Bacon Jam — a wonderful motivator, I’ve found.

As a reason for getting out of bed: Spread it on toast, top it with a perfectly (or not) poached egg for a sunny, sweet and savory start to the day.

It’ll get you into the kitchen instead of grabbing a quick bite. Fast food pales in comparison to this grilled cheese sandwich: Bacon jam blanketed in cheddar cheese and studded with avocado between two slices of buttered (and I mean buttered) bread, then grilled till the bread crunches at the first bite while the filling simply yields itself.

It’s also a reason to, I dunno, clean the fridge maybe? If you already happened to be in there, and the jar was staring you in the face and no one’s watching you could take a spoonful straight from the jar. (Not that I’d ever dream of doing such a thing.)

I’m certain there are other, more diabolical motivational uses for this, but I’ll have to work on them. As it is, I’m mostly motivated to make another batch since I gave away over half. But four out of four carnivores agree; this stuff is perfection.

Thanks to Stephanie, for posting about this at Fresh Tart.

recipe after the jump

Bacon Jam lightly adapted from Fresh Tart, Dara & Co.

I added bourbon and cayenne pepper to the recipe because, well, how could I not? I’d lose my Coonass Card without them.

1 1/2 lbs. bacon sliced into 1-inch pieces
2 yellow onions, peeled and thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic, smashed and peeled
1 tablespoon bourbon
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
3/4 cup very strong brewed black coffee
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon (or more, if you like) cayenne pepper

Cook bacon in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. When bacon is browned, use a slotted spoon to transfer to a paper towel-lined plate. Drain all but 2 tablespoons of drippings from the pan.

Place Dutch oven back on the burner and adjust heat to medium. Stir in the onions and garlic and saute until onions are mostly translucent, about 10 minutes. Deglaze with bourbon. Stir in the bacon and remaining ingredients and bring to a boil.

Turn heat to low and simmer, uncovered, until onions are meltingly soft and the liquid is thick and syrupy, 30-40 minutes. If mixture starts to become dry, add up to 1/4 cup of water.

Transfer the bacon and onions to a food processor and pulse several times or until the bacon jam is a spreadable consistency. Scrape into a jar or container with a tight-fitting lid. Store in the refrigerator for up to one month.

Last night’s meal came courtesy of odds & ends from our kitchen and my deep and abiding love of tomatoes. With the abundance of lycopene in my system at any given time, it’s a real shame I don’t have a prostate, for if I did, it would surely be the most beauteous specimen in all the land. Neither showy nor unapproachable, but a humble and gracious gland, welcoming pilgrims from distant lands spurred to their journey by the appearance of the long-foretold wonder.

Or it would at least win many blue ribbons at county fairs.

But no, I’m just a girl, so my husband has to reap the benefits of my obsession, though our driveway isn’t exactly flooded with pilgrims or civic-minded ribbon-awarders, now that I think about it.

The odds & ends worked their way into a meal by virtue of me having no clue what to cook for dinner and remembering a couple strips of bacon, a few slices of sopressata and some onion hanging out in the fridge, the remnants of whole canned tomatoes I stuck in the freezer a few weeks ago, and a little bowtie pasta that looked pretty lonely in the pantry. Some garlic cloves demanded admittance to the party (as they always seem to do, the pushy little buggers) and hot pepper paste arrived masked as tomato paste and barged in before I realized what happened.

No, really — why is the packaging so similar between tubes of tomato and hot pepper paste? I didn’t realize anything was wrong until I’d put about a tablespoon of it into the pan and noticed it wasn’t the right color, consistency, or smell, so I looked at the tube to make sure it hadn’t expired and realized my mistake. Well, my screw-up turned out to be a stroke of luck. The paste added a real zing to the sauce I wouldn’t have gotten from pepper flakes alone, so now I have another ingredient in my arsenal I wouldn’t have if I’d been paying attention.

This wasn’t the typically meat-free meal I like to make on weeknights, but if I eat vegequarian 90% of the time, I don’t mind treating myself every now and then; it’s the only way to stay sane. And let’s face it, pork is the penultimate treat.

The ultimate? Tomatoes, of course.

Mo’s Bacon Bar, by Vosges
Applewood smoked bacon, alder wood smoked salt, deep milk chocolate. My husband is the most thoughtful gift-giver ever.

