Bacon Jam

(Printable Recipe)

Not quite like anything else, this bacon spread is a bit sweet, a bit tangy-smokey, and plenty of good ole baconey. Although it starts out on the stove, the jamminess mostly happens in the slow cooker while you're off living your life. No big complicated jelly/jam making or canning processes here. It keeps in the fridge for quite awhile but no need to have an exact measure on that because it won't hang around for long once you try it.

Assemble the entourage:
1-1/2 pounds sliced bacon
2 sweet yellow onions, preferably Vidalia
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup packed dark-brown sugar
1/4 cup real maple syrup
3/4 cup coffee (I used Via instant)

 Start by freeing that bacon from its plastic home and cutting through the whole chunk in 1" sections to make lots of little strips.  Get these cooking in a wide skillet, stirring frequently to keep them browning evenly.

The bacon will increasingly foam as it cooks. When there appears to be more foam than bacon stir and turn one more time to assure that all is well browned and remove with a slotted spoon to drain on paper towels.

Pour the bacon fat into a glass bowl and wipe out any dark grit but do not scrub off the browned part on the bottom of the skillet (flavor alert! we're going to use that part!). Now, return just one tablespoon of the bacon fat to the skillet and add the onions and garlic which you should have chopped into nice small dice, if the food blogger had only reminded you earlier.

Cook and stir until translucent, maybe 5 minutes or so and add the bacon back to the skillet. Now add all the other ingredients as well and bubble it about 2 minutes as you stir and scrape all those browned bits up from the bottom of the skillet.

Now it is all be ready to move to the slow cooker set on high. BIG NOTE TO NOTE HERE: Do NOT cover it. That is, no lid or it will not work right at all. The idea is to let the syrupy mess gradually cook down into a nice rich jammy spread and if covered it just become more liquidy from all the steam.

Leave it alone for 3-4 hours. You will still see some liquid but not covering the bacon and onion pieces and it will be much darker. It will thicken as it cools and change consistency considerably. Either now or after it cools overnight in the fridge put it all in the food processor and pulse 5, 6, 7 times until smoother. I left mine a bit chunky, but it's a matter of taste. Well, it's going to taste great whether it's smooth as jelly or chunky as jam, so have at it whichever way you wish!

Quick Cream Biscuits

(Printable Recipe)

Tender, rich biscuits that are also easy and quick? Yep, it's possible and so simple and there's no "cutting in the lard until it resembles the size of small peas." Also, there's no lard. Cream provides the richness that makes these biscuits perfectly flaky and delicious and is the reason they're so easy to put together in just minutes.

Here's what you'll need:

2 cups all purpose flour
3 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups heavy cream

Join me in the scoop and scrape as this is my favored method of flour measurement. The back of a butter knife works just fine but if there's a prime implement for a job, I want to have it, so here I'm using a table crumbing device carried by waiters in snooty restaurants everywhere.

Blend the dry ingredients with a whisk to thoroughly incorporate the baking powder into the flour.

Ok, that took 5 minutes. Here's the last 5 minutes and you're done. Pour the cream into the dry ingredients in a steady stream as you stir a few times around until it's more stuck together than not. It will look like a big shaggy mess. That's fine. Turn it over and dump it out on a floured countertop. Scoop and press it together with your hands, fold in half and flip it over. Do this just another time or two and it will suddenly hold together and get a better personality.

Starts out like this.....

...really does end up like this.  Now don't touch it anymore (except to press into a parchment lined 8" pan). The secret to tender flaky biscuits is not to work on them very hard at all. Roll and beat and press that dough more than about 30 seconds and you'll be rewarded with heavy little biscuit rocks.

Bake just 15-18 minutes at 425 until lightly browned and just baked through.    Now go make some o' that Bacon Jam in the picture above and your evening will be complete! 

