Bacon Cheese dip

Bacon Cheese Dip

I got this recipe from my Best Friend Angie. I have changed it a little (like I always do), but it is essentially her dip. This is so super rich and cheesy and bacony. Everything is better with bacon right? It's way easy. I made this for my birthday, and have had quite a few requests for this recipe! Feel free to change it up, and let me know how it goes!

I actually preferred the trader Joe's 3 cheese Italian mix, its less oily that this one was. Just pretend that is Trader Joe's cheese. Or if you prefer to grate a bunch of cheeses, this has Parmesan, provolone and I think mozzarella in it. Feel free to use whatever cheese strikes your fancy.

 

Chop up your bacon into about 1/2 inch pieces.

I used the whole package. This is not health food.

Dice 1/2 a yellow onion

Throw the bacon into a sizzling hot saute pan.

Let that render down.

While the bacon is cooking, dice up your green onions.

I love green onions...

Once your bacon is crisp...

Use a slotted spoon to pull it out of the grease. Drain as much of the grease as you can. I would even suggest putting it on a paper towel to drain before doing the next step.

After your bacon has drained for a bit on the paper towel, throw it into a bowl.

( I am trying to help you avoid the greasy mistake I made!)

Toss the diced onions into the bacon grease.

Let those cook until translucent and they have caramelized some.

(the little brown edges are so tasty)

then scoop those out.

(let those rest on a paper towel for a bit as well. You don't wanna be like me and toss the whole greasy mess in the bowl)

Add the drained onions to the bowl.

3/4 cups of mayo.

Green onions

Green chili's

The can said these were hot, but it lied. You can use as hot or as mild as you like. me and duck like a little heat in our cheesy bacon dip!

Mix together.

Until combined.

Add the cheese.

Mix completely.

Pour into an 8x8 baking dish.

Bake at 350 degrees.

Until it's all bubbly and oozy and yummy!

Serve with sourdough bread, or my favorite, tortilla chips!

Give it to your husband while its still bubbly,

then look all innocent when he burns his mouth...

Seriously there is so many ways you could change this up. Add cream cheese, red bell pepper, Cheddar cheese. I don't know what else. This is always a hit around here!

Ingredients:

1 package bacon

3/4 cups mayonnaise

1/2 large yellow onion (about 1/2 a cup when diced)

1 bunch green onions (about 1/3 of a cup when diced)

1 can green chili's

2 cups 3 cheese blend cheese (I like Trader Joe's)

Chop bacon into about 1/2 inch pieces. Render that down until crispy. remove from pan. Drain. add diced onions to hot bacon grease. Saute until translucent and caramelized. Remove from pan to drain. Add drained bacon and onions to a bowl. Add diced green onion, mayonnaise and cheese. mix well. put in an 8 x 8 baking dish. cook at 350* for 40 minutes. serve with tortilla chips or sourdough bread, It is very good served in a bread bowl!

Enjoy!

Mac & cheese

Mac and cheese was always a favorite in my family while I was growing up. We would have mac and cheese and green beans, and all of us kids would practically dance at the table. After I moved in with my husband I asked him if he wanted mac and cheese for dinner, but that it would take like an hour to make. He gave me a confused look and said, "um it comes in a box, why is it going to take an hour?". It had never occurred to him that people might make mac and cheese from scratch! I laughed, and explained I was not using a box. Then I made his world a better place with my mac and cheese.

start with boiling salted water. I use a stock pot, about 16 cups of water and 1 tsp sea salt. Once the water is at a rolling boil, I add the noodles. You want to cook these until they are almost done, but still firm when you bite it. This saves you from mushy noodles after its all baked. cook the noodles for about 6 minutes.

In another pan, put 3 tbsp butter.

Once the butter is bubbly, add 3 tbsp flour.

Stir together. We are making a roux for our cheese sauce.

Keep stirring, we don't want the roux to burn. it should be a light brown.

Add 1 1/2 cups milk, stirring constantly.

Whisk in 1 tsp sea salt. This should be smooth. If your sauce turned out lumpy, try whisking it for a bit, if that doesn't work, pour it through a strainer to get the lumpy flour bits out.

Add 1/2 tsp coarse black pepper

If there are other spices you want in your mac and cheese, here is where you should add them. I sometimes add onions, dry mustard, or even some redneck pepper. Today I just used salt and pepper.

Whisk until smooth and thick.

This is my secret ingredient. Velveeta cheese. It makes the cheese sauce creamy and smooth and adds a salty goodness that you cannot achieve any other way.

Plop the Velveeta into the sauce, and melt completely.

Yummy cheese sauce!

Drain your elbow macaroni and toss it back into the pot it was cooked in.

 Pour all of the cheese sauce over the elbow macaroni.

Stir so all the noodles are coated with cheesy goodness.

This is my cheese grater. I want a real food processor to grate and chop, but I don't have one, so its grating cheese by hand time.

I like to use 3 different cheeses. (4 if you count the Velveeta)

Use whatever cheese you like.

This one is a medium cheddar.

Colby Jack.

Monterrey Jack.

Toss the cheese together.

(this is when I pout at my husband that I want a food processor for Xmas)

Speak of the devil! There he is getting caught stealing cheese again!

In a large, greased, casserole pan spoon the first layer of noodles.

On top of that a layer of cheese...

mm mm cheese...

Another layer of noodles.

And more cheese.

Repeat until all the noodles and cheese are gone, or until your run out of room in your dish.

This is my mini food processor.

It's itty bitty. Plus, no cheese grating attachment.

But it works great for making goldfish crumbs!

If you don't have a food processor, place your goldfish in a zip lock bag, and beat them to death with a rolling pin or pan or something. It's a great way to get through some aggression!

Pour the goldfish crumbs over the top of the mac and cheese.

This is about 1 cup of goldfish crumbs.

Now the best part of mac and cheese, is you can prepare this the day before. Just stick it in the fridge.

Throw it in the oven the next day for about 45 minutes at 350 degrees.

It's a beautiful thing.

If you have never had mac and cheese from scratch, make it now. I mean it. DO IT.

The crackers give it a terrific crunch on top, and the cheesy goodness needs to be shared!

Ingredients:

Salted water for pasta

1lb elbow macaroni

1/2 lb Colby jack

1/2 lb medium cheddar

1/2 lb Monterrey jack

10 oz Velveeta

3 tbs butter

3 tbs flour

1 1/2 cup milk

2 tsp sea salt, divided

1/2 tsp coarse ground pepper

1 cup goldfish crumbs.

In a large pot boil 16 cups of water with 1 tsp salt. while water is getting hot, melt 3 tbs butter. when bubbly, add 3 tbs flour. Whisk together to make a roux. Add milk. Whisk until smooth. add salt and pepper. chop the Velveeta into chunks, add to milk mixture and melt completely. Drain pasta, put back into pan. pour cheese sauce over macaroni and stir to coat. Grate the rest of your cheese. toss together. layer noodle mixture and cheese, alternating until all of the pasta and cheese is gone. Sprinkle goldfish crumbs over the mac and cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes, until bubbly.

 Makes 10 servings.