Simple but tasty eggs

This one isn't too exciting, but it tasted really good this morning. One reason may be is that we've primarily been using fake eggs, not egg beaters but the egg substitutes with lower fat and cholesterol, and not real eggs. We're running low so this morning I used some real eggs.

2 slices of bacon cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
3 eggs, beaten
freshly ground black pepper, red pepper flakes and salt to taste
1 TBSLP freshly grated parmesan regiano

Cook bacon in skillet over medium high heat until just crispy, drain all but a tsp of fat, add red bell pepper. Cook for about three minutes. reduce heat to medium/medium low.

Meanwhile beat eggs and add spices. Pour eggs into pan and cook until done. Grate some cheese on top.

I don't know what it was but this tasted awesome this morning. The flavors really kicked.

Bacon fat

I got the latest issue of Savuer in the mail today, which makes me sad because I won't be able to cook anything from it for awhile.

There was one particular article that resonated with me, cooking with bacon fat. Sadly, the article isn't posted online. It talked about how bacon fat was used by the poor in the south and frowned upon by others in the 1800s.

I'm guilty of using bacon fat probably a bit too often (hence the South Beach diet now). If I would cook up bacon in the morning and forget to clean my cast iron skillet I'm not above using some of that fat to cook whatever I may be making that evening. It adds a flavor like nothing other than duck fat.

If you have a chance pick up this issue of Savuer, it's a good one aimed at the home cook. I really enjoyed the article on essential pots and pans too.

Mmmm bacon

This is for all you bacon lovers. I saw this on the Stew, the Trib's food blog, and had to repost. It's worth a chuckle early in the morning.

And then later in the morning I see this from the Reader's Food Blog.

All this and I'm off bacon ... kinda sad really.

Lamb stew

The recipe called this a casserole, but it' a stew. Casserole are typically made in casserole pans and baked for at least a short time. I don't know why Emeril calls it a casserole.

I ended up buying some lamb shoulder chops from Dominick's. I cut them up as best I could but left a bit of meat on the bone. This was the first time I've ever made lamb. I enjoy ordering it when I'm out, but never have tried to prepare it myself. I figured this was a good first try since it's hard to screw something up when braising it.

I let it simmer for a couple of hours. After a little more than an hour I tried the stew and it had no flavor. I added a bit more of the Cajun essence and salt and pepper and it turned out well. Most of the thing I have been cooking latley through are underseasoned at first and need some adjustment. Is this common?

It's also funny what a difference 30 minutes makes. I tried a small piece of the lamb after about an hour and it was chewy and tough. But after two hour it was tender and juicy. Right before serving I took the bones that had meat on them out of the stew, let them cool for a few minutes and picked the meat off. This also required a bit of fat skimming.

As for the bacon that we used to initially cook I used it as a garnish. It was nice, added a nice texture.

The Turducken Chronicles: An Epilogue

It was a lot of work but the party was a success. Prior to Saturday I had a few more people tell me I was nuts. I don't really want to cook for 18 people again, unless I'm getting paid, and this will make the turducken guest list for next year interesting.

Rory and I were pretty organized. The prep started on Friday with a trip to the store and some baking. The monster cookies turned out well. Four and a half cups of oats makea for a pretty chewy cookie. I thought they were ok, but others really enjoyed them.

The apple caramel cheesecake was incredibly easy and was probably one of the best desserts I've ever made. I had some doubts about this right before I made it, apples and caramel go together well, but I wasn't sure how it would work with the cheesecake. But it was great, the flavors melded together nicely. If you like apples and cheesecake you need to try this recipe.

On Friday I also made bourbon barbecue sauce. Bittman had suggested this as an extra sauce for Thanksgiving so I decided to give it a shot. It definitely had some kick to it, but it was a nice addition. I can't wait until the summer to put it on some grilled chicken.

On Saturday we tidied up and got ready. I put the turducken on around 2:15 pm and we peeled potatoes. I also blanched some broccoli for the broccoli parmesan. We put the potatoes on around 5 pm and they were done and ready to go before everyone arrived.

I wish I could have said the same about the turducken. It was supposed to take four to four and a half hours but it took five and a half. I let it rest for about 20 minutes before carving it, I know it should have been more but I had to get moving. And as you can see from the photos below I did cover it in bacon to give it a bit of extra moisture and flavor.

