Pasta and Bacon Salad

I recently brought this wonderful summer salad to a neighborhood barbecue, our first since moving to our new home. The salad fit in well with lots of other delicious dishes. Lots of good cooks here!

No ordinary pasta salad, this. Creamy and delicious, it can be made ahead, and leftovers—if there are any—last a good while. Serve as a side dish or a main course salad. Ingredient amounts aren't critical, so feel free to adjust them to your taste.

PASTA and BACON SALAD

½-¾ lb. bacon slices
12 oz. elbow macaroni, fusilli, or other bite-sized pasta
2 cups mayonnaise
½ cup (or more) buttermilk
2 Tbs. fresh lemon juice
2 Tbs. Dijon mustard
1 Tbs. sugar
1 10-16 oz. bag of frozen peas, rinsed and drained
Salt and freshly ground white pepper to taste

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1. Cook bacon in large skillet over medium heat or in microwave until crisp, turning occasionally. Transfer to paper towels and cool. Coarsely chop bacon.

2. Cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until just tender but still firm to bite, stirring occasionally. Drain. Rinse under cold water and drain well.

3. Make dressing by whisking the mayonnaise, ½ cup of buttermilk, lemon juice, mustard, and sugar in a large bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

4. Fold pasta, peas, and bacon into dressing and serve. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill. Toss with more buttermilk if dry. Let stand 1 hour before continuing.)

Hungarian Cabbage and Noodles

Contributed by Dawn Marie Hamilton

I mentioned in a previous post, Hungarian Stuffed Cabbage, my grandmother in-law, Anna, and the little pamphlet of Hungarian recipes she gave to me. Within its pages, I found a clipping with a recipe for Hungarian Cabbage and Noodles. My husband doesn't remember her serving it, so I made it this weekend. His statement on the dish—delectable.

We had the cabbage and noodles as a main course, though I think it would make a nice side dish for a buffet. Here is the slightly tweaked recipe.

Ingredients:

6 slices bacon
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
6 cups chopped cabbage
4 ounces wide egg noodles, cooked
1/2 cup sour cream
paprika


1. Cook bacon in a large skillet until crisp. Remove from skillet, and set aside.

2. Stir sugar and salt into bacon drippings in skillet. Add cabbage and toss to coat. Cover and cook over medium heat until cabbage is tender (about ten minutes.)

3. Crumble the bacon and combine with cabbage and cooked noodles then transfer to a 1 ½ quart baking dish with lid. Cover and bake in a 325 degree oven for 45 minutes.

4. Remove from the oven and uncover. Add dollops of sour cream to the top and sprinkle heavily with paprika. (Use Hungarian paprika if you can.) Cover once more and return to the oven for 5 additional minutes.

2 to 4 servings. Delectable. Enjoy!

Spaghetti Carbonara

This classic northern Italian dish is traditionally made with that wonderful Italian bacon called pancetta. In this quick-to-whip-up version, American bacon substitutes with flying colors. Don't be put off by the cream and butter. You deserve it once in a while. Steam some broccoli, pour a white wine, and dinner is served!

SPAGHETTI CARBONARA

½ lb. lean bacon
½ cup heavy cream
2 large eggs
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan-Reggiano cheese
A generous grinding of nutmeg
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
½ lb. thin spaghetti or linguine
2 Tbs. butter

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1. Fry bacon, break into pieces, and set aside. Transfer 2 Tbs. bacon fat to small sauté pan. Add cream and heat over low heat. Keep warm.

2. Beat eggs in a small bowl. Add salt, pepper, nutmeg, and cheese.

3. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta until al dente. Rinse and drain pasta. Return pot to stove and melt butter. Add pasta to butter and stir to coat. Add egg mixture and stir to blend until eggs are thoroughly heated. Stir in cream mixture and bacon. Add more cream if needed. Serve at once, passing extra grated cheese at the table. Serves 2-4.

Oyster Quiche

Two things Southern Maryland is famous for are crabs and oysters. Oyster season kicks off for the public on the third weekend of every October at the St. Mary's County Oyster Festival where the National Oyster Shucking Contest and the National Oyster Cook Off – Oyster Scald are held. http://www.usoysterfest.com

Many believe quiche a French dish. My grandfather was German from the area of Lorraine, a region of northeast France bordering Germany that at various times was claimed by one or the other country. Both German and French are spoken in the region. Lorraine is where the dish originated, and the word quiche, according to the Webster dictionary, is actually a Gallicized German word.

This oyster quiche recipe is a celebration of my family roots and my new home in Southern Maryland.

Press-in Pastry:
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ cup whole-wheat pastry flour
½ cup (1 stick) butter, cut into chunks
1 large egg

Filling:
6 slices bacon
½ cup sliced scallions
½ teaspoon dried tarragon (or 1 tsp. fresh tarragon from the garden)
1 pint shucked oysters, drained
1 to 2 tablespoon(s) cornstarch
2 large eggs
¾ cup half-and-half
¼ teaspoon pepper
¼ teaspoon salt

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1. In a food processor bowl, whirl the flour mixture and butter until fine crumbs form. Add egg and whirl until dough holds together. Press pastry over bottom and up sides of a 10-inch pie plate. Bake in a pre-heated, 325-degree oven until light gold, about 25 minutes.

2. Brown bacon in a frying pan. Transfer bacon to paper towels to drain. Discard all but ½ tablespoon fat from pan.

3. Add scallions to pan and stir until wilted. Stir in tarragon until fragrant. Spoon onion mixture over crust and spread evenly.

4. Using a slotted spoon, gently place oysters in a bowl and mix with cornstarch to coat. (Will be messy wet.) Again, using the slotted spoon, arrange oysters over onion mixture.

5. In a bowl, whisk eggs, half-and-half, pepper and salt. When blended, pour into crust over oysters. Break up browned bacon into pieces and scatter over top.

6. Bake quiche in a pre-heated, 400 degree oven until custard no longer jiggles in center when pie plate is gently shaken, approximately 25 minutes.

7. Let quiche cool for 5-10 minutes. Cut quiche into wedges to serve.

* During this time of year, shucked oysters can be found in better grocery stores' seafood departments.

With the holiday season fast approaching, consider serving Oyster Quiche for brunch or with a mixed baby-greens salad for a light dinner. Provides four generous servings. Enjoy!