Greetings and Salutations!
At least the swelling has gone down significantly:
As gross as it is, ALL the discoloration on the lower part of the leg is due to the knee rebuild surgery and shrapnel damage that fucked up all of my “up and down” veins. The varicose veins started when I was still on active duty, and pretty much end at where the tops of my jungle boots would end.
Believe it or not, it’s not that bad. Bad Lighting doesn’t help. The bruising however? Yep. Almost “All American” in that it’s Red White and Blue as well as Purple and Black in some areas. Also it turns out that lil zit on the leg? That right there was a piece of metal that it would seem got ‘worked loose’ beneath he skin… the reason I know this was I took a big ‘fishing magnet’ I have, and it pulled that sucker right out to the surface. So now it’s all good. These things happen every few years…
So otherwise…
Tonight I have a new recipe for y’all.
Philly Cheesesteak Pasta Bake.
It’s pretty simple. I’ll lay out what I used, and y’all can make it by size, as needed. The ingredients:
Philly Meat and Veggie filling:
24oz (2 packages) Fine Shaved Ribeye. (see below)
1x Large Green Pepper
1x Large Sweet (Vidalia if you can get it) Onion
3oz fresh diced Garlic (call it a full peeled clove)
Cheese Sauce:
2 12oz packages of Cabot Creamery Mac n’ Cheese Blend.
2x slices of Provolone Cheese
1x stick of salted butter
1/2 cuppa milk
Spices:
Salt and Pepper as needed
2x tablespoons Aleppo Pepper or more or cayenne as a substitute. Your choice. I like the mild Aleppo.
Italian Seasoning to finish
Pasta:
1 1/2 Boxes of Pasta as preferred.
I used spirals as it hold the cheese in quite nicely.
Stove Prep: Set it to 375 to bake after the prep is done.
Step One: Start the water boiling, salt as needed.
Step Two: Slice the pepper and onion into decent size slices. I don’t recommend dicing as they’ll cook down to nothing by the time you’re done.
Step Three: Start cooking the meat. Spice it with the garlic, and salt and pepper, and about 1/4 tablespoon of Aleppo pepper. When it’s about half cooked, add the sliced veggies. Cook until the meat is done, and the veggies are softened, but not fully cooked. That will be finished during the bake phase.
Step Four: Somewhere in the middle of cooking the meat, the water should be boiling. Cook the pasta until Al Dente.
Step Five: Once the meat and peppers are done, pull them, and set aside.
As you can see, the veggies are blanched, but not overcooked, and the meat is fully cooked. Mind you if one were so inclined that on it’s own, that dish? stuffed in a bun would be good to go. However, for this exercise? Once the pasta is done, pull it too:
Mind the steam.
Now
Step Six: On a low setting, place one stick of salted butter in a smol pot, and about 1/2 cup of milk on the stove. Set it to a low boil. As soon as it begins to boil, add the cheese (both of them):
As a reminder, use the whole bag of mac n’cheese blend, and 2x slices (if wanted) of the provolone. Stir constantly and evenly
It should only take about 5-6 minutes on low to medium heat to get the cheese, butter and milk to melt and fuse together. Do Not Overcook It. If you overcook it, instead of it gelling, it’ll start to separate, which is a no-no. As stated Stir continually, and keep an eye on it. It should all be smooth, no lumps and blended together. Once it’s done, pull it aside. Do NOT let it get too cool. You need to pour it over the pasta/meat/veg mix to finish it in a few.
Step Seven: Mix the pasta and meat mix, and place in a baking dish. Once you have it in the appropriate dish (or dishes as I did tonight) pour in half of the cheese sauce mix (while still hot and liquid-y, and mix it in thoroughly to insure a maximum blend throughout:
Looks good donnit?
Step Eight: Once you get it there, with everything mixed and smoothed out, the second bag of mac and cheese blend comes into play. Pour THAT evenly over the top of the now-mixed pasta. Make a nice even coating as needed. Dust with the Italian seasoning.
