Marie Rama's Blog, page 10

Happy Halloween from Bacon Nation!

Bacon Wrapped Fillets are so easy to make and great for a party...

Bacon Wrapped Fillets are so easy to make and great for a party or a tailgate picnic. This short video shows you how to wrap and secure a thick slice of bacon around a 1-inch thick fillet. In Bacon Nation we use the bacon to hold and season the fillet with fresh sage leaves, but here I sprinkle the meat with fresh rosemary. Either herb is good and thyme also works.  

Brown the bacon in a cast-iron skillet on all sides; then finish cooking the meat in a preheated 425 degree oven until it reaches an internal temperature of 130 to 135 degrees for medium rare. Serve, if you wish, with a slathering of chutney. 

Make Soup and Eat Well

For my time and money, you can’t make a better everyday meal than a big pot of homemade soup. Store bought canned soups are insipid, salty concoctions that taste nothing like the real deal. With the cooler weather upon us, take some time this weekend, or one night after work, to fix up a big pot of the stuff. Leftover soup is even better the next day and if you get tired of eating it three days in a row, then freeze some for later. 

Bacon Nation offers you eleven delicious soup recipes all enhanced by the sweet, salty, smoky, meaty juiciness of bacon. But we never overdo bacon’s presence, and try always to keep the fat in the soup to a minimum. 

One of my favorites is our Mushroom-Barley Bacon Soup. This soup has both dried and fresh mushrooms, and I’ve found mushrooms in a soup simulate the texture and heartiness of beef. Our Bacon Nation recipe calls for carrots, but you can substitute cubes of sweet potato, as I did in this version. 

So what are you waiting for? Making soup is one of the easiest ways to create a great dinner without working too hard, and that’s good news for any cook. 

Cincinnati ... Porkopolis of the World!

You’ve got to love Cincinnati, a city known for its devotion to all things pork. They even decorate their street corners with arfully designed statues of pigs like this one in front of the Kroger’s headquarters …

… or this noble-looking beast, which I could have bought and brought home to live with me in Yonkers, NY …

I was in Cincinnati to attend Books by the Banks Festival, demo a Bacon Nation chili recipe on Fox 45 in the Morning …

and talk to bacon lovers on Chris and Steve in the Morning (WMOH-AM). 

Before hitting the road, I practiced my TV demo recipe, Bacon Brisket and Beer Chili, in my home kitchen. The most difficult part of TV’s food demos is paring down the information to get all your points into just 3 to 4 minutes. Try it sometime. The cameras rolling live and no retakes allowed, can make you a little nervous. But I love talking to people about food, and that trumps my butterflies. 

If you love chili, I think you’ll really love our Bacon Nation chile recipe. It starts with browning cubes of brisket in bacon fat. Our grandmother’s were right: bacon fat is liquid gold. Did you know it’s only 50% saturated? We use just the right amount in Bacon Nation; trying never to overdue the fat or calorie content. In fact, in this recipe which feeds 6, we only use 5 slices of thick-cut bacon. 

Full disclosure — I’m not gonna give you the complete recipe, just some tips and some tempting pictures. You’ll need to buy a copy of Bacon Nation for the real deal. 

Dried ancho or California chiles are soaked in water to soften. you can get them in any good food market or store that specializes in Mexican foods and ingredients. 

Then you remove their stems and seeds and process in a mini food processor with some brown sugar, a chipotle pepper, some of the soaking liquid, and cumin seeds to make a tasty paste. This chili is a riot of flavors! 

When I was researching different way to make a fine chile with bacon, it seemed to me the very best recipes used an assortment of spices to layer in flavor. The bacon in this chili is subtle, but used in two ways and definitely contributes to its overall taste. Wonderful bacon fat is used to  brown the brisket, 

and cubes of browned bacon are added to the simmering pot of beef, ancho chili paste, seasonings, Mexican beer, fire-roasted tomatoes, sauteed onions, garlic, and jalapeno peppers … 

… to create the final dish. 

