Roasted Radish and Bacon Tartine
On March 22, 2012 by sixtyacrebakerNot so long ago, I roasted radish for a delicious salad. I loved it, but Mike did not. I wondered how a veggie lovin’ girl and a meat lovin’ guy could agree on radish. A radish referendum, if you will. Here it is. Radish mellowed by roasting; spiced with a sauce of its greens, layered on a toasted whole-grain raft and joined by bacon and soft goat cheese.
Home Cured Maple Bacon
On July 1, 2011 by sixtyacrebakerHere is something i can hardly believe myself. I shunned bacon for 5 years. It was complicated, and in hindsight, foolish. I mean really religious convictions aside I can’t think of a reason NOT to eat it. It is just.that.good. Recently, curing my own bacon has elevated to obsession status. A few bats of my baby blues and Mike agreed to buy a smoker. It was time. He is itching to make venison jerky and of course, I have my bacon thing. Here is my first attempt. Honest report–it is good. Now, I made the mistake of washing off the brine, but not soaking, the bacon before smoking. This meant it came out very salty. I soaked it after the smoke, which not only soaked out the salt, but also the smokiness. So I cold smoked it again and it just isn’t perfect,
but it is close.
Maple-Brown Sugar-Rosemary Bacon
3lbs pork belly
1/4 cup +/- kosher salt
1/4 cup +/- brown sugar
3 Tbs good quality maple syrup
1 Tbs fresh rosemary
place pork belly in a large tupperware type container
3 Tbs maple syrup & rosemary sprig (post curing)
apple or cherry wood chips for smoking
rub all sides with salt
Mix together the brown sugar, maple syrup and rosemary. Rub all sides of the pork belly with the mixture. Cover and place in the refrigerator for 24 hours. After 24 hours, repeat the process and place back in the refrigerator. Check daily, if liquid begins to gather on the bottom, pour it off and place back in the refrigerator. At 5-7 days, you should be done. The pork belly will be a bit more dense, and firm. Rinse the pork belly well and dry with paper towel. Slice off a small piece and fry. If too salty, place the belly in a bowl of cold water and place in the fridge for 1 hour. Dry, slice off a piece and fry a piece. If it is still too salty, repeat the soaking process, 1 hour at a time. Once the bacon is to your liking, dry off. Rub the fatty side with maple syrup and place rosemary sprig on top. Meanwhile prepare your smoker
I smoked my bacon at 120 degrees and smoked it to an internal temperature of 130. There are so many different philosophies on this. you can cold smoke it, hot smoke it, not smoke it at all. This will not keep in the fridge like store bought bacon…it does not have nitrites. It is best to cut what you will eat within a week, then freeze the rest. It is very important to keep your pork belly at proper temperatures and to keep all surfaces it touches very clean. This is not a time to be lenient in your sanitary rituals. Bacon should not be eaten raw, once cured and smoked, it should be cooked fully before enjoying.
Brown-Butter Bacon Shortbread with Bourbon Maple Glaze
On April 1, 2011 by sixtyacrebakerAt a recent food swap I traded jam for browned butter shortbread. It was out of this world. Within minutes of finishing the very last crumb, I was conspiring to make my own. The gal with whom I swapped was kind enough to share the recipe
from Gourmet magazine.
insert long sigh and whimper mourning the loss of this fabulous magazine
While browning the butter, I was reminded a bit of the smell of bacon.
caveat
I have been known to smell bacon at a kosher deli; I’m slightly obsessed. Chocolate-covered bacon is where I stop the madness; don’t love it, don’t like it. Not bacon’s best move.
But here is what I do love: these crispy, nutty, salty, with throat-warming bourbon glaze, cookies.
Brown-Butter Bacon Shortbread with Bourbon-Maple Glaze
*this recipe only slightly resembles its inspiration. the addition of bacon, bacon fat, nuts, and glaze are all mine
shortbread
4 oz browned butter-cooled to solid in fridge
2 oz bacon grease–cooled to solid in fridge
1/2 tsp grey sea salt (kosher is fine)
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup bacon–cooked crispy and finely chopped
1 1/3 cup+ 3 Tbs all purpose flour
1 cup toasted and chopped pecans
In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the cooled butter, cooled bacon grease and brown sugar. Add the salt and vanilla and stir to mix. Mix in the bacon bits, then the flour. mix only to fully incorporate the flour, do not over mix. Remove the dough from mixer and form into a cylinder on plastic wrap. Roll the dough into the chopped nuts, cover and place in refrigerator. Let rest in fridge for an hour. When ready to bake, heat oven to 350f. Slice the roll into 1/4″ slices and place on lined cookie sheet, leaving about 1/2″ between each cookie. these will spread a bit. Allow to bake about 10-12 minutes or until they start to brown on the bottom. Remove from oven and let cool. Once cool, drizzle with glaze.
bourbon maple glaze
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp maple syrup
up to 1 Tbs bourbon
Place powdered sugar in a bowl. Stir in the maple syrup. Add bourbon 1 tsp at a time until it reaches a nice runny consistency, that will barely hold its shape. Pour into a piping bag or use a spoon to decoratively drizzle over the cookies. Allow to sit until the glaze has firmed up.