(photo by JeffreyW)
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From our Food Goddess, TaMara:
Last week I opened up the ingredients to requests. I had two, bacon and mushrooms. We’ll start with bacon and I’ll serve up some mushroom recipes at a later date. JeffreyW tantalized us all with bacon cups (“ba-cups” he christened them!) and today seemed like a good reason to try them. He used bread in his first batch as the base, but suggested hash browns. I did half hash browns and half bread. Then I was able to cook up the remaining hash browns in bacon grease. Yum. The recipe that follows is for the bread bottoms. Not content with just bacon, he followed up with Prosciutto Cups.
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Are you a bacon person? Ever tried bacon ice cream? What are some of your favorite bacon uses?
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JeffreyW’s Ba-Cups
6 thick slice bacon
6 eggs
3-6 slices of rye or other firm bread
2 oz shredded sharp cheddar (or cheese of choice)
2 tbsp of butter
skillet, 6-cup muffin tin (alternately you can use custard bowls)
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Lightly butter each muffin cup. Cut a circle out of each slice of bread to fit in the bottom of the muffin cups (I was able to get 2 from each slice). Place in the buttered bottom of each muffin cup. Now you can either lightly fry the bacon and then arrange into the cups, or leave it raw (see JeffreyW’s notes below). Crack one egg into each cup. season with salt and pepper, top with shredded cheese. Bake at 375 degrees until bacon is fully cooked and egg whites are set, 20 to 25 minutes. Run a small knife around cups to loosen toasts. Serve immediately.
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JeffreyW’s notes on bacon cups:
I like my bacon on the crisp side, and love runny yolks, so the next time I make these I will fry the bacon a bit before I assemble them. By the time the bacon in this set was edible, the eggs were cooked hard. A thin cut bacon could help, as well.
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I cut some circles to fit the bottoms of the muffin tin out of rye bread. Any bread will work, and a fellow in a comment elsewhere mentioned using hash browns on the bottom as a possibility. I see merit in his suggestion.
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I tried several cheeses on the tops, some shredded cheddar, a couple with parings of asiago, and one with a Greek cheese called Kasseri. I am happiest with the cheddar, although perhaps using grated cheeses will be the preferred method in the end. More experiments! Wonder if I can get a grant?
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Next week: Biscuits
Kurt Montandon
This … this is beautiful.
I’m not crying, dammit, it’s just dusty in here.
Kurt Montandon
This … this is beautiful.
I’m not crying, dammit, it’s just dusty in here.
Kurt Montandon
Also, I hate my ISP for how often my connection drops right when I’m commenting, so I don’t think the original went through.
For anyone in Northern California: Don’t get DigitalPath. Fuck DigitalPath. Fuck them with a rusty pitchfork, and for God’s sake don’t give them your money, unless you dusted it with anthrax first.
Lojasmo
The bacon cups can be made without dreaded bread. A slice of mushroom in the bottom will suffice…or none at all. Search “paleo bacon cups”
Stupid bread gives me diarrhea.
noodler
Yum! Another twist on a coddled egg. How about a tomato slice ontop of the bread, or even instead of, or perhaps some fresh spinach for a little Florentine action?
And Ann, looks like that muffin tray has gotten some noteworthy use. Well Done.
TheMightyTrowel
One of the fun things about moving from one country to another is getting to taste foods you know and find that they’re different. Bacon is one of those things.
Crispy crackly american bacon just doesn’t happen anywhere else. In France the bacon is really meaty – which i love, but it isn’t the shattering bacon strips of my childhood. In Britain bacon is both floppy and disgusting. There’s a preservative that they use (never been able to figure out which) that gives me the most helacious heart burn. It wasn’t until I finally found a free-range organic no chemicals bacon that I could eat british bacon but even then it was too salty, too floppy and too wet for me to really like it. Having just moved down under, I was expecting some differences and the bacon has pleasantly surprised me: it looks british and it is floppy but it’s not wet, it’s not over salty, it doesn’t give me heart burn and it TASTES LIKE MEAT. which is amazing.
To celebrate I made the following this week
saute bacon until fat renders out. scoop bacon out of pan. add diced onion, garlic, chilli peppers to taste. saute until onion transluscent and garlic/chilli are fragrent. I added a bit of olive oil too btw.
Add chopped up leafy green (I used chard or “silver beet” as the aussies call it, but I’d have preferred kale) and cook stirring until it starts to wilt. Stir in a tin of white beans (rinsed), the bacon you’ve had on the side and add a mug of stock.
Stir occasionally and simmer until the stock reduces and the chard stems are fully cooked through. Serve over pasta. Reheats like a charm.
