Fall is here, the comfort food cooking increases

I love the first cold rainy days of the season when I can stay at home, put on a pair of fuzzy PJ, grab a soft blanket, snuggle up on the couch and watch some TV.  The second best thing about this time of year is having no guilt for staying home and cooking comfort food.  It all started on Sunday with a Mac & Cheese soup and Sweet Buffalo Chicken strips for football Sunday, then fresh baked bread, BLT pasta, Peach Cobbler, Meatballs and Sausage balls for the freezer and a bean salad to eat throughout the week.  Wow I was busy in the kitchen but it sure didn't feel like it.  Most of the new recipes came from a sample Cuisine at Home magazine that I received and one recipe came from my Food Network magazine.  Some of the new recipes were winners, some loser's and some family favorites.  Although Mac & Cheese is one of my favorite comfort foods, a guilty pleasure the mac and cheese soup missed the mark.  It was simply mac and cheese prior to baking but with less pasta.  My mac and cheese recipe is a much better recipe and I would rather put in the extra pasta and eat a creamy mac and cheese or bake it instead of thinking about it as a soup.  The Sweet Buffalo Nuggets had a sweet spicy flavor, the honey mellowing the hot sauce. They would be great for a party cut into bite size pieces vs the strips that I did. Original recipe came from Cuisine at Home sample magazine, pg, 41.  The BLT Spaghetti didn't work how it was written but after my modifications it was a definite repeater.  It is a bit spicy, not too saucy but I didn’t feel like I was being too bad since I added the entire bag of spinach and 6 tomatoes with only 3 slices of bacon.  Next time I'll try grape tomatoes and two leeks vs. one (mine was a small leek).  If you don’t like it spicy reduce the red pepper flakes to ⅛ t.Original recipe came from Cuisine at Home sample magazine, pg.31.

BUFFALO NUGGETS

2 chicken breasts, cut in bite size pieces or strips

¼ C. flour
Marinate

½ stick butter, melted
⅓ C. Franks hot sauce
1 T. honey

Cut chicken into bite size chunks. In a large skillet, heat oil till hot. Toss chicken in flour, shake off excess. Fry in skillet till golden brown, about 3 minutes per side. In a medium bowl, melt butter in microwave. Add remaining ingredients. Toss with cooked chicken.

BLT SPAGHETTI

Garlic Breadcrumbs:

1 t. EVOO
1 C. sour dough bread crumbs
¼ t. sage
¼ t. marjoram
¼ t. thyme
¼ t. oregano
¼ t. parsley
½ t. salt
1 clove garlic, minced
Pasta:
3 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
6 Roma (1 C.+½ C.) tomatoes, diced
½  t. sugar
2 (½ C.) leeks, cut in half and sliced
¼ C. dry white wine
½ C. chicken broth
1 t. red wine vinegar
¼ t. red pepper flakes
½ pkg. (6 oz.) spaghetti
9 oz. fresh spinach leaves
¼ t. fresh thyme, removed from stems
½ C. Parmesan

Bring large pot of water to a boil for pasta. Cook according to package directions. While water boils mix breadcrumbs and dry spices. Heat oil in a large skillet, add breadcrumb mixture and toast for 3 minutes, add garlic and cook another minute. Set aside. In same skillet cook bacon till crisp, remove to paper towel. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon of bacon fat. Add 1 C. diced tomatoes and sugar. Cook until tomatoes begin to brown, 5 minutes. Add leeks; saute till soft, 3-4 minutes. Add wine and simmer till nearly evaporated. Add broth, vinegar and pepper. Simmer until liquid is reduced by a third, about 5 minutes. Add the spinach, remaining tomatoes, thyme, cooked bacon, cook 2 minutes to wilt spinach. Add the cooked pasta and Parmesan. Toss to melt cheese. Serve with a sprinkle of bread crumbs.

Note: If you use the Roma (or small tomatoes) as I did they will break down and disappear.  Don't know yet if this would happen with grape tomatoes.  To counter act this I added 2 more diced tomatoes towards the end.  The spices in the bread crumbs can be substituted with an Italian seasoning if you have that on hand.  Since I have the components of Italian Seasoning I never purchase the combined spice.