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Posts Tagged ‘Bacon’

A few months ago, we had some coworkers in from London and on their last day, after plenty of meetings, we finally all went out for lunch.  I know that as Americans, everything is bigger and better here, i.e. the Friendly’s Grilled Cheese Burgermelt or the KFC Double Down.  However, you don’t really realize how big portions are EVERYWHERE until you have a Brit sitting next to you in a cheap Thai restaurant commenting on how his curry could be eaten over four lunches and you are actually thinking they stiffed him.  The continuous quote from the 1960′s of a parent telling you “You must clean your plate” is a constant memory of restaurants during my youth, knowing that I could never truly finish my plate.  Being on my bacon kick lately, I wanted to finally try to make scones, but after some research I discovered that scones have an incredible number of calories and an insane fat content.  Yet, when I realized what the size of a normal scone is, I was almost as horrified as my London cousin dining in the Thai restaurant.  You can make this recipe however you want.  The scones are deliciously flaky and bacony and even taste good the next day if you nuke them for 5-10 seconds, but I strongly suggest cutting these babies into 16 wedges, not 8.  If you decide to go all out and make scones the size of your face, 20 minutes in the oven will do you.  Remember ladies and gents, scones do puff in the oven.

Stolen from here: http://sugarcrafter.net/2010/06/04/bacon-swiss-scones/

Ingredients:

2 cups flour
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 stick (1/2 cup) cold butter, cut into cubes
1/2 cup half and half
2 eggs
3 ounces shredded Swiss cheese
6 strips bacon

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Cook the bacon until crispy.  Leave the oven on!  After the bacon cools, crumble it into small pieces. Toss the bacon crumbles together with the cheese.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.  Cut in the butter with a pastry blender until well-combined.  (I did quick pulsing in a food processor here instead, DON’T OVER MIX!)  In a small bowl, lightly beat the eggs and half-and-half together.  Pour both the egg mixture and the bacon mixture into the flour mixture.  Stir gently until the dough comes together.  Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead gently for 2-3 minutes.  Roll the dough into a circle about 1-inch thick.  Place on prepared baking sheet.  Cut dough into 8 wedges, then cut each wedge in half so that you have 16.  Pull each wedge out slightly so that they have room to bake. Bake 15 minutes or until golden brown.

The original recipe made 8 scones, but they were just too huge for me so I cut them into 16.  Darn Americans and their huge delights.

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When Little Mommies told me she would be making a “strata” for Hanukkah, I assumed that it would be some form of a multilayered cake and I was excited.  Then when she told me that a strata was an egg dish filled with cheese, I was even more excited.  Then, when she told me she was going to put in pancetta as well, I cried.  Wept like a little baby.  Well not really, however, I did make fun of Rico for about an hour that he was missing Hanukkah brunch due to prior engagements and that he would miss this cheesy, pork creation.  I hope he still loves me. 

Commence Strating.

Ingredients:

  • 6 ounces pancetta, diced
  • 12 slices firm white bread
  • 1/2 cup chopped scallions
  • 1 pound shredded, sharp cheddar cheese
  • ½ cup grated parmesan cheese
  • 8 eggs
  • 3 ½ cups milk
  • 8 dashes Tabasco sauce
  • 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
  • Pepper to taste

Butter a 3 quart rectangular (approximately 9 x 13 inches) baking dish.

In frying pan, sauté pancetta until brown and fat is rendered.  Drain on paper towels.

Cut bread into 3/4 inch cubes.  Place in prepared baking dish.  Add scallions, pancetta and cheeses.  With hands, mix well to evenly distribute ingredients. In a mixing bowl, whisk eggs together; add milk, Tabasco, mustard, and pepper. Pour egg mixture over all in baking dish.  Cover and refrigerate several hours or overnight (up to 24 hours).

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Bake 50 to 60 minutes or until strata is puffy and brown.  Serves 8 to 10.

The lady of the house made two, one with and one without pancetta.  I liked them both.  See that spoon in the plain cheese one?  That’s because my uncle promptly stole a bread cube with his fingers before we could take a picture.  Little Mommies and I went a little crazy.  You think I’m cranky?  You should see the two of us angry, together, involving food, pictures, and manners.  The pain, suffering and noisy reactions were similar to the sound that comes out of a small dog when you step on its tail by mistake.  Exactly.

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What do you get when you cross a pig with a cactus?

A Porkupine!

Ok, we’ll pretend that didn’t happen.  I’ve been hearing a lot about savory and sweet cookies, and the euphoria from said cookies.  I hold a firm belief that bacon makes everything taste better, so bacon found it’s way into my first savory and sweet cookie creation.  These are fantastic warm, hold well in the fridge, and look beautiful.  However, the cookies should be kept cold, since they do have meat in them!!!  I candied the bacon, following suit with David Lebovitz (http://www.davidlebovitz.com), and mixed it into a pretty traditional cookie recipe that is a mix of Nestle’s Tollhouse and my own happy place.

ak47-bullet-ice-maker_msp1I need these ice cubes.  Last night, I was telling Rico that after I graduated college, I felt like I stopped being cool.  These ice cubes might finally make me cool again.  Maybe they will keep me from watching Lifetime movies on Sunday afternoons instead of doing something productive.  Don’t you want a part in that?  If you all loved me, you would buy me this mold.

Ingredients:

  • 2 1/4 cups flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 sticks of butter (1 cup)
  • 3/4 cup white sugar
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1 1/4 tsps vanilla
  • 2 eggs
  • 12 ounces Nestle’s semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 1 package (at least 11 slices) thick cut bacon, raw
  • additional 1/8th cup brown sugar, approximate

Picture 004

Here are my rounded tablespoons.  Now did you hear me, tablespoons? Not teaspoons!  My father doesn’t know the difference between these two!   When I was younger and was ill, he gave me 4 tablespoons of Mylanta instead of 4 teaspoons.  That was fun. 

First we cook the bacon.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Lay the bacon on a pan with parchment or a Silpat, and sprinkle with brown sugar.  Bake for about 12 minutes, flip, then bake 12 minutes more (make sure it’s nice and cooked and brown).  Let the bacon cool on a rack or on paper towels.  Break up into pieces, and press in between more paper towels to remove all the excess grease.

Raise oven to 375 degrees.  Beat together the butter, sugars, and vanilla.  Once lightened and well combined, mix in the two eggs.  Add the flour, baking soda, and salt and combine well. Stir in the bag of chocolate chips and the crumbled bacon.  Scoop 1 tablespoon sized balls onto a Silpat-lined or greased cookie sheet.  I found the cookies took about 10 minutes to bake, but I would check after 9 to see if they are done.  Let cool, or enjoy while they are warm and fuzzy.

Picture 007

These were really, really good.  I think next time I will mix some bacon fat into the dough for a more dispersed bacon flavor.  Also, it’s amazing how many people in my office building don’t eat bacon.  Not for religious reasons, but because they just don’t like it.  I have decided not to be friends with these people.

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