Bagels

Bagels make for a great breakfast, an excellent snack, and the perfect sandwich. They're fairly simple to make at home with the right tools and a couple extra hands. And actually, you don't even need the right tools, just extra hands.

Traditional (read: good) bagels have crunchy exteriors and chewy centers. This occurs when the dough is boiled and then baked. We topped the bagels with salt, poppy seed, garlic, and all of the above. The basic recipe to follow is here: Bagels. Be sure to reduce the amount of salt.

Meatball Breakfast Sandwich

I'll eat pretty much anything with an egg and cheese between two pieces of bread. So this morning when I saw leftover meatballs in the fridge, I thought, "hmm, those could probably be flattened and made into a breakfast sandwich." They can.

Although the USDA advises against it these days, a proper breakfast sandwich requires runny eggs. I topped the egg and meatball with some shredded cheese blend and parsley. In the future, I would add mayo, maybe spicy mayo.

Pumpkin Soup, Double Oat Bread & Salad

For this incredible team effort, I provided the bowls to mix in, pots to boil in and processor to process in. On the table sits pumpkin soup with pie pumpkins from Providence Farms, double oat bread from Pleasanton Bakery and salad with ingredients from Ann Arbor Farmers' Market. Lastly, there are two tall candles. Based on our experience, I do not recommend doing a candlelight dinner with a table full of people younger than 27.

I welcome any of the co-chefs to add the soup or salad recipes in the comment section.

Northern Michigan Cheeseburger Soup & French Bread

Only in northern Michigan can you get beef from a bull from a farmer down the street (wait, let me finish) that the farmer received in trade in the middle of a winter storm, and then later the same day spent 14 hours hunting after the bull went crazy. Said bull, appropriately nicknamed “Blizzard,” makes his Happy Pig, Happy Bacon debut in this cheeseburger soup:

I made some crispy crust, chewy center French bread to dip into the cheesy soup. I simply changed the pizza dough recipe from half all-purpose flour and half bread flour to all bread flour. I think you could pair the soup with your normal burger beer.

And with that said, here’s to Blizzard - A bull whose final day was spent roaming along the shores of Torch Lake.

Source: Cheese-burger.net

Garlic & Sweet Pepper Pizza

Food processors, once you figure out how to use them, make making homemade pizza dough really easy. I used this recipe pass along by an experienced pizza dough maker:

- 1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

- 1 1/2 cups unbleached bread flour, plus more for dusting

- 1 tablespoon active dry yeast

- 2 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt

Add ice water to the flour mix until the dough starts to pull away from the sides of the food processor. Store in refrigerator until about 30 minutes before you're ready to bake.

I added some sautéed garlic to the pizza sauce and topped the pizza with mozzarella cheese and sweet peppers. I also precooked the crust for a few minutes before adding sauce and toppings. Along with a layer of olive oil and corn meal on the cookie sheet, I've found that precooking the crust helps make the crust firmer than a usual homemade pizza. Best paired with a growler of your favorite Short's beer per every two guests.

Roots & Semi-stuffed Spaghetti Squash

..And after almost five months without eating, I'm back! It was tough, but I am hungrier for it. I thought I would ease my way back into the food world with a vegetarian meal - saving happy pigs for another day.

On a bed of mixed lettuce, I prepared grated carrots and beets with cilantro and a modified version of the recommended dressing from this recipe: Chocolate & Zucchini. To the 1/8th-ed portions of the 2-foot long spaghetti squash, I added tomatoes, rice and Romano cheese. Dish is best paired with a Poet from New Holland and a poet from Ann Arbor.

Chicken & Waffles

+ =

Chicken + Waffles = Chicken 'n' Waffles. What an idea. Deep fried chicken, waffles, butter, syrup. We used the chicken recipe from SeriousEats' attempt to remake KFC special recipe fried chicken. I soaked boneless chicken breasts in seasoned buttermilk overnight and then handed things off to the deep-frying pros the next morning. Put the fried chicken on top of a waffle and add syrup, butter, etc. Things like this prove God's existence.

Chicken recipe: Serious Eats

UPDATE: A photo of chicken and waffles from Birch and Barley in D.C. - Their chicken actually tasted very similar to mine, but they used dark meat instead of white meat and added pecans. Also like me, they used maple syrup and butter.

