

14. Chop chives.

 

15. Stir the bacon and chives into the tomato mixture.

 

 

16. Pour the toasted bread cubes into a large bowl.

 

17. Pour the tomato mixture over the bread crumbs. Add the broth. Stir well.

  

18. Add the cheese and toss to mix well.     

19. Grease a 9x13 inch dish and then pour the bread crumb mixture into it, press down slightly.

20. Bake for 30 minutes covered in foil, then bake for 10-15 minutes without foil to crisp the top.

(I was still worried about time so I just cooked for 25 minutes without foil and then turned the heat up for another 10 minutes which worked fine).

21. Remove from oven. Using the bottom of a ladle, make an indent for each egg you want to cook. The recipe calls for 8 but there are only 6 of us here today so I only did 6.

 

22. Break an egg into each indent.

23. Salt and pepper the eggs. Then return pan to oven.

24. Bake for 15 minutes or until eggs are baked to desired doneness.

25. Serve warm with hot sauce. ENJOY!

 

DINNER:

 

*I doubled the recipe for my family*

 

 1. Pour 3 cups milk into the crock pot, turn the crockpot on LOW.

  2. Break 2 eggs into the milk and whisk well until the mixture is smooth.

 

 3. Pour 2 cans evaporated milk into the crockpot, whisk well.

  4. Add salt and pepper, whisk well.

 5. Add 3 cups of cheese, and mix in well.

 6. Add some cubed ham.

 7. Add a 1/4 cup or so of Parmesan cheese. Stir well.

 8.   Pour a 16 oz. package of macaroni into the mixture.

 9. Cover and cook on LOW for 3-4 hours. Watch this one, the cheese mixture will start to clump if it is cooked too long.

 

 10. ENJOY!

 

 

DESSERT:

 

*I double this recipe for our family.* 

1. (Place 2 eggs in a bowl of warm water to bring to room temperature. Preheat oven to 375 degrees). Put one cup of butter (2 sticks) or margarine into the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix until creamy.

 

 2. Add one cup of peanut butter (can be creamy or crunchy). Mix for a few minutes until creamy and well blended.

 3. Add one cup of flour.

 4. Add the sugar and brown sugar.

 5. Add the baking soda and baking powder.

 6. Add the eggs and vanilla.

 7. Beat until creamy.

 8. Add the remaining 1 1/2 cups of flour. Mix until combined. 

 9. Grease cookie sheets. Roll a rounded Tablespoonful of dough and place on greased sheet.

 10. Continue until all the dough is rolled into cookies.

 11. Press fork tines into each dough ball, one direction and then the cross direction to flatten and make a criss-cross pattern on each cookie dough ball. 

 12. Sprinkle a little sugar onto each cookie. 

  13. Bake for 7-9 minutes. I like to take these out just before they brown - because we all like them soft. If you like them crispy then cook them until they are lightly browned on top. They will be puffy when you take them out of the oven - either way.

 

 

 14. Let cool - they will flatten a bit as they cool.

 

 15. ENJOY!