Bacon Day

I self declared it Bacon Day so that I could justify concocting a menu with bacon as a major constituent of every dish…including dessert. I called over our friend Michael to help Ben eat this man-meal since I knew I would be too full (I taste while I cook) by the time the bacon-laden dishes hit the table. Those boys cleaned up (and I do not mean the kitchen, because they did not do that).

50/50 sliders

(makes 5 sliders…so that basically feeds two boys)

8 oz ground sirloin

8 oz bacon, barely cooked* then ground

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

1 egg

Lightly fry bacon in a cast iron skillet, only until it barely changes to a different shade. Cool on a paper towel then pulse in a food processor until ground. Mix beef, bacon, salt, pepper, and egg (with your hands!) and form into small patties (roughly same size as whatever buns you choose to use). Reheat skillet (with bacon grease still in it) to medium high heat. Cook burgers about 2 minutes per side, only flipping once. Allow to “rest” on a plate before building your burger (I used ciabatta rolls, red onions, lettuce, and my “ketchup”).

Roasted cherry tomato “ketchup”

¼ cup roasted cherry tomatoes

1 teaspoon white vinegar

2 teaspoons brown sugar

¼ teaspoon molasses

pinch of salt

Roast about 1 cup of cherry tomatoes (drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt, and roast in oven at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes- just watch them). Cool tomatoes then pulse in a food processor with remainder of ingredients.

Bacon-chocolate chunk waffles with maple-caramel ice cream

Waffles:

1 cup all purpose flour (I used half all purpose flour and half cake flour)

¾ teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 tablespoon sugar

1 egg, room temperature

¾ cup milk (use whole milk), slightly warmed

¼ cup (actually a little less) Crisco, melted

3 tablespoons butter, melted

5 slices of bacon, fried and chopped

1/3 cup chocolate chunks (I used Callebaut)

Put the flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar in a mixing bowl and stir the mixture with a fork until blended.

In another bowl, beat the egg well then beat in the milk. Beat in the flour mixture until well blended. Add the melted shortening and butter and beat again until well blended.

Stir in chopped bacon and chocolate.

Pour ¼ cup batter into your preheated waffle iron and bake until golden and crisp.

Top waffles with one scoop of maple ice cream (recipe below) and sprinkle with chocolate chunks. Yum.

Ice cream:

1 pint bluebell vanilla ice cream (they’re the small ones)

2 overflowing tablespoons maple syrup

1 tablespoon caramel dip

Allow the ice cream to melt until soft enough to stir in syrup and caramel. Refreeze (I just put it back into the little Bluebell pint container) until firm and ready to serve.

Sauteed Carrots caramelized with honey and rosemary

The carrots made the cut for tonight’s menu because:

a) they were sautéed in bacon grease

b) they were sprinkled with prosciutto (which is like upscale bacon?)

c) they were cute (from Mrs. Patti’s garden!).