Marie Rama's Blog, page 15

Luscious Bacon Stuffed Chicken Breasts

Shrimp, beef filets, and chicken breasts can be disappointing to eat as they easily dry out when grilled or overcooked. Wrapping them in bacon adds moisture and pleasing notes of smoke, salt, and sweetness. In this elegant dinner recipe for Luscious Bacon Stuffed Chicken Breasts, an herbed cream cheese filling and smoky bacon moistens and flavors the chicken inside and out. It’s a satisfying meal, without being overly filling. This recipe serves 2, but you can easily double or even triple the ingredients to serve 4 or 6. 

2 ounces cream cheese (not whipped), at room temperature

2 tablespoons finely chopped onion

1 teaspoon fresh chopped thyme

1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

2 chicken breasts, each about 10 ounces

6 asparagus spears, of average thickness, or 10 large green beans, trimmed

4 thick-cut bacon slices* (see recipe note below)

1 tablespoon olive oil

1.) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2.) Mix together the cream cheese, onion, thyme and lemon zest in a medium bowl. Add salt (lightly or not at all as the bacon adds salt) and pepper and stir well to combine. 

Recipe Tip: I used cream cheese in one test and substituted an equal amount of herbed Brillat-Savarin in another test, omitting the thyme. Brillat-Savarin resembles cream cheese, but is richer, and can be found in specialty cheese shops and markets such as Fairway. Both were equally good.  

3.) Using a paring knife, make a deep cut lengthwise down the center of each chicken breast. Stuff half of the cream cheese mixture into each.

 

4.) Trim or snap about 2 inches off the bottom of each asparagus spear.

5.) Lay three asparagus spears over the filling of each breast, pushing them slightly into the cream cheese mixture.

Recipe Tip: I tested both asparagus and green beans. The green beans had to be microwaved first, in a paper towel for 15 seconds to soften them a bit; and I used 5 large beans per chicken breast.  Raw strips of red pepper would also be quite nice. So, if you’re not a fan of asparagus, you have other choices.

 

6.) Lay one end of the chicken breast over one end of a bacon slice and wrap the slice around the chicken working towards its center. Use a second bacon slice to finish the wrapping. Secure the bacon slices with three to four uncolored toothpicks. Repeat the wrapping process with the second stuffed breast, asparagus (or green beans as shown here) and bacon slices.

Recipe Note: Use a bacon that’s slightly thicker than regular sliced bacon. You’re first browning the bacon lightly in the skillet and then cooking it again, wrapped around the chicken in the oven for about 25 minutes.  So, a thicker cut bacon, which needs a little longer to cook, will provide a little more bacon fat to baste and moisten the chicken. See my note following this recipe for two of my favorite thick-cut bacons.

Recipe Tip: When I went to my pantry, I was upset to find I had only a packet of dyed, rather than uncolored, toothpicks. So, I used them,  and of course the dye ran a little, coloring the roasted breasts with spots of red and yellow here and there. Not too outrageous, but still I wish I’d had plain picks.  Note to self: Buy plain toothpicks next time I’m at the market. 

 

7.) Heat the olive oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium heat and when its hot, swirl it around the skillet to coat the bottom.

8.) Place the bacon-wrapped breasts in the skillet and cook over medium to medium-low heat, adjusting the heat to prevent the bacon from browning too fast or burning; cook about 2 to 3 minutes per side, turning until the bacon is lightly browned on all sides.

9.) Transfer the bacon-wrapped chicken breasts, stuffed-side up, to a roasting pan and bake about 25 minutes or until an instant read thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the breast registers 165 degrees F. 

 

Recipe Tip: I recommend slicing the beasts on a cutting board with a sharp knife and then transferring the slices, with a little of the pan sauce made from the roasting, to a dinner plate. Be sure to remove the toothpicks before slicing and serving. 

Side serving options: My side-dish choice was oven-baked sweet potato fries which I baked at the same time as I roasted the stuffed breasts. But this dish would also be so delicious served on a bed of arugula with some thin slices of Anjou or Bosc pears. Magnifique!

Makes two servings, but the recipe is easily doubled to serve 4. 

 

Shopping Tip: Niman Ranch bacon has a lovely thickness, perfect for this recipe where bacon wraps around skinless, boneless chicken breasts. I chose this Niman Ranch double-smoked bacon for its thickness and intense smoky flavor, but Niman also makes a lovely Apple or Hickory Smoked Bacon. Jones Dairy Farm makes a thick-cut Cherrywood-Smoked Bacon that for me has just the right balance of sweetness, salt, smoke, and thickness for this recipe.   

 

Hogs "Begging To Be Bacon"

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/23/opinion/bruni-malicious-but-delicious.html?hp

Wish I'd thought of this ...

This reader’s caption from The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest gets my vote. 

 

Bacon Guacamole

California Avocado season is upon us with good buys for Hass avocados in supermarkets all over the country. You won’t find a bacon guacamole in Bacon Nation because Rick Bayless’ recipe, for me, is perfect and copied here from http://www.delish.com/recipefinder/bacon-tomato-guacamole.

