And I did not know her name, and I did not know here name
But I sure love the way that she laughed and took my money
And I did not know here name, and I did not know her name
But I sure loved the way that she laughed and called me honey
“Silver Train” by The Rolling Stones
Err…I mean best man….
Not a winner for my BLT attempt, but my photo has reached runner-up status on Mr. Ruhlman’s site.
Bass! How low can you go?
Death row what a brother knows
Once again, back is the incredible
The rhyme animal
The incredible D. Public Enemy number one
“Bring The Noise” by Public Enemy
We have reached the end of BLT week…
Just like the tomatoes, I can’t take credit for this awesome bread. Elissa created this by combining her favorite Betty Crocker white bread recipe with cheese and bacon. This was obviously a little over-the-top for a BLT sandwich, but it is a recipe that will definitely be made again. This bread is best cut into thick slices and toasted until the cheese just starts to melt.
Make sure that you don’t crisp the bacon too much, if you do it will disappear when it is cooked again inside of the bread. Also, if you just want a good white bread recipe, omit the bacon and cheese.
Makes two loaves
Ingredients:
12 strips of bacon cut into 1/2 inch pieces, cook until just crisp, fat reserved
6 oz. of gruyere cheese, shredded
6 to 7 cups all purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon salt
2 tablespoons bacon fat
2 packages instant yeast
2 ¼ cups warm water (120-130°F)
2 tablespoons butter
Directions:
1. In a large bowl, stir 3 ½ cups of flour, sugar, salt, bacon fat and yeast until well mixed
2. Add warm water, beat with electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute, then beat on medium speed for 1 minute
3. Stir in remaining flour, 1 cup at a time, making dough easy to handle
4. Let rest for 15 minutes
5. Place dough in a Kitchen Aid mixer with dough hook, knead for about 8 minutes on slowest speed until dough is smooth
6. Grease a large bowl, turn dough into bowl, make sure dough has grease on all sides, cover and let rise in a warm place for 40-60 minutes or dough has doubled in size
7. Grease two loaf pans
8. Push fist into dough to deflate, divide dough in half
9. Flatten each half with a rolling pin into two 9×18 inch rectangles
10. Sprinkle bacon and cheese evenly over each rectangle
11. Roll up dough tightly, beginning on 9 inch side, press with thumbs to seal after each turn
12. Pinch edge of dough into roll to seal
13. Pinch each end of roll to seal and fold ends under loaf
14. Place seam down in pan, lightly brush loaves with butter, cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for 35-50 minutes or dough has doubled in size
15. Preheat oven to 425°F and Move rack of oven to lowest position
16. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until loaves are deep golden brown and sound hollow when tapped
17. Remove from pans to a wire rack brush loaves with butter, let cool
Mean Mister Mustard sleeps in the park
Shaves in the dark trying to save paper
Sleeps in a hole in the road
Saving up to buy some clothes
Keeps a ten bob note up his nose
Such a mean old man
“Mean Mr. Mustard” by The Beatles
Continuing with BLT challenge week…
This picture was taken a couple of days later, that’s why it looks a little oily.
Don’t be afraid to make your own aioli, I have a couple of pointers for you.
1. Use the freshest eggs that you can find, this will hopefully eliminate any chances of getting sick
2. Use a squeeze bottle to add your fat to the yolks, this will help to ensure that you don’t accidentally add too much fat
3. If your aioli does break, add another egg yolk, it should help everything come back together
Ingredients:
¼ cup bacon fat (from about 6 pieces of bacon)
¼ cup olive oil
1 clove of garlic, cut in half
2 egg yolks
½ teaspoon dry mustard
Salt and pepper
Directions:
1. Combine bacon fat and olive oil
2. In a medium bowl, rub the exposed garlic halves all over the bowl, discard garlic
3. Add egg yolks and mustard, whisk together
4. Slowly whisk in bacon fat/olive oil
5. Season with salt and pepper
You slide so good with bones so fair
You’ve got the universe reclining in your hair
Cause you’re my baby, yes you’re my love
Oh girl I’m just a jeepster for your love
“Jeepster” by T. Rex
Continuing with BLT challenge week…
Now to the T, these were courtesy of my wife who has a mean green thumb. I received some tiny tomato plants from a co-worker who had too many to handle. Because of our limited garden space, we had a bit of challenge. When by limited garden space, I mean that we literally have no earth surrounding our apartment to plant tomatoes. Our only option was to plant in five gallon buckets, which worked wonderfully. I must admit, I had almost nothing to do with the successful tomato harvest, Elissa diligently watered and cared for her precious red babies on a daily basis. Once in a while she would drag me outside to look at how big they were getting.
