Not vegan friendly

I recently told a friend of mine to check out my blog because she was talking about what to make for dinner. I later remembered that she's a vegan and thought she probably did not enjoy the site very much. I will also assume that she does not enjoy BACON as much as I do. I really need to stop keeping it in our house because I always have a reason to just "throw some bacon in."

Some recent dinner (and brunch) fav's ... Ran Getsu closed a few months ago and I have no idea where to go for sukiyaki anymore. So this dish was sort of a combination of Nathan saying to me "I love braised meat" while watching Diners Drive-ins and Dives and the classic sukiyaki broth (soy sauce, mirin, sake and sugar).

Braised short ribs with Udon noodles

Using a dutch oven I started by browning
short ribs (seasoned with s &p) in a little veg oil
until they got brown and crusty
remove short-ribs.
Next, deglaze with sherry- about a cup and a half.
I then added
Dried shitake mushrooms
A onion thinly sliced
half bulb or so garlic
chopped ginger
about a 1/2 cup each of
mirin
sake
soy sauce
and a spoonful of sugar

I added some water, the short-ribs and a lid and baked it in the oven for 2ish hours

Right before dinner I added
cooked udon noodles
Fresh shitake mushrooms (which were not really needed)
baby bok choy
Cooked for another 15 minutes on stove.
Serve the short-ribs and veggies on top of noodles with some of the broth :)
We liked sriracha with ours too

Nathan made the ribs (above) and were UH-mazing as usual. I make shrimp mac and cheese - making new kinds of mac and cheese never seems to get old..

I started by cooking
couple cloves of garlic in
a tablespoon of bacon fat for about a minute
Then added
flour mixed with a little bit of butter
cooked for about a minute then slowly added
warm chicken broth- about 3 cups
once thickened I took it off the heat
added a splash of milk,
2-cups cheese ( we had brie, gouda and swiss)
S&P
paprika
3 cups cooked pasta
and large handful of cooked shrimp-chopped

Sprinkle with cheese and bake for 20 minutes
Top with truffle salt before eating

Nathan took the beautiful photo of the french toast (above). While there was nothing super special about it, (just the usual egg, vanilla, cinnamon, milk mixture) the bacon was awesome. Some might say "snack worthy."
I have no idea why I have never cooked bacon in the oven before....
combine
a few tablespoons of brown sugar with
a bit of cayenne pepper (about a teaspoon)
and black pepper
stir it together and rub it all over the bacon
Cook on a rack of a half sheet pan
f0r 20-30 minutes at 350