Blackberry and Gorgonzola Salad

Perfect salad if you don't have much time or functioning knives. Cut a head of lettuce into quarters and add blackberries, cherry tomatoes, and Gorgonzola. The nice thing about using a quarter-head of lettuce is the salad dresses itself. I used raspberry vinaigrette dressing.

North Carolina Pulled Pork and Corn Nuggets/Fritters

This is a couple weeks in the past, but my fingers are just beginning to heal enough to be able to type after sustaining burns while pulling pork hot out of the oven - not to mention any burns suffered during the corn nugget frying process. All in all though, pulled pork and corn nuggets complement each other well and make for a nice indoor, cold weather BBQ. Brought home a nice 7 lb. happy pig boston butt and rubbed it generously the night before roasting.

Can you see it smiling?

Then I put it in the oven for 6 or so hours and...

Still Happy Pork!

I premade the corn nugget/fritter batter earlier, and let the fry god take care of the rest:

Recipes from: Food Network and Food Network

Spanish Tortillas

Start with a tortilla, slather on guacamole, throw some seasoned rice on top, followed by sauteed red pepper and onion, and top with cheese. Leave in sunset to melt cheese in the company of a Tecate and good friend. Grade: A

(posted by contributing cook)

Sea Salt Potato Chips

Yukon Gold Sea Salt Potato Chips: I just cut up some Yukon potatoes, warmed up olive oil and got crazy with it. After frying, I topped the chips with sea salt. Some hints for the future: 1) don't shower right before; 2) cut the potatoes as thin as possible; 3) don't throw the potatoes into the oil; 4) oil burns hurt a lot, keep that in mind; 5) cook the chips until they look overcooked, the best ones are the crispiest; 6) watch the middle of the chip, if it's not golden brown, then the chip isn't done. The chips pair well with a stout and the NCAA Tournament. Grade: B

St. Patty's Day Happy Pig Reuben Sandwich

Happy Pig Ham Reuben Sandwich: Happy Pig Ham, cilantro infused coleslaw, and Swiss cheese on sourdough bread. Served with a chilled Short's Irish Style Stout and green beans. Grade: B

Update: In any form, even when using ham, a Reuben requires Thousand Island dressing. Therefore, this is just a St. Patty's Day Happy Pig Ham Sandwich.

Maple Roasted Acorn Squash and Gorgonzola Pizza

By far the best homemade pizza I've had. The acorn squash was tossed in maple syrup and olive oil then roasted. After roasting, the chef topped the pizza with the squash, Gorgonzola and fresh mozzarella. The final touch was topping the pizza with arugula. Can't take credit for the prep or idea though. Just one part of a great vacation dinner.

Source: Food Network

Bacon-Wrapped Pork Roast

Happy Pig wrapped in Happy Pig! And a return appearance from Baked Mac n' Cheese. Pork roast rubbed with garlic, rosemary, and thyme wrapped in burgundy-peppered bacon. Very tasty dish. Big portions aren't necessary because the dish is so flavorful. Grade: A

Source: Food Network

Baked Mac n' Cheese

Semi-homemade: I used a slightly higher-quality noodle; made a cheese sauce with butter, milk, a little flour, and a lot of shredded cheddar; and then threw on some bread crumbs and baked it in the oven for about 25 minutes. Grade: A

Basic recipe: Here

Bacon Cheddar Scones

Bacon Chedda' Scones. Bacon, Bacon Chedda' Scones. From Zingerman's Guide to Better Bacon and with help from Jamie. These ones turned out okay, and the recipe has a lot of upside potential. Grade: B

Source: The Atlantic

Happy Pig Ham Breakfast Sandwich

Happy Pig Ham Breakfast Sandwich (the flagship sandwich of the blog) - Happy Pig Ham, Fried Egg, and Chedda' on toasted Italian Bread. The hardest part about making the perfect breakfast sandwich is cooking the egg right. The egg on this sandwich is just right. Grade: A

Buffalo Chicken Cheese Balls

I saw these on the Food Network. Chicken, cheese, green onions, hot sauce, breaded and fried - I had to give it a try. Grade: B.

Source: Food Network

Bready Turkeys

A Thanksgiving tradition. Gotta' eat something between the Thanksgiving Turkey and Thanksgiving Ham. Grade: A

(Prep Credit: Emily and Mom)