We have had a bountiful harvest of tomatoes and are continuing to reap the rewards of Elissa’s hard work…
Here we are living in paradise, living in luxury
Oh, the thrill is here but it won’t last long
You better have your fun before it moves along
And you’re already looking for another fool like me
“Living in Paradise” by Elvis Costello
Continuing with BLT challenge week…
The most rewarding part of the BLT challenge for me was the B. I have already professed my love for bacon, so this was not only fun but also exciting for a pork dork like me. I wanted to make a sweeter bacon that had an interesting twist, bourbon and maple syrup helped accomplish this. I used a Tupperware container for my curing vessel because my pork belly would not fit in a zip top bag. I planned the smoking around a couple of beer can chickens (a future post) that I was smoking, so I didn’t have to go through the hassle of setting up the smoker just for the bacon. After smoking the bacon, I let it cool to room temperature and then put it in the freezer to harden up a little (about 30 minutes). The final part of the process was to thinly slice the bacon with a very sharp knife. Bacon freezes really well, just wrap it in plastic wrap and then put it in zip top bags.
Check out my oven cooking method for making bacon, I like it better than the skillet-cooked method.
Ingredients:
2 oz. kosher salt
2 teaspoons pink salt (curing salt)
¼ cup brown sugar
¼ cup maple syrup
1 oz. good bourbon
3-4 pound pork belly (skin removed and reserved for pork rinds)
Directions:
1. Mix ingredients and rub over pork belly
2. Place pork belly in a zip top bag or Tupperware
3. Flip the pork every day for 7 days
4. On the last day, rinse the pork belly, place on a wire cooling rack placed in a jellyroll pan
5. Place uncovered in the refrigerator for 24 hours
6. Smoke at 225-250° F in a smoker with apple wood until it reaches an internal temperature of 150° F
How to Properly Cook Bacon
1. Bake on a wire cooling rack placed in a jellyroll pan or roasting pan at
425° F for 18-20 minutes, flipping halfway through
I, I love the colorful clothes she wears
And the way the sunlight plays upon her hair
I hear the sound of a gentle word
On the wind that lifts her perfume through the air
“Good Vibrations” by The Beach Boys
I don’t think there is a better way to end tomato week than with a BLT…
Today was the deadline for the BLT challenge over at Michael Ruhlman’s blog. The challenge was to make all of the components for a BLT from scratch. While this sandwich ultimately took quite a bit of planning, it was definitely worth all of the work. The eggtotheapples entry was bacon gruyere bread with maple bourbon bacon, bacon/garlic/olive oil aioli and some tomatoes from the front yard. The sandwich was awesome, I will be sharing the recipes for each individual component this week.
Fast cars, fine ass, these things will pass
And it won’t get more profound
Time is a game, only children play well
How can I love you
If you won’t lie down
“How Can I Love You (If You Won’t Lie Down)” by The Silver Jews
It should be really titled tomato cream sauce with noodles and some random seafood, this all about the tomato sauce. The recipe is adapted from the Girl and The Fig cookbook. The Girl and the Fig is a wonderful little establishment headed by Sondra Bernstein in Sonoma. The restaurant is famous for creating wonderful French country culinary treasures. I received the cookbook from my in-laws, signed by Bernstein (signed cookbooks are my annual Christmas gift, which I love!). If you have a couple of spare bucks, buy the cookbook it has some great recipes that most anyone could master.
Ingredients:
For Sauce:
4 extremely ripe tomatoes, cut in half
3 cloves of garlic smashed
1 tablespoon plus 2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup heavy cream
Salt and pepper
For fish and pasta:
4 talapia filets
Salt and pepper
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
Olive oil
12 oz. fettucini (I made my own, we’ll talk about that later)
Directions:
For sauce:
1. Preheat oven to 375° F
2. In a large bowl, combine tomatoes, garlic, 1 tablespoon of olive oil, and vinegar, mix until everything is evenly coated
3. Spread tomato mixture onto a baking sheet, cook for 35 minutes
4. Let the mixture cool, add to a food processor, also add 2 tablespoons of olive oil, heavy cream, and salt and pepper
5. Pulse mixture until thoroughly combined
6. Strain mixture, season with salt and pepper if necessary
7. Set aside
For fish and noodles:
1. Boil noodles in a large pot with salted water
2. Coat a medium sauté pan with olive oil, heat over medium-high heat
3. Season fish with salt, pepper, and pepper flakes
4. Add fish, cook for about three minutes per side, reserve
5. Drain noodles, add back to pot, add all but ¼ cup of the tomato cream sauce
6. Heat noodles and cream sauce over high heat until it thickens
7. Remove from heat and top with fish, pour remaining tomato cream sauce over fish
Filed under Farmers Market, Fish, Noodles, Sauce
Little girl, you’re old enough to understand,
That you’ll always be a stranger in a strange, strange land.