Once the turducken came out of the oven things started getting a bit hectic. I started making gravy from the drippings. At the same time I was putting stuffing that Sarah brought into the oven for reheating and then putting in some corn casserole that Ed and Karen brought. After that I had to take the broccoli and put it on a baking sheet with some butter and parmesan and get that ready for the oven.

And while it was hectic for a good 30 minutes or so everything turned out extremely well. Everybody had a great time. After all the food and desserts we ended up drinking till the wee hours. The last guests left about 4 am. I got to bed around 5 am after cleaning up.

It was a lot of work but I would do it again. I cook for myself, but I really enjoy cooking for others. And seeing how much people enjoyed everything really made me quite happy and realized that all the work was worth it.

Turducken: The Photos

The table before everyone shows up.

Our tree.

Yes, I covered the turducken with bacon.

Me taking the turducken out of the oven.

Another turducken shot.

To the cook goes the tuducken leg.

(Clockwise around the plate) Mashed potatoes and gravy, sausage stuffing, broccoli parmesan, turducken with bourbon barbecue sauce and corn casserole.

(Clockwise around the plate) Chocolate crinkles, ginger cookies, crack cookies and monster cookies.

Apple caramel cheesecake.

Chad's chocolate truffles.

Chocolate truffle and wreath cookie.

Pot roast smothered in onions and bacon

Since it had been a week and a half since I had done anything with bacon I figure I was alright to go back to it. I found this recipe a couple of months ago and was holding on to it. It had three of may favorite things: bacon, garlic and onions.

It also took advantage of my favorite way to cook: braising. Other than grilling I can't think of a better way to prepare something. Braising enables you to take some of the toughest cuts of meet and make them tender and delicious.

That said, this recipe turned out just ok. I used a chuck roast, but didn't tie it I just sliced it into one-inch pieces. I cooked the bacon, letting the fat render, but not until crispy. This was my first mistake. I should have cooked it until crispy. Then I started browning the roast, but I forgot to season it with salt and pepper, my second mistake.All said the meat was tender, but it was lacking in flavor. Even when I added salt it was just ok. I might make it again, but since there are so many other pot roast recipes out there I'll probably try something different next time.One thing I will definitely make again is the potato side: Lori's skillet smashed potatoes. These turned out really well and I made just one slight change. I threw five or six large garlic cloves into the water while boiling the potatoes and then fried them up with the potatoes. They had a great flavor and texture.

Bacon-wrapped meatloaf

I need to stop wrapping things in bacon or the few readers I have will think I am a one-trick pony and Rory will accuse me of trying to make her fat. So this will be the last time I wrap anything in bacon for awhile, though I will still be cooking with it.

I was cooking for Rory and her friend Christy Wednesday evening. Originally I was just going to roast a chicken but since we were having turkey the next day I decided to do something else. I had only made meatloaf once before and enjoyed it. And when I saw this recipe, I knew I had to make it. I didn't use veal, but a combination of ground beef and pork sausage. I also didn't use heavy cream but 2% milk.

It turned out really well. I had great flavor and was very moist. Typically I'll use some ketchup with meatloaf but this didn't need anything.

For sides I made two Bittman recipes: mashed potatoes with caramelized onions and mushrooms and broccoli with Parmesan. The potatoes are easy, just slice up some mushrooms and onions, and cook in a skillet until caramelized. Make the mashed potatoes anyway you like them and just stir the onions and mushrooms into the potatoes.

As for the broccoli, steam it up and then place on a cookie sheet with some butter and Parmesan cheese. Toss it in an oven at 400 degrees for about 10 minutes. Really good stuff.

Can I have some pork with my pork?

Homer: Are you saying you're never going to eat any animal again? What about bacon?
Lisa: No.
Homer: Ham?
Lisa: No.
Homer: Pork chops?
Lisa: Dad, those all come from the same animal.
Homer: Heh heh heh. Ooh, yeah, right, Lisa. A wonderful, magical animal.

I chuckle ever time I think of that Simpson quote because the pig is truly a magnificent beast. And this weekend I was struggling to figure out what to do to my beautiful pork loin. I should have put them in a brine on Saturday, but the laziness of the day got away from me so I didn't do it until early Sunday. I didn't measure out what I used for the brine, but here's my best guess:

1/2 cup of Kosher salt
2 bay leaves
2 TBLSP minced garlic
2 TBLSP ground black pepper
6 sprigs fresh thyme
1/3 cup of brown sugar
6 cups of water

I just threw it all in a ziploc bag along with the two pork tenderloins (probably 2 pounds each) and let them soak it up for about eight hours.