With football season here and the cool weather coming, a pot of Bacon Nation’s Brisket Chili with Bacon is just the thing to get a party going or warm one’s soul. 

Happy Cooking from Bacon Nation!

Savory Sweets with Bacon, Scallions and Cayenne

Sweet potatoes are an excellent source of antioxidants, and except for Thanksgiving Day when they are essential to the menu, we don’t eat enough of them. As their name clearly states, they have a natural sweetness, and we usually supplement that sweetness with more sweet ingredients like brown sugar or maple syrup. Ok, that works, but so does using savory ingredients like onions, curry powder, marjoram, nuts, and bacon. Here’s a delicious recipe to serve with a burger, roast chicken, pork, beef or turkey.  So this once, toss aside the marshmallows and brown sugar, and try these Savory Sweets with Bacon, Scallions and Cayenne Pepper. 

 

Savory Sweets with Bacon, Scallions, and Cayenne Pepper

2 large sweet potatoes, ends trimmed and well scrubbed

5 slices thick-cut bacon, cut into ½-inch wide strips

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, or more to taste

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or more to taste

Freshly grated black pepper to taste

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

2 scallions thinly sliced

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

2 teaspoons water

Position a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Testing Note: I discovered that leaving the nutritious skin on the sweet potato while roasting has no ill effect on the final dish. No peeling means less work and more nutritious goodness!

Cut each potato in half lengthwise then cut each halve into wedges about 1-inch thick. Leave the skin on!

Place spears in a single layer in a large shallow roasting pan.

Add the bacon to a large skillet and cook over medium heat until lightly browned and most of the fat is rendered, about 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally and adjusting the heat as necessary.

Using a slotted spoon or a Chinese skimmer, as shown here, transfer the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate to drain.

Pour the bacon fat in the skillet through a fine wire strainer to remove the largest browned bits from the grease …

… then drizzle about 1-1/2 tablespoons of fat over the potatoes. Use tongs to toss the spears in the bacon fat to coat them on all sides.

Tip: Only half of the fat in bacon grease is unsaturated, and as our grandmothers knew, it’s an economical way to add moisture and flavor to vegetables while they roast. 

Sprinkle the spears with the ¼ teaspoon of Kosher salt, the cayenne pepper and black pepper to taste. Place in the preheated oven and roast 40 to 45 minutes or until the potatoes are fork tender and well browned, turning once after 20 minutes.

Just before the potatoes are done, use a paper towel to wipe the skillet clean. Heat the olive oil in the skillet; add the browned bacon and the scallions, and cook about 1 minute over medium heat or just until the scallions start to soften. Add the vinegar and water and stir to combine.

Spoon the scallion and bacon mixture over the roasted potato spears. Taste and season with additional salt and pepper, if desired. Serve immediately.

A little crunchy, salty, and sweet, makes these sweet potatoes all together yummy! 

Serves 4

Austin Chronicle Food Blog Cooks from Bacon Nation

So pleased to read this wonderful new review of Bacon Nation. The very diligent reporter, Derek Van Wagner, even tested our recipe for Candied Bacon Slices before posting the review. That’s impressive!  

http://www.austinchronicle.com/blogs/food/2013-09-18/bacon-nation/

Hmmm … Candied Bacon Slices!

San Francisco Bacon Tour

When Workman, our fabulous Bacon Nation publisher, told me San Francisco was one of the cities on the national media tour, I said, without my usual reluctance to leave home, “Book me!” SF’s natural and man made beauty, its culture of farming and food, and its proximity to sun-dappled wine country makes this city one of my favorite places to visit in the USA. Though this trip was only two days, including my red-eye flight home, I managed to eat a couple of wonderful dishes. One was at the charming breakfast and lunch cafe called Sweet Maple on Sutter Street. Owner/Chef Steven Choi buys 1/2-inch thick slices of applewood smoked bacon, sprinkles them with dark brown sugar and assorted spices, and bakes them first in a 360 degree oven for 20 minutes, then at 300 degrees for 1 hour, then at 200 degree for 3 hours to produce a melt- in-your-mouth, slightly caramelized finish. Once removed from the oven, the strips are drizzled lightly with maple syrup before serving.

