The “mother of all comfort foods”, would be one way to describe this dish, or a “skillet of pure love” might be another. Creamy macaroni and cheese, poured into a flaky pie crust, topped with a woven lattice of bacon, and baked until bubbling, golden, and crisp, now what is there possibly not to like about that? nothing I say. This bad boy has definitely secured a slot on my favorite comfort foods list. I know, I know, while this golden goddess of goodness has ranked high on my charts, it is possible it will never appear on the Eat to Win list. But hey, every once in a while is OK, just remember one of my favorite mantras, “Everything in moderation…………..including moderation”.

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Mac-n-Cheese Pie with Bacon Lattice

Creamy macaroni and cheese, poured into a flaky pie crust, topped with a woven lattice of bacon, and baked until bubbling, golden, and crisp.

Course Main Course

Cuisine American, Pub Fare

Prep Time 25 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 55 minutes minutes

Servings 8

Ingredients

• 3 Tablespoons butter
• 3 Tablespoons flour
• ½ cup half-n-half
• 1 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon mustard powder
• 2 dashes of Tabasco sauce optional
• ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 cups cheese grated (cheddar, jack, Gruyère, or any combo you like)
• ½ cup onion diced
• 3 cloves garlic diced
• 1 jalapeno pepper diced (optional)
• 1 pound pasta (which ever shape you prefer)
• 1 cup panko bread crumbs
• 1 pie crust
• 1 pound bacon divided

Instructions

• Heat oven to 425°F.
• Start by making a béchamel or basic white sauce in a large sauce pan over medium heat, with butter, flour, half-n-half and milk.
• When sauce is a thick, add mustard powder, tabasco, and black pepper (I avoided using salt, since there is plenty in the cheese and bacon).
• Add cheese a bit at a time, allowing it to melt as you go.
• Reduce heat and hold on low (if sauce appears too thick, you can add a bit more milk or half-n-half to thin).
• Bring a stock pot of water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for about 8 minutes or slightly el dente.
• Drain, but do not rinse, and add to the cheese sauce. Stir to combine.
• In another skillet crisp 3 – 4 strips of bacon. Remove cooked bacon from pan and place on a paper towel to drain. Crumble and hold aside.
• Add the diced onions and jalapeno to the bacon drippings and cook until onions become translucent. Add garlic and cook for about one minute to bloom.
• Remove from skillet with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Add to the mac-n-cheese mixture.
• Roll out pie crust and place in a cast iron skillet or pie pan. With a fork prick the bottom and sides of the crust. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes or until lightly golden.
• Add panko bread crumbs to the mac-n-cheese, mix and pour into the pie shell.
• Use eight strips of bacon, four each direction to weave a lattice top. Be careful not to stretch the bacon when weaving the lattice, this will reduce the amount of shrinkage.
• Place back in the hot oven, and bake for 15 – 20 minutes, or until bacon is crisp and the cheese is bubbling.
• Allow to rest for 5 – 8 minutes before digging in.

Serve

• Serve with a side of lightly dressed salad.

Notes

Use whatever mac-n-cheese recipe is your favorite. While I believe that things made from scratch are better, this recipe can easily be put together using a refrigerated pie crust, and some packaged mac-n-cheese.

Looking back, I never knew how lucky I was to have experienced growing up on a farm in the middle of nowhere. Waking up on quiet mornings where the only sound was that of the meadow lark calling to his mate, or the buzzing of the locusts as darkness filled the evening sky.

Many of the ways of daily rural life I took for granted. My mother baking our bread every few days, collecting fresh eggs in the nesting boxes for breakfast, or going out to the garden to select what was desired for dinner. Little did I know at the time that these day-to-day ways of living would later become the popular trends now known as natural foods, organic produce, and free range chicken and eggs.

I also recall one of my favorite meals my mother would prepare, chicken pot pie. Made with vegetables picked straight from the garden, a freshly butchered chicken, and home-made biscuits, this was truly a pan of goodness. Country living at its best. I still love to make a version of the chicken pot pie. I am sad to say I don’t have a garden to pick from, or a yard to go catch a hen in, but I do have the cast iron skillet that cradled the dish I so fondly remember.

