Bacon Jalapeno Corn Bread

Growing up, my grandmother would always make us 'care packages' where she'd cook us dinner. We'd stop by her house after school to pick them up on the way home. These straight out of the oven was always one of my favorite after-school snacks. 

I use her basic recipe and often mix in other ingredients for various flavors. Lets face it, bacon goes with everything. This version goes particularly well with seafood and chili.

2 c Flour
1 c Butter
1 c Sugar
1 c Milk
2 Eggs
3½ tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 c Corn Meal
5 strips of Bacon, diced and fried
1 medium Jalapeno Pepper, diced
1/4 c Corn kernels

Fry the bacon and set aside. Cream butter and sugar. Mix wet ingredients and fold in the remaining dry ingredients.

Pour in a greased 9x9 pan. Bake @ 325º for 20-25 minutes.

Peach Shortbread Bars

Sometimes, I use my favorite shortbread recipe for ice cream sandwiches. Today it became Peach Bars. I couldn't resist the peaches at the farmer's market this morning and made these...I suppose I could still add a scoop of vanilla ice cream and make them into sandwiches.

Shortbread Dough
2 3/4 c All purpose flour
1 c (2 sticks) Butter, softened
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1/4 tsp Nutmeg
1/4 tsp Kosher salt
1 egg
2 Fresh yellow peaches, sliced thinly.

In a medium bowl, stir together dry ingredients: sugar, baking powder, flour, salt and spices. Use a pastry cutter to blend in the butter and egg into the flour mixture. It will be crumbly. Pat 3/4 of the crumbs into the bottom of a parchment lined 9x13 pan, pressing firmly. 

Tile peach slices over crumb base in a single layer. Scatter remaining crumbs evenly over peaches. Bake at 375º for about 30 minutes, until top is slightly brown and you can see a little color around the edges. Cool completely in pan before cutting into squares.

Wild Mushroom Mac + Cheese

1/2 c Uncooked large elbow macaroni
2 c Milk, room temperature
1/4 c All purpose flour
4 tbs Butter
 
3/4 lb Mixed wild mushrooms (Crimini, Portobello, Shitake, etc)
1 stalk of Leek
1/4 c Dry white wine
1/2 c Parmesean, grated plus more for top of casserole
1 tbs Olive oil
1 tbs butter
pinch of nutmeg
2 tsp Chopped garlic
2 tsp Fresh Thyme
2 tbs butter
Salt & Pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large pot of boiling, salted water cook the macaroni until al dente, approximately 8-10 minutes. Set aside. 

Meanwhile, in a medium sauté pan, melt butter and 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium high heat. Add mushrooms and season with salt and pepper. Saute mushrooms over medium heat until softened and then add garlic and thyme. When garlic is fragrant, about 30-45 seconds, add white wine and cook until most of the wine is evaporated. Check seasoning and set aside.

To make the sauce, melt remaining butter in a medium pot. Whisk in flour to create a white roux. Cook for a moment and then whisk in the milk, stirring to prevent lumps. Cook until the raw flour taste is gone and the sauce is thickened, about 6-8 minutes. The sauce is thick enough when it coats the back of a spoon. Stir in nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste, Parmesan, mushrooms and macaroni. Stir together and then move to a casserole dish. Top with remaining Parmesan and bake until bubbly, 25-35 minutes.