NUM NUM NUM
J.W. Hamner
The only thing I can offer for bacon is from Ruhlman’s Twenty, where he suggests sauteing bacon in… water. Yes, water. Weird I know, but it actually tenderizes the bacon in a really nice way if you’re not a fan of the so crisp it “shatters at a stern glance” kind of bacon.
There isn’t even a recipe really. 1) put your bacon in a pan, 2) cover with water, 3) cook on high heat until water boils off and bacon starts to fry normally, 4) turn heat down to medium and fry until you reach desired crispness.
I blogged about it, but the only thing there and not here is some pictures.
Bnut
Shrimp Diablo:
Cut a jalapeno in half, clean and stuff with a wad of cream cheese. Take a shrimp, hold it to the jalapeno, then wrap half a strip of bacon around it and pin with a toothpick. Broil for 5 minutes on each side on foil lined pan. Your welcome.
That Other Mike
My favourite bacon recipe is lots of bacon which I stuff into my face until it’s all gone. And eggs.
As a recent expat, I would kill to be able to get proper back bacon here; if anyone knows a place to get it in the Twin cities which doesn’t cost an arm and a leg, some info would be appreciated.
PLH in NYC
I love you for posting this! My son insisted that I make them tomorrow!. Sadly missing main ingredient so no dice.
Cliff in NH
Bake your bacon! its easy to get the whole lot done exactly the same, and its great to have on hand for pizzas and stuff whenever you want.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/64725711@N07/6051058854/in/photostream/lightbox/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/64725711@N07/6051107228/in/photostream/lightbox/
BD of MN
@Cliff in NH: it’s a whole lot easier to cook bacon while naked if you use the oven…
I do it at 400 degrees, about 18-20 minutes depending on the thickness. Plus, you get extra room on the top of the stove for your pancakes and eggs….
protected static
Gotta 2nd the bake-your-bacon observation: put a cooling rack inside a baking sheet; lay your bacon on the rack; bake at 375°F for about 15 minutes+/- and you have perfect bacon.
blahblah
Par-cook your bacon first, you fucking animal.
Those eggs must have been overcooked like crazy.
guckertgannon
I had no idea bacon required recipes…
TaMara (BHF)
Here are instructions for baking your bacon:
Baked Bacon
@J.W. Hamner: Sauteing it sounds interesting, but I might take it a step further and use apple cider as the liquid.
TaMara (BHF)
@blahblah: Someone should read the recipe and notes before commenting so as not to look like a fool.
TaMara (BHF)
@guckertgannon: Only needs recipes so I have an excuse to cook more bacon. ;-)
guckertgannon
@TaMara (BHF): Now I understand…thank you…
Comrade Mary
OK, must try those cups this weekend!
Meanwhile, friends don’t let friends eat so-called “Canadian bacon”, which is actually sad, nasty ham that we neither create nor distribute.
What you want to try is peameal bacon (aka back bacon), a salty and succulent pork loin that you can roast whole and slice after cooking, or slice while raw so that you can cook each slice crispy on the outside, OMFG on the inside.
@That Other Mike: Have you tried shopping online? Gord’s is supposed to be good.
Little Boots
change is scary.
and for good reason.
piratedan
simple appetizer…
whole water chestnuts
sliced jalapenoes
peppered bacon
cut bacon into 3rds per slice, wrap around water chestnut and jalapeno slice. Spear with wooden toothpick. Place on broiling pan or foil covered grill. low broil/grill for about 10 minutes, turn over for all around crispiness for another 5. Turn on fan to keep smoke alarm from causing migraine and remove from oven.
it’s simple, stupid and awesome….
Little Boots
actually starting to like the new look.
hitchhiker
@Bnut:
My brother makes those, except he smears them with Sweet Baby Ray’s Barbecue Sauce and grills them outside instead of in the house. He calls ’em armadillo eggs. Freaking delicious.
Shane in Utah
Bacon cups? And this is intended for human consumption, and not for baiting bear traps?
I guess there’s a reason I haven’t eaten pork products (or any other mammal flesh) since 1985…
Bnut
@piratedan: My dad makes it with chicken livers instead of jalapenos. I will tell him to add the japs next time.
Yutsano
OOOH!! A variation on gallinas de madre! Only difference is the Spanish use serrano ham instead of bacon and top with bechamel. Probably my favourite tapas ever!
I admit I just like bacon. But it does make the best frittata.
piratedan
@Bnut: I sometimes change it up with a mix of serranos or habaneros if I feel that I wanna do the prep work and risk a cut and pepper juice but as always, ymmv. To those rookies and neophytes, if you handle habas, wash your hands afterwards, thoroughly.