5 strip(s) medium-thick bacon (full-flavored smoky bacon is great here)
3 medium-large, ripe avocados (about 1 1/4 pounds) 




1/2 medium-large white onion, chopped into 1/4-inch pieces
2 canned chipotle chilies in adobo, up to 3 chilies, to taste, removed from the canning sauce, stemmed, slit open, seeds scraped out, and finely chopped
1 medium-large, round, ripe tomato, cored and chopped into 1/4-inch pieces (see Tip)
1/4 cup(s) loosely packed, coarsely chopped fresh cilantro, thick bottom stems cut off
Salt
1 tablespoon(s) fresh lime juice, up to 2 tablespoons

Directions

In a large, 10-inch skillet, cook bacon in a single layer over medium heat, turning occasionally, until crisp and browned, about 10 minutes. Drain on paper towels, then crumble into small pieces.
Cut around each avocado, from stem to blossom end and back again, then twist 2 halves apart. Scoop out pit and discard. Scoop flesh from skin into a large bowl. Using an old-fashioned potato masher or a large fork or spoon, mash avocados into a coarse puree.
Scoop onion into a small strainer and rinse under cold water. Shake off excess water and transfer to bowl, along with chipotle chilies, tomato, cilantro (save a little for garnish if you wish), and about 2/3 bacon. (If guacamole isn’t being served right away, don’t add bacon until just before serving, because it loses crispness as it sits in guacamole.) Gently stir to combine all ingredients. Taste and season with salt (usually about 1/2 teaspoon) and enough lime juice to add a little sparkle.
Cover with plastic wrap directly on surface of guacamole and refrigerate until ready to serve. Scoop guacamole into a serving dish, sprinkle with remaining bacon (and cilantro if you have it), and you’re ready to serve.

Tips & Techniques

If the tomato is really ripe and juicy, cut it in half width-wise (across its “equator”), then gently squeeze out the jellylike seeds from each half. That will keep the guacamole from being runny.

Browning and Draining Bacon

If you’re browning bacon to serve with your eggs and coffee in the morning, you’ll want to cook the strips over a medium heat, turning them over about every three to four minutes until they are cooked just as you like them. But if you are adding browned bacon bits, cubes, or pieces to a dish like our Bacon Nation’s Linguine with Cauliflower and Bacon Bread Crumbs, then I advise dicing the raw bacon first into small, 1/2-inch pieces and then browning the pieces over medium heat, adjusting the heat as you cook to maintain a slight sizzling sound in the pan, and using a long-handled Chinese skimmer or a wooden spoon to occasionally stir and turn the pieces over in the rendering bacon fat. I’ve found that this method of cutting the bacon pieces first into small pieces rather then cooking the whole bacon strips and then crumbling them into pieces, browns the meat more evenly.

Often a Bacon Nation recipe calls for the bacon to be first browned in a skillet or saucepan and then added to a soup, stew, or sauce to be cooked again with other ingredients. In this case, you want to pay close attention to the initial browning step and not crisp up the bacon too much. You want some of that fat to remain in the bacon pieces, so that when the bacon is cooked again, more of its fat is rendered, releasing another layer of flavor into the dish.

I like to use a long-handled Chinese skimmer to both turn the bacon pieces over in the pan and then remove them from the hot rendered fat once they are browned. 

Transfer the strained bacon pieces to a paper-towel-lined plate to drain. When you’ve removed all the pieces, you can use the delicious rendered fat (which chefs refer to as “bacon oil!”) to complete the recipe; or, save it to cook up another dish.

"Louis CK punchline, from his great standup performance at the Beacon Theater in NYC. “Yeah..."

“

Louis CK punchline, from his great standup performance at the Beacon Theater in NYC.

“Yeah but it doesn’t have bacon on it, I like it when it has bacon on it.”

”

- Louis CK (via ladyjeeves)

Broccoli Rabe and Bacon Bread Pudding

People ask me, “Where do you find the recipes for your cookbooks?” Like many good home cooks, chefs, and food writers, I search my favorite websites, magazines, newspaper food columns, and cookbooks for inspiration. And while I might be inspired by a particular recipe, I am always careful to modify it according to my own preferences and to carefully test my changes, often many times to get it right.  

My son Nicholas brought home his lovely girlfriend Alex for Easter dinner, and I wanted something different to serve with the rosemary-infused, partially boned leg of lamb I was grilling indirectly over a bed of smoky charcoal. Bon Appetit’s April issue offered a savory bread pudding with pancetta. To make my own version, I increased the olive oil, substituted American bacon for the Italian pancetta, and added a good amount of onions (for a touch of sweetness) that I sauteed in some of the rendered bacon fat. I reduced the amounts of Parmesan cheese and crushed red pepper flakes, and tossed in some chopped fresh rosemary, which works nicely with broccoli rape.  I also chose to blanch the broccoli rabe before sauteeing it, removing some of its unpleasant bitterness and allowing the pudding’s other flavors to shine through.

Fortunately, Nicholas and Alex loved it. Here’s my version, with a big thanks to Bon Appetit!    