Final Step or as they say Step Nine: Place the baking dish into the stove covered. Set the timer for 15-20 minutes depending on the size. Once that timer is done, uncover the dish and bake for 30 minutes more. Now you can reverse this depending on your likes/dislikes. Sapper and I love the crunchy crust, so we did 15 covered, 30 uncovered, and we got this out of doing so:
Oh yeah baby
A meal fit for the Kitchen King.
Tasted pretty damned good too!
Considering I had only had ONE cuppa yogurt for my brekkie, the evening meal? Yeah I chowed on 2.5 full bowls of that lovely and delicious meal.
My recipe about as you see makes a LOT of the bake. You could cut it in half if you only want one meal for one, with 2-3 days worth of leftovers… either way, the cost of this meal would be about $20 for the shaved ribeye now, and about $5-10 for the rest of the ‘stuff’. However, the meat I bought and pulled from the deep freeze, so it was from September of 2024… and I only paid $7.50 per 12oz. The one I used was from Publix:
No idea the current price, but it can’t be anywhere near what I paid for about almost a year ago… it’s probably double that now… either way, YMMV.
And as far as making a double batch?
The other white baking dish I did NOT bake, but threw into the deep freeze for later use, as I expect some guests here in the future, and the BIG pot will do as a ‘don’t have to expend $$$’ while entertaining relations, as well as being able to impress with my cooking skills.
I mean I made this meal up… there might be something similar out there, as after all… the food on this planet has been pretty much the same for the past 40-6,0000 YEARS so at best, mine is a variation on a theme. Said theme being “Throwing meat, pasta, veggies and cheese into a pot and baking it”
However plebian this may be, I figured some of y’all enjoy my cooking adventures, so there is that right?
So tomorrow?
Molasses cookies again.
I’ve had the fixings laying out forever. I need to get off my duff and just ‘git ‘er done’ like the man used to say.
So More >URP!< Later
(The “I’m FULL now”) Big Country
Glad to see you’re on the mend. Yep, trailer hitch to the shins sucks. There’s something intriguing and repulsive when your flesh turns these colors. Had it bad about 6 months ago. Two dogs were fighting and the aggressor had the other dog by the loose skin on the side of it’s neck and was tugging for all it was worth. So in my rage and desire not to get my hands in the middle of a dog fight, I kicked the aggressor square in the ribs. Lifted a ~65 lb dog well off the ground and it was immediately no longer interested in fighting. As the adrenaline wore off, I sensed that not all was well inside my shoe, but I couldn’t take the shoe off and inspect the damage for about an hour. Big toe was completely black, and part of the neighboring toe was too. Since it stopped hurting and mobility returned in a week or so, I guess it wasn’t broken, only sprained.
BTW, watch out for the liftgate. I’ve hit my head on the corner of our Suburban’s open liftgate more often than I’ve hit the hitch.
I bow to your mad culinary skills.
Anyone who has, and uses, a set of Le Crueset (enamaled cast iron) ain’t no one jump chump in the kitchen.
Mrs Toxic and I have been collecting and using enameled cast (Descoware, Le Crueset and other brands) iron since we were wed.
That’s the stuff that tastes great, lasts forever, and you leave it in your will to your g’g’children.
That bruise looks nasty, but still be aware. Are you taking any mild blood thinners (aspirin) to dissolve any blood clots? If your calf muscle becomes hard and hot, hie thee ASAP to the nearest hospital for a blood clot. Ask me how I know…..
Gonna give this one a go. Only thing I’ll add is some sliced mushrooms and maybe substitute the green pepper for some jalapeños. Might use mozzarella instead of provolone, since you can get lots of it at Costco in my area for not too bad a price.
Thanks for the poast.
Enjoy brotherman… didn’t think of the jalapeños… might be an interesting additive. Kepp the ‘regular’ peppers, but add some for ‘kick’….
I DO highly recommend the Aleppo Pepper however… a unique additive that’s not too spicy unless added in quantity. Discovered it whilst in Iraq… The Jordanian Supermarket I bought my locally-sourced grub had it… I’ve NEVER looked back and ALWAYS have a tub of it on hand.
Cool! I’ll keep my eyes peeled for the Aleppo pepper. Local barber I see for haircuts is a Lebanese guy. He might know where to get it, if it’s available anywhere.