Bnut
@piratedan: I have made the mistake of making something with habs and then touching the crotch. Do not recommend.
Another Bob
Gruyere, bitches!
Yutsano
@piratedan: Habs are the FSM’s great culinary joke. One of the hottest peppers are also one of the tastiest. I’m glad I have a semi-decent heat tolerance. Otherwise I’d be forced to be upset.
@Bnut: This sounds eerily like a Parris sort of dare. I’ll pump the work Dawg for more information.
Bnut
@Yutsano: Best tapas is cojonudo. Had it on a port visit in Barcelona during a float. It’s chirizo with a fried quail egg on toast. OMG, i could have died a happy man.
@Yutsano: Not a dare, more like having to pee while making dinner and not being aware. Way worse experience than any boot hazing the Corps ever threw at me.
Yutsano
@Bnut: Pork product and egg. No wonder it’s Spanish slang for awesome. :)
Bnut
@Yutsano: And although not technically tapas, the normal meal on the Horn of Africa comes close. I remember we traded a case of MRE’s for sage roasted goat with flatbread and an assortment of basmati and tubers. I hope the Djiboutians enjoyed the constipation as much as I enjoyed my meal.
Yutsano
@Bnut: A friend of mine from college is Ethiopian (she’s 4’6″, plays tuba, and flies helos in the Army) and her family owns a restaurant here in Seattle. We got to eat there once as a group. That was my first taste of doro wot. That and injera could keep me happy for weeks.
Bnut
@Yutsano: Injera that is what I was looking for. I tell people that if they like naan, they aint had shit yet.
Joey Maloney
What a perfect Passover post!
Yutsano
@Joey Maloney: Shlomeh Pesach!!
@Bnut: Just for shits and giggles I looked up Ethiopian restaurants in Nashville. Does there always have to be one called Mesob? :)
Oh and Shlomeh Pesach to you too.
Bnut
@Yutsano: Nashville has the largest Kurdish ex-pat population in the US. The whole west side is littered with that style of food. It’s actually sort of boring IMHO. :( And I think you spelled salomeh pesach wrong, but I may be mistaken.
eemom
I LOVE Ethiopian food.
OTOH, when I show up here in the middle of the night as a break from doing boring lawyer shit, I KIND of wish for something more interesting to be going on than an 8-hour-old bacon thread. Jussayinzall.
Yutsano
@Bnut: It’s entirely possible. I’ve been wrong about transliterating Hebrew before.
And nothing says VICTORY!! like spilling chicken stock all over the kitchen floor.
Bnut
@Yutsano: Oy Vey! My personal least favorite Jewish food job is squeezing the water out of a thousand pounds of potatoes for latkes.
Bruce S
Was this recipe cleared with the East Wing of the White House?
eemom
Finally — and in the spirit of being the change I want to see — I will note that Ezra Klein’s transformation from charming boy-wonk to emmessemm horse race whore appears to be complete.
Yutsano
@eemom: Oi. That was ten pounds of stupid in a five pound bag. Or Ezra broke into the cheap booze. He doesn’t give any sort of actual facts, but he “thinks” and “feels” Willard will do better in the general. I get better excuses from delinquent taxpayers.
eemom
@Yutsano:
I am particularly struck by the fact that he cites his “colleague” Chris Cilizza — a better example of power-dick-sucking, content-free, insight-free, talent-free, 100 proof pure inside the Beltway slime-ooze than whom there is NOWHERE to be found.
Whatev. Thank you for commiserating. Nighty night.
Jewish Steel
Is it kosher for me to comment on this thread? Mmm, maybe not.
Gretchen
@Lojasmo:
Thanks for the idea. We are unfortunately doing gluten-free at Chateau Gretchen.
joel hanes
You non-gluten people might also like the “Florentine” replacement for the bread foundation: slice fresh spinach into tinsel, toss in olive oil warmed with garlic, press a wad into bottoms of cups, maybe parmesan in the spinach too, definitely on top.
Schlemizel
I loved bacon but it is now one of the worst meats for me to try and eat – I miss it every time I think of it. Its just impossible to swallow now.
Here is a thing we do for parties that everyone loves – they are a mess to make but way too good.
Put some brown sugar in a bowl (I donno, been a long time since I measured maybe 3/4 cup?) and stir in yellow mustard until you have a thick paste. Turn the broiler on. Cut the bacon strips in half length-wise & mix in the paste until they are coated. Put a wire rack inside a cookie sheet and lay the coated bacon out on the rack. with no overlapping. Pop them into the broiler for 3-5 minutes (watch so the sugar does not burn). Use tongs to turn them over & give them 3-5 minutes on the other side.
