taquito flavored kisses



These I made a long time ago, right after Christmas. I used the chicken that I made broth for the dumplings with to make these flautas.

I probably seasoned the meat like this:

ancho chile powder
paprika
chili powder
soy sauce
Arizona dreaming (penzey's seasoning mix)
pepper
butter

Anyway the hardest part of these things is the "traditional" way of dipping the tortilla in the hot oil to soften them enough to roll. My fingers disliked me immensely afterward but it wasn't too hard.

Using tongs you can dip them in the oil for a few seconds then lay them in a pile on paper towels.

When they're cool enough or when you're tired of waiting you place a tiny bit of filling close to one edge and roll it inward.

I used two toothpicks per flauta because with one sometimes an edge would come loose and  there'd be little chicken bits floating all around.

Cook until crispy and serve topped with cheese. I popped the plate in the oven for a little bit just to melt the cheese a bit more.

You can also add a bit of crema to the plate if you like.

hamburgers with swiss and cripsy salami


So we're out of bacon and I didn't feel like going out.  I had some salami I bought at Cerellio today and figured, "why not?"

I smushed garlic powder, toasted onion powder, soy sauce, worchestershire sauce, smoked paprika and a dash of liquid smoke into a pound of ground beef. I formed this into 5 balls and let it sit.

Heated the oven to toast the buns and crisped salami in a cast iron skillet.

After I removed the salami I formed each ball into a patty and placed it inside the skillet with a  pat of butter.

I sliced thin bits of swiss and when I flipped the burgers over I placed these on top to melt.

Once they were done I briefly dipped the buns into the oil and assembled the burgers.

Served with easy peasy nathan's fries.

mac and cheese with beef and pancetta


I love mac and cheese so I wanted to try a new way of doing it. The way my mom makes it has chunks of cheese interspersed between milky pasta so I decided to do a cheese-sauce based recipe.

Now I'd been jonesing for the mac & cheese with beef soup from Hale and Hearty for a while and I didn't want to have the mac with no meat protein so here's what I did.

I remembered watching a Bobby Flay throwdown while my video card was on the fritz and it was him vs this macaroni and cheese queen. So I looked up his recipe and added what he did to what I'd already planned.

I browned the beef first and set it aside. Didn't measure exactly just used the pink bits from the pack I'd defrosted in the freezer.

Boiled the water for the mac and cooked it to not quite al dente.

Then I started grating. I hate grating manually, but that's all we have in the apartment. I did almost a whole pound each of asiago, fontina and extra sharp cheddar. My arm hates me.

I put two cans of condensed milk in the pot and added a container of sour cream to this with about 1.5 cups of water to balance. I heated this up.


I used the oil from the beef to brown the pancetta in a larger pot and added the flour.

I poured the milk mixture in then whisked away.

I added 3 egg yolks and one whole egg to this.

I put a bit of tomato paste in.

Then I took it off the heat and added thyme, cayenne, the cheeses, salt, pepper, a dash of soy, and a little powdered mustard.

Mixed the pancetta, beef and macaroni into the pot then poured it into a 3qt casserole and a 2.2 qt casserole since I made too much.

I then covered both casseroles with a mixture of the cheeses used and a generous amount of Parmesan.

And that's 'bout it.