Date Night at Home in Four Dishes

 Now that we've passed the weekend of love, I feel enough time has passed to talk about two of my loves. 1) Cooking multi-course sophisticated meals at home as opposed to going out to eat on one of the busier restaurant date days (see: Valentine's Day); and 2) Achieving amazing time management skills in the kitchen.

When you're cooking multiple courses, time management can be extremely difficult. One key factor is having a partner in the kitchen to help execute multiple dishes at the same time. I'm happy to report that our date night at home effort was very successful in the area of time management. Not only did we execute a starter salad, a main dish with side, and a dessert in under 2 hours (when you count the time it takes to cook the sweet potatoes in the oven) we did so without any major disasters and little time wasted. We even had the dessert ready to go in the oven when we started the meal so once we were done eating 20 minutes later, dessert was ready.

In short, here is what we made and how we got it done. Our menu was as follows:

1) Lacinato Kale and Ricotta Salata Salad (courtesy of Epicurious, see recipe below)

2) Herb Crusted Pork Tenderloin - a gem I've made multiple times.

3) Sweet Potato Puree with Smoked Paprika (also courtesy of Epicurious)

4) Maple Bacon Bread Pudding - I learned to make this during a cooking with bacon class last year

In order to execute this four course meal, I suggest starting by cooking the sweet potatoes in the oven as this will taken the most time to execute (1 hour). While those are cooking, I suggest opening a bottle of red wine. Because I said so. 

About halfway through the cooking time, and once you've enjoyed some wine, make the salad dressing and set aside. Then mix the herb topping for the pork tenderloin so that once the potatoes are removed from the oven, the meat is ready to cook. I also suggest cubing the bread for the bread pudding. Once you place the pork tenderloin in the oven,, you can also toast the bread cubes needed to make the bread pudding. I suggest assembling the bread pudding at the same time as when the meat is cooking so once that is done, you can place the ramekins filled with maple bacon bread pudding goodness in the oven so they'll be ready when you're done eating.

I know this sounds a bit complicated, but if you take a few minutes to plan your prep strategy for any multi-course meal, it can be done. Wine also helps.

Here's the kale salad recipe. It's awesome and I'll be making this again. The dressing also works well with arugula.

Lacinato Kale and Ricotta Salata Salad (serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 3/4 to 1 lb. lacinato kale (also called Tuscan kale) or tender regular kale, stems and center ribs discarded 
• 2 TB finely chopped shallot 
• 1 1/2 TB fresh lemon juice 
• 1/4 tsp. salt 
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper 
• 4 1/2 TB extra-virgin olive oil 
• 2 oz. coarsely grated ricotta salata (1 cup)

Directions:

Working in batches, cut kale crosswise into very thin slices.

Whisk together shallot, lemon juice, salt, and pepper in a small bowl, then add oil in a slow stream, whisking until combined well.

Toss kale and ricotta salata in a large bowl with enough dressing to coat well, then season with salt and pepper.

Southwest Beef and Bacon Roll

In part deux of my bacon-fest earlier this month, I present to you one of the more glorious ideas out there. Meat wrapped in meat. To say this meat roll was hearty would be an understatement. Needless to say, this part of the class evoked a lot of dirty jokes and inappropriate comments. My friend took a great photo of all our dishes...this roll is on the bottom right. With some brussel sprouts.

So in addition to a photo of this meat roll in all its glory, I present to you a glorified shot of me taking way too much pleasure in handling this meat. But don't worry...I wore protection!

Southwest Beef and Bacon Roll (serves 3-4 people)

Ingredients:

• 1/3 pound bacon
• 1 8 oz. skirt steak
• 3/4 tsp. cumin, divided
• 3/4 tsp. ground coriander, divided
• 3/4 tsp. epazote (Mexican oregano), divided
• 3/4 tsp. ground chipotle powder, divided
• 1 small onion, sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 6 oz. medium bodied lager (Mexican beer is great!)
• 1 large tomato, diced
• 1 15 oz. can of black beans
• Fresh cilantro, to garnish
• Salt and pepper, to taste.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350° F and lay the strips of bacon out on sheet pans lined with parchment. Bake bacon until mostly cooked – but definitely not crispy – about 25-30 minutes. Reserve bacon as well as rendered bacon fat. Keep oven on.