Take a stab at making Sweet Maple’s Millionaire’s Bacon at home. It’s time-consuming, as the strips are cooked for 5 hours, but the process is not that complicated. 

In his five restaurants, Chef Choi sells more than 3000 pounds of bacon a week in assorted dishes like his …

… Bacon, Egg, and Arugula Pizza with a side of hollandaise. 

Yummy!

Food Blog SavorSA Captures Spirit of Bacon Nation Cooking Class

Central Market in San Antonio was one of my favorite sites for a cooking class while on the Bacon Nation book tour in mid-August.  SavorSA.com, a wonderful food blog that covers the food scene in San Antonio, sent writer and editor John Griffin to report on the lessons learned and bacon dishes I cooked. He sat in the very first row and took copious notes the entire night, which honestly made me a little nervous. You can read his very thorough story, accompanied by pictures and published in SavorSA.com, by following this link. 

http://www.savorsa.com/?s=bacon+nation+cookbook&x=18&y=9

Thanks so much, John!

Fajitas for a Crowd

Fifteen years ago my husband and I bought a little lake house about two hours from New York City with the idea that it would entice friends, family and one day our grown children to spend some of their summer days with us. The idea was a good one. Our children are now adults, and they often bring up their wonderful friends to swim, relax and hang out for long weekends on the lake.

This Labor Day was no exception and our house was filled again with Nick and ten of his terrific friends. But this weekend, rather than spending my time in the kitchen cooking, I made plans to golf with my own tribe each day. Nick and his guests agreed to shop for and make our meals.

Because I love to cook, I couldn’t resist making a few sides — a sweet potato salad, some baby back ribs, a pesto pasta salad, and for breakfast one morning, a batch of blueberry, buttermilk pancakes. But I pretty much left the rest of the cooking to them.

They all pitched in and were more than up to the task. The last dinner of the weekend was fajitas. Zack started us off with a great guacamole. Irene made a delicious corn and bean dip. Lindsay pan roasted peppers, onions, and summer tomatoes to perfection. Ian, a natural cook, was grill captain and controlled the charcoal fire that sizzled the marinated steak and chicken.  Bowls of cheese, sour cream, shredded lettuce, and soft warm tacos were set out on the dining table by other helping hands. The summer night shrouded us in a cool and comforting darkness. The crickets chirped their last hurrah as we sat on the deck eating our sumptuous meal, drinking beer, and clinging to the final days of summer. The lake house whisk was passed to the next generation of chefs; I was so grateful and so happy. 

Ian, Irene and Zack get dinner going, marinating the fajita chicken, chopping onions, mashing avocado for the guacamole. 

That’s Lindsay, on the left, with her soon to be husband Zack, and friend Irene. Lindsay’s cooking skills, so precise and admirable, were honed while at Cornell in the hospitality and restaurant management school.

Bowls of sour cream, shredded cheese and lettuce, pickled jalapeno peppers, soft warm tortillas, and grilled tomatoes were laid out with the grilled veggies, chicken and steak.  

The best part is everybody helps themselves, making the fajitas just they way they like them!

Alas, no bacon was served at this meal. But it was missed, and we agreed to fry some up as an optional fajitas topping next year when we cook together again. 

Bacon Cooking Class at Ramekins in Sonoma California

Come cook with me September 12th, at Ramekins in Sonoma, CA. We’re going to have a grand time adding bacon to vegetables tarts, chocolate candy, and salads, wrapping salmon, and making Bacon Jam!
https://www.ramekins.com/event-registration/?regevent_action=register&event_id=84

Happy Cooking with Bacon!