As this was going on I was trying to figure out what else to do with them. My apologies to Steve, but I wasn't up for standing outside and smoking them yesterday. I was thinking a rub but I wasn't really feeling it. I was looking around some different sites when I found the bacon-wrapped maple pork loin. And while this recipe look good I wasn't feeling it either.But I did have some left over bacon from the carbonara on Saturday so I did a variation. I took the loins out of the brine, rinsed them off, and just wrapped them in bacon. I cooked them at 350 degrees for about an hour until an internal temp of 140 degrees. I then let the meat rest for about 20 minutes before slicing.

It turned out really well. Even brining it for eight hours left the meat very tender and flavorful. I put a little Sweet Baby Ray's on the top too.

For a side I did a baked cauliflower. I rinsed and trimmed it. I then poured a beaten egg over the top and added some salt and pepper and freshly grated romano cheese. I cranked the oven up to 400 for this and it took about 30 minutes. In the future I may blanch the cauliflower for a few minutes before tossing it in the oven so it doesn't take as long to cook.

Pasta Carbonara

This is a dish I've made numerous times, it includes two of my favorite things: bacon and pasta. And yes, the real recipe calls for pancetta, which I have used, but in a pinch bacon works just as well.

I am always looking at different cabonara recipes. The recipe I read most recently is from Frank Crispo. This recipe differed from the traditional more than any I had ever seen. I've done a variation of it twice, last night most recently, and both times I've been pleased. About a month ago was my first attempt and I had some prosciutto to toss in as the recipe called for, though I just used bacon instead of the two types of pancetta. Neither time have I done the poached eggs. I want to try, but just haven't gotten around to it.

Last night I did a more or less basic version. Here's what you need:

1 pound whole wheat pasta (thin spaghetti)
7 slices of bacon (chopped into half inch pieces)
1 medium onion (diced)
1 TBLS garlic
1 cup of chicken stock
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup of grated romano
2 eggs beaten
Salt and pepper to taste

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta all dente.

Chop bacon and cook until crispy over medium high heat. Remove from pan and let drain. Leave a little bacon fat in the pan and brown onion. When it's just about brown toss in the garlic and cook for a couple of more minutes. Put bacon back in pan and pour chicken stock and cook down until reduced by half.

Mix up the grated cheese and eggs.

Toss pasta with chicken stock, bacon, onions and garlic. Remove from heat. Pour egg and cheese mixture over the pasta and the toss. Add salt and pepper to taste along with some extra grated cheese.

A nice easy meal with plenty of room for improvising.

Risotto carbonara, kind of but not really

So last night I decided to make the risotto carbonara, or at least what I though would be risotto carbonara. I'm a big fan of pasta carbonara and have been experimenting with risotto so I decided to try something different. I didn't follow a recipe, the one I found online called for cream and putting cream in risotto is a sin. I figured I could do a basic carbonara, without the eggs because the starch in the risotto should fill in for the binding that the eggs provide, and be good to go. The end result was good, but not quite what I expected. Here's what I did.

Ingredients:

7 slices of bacon (chopped into half inch pieces)
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 Tblsp of olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
1 Tblsp of diced garlic
5 cups of chicken stock
1.5 cups of risotto (aborio rice)
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup Romano cheese

Chop the bacon and place in large saute pan over medium high heat with olive oil, render fat and cook until crispy. Remove bacon and place on a plate with paper towel.

Cut the chicken breasts into cubes and cook in the bacon fat until done. Remove and place on paper towel to drain.

Toss onion into the pan with the remaining fat and cook until just about brown and throw in the garlic and cook for another minute or two.

Pour the rice into the pan with the onions and garlic and cook for a couple of minutes stirring constantly. Place the chicken and bacon into the mixture and stir. Pour enough of the chicken stock to cover the mixture. Keep at a boil and stir almost constantly until a good portion of the stock is absorbed by the rice.

Turn down the heat and cover. You're going to want to cook it for about 15 minutes but you will want to check it and stir a few times before it'll be done. Stirring the rice is very important so it doesn't stick together and so it becomes creamy.

Before sering add a significant amount of cheese to each serving.

Now the end result isn't carbonara. It was really good, but it wasn't carbonara. The bacon and the chicken turned out really well and everything was very creamy. I don't know what I should do to make it more carbonara. Add the cheese while cooking? But for now I think I'll call it my bacon and chicken risotto.