Might not be too hard to find, surprisingly. One of the things about the rapid ‘cultural enrichment’ up in ‘Canoeheadland’ is there are alot more grocery stores that carry ethnic foods, like spices and such.
Nice gouge there. Going to be really spectacular when the rest of the blood makes it to the surface. The aspirin is a very good idea, as clots can form for some time after the trauma.
With regards to the Irish situation – a couple of “migrant centers” have caught fire recently, and one place was repeatedly vandalized during construction with even the heavy equipment getting a dose of sabotage. Construction persisted until a couple of signs appeared which essentially said “if you work here, at some point you’re not going to get home”. At which point construction ceased. That was maybe 18 months or so ago. You’re correct about the IRA leadership though and I’d wager they’ve gotten comfortable and don’t have anything to gain making trouble, but much to lose if they do. If however someone a rank or two down has a family member molested –
And those folks know where a few tools are stored….
My grandmother was born around 1894 or so in Mayo, on a very isolated farm on the ocean. She mentioned to one of my uncles that it was not uncommon for her to be given a basket of food and a jug of water to bring to the guys hiding in the haystack in the pasture. Later she told the other uncle that her brothers and father would take the fishing boat well offshore and meet a freighter and run back in with all sorts of supplies. And IRA leadership has been known to change.
Ouch.
I have banged my shins on many a hitch but that is so thing else
THIS was a full-bore “totally forgot the thing was there so I hit at ‘combat speed'” thing (as you can see!) Fucked me ALLLL up!
The Army teaches you to cook (out of necessity) and also to sew…they only make uniforms in two sizes, too big and too small. My sympathies on the leg. Had me a foot injury last week, too. Slipped on the carpet in my living room and twisted my foot pretty bad. I thought I broke something in there, but it was probably just a bad sprain. Used my Army training for that…”drink water, take Motrin, walk it off”. A week later it’s still tender, but I’m getting a round.
Damn! If you were a horse we’d probably have to shoot ya.
Maaaannnnn your cooking skills amaze me. I can’t cook for shit. However the Sicilian Queen takes care of that part nicely, so I get to do the clean up.
She is part Irish. If the Éireannach have half her temper then I pity the fools who get in their way.
Chip shot: Those who like cast iron should check out Staub:
https://www.usastaub.com/staub-cast-iron/
Yes, I know: it’s French. But it’s being made (supposedly) at a former artillery factory.
More importantly: It is filled with nippley goodness under the cover to improve basting of whatever yum-yums are in the pot.
Another upside: Sharp shopping skills can get you a price that is equal or often less than other cast iron cookware.
Best of all: they are stork friendly.
I have issues.😂
YMMV.
PS: No $ involved here — just multi-generation functional and beautiful tools.
Enjoy!
miss you Pete. you’re one of the good ones. hope to see you again, i owe you dinner.
Pete is pretty awesome. Had breakfast with him a few years ago.
Yea Pete’s the best…
Same here Pete, miss your visits.
Sig
Let’s make that happen, bro.
Steak dinner on the St Mary’s River with a view of the freighters on me. I’ll put you up for your stay. Take I-75 north until it ends. I have the same # and e-mail still. I can’t travel because 90 yr old mama Ann needs me here.
Thank you for that info…
the dish looks good minus the cheese… i still couldn’t wouldn’t consume that much in a week. i weigh a healthy 180 lbs- same as always……….. the leg and foot doesn’t look good AT ALL. eat more/any fruits and veggies dude..
irish? my 1st x was irish and cherokee- talk about crazy as fuck- stupid too.
If you make a rue and shred block cheese, the sauce comes out smoother. Shredded cheese has some kind of starch added to keep it like, fresh or whatever.
That looks delicious!!… I wish my man cooked!!… You are a good one BCE!!…
I’m gonna try that out, minus the cheese, ate too much cheese when I was young, can’t hardly stand the stuff now. Also, russian hackers apparently released the behind the scenes info on ukrainian casualties. About 1.7 million dead. I was impressed with BCE’s estimates before and the work he showed in getting it, it was a Lot closer than what the “official” line was saying…