99: Ensalada Mixta de Macarrones

Ingredients:

For the pasta:
1/2 pound elbow macarroni
6 cups water
1 Tablespoon salt
1 Tablespoon olive oil

For the dressing:
1/2 cup green olives, stuffed with pimentos, finely chopped
1/2 cup red bell pepper, finely chopped
1/4 cup white onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup radishes, finely chopped
1/4 pound ground sweet ham
1/2 pound Gouda
1/2 cup toasted almonds, crushed
4 hard boiled eggs, chopped
1 1/2 cups mayonnaise
2 Tablespoons white vinegar
2 Tablespoons mustard
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1. Boil the pasta in the water with salt and oil for 10 minutes.
2. When pasta is ready, run it under cold water and let cool.

3. While the pasta cools, chop the olives, bell pepper, white onion and radishes.

4. Chop the hard boiled eggs and add to the other chopped ingredients.

5. In a food processor, grind the ham and add the Gouda.

6. Toast almond slices over low to medium heat.

7. When the pasta has cooled, add all the chopped ingredients, along with the mayo, vinegar, mustard, salt and pepper (wet ingredients plus salt and pepper should be mixed in the food processor).

8. Mix well and serve cold.

Makes approximately 12 servings.

Brazilian Spaghettis?

Memorial Weekend is traditionally the official kick off of BBQ season. To my family’s dismay, I decided to make a pasta dish for their enjoyment. I had never heard of Spaguettis a la Brasilera and have no idea why it’s even called that, but I’m always looking to learn something new so if you know, then clue me in. What I can tell you is that these spaghettis (which were actually ziti because that’s what I had) were just so bad, so evil, so delectable. So good.

Recipe #224: Spaguettis a la Brasilera

Any recipe that starts off by asking you to make lots of bacon grease as your base for a sauce can’t be good. I was cooking for about a dozen of my family members so I had to double the original recipe. Frying up 12 strips of bacon in a pot creates a lot of grease. And smoke. And splatter. And, well, let’s just say my family was looking for any window and sliding glass door to open in order for us to get some fresh air. But not once did I hear them complain. They’d just swing by the frying and walk off with eyes wide open.

Once you’ve got your vat of grease ready and your bacon is set aside, it’s time to add the Cuban trilogy: garlic, onion, green pepper.

You add tomato sauce, salt, pepper and our good friend, the culprit of your smoked piggy smell for days and days – the crispy, crumbled up bacon.

As you boil the pasta, you leave the sauce on low heat. Once your pasta is ready, you strain it and you add it to the sauce. Once the pasta is in love with its new found friend, veggie bacon sauce, you add olives and sugar, just to top it off and make it the most absolutely amazing thing you’ve tasted.

Serve with freshly grated parmesan and a salad to keep your system from going into food coma.

Sit back and watch the faces on your guests. Heaven.