For all Advent Calendar posts, click here.

recipe after the jump

Shrimp Remoulade from the Des Allemands Catfish Festival Cookbook

1 lb. peeled, deveined cooked shrimp
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/3 cup horseradish mustard
2 tablespoons ketchup
2 1/2 tablespoons paprika
3/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup tarragon vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup chopped green onions (white and green parts)
lettuce cups or peeled avocado halves

Combine all ingredients except for shrimp and lettuce/avocado in a large jar with lid. Shake well. Marinate shrimp in sauce for several hours in refrigerator. Serve in lettuce cups or spooned over avocado halves.

A Chorus Line
So they’re not Christmas-related exactly, but I thought these goofy Lucha Libre figurines would make excellent ornaments when I found them at Mighty Goods. Just had to take this picture first — I especially love that the guy in front appears to have chest hair. When’s the last time you saw a hirsute toy?

For all Advent Calendar posts, click here.

recipe after the jump

Bacon-Wrapped Dates with Almonds and Goat Cheese from iheartbacon.com

The name says it all. These little nuggets of deliciosity have become a tradition in my family over the past few years — people descend on them like locusts and leave barely a morsel. That’s not just my typically ravenous family, either. The dates are AMAZING. I usually use pitted dates because I’m too lazy to take on that task, but feel free to follow the recipe as written.

24 large fresh dates
12 slices thin bacon, halved crosswise
2 ounces goat cheese
24 unsalted almonds, toasted

Preheat oven to 500° F.

Pit dates, tearing them open as little as possible. Set dates aside.

Roughly chop almonds and mix with goat cheese.

Stuff dates with goat cheese mixture and wrap dates with bacon.

Place dates on a baking sheet, seam side down, at least 1/2 inch apart. Bake until bacon is golden and crisp, 8-15 minutes. Drain on paper towels and set aside to cool briefly before serving.

I’ve been kicking around the idea of making a coq au vin for a while now. But it’s a two-day process, according to the Les Halles Cookbook, and I just never remembered to start it a full day before I planned to serve it. But finally, this weekend, I got my act together.

Do you have the Les Halles Cookbook? No? Quel dommage! It was one of the better Christmas presents I got two years ago. Not only do you have Anthony Bourdain guiding you through recipes with his no-bullshit banter, but the recipes themselves are wonderful. And the design is gorgeous. I mean, really, a lot of thought was put into this book from start to finish. The butcher paper cover (hardcover ed.), the plain, serviceable, but elegant fonts, and the pictures announce exactly what you’ll get when you start reading — a no-nonsense approach to cooking some damned fine no-nonsense food.

So I started with the easy part — marinating the chicken and vegetables in red wine overnight. Even though I was warned right there in the recipe that this dish would start off pretty nasty, I didn’t think what 24 hours in red wine would really do to a whole chicken, and found myself unprepared for the horror that emerged from the fridge 24 hours later:

You know, I’ve been a carnivore all my life, but until today, I’ve never once thought of my food as a corpse. I may submit that photo to David Fincher for consideration in his next opening credits.

Soldiering on, I browned the wine-bloated chicken corpse in butter and olive oil, and the promised alchemy soon took place; it really did result in something magical, considering the — ahem — humble beginnings. But when a recipe calls for an artery-clogging amount of butter and 1/4 lb. of bacon, magic is bound to happen.

All in all, it was good. Satisfying. Tasty, even. And I got a real feeling of accomplishment just from seeing it through to the end. But it isn’t something I’ll be making again soon — while good enough for a Sunday lunch, it just didn’t seem to be worth the effort.

Sigh.

Oh, if you ever decide to make this, take his advice and clean as you go along. It’s something I do anyway, but you’ll appreciate tackling the dishes before they grow into a mountain in the sink.

So when I noticed a bunch of arugula wilting in the crisper drawer, a container of ricotta’s expiration date fast approaching, and a big hunk of pancetta taunting me from it’s perch, I knew something had to be done. After eating tomatoes every single day for almost a week, a sauce wasn’t at the top of my list, so I threw together an arugula and nectarine salad topped with spicy caramelized pancetta. And yes, in case you were wondering, caramelized pancetta is just as good as you imagined.