 

Butter for greasing baking dish

1 medium bunch broccoli rabe, (rapini), trimmed, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

1-1/2 tablespoons olive oil

1-1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary leaves

2 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, or to taste

3 slices thick-cut bacon

2/3 cup chopped onion

6 large eggs

1-1/2 cups whole milk

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste

1/2 pound country-style white bread, cut into 1-inch cubes

1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan

Ingredient Preparation Notes: 

Trim off and discard about 3 inches of stems from the broccoli rabe; then chop it into 1/2 to 1-inch pieces.  

If you don’t own a kitchen scale, do yourself a favor and buy one. It’s so much more accurate to use a scale to measure ingredients like bread cubes than to use a measuring cup. Digital kitchen scales are also available, and some cooks find them easier to use than this one pictured.   

Recipe:

1.) Butter a 1-1/ quart baking dish. Position an oven rack in the middle and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. 

2.) Bring 2 quarts of water to boil in a large saucepan. Add the broccoli rape, cover the pan and cook until the broccoli rape is wilted but still a bright green, about 3 minutes. Drain the broccoli rape in a colander and set it aside. 

3.) Wipe the saucepan dry with a paper towel; add the olive oil and heat it over medium heat. Add the rosemary, garlic, and red pepper flakes, and cook about 30 seconds or until the garlic is fragrant and softened, but not browned.

4.) Add the broccoli rabe and cook about 1 minute, tossing to coat in the oil-rosemary mixture. Remove from the heat and set aside. 

5.) Cook the bacon in a medium skillet over medium heat about 4 minutes or until lightly browned, turning once. Transfer the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate to drain. Pour off and discard all but about 1/2 tablespoon fat in the skillet.

Recipe Note: Cook the bacon only until it’s lightly browned. When it cooks again in the oven atop the pudding, you want some fat remaining, so it renders into the pudding, adding moisture as well as flavor. 

6.) Heat the bacon fat in the skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and saute about 4 minutes or until lightly browned, stirring occasionally.  

Recipe Note: I like to saute the onions until lightly browned and slightly caramelized so they release some of the natural sweetness. 

 

5.) Whisk together the eggs, milk, salt, and black pepper in a large mixing bowl. Add the broccoli rabe mixture, bread, Parmesan cheese, and onions, and toss well to combine. 

6.) Transfer the mixture to the buttered baking dish. Cut each of the bacon strips into thirds and lay them over the pudding. Cover the dish loosely with aluminum foil and bake 35 minutes. Remove the foil and bake about 5 to 10 minutes more until lightly browned and set in the center. 

Kitchen Tip: Compost your vegetable discards!

Trimmed leaves, citrus peels, and vegetables that have seen better days don’t need to end up in the garbage. These are gold scraps that are easily composted. Just find a spot in your garden where you can dig a small pit, then keep filling it with vegetable scraps you’d otherwise throw out. Cover the scraps with leaves and dirt, and in a matter of weeks you’ll have rich soil to mulch back into your roses and other garden treasures. 

What Bacon Nation is Not

I just watched Jon Stewart interview Michael Moss, the author of Salt, Sugar, Fat. Moss’ book reports on food manufacturers meticulous and methodical search for the “bliss point” in commercially produced products like Dr. Pepper, Cheetos, or potato chips. I believe it’s an important book that every parent and home cook should read.

Don’t mistakingly judge Bacon Nation as a pandering to America’s love for fast-food dishes and commercial products that rely on copious amounts of sugar, fat and salt for flavor. From the very beginning, Peter Kaminsky and I chose to create a bacon cookbook that mostly avoided high-calorie, obvious combinations such as bacon and cheddar cheese. We instead looked for innovative ways to use bacon as a potent and often subtle seasoning ingredient to create our 125 through-the-menu dishes that don’t overly depend on ingredients such as sugar, fat and salt.

Some of my personal favorites in Bacon Nation are found in the vegetable side-dish and soup chapters. Bacon Nation celebrates the idea that learning how to cook well is the best way to control your weight and eat healthy, satisfying meals every day. With its powerful elements of taste— saltiness, fat, sweetness, and meaty umami — bacon can be the “bliss point” ingredient in a dish that in the end is both healthful and delicious. 

Bacon Nation will be available for sale May 7th, 2013. 

White Macaroni and Cheese

White Macaroni and Cheese:

RECIPES | White Macaroni and Cheese | By MELISSA CLARK

Add some cooked, chopped bacon to this recipe to boost the flavor further. Cook the bacon until it’s lightly browned as it will cook again and you want some of its delicious fat to run into the pasta and cheese mixture. 

America's Test Kitchen: A Celiac’s Plea: Eat the Darn Gluten, People: Being diagnosed with...

America's Test Kitchen: A Celiac’s Plea: Eat the Darn Gluten, People: Being diagnosed with...:

americastestkitchen:

A Celiac’s Plea: Eat the Darn Gluten, People: Being diagnosed with Celiac Disease means that a you are incapable of digesting gluten, a protein composite found in wheat and some grains. Until a few years ago, the disease was just that: a disease, and an inconvenience when it came to avoiding the…