The men are gonna come while you’re fast asleep,
so you better just stay close and hold on to me.
If my little mocking bird don’t sing,
Then daddy won’t buy her no diamond ring.
“Antichrist Television Blues” by Arcade Fire
Some of my favorite blogs do tomatoes:
Arjun: Spatchcocked Chicken and Tomatoes
Beetses: The Mothership Tomato Salad
Closet Cooking: BLAST
Filed under Farmers Market, Vegetable
Lay me on the shores
Of the fiery shores
I don’t want to love
Anymore
“Mister Jung Stuffed” by Man Man
This will be my last corn recipe for a little while, I think I’m a little corned out. The name of this recipe is a little deceiving, it’s actually closer to a moist corn bread than it is pudding. I first tried this at a chain Mexican restaurant somewhere in the Midwest. While my taste and beliefs of what good Mexican food is has drastically changed, I still remember this side dish. The sweetness of this recipe pairs really well with a salty Mexican snack (off the top of my head I’m thinking of carnitas tacos with pickled jalapenos). I’m sure this stuff would also go really well with a little barbecue as well.
This recipe is adapted from here
Ingredients:
5 tablespoons butter, softened
1/4 cup masa
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
2 cups corn kernels
1/2 cup cornmeal
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tablespoons
Directions:
1. Boil a 4 cups of water in a tea kettle
2. Preheat oven to 250 F
3. In a small mixing bowl, combine the butter, masa, and sugar, mix for 1 minute with a hand mixer
4. In a blender, mix 1 cup of corn kernels and water until smooth
5. Combine butter mix with corn/water mix
6. Add the remaining 1 cup corn kernels, corn meal, baking powder, salt and milk, mix well
7. Pour the mix into an 8 inch square pan, tightly cover with foil
8. Place the square pan in a large roasting pan, pour hot water 3/4 up the side of the baking pan
9. Bake for about 1 hour or until toothpick comes out clean
Go to sleep you weary hobo
Let the towns drift slowly by
Can’t you hear the steel rail humming
That’s a hobo’s lullaby
“Hobo’s Lullaby” by Woody Guthrie
I like corn soup, you will too. This soup has a great corn essence with nice herb-y compliments from the thyme and bay leaf. The great corn flavor is a result of buying good corn and really squeezing every last ounce of corn flavor from the cobs. I like the fact that this recipe calls for steeping the corn in the milk like some good old fashioned corn tea…???…work with me here people. If you have time, the bacon garnish is a really tasty finishing touch.
Serves 4-6
This recipe is adapted from Bon Appetit magazine.
Ingredients:
3 cups whole milk
3 ears of corn
2 plus 2 tablespoons butter
1 onion, chopped
1 carrot, thinly sliced
1 celery stalk, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups of water
3 large sprigs of thyme
2 bay leaves
Ground white pepper
Garnish (optional)
2 thinly sliced green onions
3 slices of bacon, cook to a crisp and crumbled
Directions:
1. Cut kernels from corn cobs, reserve kernels, cut cobs in half
2. Bring milk and corn cobs to just a boil in a medium pot, remove from heat and cover
3. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a large sauce pan, add onion, season with salt
4. Saute onion until soft (but not brown), about five minutes
5. Add corn kernels, carrot, celery, and garlic, cook until vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes
6. Add water, thyme, bay leaves, and milk with corn cobs, increase heat and bring to a boil
7. Once boiling, partially cover, reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes
8. Discard herbs and corn kernels, puree soup in blender
9. Strain mixture back into a medium size pot, finish with 2 tablespoons of butter, salt and white pepper
10. Garnish with green onion tops and bacon
Filed under American, Appetizer, Bacon, Farmers Market, Soup, Uncategorized, Vegetable