Lay out the bacon strips shingling them slightly running up the length of your cutting board.

Lay out the skirt steak with the grain of the muscles running sideways on top of the bacon strips, with the fatter end closer to you. Season the steak with salt and pepper, as well as ¼ tsp each of the cumin, coriander, epazote and chipotle.

Roll up the bacon and streak, and tie off like a roast with kitchen twine. (This I found very difficult, but it doesn't need to be perfect. Just enough to keep everything in its place.Place the roll in an oven safe roasting pan.
Heat a large sauté pan or Dutch oven over medium heat, add some reserved bacon fat and then add onions and sauté until very soft – about 5-8 minutes. Add the garlic, and remaining cumin, coriander, epazote and chipotle. Cook for about 1 minute. Add the beer, and bring to a boil. Let boil for about 1 minute. Add the tomatoes and beans, and bring to a boil again.

Pour the bean mixture over the top of the beef and bacon roll. Cover the pan the roll is in (either with a lid or with foil) and roast in the oven for 30-45 minutes, until the beef registers about 140° F.

Remove roll from the beans, remove kitchen twine, slice roll in about 1” slices, and serve over the top of the beans garnished with fresh cilantro.

Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve immediately with extra parmesan and freshly ground black pepper at table.

A Cooking with Bacon Class...Featuring Maple Bacon Bread Pudding

 

Nothing says "Happy New Year" and "Happy Healthy Eating" and "This Is Going To Be The Year I Get Serious About Eating Healthy" like going to a Cooking with Bacon Class a few days after the New Years holiday. This is not the first such class I've taken. I first explored formal training in cooking with bacon (as opposed to being simply an enjoyer of this delicious piece of the pork) back when I started this blog two years ago. So I've had a long-standing appreciation of the swine.

This time around, I was joined by my foodie partner in crime and co-worker, Kaya, as we embarked on making four different dishes, with bacon highlighted as an essential ingredient. We took this class at Living Social and I imagine the two of us will venture back again soon before winter is over. This is Kaya on the right. She brings a certain Filipino Fantastic-ness to any experience.

As the instructor mentioned in class, sometimes it's best to start with dessert first. People fret over dessert (me being one of them) so why not get it out of the way early? And often it's one of those dishes that once it's prepared, you can just easily warm it up in the oven while you enjoy your main course.

I'll post another bacon-featured recipe later this week, but I imagine the other dishes will be made again at some point, and will appear back once my heart has been given a proper break from bacon-y goodness. Perhaps in a week or two. ;)

Maple Bacon Bread Pudding (serves 2)

Ingredients:

• 2 TB raisins
• 1 TB rum
• 3 TB warm water
• 3-4 strips maple-cured bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 6 cups stale French bread cubes
• 1 whole egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/2 TB vanilla extract 
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg
• 2/3 cup milk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Soak raisins in rum and water until softened. Drain and reserve raisins.

Cook the bacon in a small sauté pan until crispy. Set bacon aside and reserve bacon fat in a jar.

Toast the bread crumbs in an oven and once completed, place them into two ramekins, filling to just below the top of each.

Beat the egg and egg yolk together in a bowl. Then add maple syrup, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg and 1 TB of reserved bacon fat. Stir to combine. Then stir in milk.

Sprinkle raisins and bacon pieces over bread cubes, mixing them lightly into the ramekins.

Ladle the egg/milk mixture over each of breaded ramekins. Ensure that the liquid is evenly distributed, stirly lightly. Do not overfill, but ensure bread is lightly covered.

Bake for 20 minutes or until lightly browned and puffed. Let cool and they will settle.

Top with ice cream. Just because. :)

Sweet Potato Soup

In the second post in this week's "I make mushy baby foods," I made a creamy sweet potato soup. This recipe appealed to me for several reasons, but mainly because it seemed simple, included bacon, and was prominently featured in all its orange glory on the cover of the holiday cooking issue of Cooking Light.

