Category Archives: Bacon

by | February 28, 2011

Mussels steam in white winewith crispy bacon topping

French Bistro style.

INGREDIENTS
3 lbs live mussels
3 T unsalted butter
2 1/2  cup white wine (crisp decent wine)
2 chopped leeks (white part)
4 chopped garlic cloves
1 bay leaf
chopped parsley
pinch of thyme
2-4 peppercorns
4 strips of bacon (optional)
cilantro for garnish
slice lemon wedges

DIRECTIONS:
Scrub mussels and rinse well.  Make sure there is no sand.
Heat butter in a large skillet or wok at a high temperature.  Add chop leeks, garlic, add white wine (more if needed) bay leaf, thyme and peppercorns.

Bring to a boil and  reduce heat add clean mussels (do not brown garlic). Cover with a lid.  Stir once or twice  to mix the bottom and top mussels,  add chopped parsley.
Cook mussels for about 5-8 minutes or until all mussels have open.  Throw any unopened mussels. Bad mussels will not open.
Cook bacon and crumble on top of mussels, add a bit more fresh chopped parsley..
Garnish with cilantro and lemon (optional).

Enjoy with a dish of pasta or rice with mushrooms and some toasted slices of  a baguette or sourdough bread.

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by | February 26, 2011

Spicy Tortilla Soup with confetti chip strips

Ingredients:
oil for stir frying vegetables
1 small onion chopped
1 red bell pepper chopped
3 cloves of finely chopped Garlic
2 chopped jalapeno seeded
2 diced tomatoes
1 teaspoon red chili powder
2 cups cooked shredded chicken
5 cups chicken broth
2 large avocados sliced
sea salt (to your liking)
fresh ground pepper (to your liking)
1/2 cup can black beans (optional)
cilantro  and lime slices for garnish (optional)

Add oil to pan at a medium temperature start adding chopped onions,  garlic,  bell pepper,  tomatoes and jalapeno,  stir frequently.  Stir fry about 3 minutes.
Add chicken broth,  chili powder,  and bring to a boil then reduce heat to medium,  adding cooked chicken, black beans,  pepper and sea salt. Simmer 5 minutes.

Garnish with fresh sliced avocados,  cilantro,  tortilla corn strips or chips.
Be creative by adding  shredded cheese,  bacon crumble,  chives or a dollop of creme fraiche.

Serve with toasted slice baguette

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by | February 26, 2011

Bleu Cheese and Iceberg Lettuce Salad with Bacon

Ingredients: Lettuce Wedges
I large iceberg
8 strips of bacon
1 leek chopped
1 large
tomato sliced 8 sliced wedges
cilantro for garnish (optional)

Ingredients Bleu Cheese Dressing

6 ounces of crumbled bleu cheese
1/4 teaspoon salt
fresh ground pepper
2 tablespoons leeks
1/2 cup low-fat sour cream
1/2 cup buttermilk
juice of 1/2 fresh lemon
1 cap full of vinegar (vinegar bottle cap)

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by | January 27, 2011

Breakfast Pizza, great Weekender avocado, eggs and bacon

BEST Pizza breakfast made with eggs, bacon, fresh baby spinach and bacon on fresh easy to make pizza dough.

Ingredients: 

Pizza dough
1 small package of active dry yeast
1 cup warm water at 105-110 F
2  1/4 to 3 cups flour
1 tsp salt
olive oil
Pizza toppings
Olive oil or truffle oil
2 cloves garlic finely diced
baby spinach
tomatoes thinly sliced
2 pan-fried cooked eggs (sunny side up)
cooked bacon
chili flakes
and sliced avocado
sea salt and fresh ground pepper
Dissolve yeast in water.
In a large mixing bowl, stir together 2  1/4 C flour and salt.
Add yeast mixture and stir until smooth.  Let the dough rest 10 minutes.
Knead  dough with floured hands until the dough becomes elastic and smooth,  approximately 10 minutes.
If  dough is too sticky to work,  gradually work in flour until it is no longer tacky.
It will be softer than most pizza dough,  so resist the urge to add too much flour.
Divide  dough into 2 balls (each will make a 10 inch pizza).
Coat each ball with a bit of olive oil,  place each into its own medium bowl,  cover with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, approximately 1  1/2 hours.
When dough is ready.  Roll out the dough and make it as thin as you like.
Place on a pizza stone or pizza pan.
When pizza is done and placed on a pizza sheet or pizza stone,  start adding the spinach drizzle olive oil and diced garlic.  Bake in the oven for about 8-10 minutes.
Add the bacon and eggs, chili flakes, sea salt and fresh ground pepper
(optional) tomatoes.
The pizza dough is enough to make individual pizzas for 6 persons.  With the left over dough I made bread sticks.
I added chopped rosemary and sea salt.  You can also add cheese.  Be creative and always have fun!

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by | December 5, 2010

Bacon and Cheddar cheese cookies~ Oh yeah Bacon

 BACON & CHEDDAR CHEESE COOKIE
Ingredients
1 3/4 Cups All Purpose Flour 
1/2 Cup Grated sharp cheddar Cheese 
1 Cup Chilled Unsalted Butter (cut into small pieces)
3/4 Cup Maple Syrup
4 Tablespoon Crumbled crispy Bacon 
cook 4 strips of bacon and crumble in tiny pieces
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees  Bake cookies for 20-25 minutes.
Line 2 baking pans with parchment paper.
Whisk,  flour and  shredded sharp cheddar cheese.
Add butter to flour, bacon bits and cheese mixture.  Keep mixing  dough until starts to come together.  Add maple syrup.
Lightly flour your work surface. and dust your rolling pin with flour. Divide dough  and roll  dough using a cookie cutter of any shape. ( star , moon, circles etc )
 Lightly dust your hands with some flour to keep dough from sticking,
 Great with a Glass of Wine
Makes about 24 Cookies
I used two different kinds of cheeses.  One cheddar and in the half moon cookies I used Parmesan cheese. ( same recipe  the dough was divided into two parts than I added  different cheeses.

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by | April 5, 2010

Maple Bacon Cupcake “The best breakfast Cupcake”

MAPLE and BACON CUPCAKE

Ingredients
 4 1/2 tablespoons butter, soft
2 teaspoon  bacon drippings,  refrigerate so it becomes solid 1 egg 5 tablespoons brown sugar 3 tablespoons maple syrup 1  1/4 cups  flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon baking powder
pinch kosher salt
1/4 cup  non fat milk or soy milk 1/4 cup of minced  bacon, cooked very crispy.
8 strips of cooked bacon very crispy for garnish.

Directions

Set Oven at 350  Bake for 25 minutes
Whisk butter, sugar, bacon drippings and egg.
Add all other ingredients in mixture.
Pour into paper cupcake cups. Use a cupcake pan.
Bake for about 20~ 25 minutes.  Check with a toothpick,  if it comes out clean cupcakes are done.  Set aside to cool completely before frosting cakes.
Maple Syrup Frosting
Ingredients 5 tablespoons of butter. 2 tablespoons of maple syrup. 1 1/4  cup of powdered sugar. sea salt for garnish
Frosting Directions Using an electric beater (hand-held) or use your hand power,  whisk syrup and butter until incorporated.    Add sugar,  a little at a time and whip until you get the spread you like,   add more powder sugar if frosting is too thin.
When cakes are cool start to frost.
Sprinkle on a few gains of sea salt and add half of strip of bacon as a topping.
If you LOVE BACON this cupcake is for you! Bacon and maple donuts,  cupcakes and cookies seem to be very popular with bacon.

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