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Chicken Pot Pie

Home cooking at its best.  Tender bites of chicken and vegetables in a country gravy topped with biscuits.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Home Cooking

Prep Time 1 hour hour 20 minutes minutes

Servings 8

Ingredients

• 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast or thigh
• ½ cup onion diced
• ½ cup mushrooms sliced or quartered
• ¼ cup celery sliced
• ¼ cup red pepper chopped
• 2 cloves garlic finely chopped
• 1 cup frozen mixed vegetables thawed
• ½ cup white wine
• 2 cups medium béchamel sauce
• ¼ cup parmesan cheese grated
• 2 tablespoons dill or parsley rough chopped
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tube Pillsbury Grands or similar feel free to make your own if you like

Instructions

• Begin by heating oven to 350°F.
• Cut chicken into 1″ cubes and lightly brown in a skillet over medium high heat. When golden, remove from pan and reserve.
• In the same skillet sauté together onion, celery, and pepper until onion becomes translucent. Add garlic and mushrooms and cook for one minute.
• Reduce the heat to low and add the white wine to the skillet of onions, scraping the bottom to deglaze the pan.
• In a separate sauce pan, make 2 cups of medium thick béchamel sauce. When thickened add to the onion mixture.
• Add the thawed mixed vegetables. Simmer until thick and bubbling.
• Add cheese and herbs, mixing well. Remove from heat.
• Cut biscuits into quarters and arrange on the top of the pan starting in the center and working out.
• Place skillet on a sheet pan (can bubble over) and bake for 25 – 30 minutes or until top is golden brown. Skillet will be heavy and hot, use caution when removing from oven.
• Allow dish to cool for 5 to10 minutes before digging in.

Notes

This is a one skillet dish. Use a cast iron skillet or an oven proof pan suitable for baking. Feel free to add, substitute or delete and items you like to make this dish yours.

Since we live in Denver, we also sometimes refer to this dish as the DIA bake (Denver International Airport).

Popular in grade school cafeterias throughout the Midwest during the 1960’s, the Tater Tot casserole has in my opinion, unfairly received a bad rap.  Many consider this dish nothing more than “trailer trash” food……………….. well if that’s the case……………then rent me a double-wide.

For me this gooey delight is a comfort food.  We all have them, widely differing for each of us, many of these favorites are based on where we grew up, or a favorite family recipe.  A meal that makes us feel good, like wearing a big fuzzy old sweater.  So on this snowy day what seemed appropriate was for me to make something in the oven that would not only toast up the house, but that I could easily enjoy wrapped up in my blanket watching a move.

The Tater Tot was created in 1956 by the Ore-Ida company in an attempt to find a way to use the left over slivers of potatoes from their other products.  They added some flour and spice to the chopped up remains, and pushed the mash through holes slicing pieces as they came out.  Originally the Tots were very inexpensive and sold poorly due to low perceived value, so the company raised the prices and the Tots began sell. Many companies now offer a similar product, Ore-Ida alone produces about 70 million pounds of these little nuggets each year.

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Tater Tot Casserole

A retro school lunch type casserole of made with ground meat and vegetables in a creamy gravy, topped with crisp tater-tots.

Course Main Course

Cuisine American, Retro

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour

Total Time 1 hour hour 10 minutes minutes

Servings 10

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground sausage
• 1 medium onion chopped
• 1½ cups frozen mixed vegetables
• 1 10.75 oz can of Campbell’s cream of mushroom soup with roasted garlic
• ¼ cup chicken stock
• 2 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tablespoons of ketchup
• ½ cup of shredded cheddar cheese divided
• 3 cups frozen Tater-Tots

Instructions

• Cook sausage and onion in a skillet over medium-high heat until sausage is well browned, stirring to crumble the meat.
• Pour off any excess oil.
• Stir soup, ketchup and Worcestershire into skillet and add vegetables mixing well. Resist adding salt, the Worcestershire will offer plenty.
• Spoon the mixture into shallow baking dish. Sprinkle with half the cheese.
• Cover with tater-tots and remaining cheese and a grind of black pepper.
• Drizzle with olive oil and bake at 425 degrees F for 25 minutes or until potatoes are golden brown.
• Allow casserole to stand for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

French version of the Tater Tot called the Croquette.