I'm going to post the recipe as written, but I'll let you know why this didn't work out so well for me.

While it was great to do a shortcut by cooking the sweet potatoes in the microwave, I underestimated the power of my microwave so the potatoes became overdone, which made them difficult to peel, and just tough in texture. It's possible that the potatoes weren't the best to begin with as well, but the end result, while tasting fine, had a bizarre consistency. So I encourage you to try this out because the flavors are great, my execution was just poor. See? I'm not the perfect chef. :)

Sweet Potato Soup (serves 6)

Ingredients:

2 lbs sweet potatoes, halved lengthwise (about 2 large)

1/4 cup water

2 tsp olive oil

1 cup chopped onion

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper

4 cups unsalted chicken stock

1/4 tsp salt

6 bacon slices, cooked and crumbled

1 oz fresh Parmesan cheese, shaved (about 1/4 cup)

2 TB flat-leaf parsley leaves 

Directions:

Place potatoes, cut sides down, in an 11 x 7-inch microwave-safe baking dish. Add 1/4 cup water; cover with plastic wrap. Microwave on high 15 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Cool slightly; discard potato skins.

Heat a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add oil; swirl to coat. Add onion; sauté 1 minute or until translucent. Stir in cumin and red pepper. Add stock to pan; bring to a boil.

Place half of sweet potato and half of stock mixture in a blender. Remove center piece of blender lid (to allow steam to escape); secure blender lid on blender.

Pour pureed soup into a large bowl. Repeat procedure with remaining sweet potato and stock mixture. Stir in salt. Divide soup evenly among 6 bowls; sprinkle cooked bacon and Parmesan cheese evenly over top. Garnish with parsley.

Food Porn: The Pig

I'm never shy about my appreciation of pork. I even have a kitchen towel that says "Bacon: The Gateway Meat."  Because if anything is going to turn a vegetarian, it'd have to be bacon.

Earlier this year, a restaurant opened in Logan Circle called "The Pig." As you would have guessed, probably 80 percent of the food on the menu contains some sort of pig. And it's fabulous.

I finally got around to checking it out last weekend. Ironically on the first day of Hanukkah, with a non-practicing Jewish person. But I digress.

He found "swine fine" so we went on to eat a ridiculous amount of the good stuff, including the "little pig platter" complete with three types of pork products like prosciutto, housemade pickles, and baked crostinis. We also sampled, as picture above, the Carolina-style pulled pork with mac and cheese. Some may see the oil in the picture and think "why on earth would I eat something so meaty and oily" and I say, "why the hell not?"

Check it out. The food is great, service is awesome, and even the bathrooms are covered in pictures of pigs.

Hot Caramelized Onion, Gruyere and Bacon Spread

December is just a few days away and with it comes endless holiday and office parties. Here is a great, easy, and healthy dip to serve the next time the occasion calls for potluck (which will happen again and again in December.) I made this for Thanksgiving and it was a big hit. People were impressed at  how creamy it was, considering there isn't all that much creamy substance involved, just a whole lot of onions!

Hot Caramelized Onion, Gruyere and Bacon Spread (serves 8)

 

 

Ingredients

• Cooking spray
• 3 1/2 cups chopped onion
• 2 oz Gruyere cheese, shredded and divided
• 2 TB chopped fresh chives, divided
• 1/3 cup canola mayonnaise
• 1/3 cup fat-free sour cream
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 3 bacon slices, cooked and crumbled

 

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

 

Heat a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan lightly with cooking spray. Add onion to pan; saute 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Reduce heat to low; cook 20 minutes or until golden brown, stirring occasionally. Cool slightly.

 

Reserve 2 TB cheese. Combine remaining cheese, caramelized onion, 1 TB chives and the remaining ingredients in a medium bowl. Transfer the mixture to a 1 quart glass or ceramic baking dish coated lightly with cooking spray. Sprinkle with reserved 2 TB cheese. Bake at 425 degrees for 20 minutes or until browned and bubbly. Sprinkle with remaining 1 TB chives.