Crispy, sweet, tangy, bacony – trust me you will never make enough of these to satisfy your party guests
Schlemizel
@eemom:
We have had an Ethiopian restaurant here for more than 20 years (The Blue Nile) and it has been a favorite since we found it. Followed it when it moved to a bigger place in a dicier neighborhood. In the last 10 years there has been a huge influx of Somoli refugees & now there are at lest a dozen places serving great East African food. Anyone who is adventurous is really missing out if they don’t find a place to try it.
Raven
@Schlemizel: It’s funny, it’s like booze. I haven’t had either in 20 years, I used to love it and now the smell makes me want to hurl.
bemused
A family member now has to eat gluten-free or face unwanted intestinal surprises. Cooking gluten free is a bitch and finding a decent tasting gluten free bread is a huge challenge. Tearing hair out.
Lojasmo
@Schlemizel:
MPLS west bank, I presume?
That Other Mike
@Comrade Mary: Thanks, that looks good.
Svensker
Fry up some cut up bacon and mild sausages with some garlic. Take them out of the pan when done and fry up some mushrooms in the grease. Combine meats with mushrooms and heat them all up, throw in a sploosh of wine to get some sauce and all the yummy brown bits in the pan. Sprinkle some gremolata (minced garlic/parsley/lemon rind) over the top. Serve with starch (polenta’s my favorite). Die and go to heaven.
Beergoggles
Aww couldn’t stay awake last night to catch this..
I gotta try this for breakfast some weekend.
One of my fave bacon recipes i make during xmas is bacon wrapped stuffing (sausage, sourdough, cranberry, sage, chestnut for stuffing).
Also bloody mary made with Bakon (bacon flavored vodka) with a crispy thick cut slice of bacon in it.
Ivan Ivanovich Renko
@BD of MN: More like 26 minutes for the incredible, thick slabs of Amish bacon I can get up here…
dammit, drooled on the keyboard.
Just Some Fuckhead
What a perfect post for the AM!
rikyrah
damn, that looks good!!
Schlemizel
@Lojasmo:
The Blue Nile is on Franklin near the West Bank but the great explosion of EA places is in the West Bank area. Had a Tangine at a place near the U hospital a year or so ago with the best lamb I have ever eaten and so flavorful with spices mixed into combinations just out of this world.
Also they did something with their couscous that was spectacular but I have no idea what it was & they wouldn’t share. Was going to go back again with the idea of tasting my way to making it but that aint happening any more
GorkySnark
Been messing around with the bean burger recipe from a while back, thought I’d share:
Set the cheese aside while preparing the patty mix. Instead of making four distinct patties, line the bottom of a frying pan with about half the mix. Now use the cheese to form a layer on top, and use the other half of the patty mix to cover. Smooth out and flatten to about as thin as you think you can, and fry both sides to your satisfaction. Don’t really have a name. Been calling it cheesy bean cake, but the sweetness connotation with cake throws people off.
Original recipe: https://balloon-juice.com/2012/02/23/thursday-recipe-exchange-vegetarian-delights/
Amir Khalid
@Jewish Steel:
I feel your pain, brother.
dypeptic
I am just getting over food borne illness and finally hungry again. I am going to fridge and try to scrounge for proximate ingredients. But I am going to use pasteurized shell eggs because I can’t bear the thought of salmonella again
The Golux
@Another Bob:
Seconded, emphatically.
Schlemizel
@Amir Khalid:
This reminds me of our ex-Senator Rudy Boschwitz back in the late-80s, early 90s. He suggested on a radio call-in show that Poppa Bush sit down with the Iranian President over some booze & work out our differences.
I was on hold at the time he made this jaw-droppingly stupid comment so when I got on I pointed out how ridiculous it was. He really seemed to not get it. A couple years later he lost re-election to Paul Wellstone in no small part because of a letter he sent out stating that Paul was not a good Jew but he was.
I am sometimes amazed that I can still be stunned at how dense Americans can be.
blahblah
@TaMara (BHF): Notes say maybe, I say do it. It’s not rocket surgery.
And don’t even get me started on all of those notes for a goddam cup of bacon and eggs.
nickgb
Cooking Comically put up a very similar recipe this week, using biscuits as the base, turning it into more of a quiche. http://www.cookingcomically.com/?page_id=327
LanceThruster
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacon_Explosion
CynDee
My first rule for bacon is: Add it to Everything. Especially homemade spaghetti sauce.