Thursday, January 5, 2012

A bacon-related adventure

Part of my 101 in 1001 project includes challenging myself to try new recipes - preferably recipes outside of my comfort zone.  I am quite comfortable with many vegetarian dishes that involve beans, cheddar cheese, onions and garlic.  (Yum.)  But what's the fun in cooking chilaquile pie and Moosewood chili for the rest of life? 

Tonight I am boldly trying something very different.  This dish:
  • does not involve black beans - or beans of any kind, for that matter
  • did not come from the pages of any Moosewood cookbook
  • does involve bacon
That's right.  I would say that my home reeks of bacon right now, if "reeks" had a positive connotation.  Picture the positive equivalent to "reeks," okay?  Anyway, this eau de bacon is thanks to the Cooking Light that arrived in yesterday's mail, because tonight I am making Bacon and Butternut Pasta.  This is already a learning experience.  My first slip-up was accidentally buying pureed butternut squash instead of cubed.  My next slip-up was gently burning the bacon.  (I like mine crispy...really crispy.)  Also, for the first time, gruyere, kale and creme fraiche have entered my kitchen.  Introducing three new foods seems like an appropriate way to kick off my resolution to cook one new recipe per month, no?

If this is not a culinary adventure, I'm not sure what classifies.  At the very least, it smells good already.

With the timer ticking down to dinner and cheer in my corazon, I'll sign off with a photo from my neighborhood cheese shop.  I saw this sign en route to the grocery store to pick up my ingredients, a metaphorical sign that gave a wholehearted green light for my dinner project.


How does the first Thursday of 2012 look to you, Reader?  Can you believe tomorrow's Friday?

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