German-style Potato Salad

In a few days, we'll be celebrating our nation's birthday. In addition to blatant displays of patriotism and fireworks in the air, a large amount of tube meat, desserts and side salads will be on display across the country. I plan to spend the ridiculous heat at a few cookouts and at a Nationals game. I'll be making dishes for those events later this week, but for now, here is a lighter version of a traditional German-style potato salad which you might like to make for your festivities this week. There are all sorts of potato salads out there, but I tend to like the vinegar-based types. Plus with the heat (we're expecting 97 degrees in DC for the 4th) I feel a bit more comfortable avoiding mayo.

Now, this is a Cooking Light recipe and it uses minimal fat to cook, keeping the calories and fat levels down. However, this recipe says it serves 6. And I call bullshit on that. I think what they say is 6 people, is more like 3-4 friends of mine. So adjust accordingly.

German-style Potato Salad (serves 6...toddlers)

Ingredients:

• 3/4 lb fingerling potatoes (I used red potatoes)
• 2 slices center-cut bacon
• 1 TB olive oil
• 2 tsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 2 tsp Dijon mustard
• 3 TB cider vinegar
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1/8 tsp kosher salt
• 1/3 cup sliced green onions

Directions:

Place a saucepan filled two-thirds with water over high heat. Cut potatoes into 1-inch pieces. Add potatoes to pan; cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-high; cook 5 minutes or until tender. Drain.

Cook bacon over medium-high until crisp; crumble. Add olive oil to drippings in pan. ­Return pan to medium-high. Add brown sugar, minced garlic, and Dijon; cook 1 minute. Add vinegar; bring to a boil. Remove from heat; stir in pepper and salt. Combine sugar mixture, potatoes, and green onions. Top with bacon and mix.

Mini Bacon and Potato Frittatas

This weekend I had eight of my girlfriends over for a housewarming brunch at my new condo. At this point I've been in the condo 8 months, yet few of my friends have seen it. A large part of that is because it's a pretty small condo. That and over the years this set of girlfriends have spread out to various parts of Virginia and DC making it harder sometimes to get everyone together. But I'm so glad I did...the food and company were great. I made three different dishes which will serve as my posts for this week so that I can eat boring things like salads to jumpstart my healthier eating this week. Speaking of healthy, this recipe for mini bacon and potato frittatas is a Cooking Light recipe and turned out really tasty. We dolloped a little sour cream on top and these went FAST.

Mini Bacon and Potato Frittatas (makes 36)

Ingredients

2 cups finely chopped peeled baking potato (about 12 ounces)

5 bacon slices (uncooked)

1/2 cup finely chopped sweet onion

1 tsp salt, divided

1/4 tsp dried thyme

1/2 cup chopped fresh chives, divided

2 TB grated fresh Parmesan cheese

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

7 large egg whites, lightly beaten

3 large eggs, lightly beaten

Cooking spray

6 TB light sour cream

 

Directions

Preheat oven to 375°.

Place potato in a medium saucepan; cover with water. Bring to a boil; cook 4 minutes or until almost tender. Drain.

Cook bacon in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until crisp. Remove bacon from pan, reserving 2 teaspoons drippings in pan. Crumble bacon; set aside. Add potato, onion, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and thyme to drippings in pan; cook 8 minutes or until potato is lightly brown over medium-high heat. Remove from heat; cool.

Combine the potato mixture, bacon, remaining 3/4 teaspoon salt, 2 tablespoons chives, cheese, pepper, egg whites, and eggs, stirring well with a whisk. Coat 36 mini muffin cups with cooking spray. Spoon about 1 tablespoon egg mixture into each muffin cup. Bake at 375° for 16 minutes or until lightly brown. Cool 5 minutes on a wire rack. Remove frittatas from muffin cups. Top each with 1/2 teaspoon sour cream and 1/2 teaspoon chives.

Steak Sliders with Applewood Bacon-Cabernet Reduction and Blue Cheese

This is my last bacon-themed blog post for the week. I'll be starting a new job next week working on health issues so I think I owe it to myself, and those of you out there who read my blog, to offer some more healthy options. So I bid farewell to a week of bacon, by combining meat and more meat, with some cheese thrown in for good measure. Enjoy!