Comfort Food Feast continues on the Food Network's FN Dish blog! You'll find me there all winter and today you can check out these other wonderful biscuit  ideas:  

 

What's Gaby Cooking: Cheddar-Bacon Buttermilk Biscuits
Jeanette's Healthy Living: My Mom's Beijing Biscuits "Shao Bing"
The Cultural Dish: Pineapple Biscuits
And Love It Too: Coconut Flour Country Biscuits
Red or Green?: Green Chile and Olive Oil Biscuits
Napa Farmhouse 1885: Extra-Virgin Olive Oil Drop Biscuits With Cheddar and Garlic
Made By Michelle: Swiss Chard and Feta Fritters
Devour: The Best Mix-Ins for Your Biscuits
Virtually Homemade: Strawberry-Tangerine Shortcakes With Bisquick Drop Biscuits
The Heritage Cook: Gluten-Free Buttermilk Biscuits
Thursday Night Dinner: Winter Shortcake Stuffed With Jam and Whipped Cream
FN Dish: 15 Takes on Biscuits

 

SimpleFrench Cherry Clafouti

Printable Recipe

A simple flan-like cake that needs no embellishment, aside from a sprinkle of powdered sugar, filled with fresh sweet cherries. Light enough to eat as breakfast or a midnight snack without shaming yourself (much). There's nothing difficult about Clafouti ("cla-foo-tee") other than that frenchy name, but I've simplified the recipe a bit anyway, from the Julia Child version in her famous tome of French cookery. Delicious and easy and you can substitute any sweet fruit with the same great results.

Because this recipe uses a double dose of almond flavoring we're going to start a little almond milk on the stove first off. You can use whole almonds or if sliced is all you've got, like me, then that will do. I use this small coffee grinder only for spices and small jobs like grinding these almonds, but you could use the food processor  if yours isn't a big hassle to drag out of the appliance garage like mine is. Grind 1/2 cup of almonds, I did this in two batches, pulsing just a few times quickly to get a rough meal. Watch it or you'll end up with almond butter! Add these to 1-1/4 cups whole milk in a small saucepan and bring it to a simmer, not a rolling boil. 

Now just turn off the heat and let it sit. Also, preheat the oven to 375 now.

Wow, that sink sort of looks like a crime scene?

Since we're working with fresh cherries it's time to pit and halve them. I have a pitter from the days of 6 thriving cherry trees in our orchard, but if you aren't in possession of such a contraption, just halve the cherries and flip out the pit with the point of the knife. Better not do this in your favorite white summer sundress because cherry juice is a stubborn stain. And what are you doing in the kitchen in a sundress anyway?

When you have at least 2 cups of cherries, 3 if you're lucky, turn them into a 10" dish that has been Pam-sprayed and sprinkled with 1 Tbs of Sugar.

For the batter, you can use a blender or electric mixer. Beat 3 eggs, 1/2 tsp almond extract, pinch of salt, and 1/2 cup sugar until well blended. Finally, add the almond milk alternating with 1/4 cup flour. No need to strain out the almonds as some recipes recommend. They come to the top as the clafouti bakes and add a nice little crunch.

 Gently pour this batter over the cherries trying not to displace them too much. Don't be surprised at how thin the batter looks. Honestly, I wonder if this recipe developed from a batch of left-over crepe batter that some tired cook decided to finish off in the oven, but the end result is so smooth it's actually more custardy or flanish than cakey. (Possibility that those were two entirely made up words almost in a row.)

 





Bake about 30 minutes or until knife in center comes out clean.  Dust lightly with powdered sugar and serve warm or cold. Day or night. Alone or to cheers.
  And Bon Appetit, y'all.

SHOPPING LIST
1/2 cup whole almonds, about 2 oz
1-1/4 c whole milk
1/2 cup sugar
2-3 cups fresh dark cherries
3 large eggs
1/2 tsp almond extract
1/4 cup flour
powdered sugar

This summer you can find me on the Food Network website! Summer Fest is underway at FN Dish and we're all blogging about Cherries this week. Stay tuned for more summer fruit and veg posts throughout the summer and in the mean time check out these other great blogs about fresh cherries:

What’s Gaby Cooking: Cherry Chocolate Truffle Ice Cream

Big Girls Small Kitchen: Cherry Cornmeal Cake

Cooking With Elise: Roasted Cherries with Lavender and Almond Panna Cotta
Daydreamer Desserts: Cherry Crumble Cake