Steak Sliders with Applewood Bacon-Cabernet Reduction (8 servings)

Ingredients

• 6 oz applewood smoked bacon slices, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch wide pieces
• 2 large yellow onions, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch dice
• 1 cup Cabernet Sauvignon or other full bodied red wine
• 1 cup low-sodium beef broth
• 1 cup ruby port
• 2 tsp finely chopped fresh thyme leaves
• Vegetable oil, for brushing grill grates
• 3 pounds ground sirloin
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 24 mini Hawaiian sweet rolls or slider buns, split and toasted
• 1 cup crumbled blue cheese

Instructions

To prepare the Cabernet reduction, place bacon pieces in a large saucepan and heat over medium heat. Cook bacon, stirring occasionally, until crispy, about 8-10 minutes. Using a slotted spoon or spider, transfer cooked bacon pieces to a paper towel-lined plate. Set aside.

Return skillet with bacon drippings to medium-low heat. Add onions and cook, stirring often, until deep brown and carmelized, about 40 minutes. Add wine, beef broth, port, and thyme, stirring well to combine. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until mixture is very thick, almost jam-like, and reduced to 1 1/2 cups, about 1 hour. Stir in reserved crisped bacon. Set aside.

To prepare the burgers, assemble a moderately high charcoal fire, preheat a gas gril to medium-high, or heat a large grill pan over medium-high heat. Brush grill grates or grill pan with a thin coating of oil using a silicone pastry brush. Shape ground sirloin into 24 (1-inch thick) patties about 2 oz. each. Sprinkle patties generously on both sides with salt and pepper. Place patties on preheated grill and cook until well browned on bottom and almost halfway cooked through, about 3-4 minutes. Flip burgers and grill on second side until cooked to desired doneness, about 3 minutes longer for medium-rare.

Transfer buns to work surface and place burgers on each bun bottom. Spoon Cabernet reduction and sprinkl blue cheese over each burger. Cut in half and serve immediately.

The Cabernet reduction turned out to be almost like a marmalade and completely made this dish. I think my photographer was dizzy from all the bacon-y goodness when taking this photo. But a good time was had by all!

Roasted Sweet Potato Spears with Bacon Vinaigrette

As I mentioned earlier this week, I went to a cooking with bacon class at Sur La Table last weekend. For $69 we made four different dishes, all featuring bacon. Probably my favorite recipe of the class was one of the simplest (despite the long instructions below). In a nutshell, you bake sweet potato fries in bacon grease and then cover in more bacon (with a nice vinaigrette). The sweet and savory result made me go back for seconds. Enjoy!

Roasted Sweet Potato Spears with Bacon Vinaigrette (8-10 servings)

Ingredients

• 4 pounds (about 7) medium sweet potatoes
• 1/2 pound sliced bacon, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-wide pieces
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 shallots, peeled and thinly sliced
• 2 TB sherry vinegar
• 1 TB water

Instructions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees and place a rack in the center.

Peel sweet potatoes, then cut each lengthwise into 6 spears. Cut spears in half crosswise and place on a rimmed baking sheet. Set aside.

Place bacon pieces in a large skillet and heat over medium heat. cook bacon, stirring occasionally, until crispy, about 10-12 minutes. Using a slotted spoon or spider, transfer cooked bacon pieces to a paper towel-lined plate.

Pour bacon fat from skillet through a fine-mesh strainer directly onto the potato spears, tossing well with tongs to coat. Sprinkle spears generously with salt and pepper. Transfer pan to preheated oven and roast, turning spears every 15-20 minutes, until potatoes are tender and edges are browned, about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Transfer roasted potato spears to a heatproof serving dish.

To prepare bacon vinaigrette, return cooked bacon pieces to a clean, large skillet. Add olive oil and heat over medium heat until hot but not smoking. Add shallots, stirring well to combine. Cook, stirring often, until shallots are softened and translucent, about 4-5 minutes. Stir in vinegar, water, 1 tsp salt, and several grinds of pepper. Pour hot bacon vinaigrette over roasted potato spears. Toss potatoes well and serve warm.