Ingredient Challenge Monday: Black Forest Ice Cream Done Two Ways

Spices and Aroma: Dilkush with Cherries

And Love It Too: Cherry-Pecan Chicken Salad

FN Dish: The Ultimate Cherry Pie

Glory Foods: Collard Greens and Cherry Reduction

Chez Us: Gluten-Free Cherry Clafoutis

Food for 7 Stages of Life: South Indian Hot and Sour Soup

Virtually Homemade: Dark Chocolate Cherry Kuchen

In Jennie’s Kitchen: Cherry Conserves

The Sensitive Epicure: Gluten-Free Cherry Almond Clafouti

Cooking Channel: Very Cherry Sangria

Napa Farmhouse 1885: Cherry Balsamic Vinegar

Zaika Zabardast: Balsamic Cherry and Peach Crisp

Mooshu Jenne: Rainier Cherry Panna Cotta

Food2: A Very Cherry Recipe Round-Up

Virtually Vegan Mamma: Fresh Cherry and Almond Scones

CIA Dropout: Italian Cherry Cake

Sweet Life Bake: Honey-Tequila Pickled Cherries

Cooking With Books: Cherry Cooler
Recipe Girl: Cherry Limeade Pound Cake

Candied Bacon

If there is a way to make bacon any better than it already is, this is it. Spicy, sweet, smokey, crunchy treat, what more could we ask, I ask you? I'm making this for breakfast but it would be just as good on a grilled cheese sandwich for lunch or served with (fill in the blank) for dinner. I'm having it with coddled eggs and strawberries with Rebecca Sauce, all covered in my last two posts. Now, if you're feeling angst over all the fat, nitrites, nitrates, blah, blah, and blah, well I can't do anything for you about that fat, but I can tell you to go to Whole Foods or possibly even your own grocery and get a natural bacon without all the bad stuff. I get the WF "365" house brand which costs about the same as regular bacon brands in any grocery. 

Here we go! Set the oven to 400 degrees. For one pound of bacon you'll need one cup of brown sugar and a teaspoon of chili powder. I have just about given up regular chili powder, except when actually making chili, for the deep sweet intense heat of this ground Chipotle Chili Pepper powder. BEWARE! This stuff is potent. Only use 1/4-1/2 teaspoon for this recipe or you'll be calling for a frozen Martguerita post-haste. Wait, this is breakfast - nix that Marguerita remark. So, fork these two ingredients together until all the little lumps are gone and it's bacon ready. Before you launch into that bacon though, get a pan ready to receive it. Use foil to line a broiler pan or any large pan with low 1" edges and top it off with a cookie rack or anything you have that will let the drippings through easily. Spray the rack well with cooking spray.

Now press the bacon into the mix, first one side and then the other and stretch it out on the rack. If you need to, make a few little ruffles to keep it from hanging over the edges of the pan. You want to be sure the drippings hit the pan not the bottom of your oven. Crumble a little extra sugar mix over each strip if you have any left over.  Ready to go in!

In the rare case of any leftovers, and I can't really imagine a scenario where this would happen, crumble up the remaining strips over a salad, add some strawberries and a good salty cheese like feta to balance out that salty sweet tangy mix. I used grated Mizithra cheese because that's what I had in the cheese bin and topped it off with Poppy Seed Dressing and almonds. Mmmmmm, mmmmm, mmmmm.

THE SHOPPING LIST:

1 Pound Bacon

1 Cup Brown Sugar

1 tsp Chili Powder or Chipotle Chili Pepper, Ground

Creamy Coddled Eggs

Why not coddle an egg? Must we always take out our whisk and beat the poor egg? The coddled egg is creamy-licious besides being quick and simple. It minds its own business coddling along while the rest of breakfast is being prepared. Yes, I know, not everyone has these fancy-pants little coddlers sitting around in the china cabinet. I bought mine in a consignment store for $5 apiece and ordered a few more on Ebay for a full set. But, you could probably get the same results by cracking the egg into a small ovenproof dish or ramekin and sealing it up really well with aluminum foil, wrapping from the bottom up. It's partially the steam that cooks the egg to such a lovely creamy consistency so a good seal is essential.

Really, it just takes 5 minutes to crack an egg into each cup, top with a bit of cheese and butter. I like to add a tiny dollop of honey mustard and finish with a shake of salt and pepper.

Ready to be capped for the coddling.

THE SHOPPING LIST
Eggs
Cheddar Cheese
Butter
Honey Mustard

Twenty minutes bubbling in the waist deep waters will do it.