The ricotta I felt was best saved for dessert, specifically for a scrumptious-sounding recipe for chocolate and ricotta cupcakes I found while perusing Orangette last week. Since we had all of the ingredients on hand, Gil got to work sifting and mixing. (He’s adding to his repertoire, which is scrambled eggs, chocolate chip cookies, and now these cupcakes.) Though there was a distinct lack of swirl in the cupcakes (for which I take full responsibility, as I was the designated swirler), they were delicious enough to tempt the cupcake gnome from his hiding place. I caught a glimpse of him running away and shaking his fist, a flurry of crumbs wafting to the ground. He seemed to approve of my thrifty ways, if the liner was any indication:

recipe after the jump

Arugula and Nectarine Salad with Spicy Caramelized Pancetta

1 bunch arugula
1 ripe but firm nectarine, sliced into thin wedges
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons champagne vinegar
2 sprigs fresh thyme, minced
1 small shallot, minced
salt and pepper to taste
1/4-inch slice of pancetta, cut into small cubes
olive oil, for drizzling
1/2 tablespoon brown sugar
cayenne pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Place pancetta cubes in small baking pan, press brown sugar onto pancetta, drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle liberally (or not so liberally, depending on your tolerance for heat) with cayenne. Bake until pancetta is fragrant and starting to crisp, about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, whisk together olive oil and champagne vinegar. Stir in thyme, shallot, salt & pepper. Toss with arugula and mound onto two small plates. Top with nectarine slices and sprinkle with fresh-from-the-oven pancetta. [If the pancetta cools in the pan, it'll come out in one big clump -- a delicious treat, to be sure, but not easily manipulated.]

With lots of time to cook on weekends, I like to skip the healthy yogurt of my weekday mornings and indulge a little. During summer, my go-to brunch moves from bread pudding to more seasonal fare — roasted tomatoes and asparagus with soft scrambled eggs. No one respects the egg more than a French chef, so I pulled my old, battered copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking from the bookshelf to make sure I’d get them right. Ordinarily, I’d just get to cooking without consulting a cookbook, but if you’ve ever had French-style scrambled eggs, you know how important it is to cook them just so — the end result should be soft, creamy, curds custardy in texture and positively rich with butter.

Turns out, it’s really quite a simple recipe. You start with a cold pan and cook over very low heat while stirring constantly, which is basically the exact opposite of how I usually make scrambled eggs. But the extra effort is definitely worth it.

As Julia would say, “Bon appetit!”

recipe after the jump

Soft Scrambled Eggs with Fresh Herbs

8 eggs, or 7 eggs and 2 yolks
1/4 teaspoon salt
pinch of pepper
3 1/2 – 4 tablespoons softened butter, divided (I used Plugra) or whipping cream
1 tablespoon minced fresh herbs (I used chives and tarragon), plus extra for garnishing

With a whisk, beat the eggs with herbs, salt, and pepper for 20 to 30 seconds to blend yolks and whites. Smear the bottom and sides of a heavy-bottomed pan with 2 tablespoons of the butter. Pour in the eggs and set over moderately low heat. (Depth of eggs in pan should be 2/3 to 1 inch.) Nothing will seem to happen for 2 to 3 minutes as the eggs gradually heat. Suddenly they will begin to thicken into a custard. Stir rapidly, moving pan on and off heat, until the eggs have almost thickened to the consistency you wish. Then remove from heat, as they will continue to thicken slightly.

Just as soon as they are of the right consistency, stir in the enrichment butter or cream, which will stop the cooking. Season to taste and serve immediately.

Sunday brunch has long been my favorite meal of the week. It’s a huge deal in New Orleans, and I’d always indulge whenever I found myself there after a long night of doing what college kids do on Saturday night. (No, never Bourbon Street — we had some standards.) Once I moved to the working world after grad school, my cravings went unsatisfied; I was the hardest-working woman in St. Louis on Sundays, you see. After my gig as minister of music at a local church, I went straight to my day job for a double shift of putting the catalog to bed for the week. Saturday brunches just weren’t the same, somehow, so I sucked it up until I moved to NY and got to enjoy the boozy brunches offered all over the city.

Sadly, there aren’t any places in Ringwood for a proper brunch, so I’m left to my own devices when the mood strikes. And strike it did this very morning. So, inspired by a Mario Batali recipe, I decided to make use of lovely hen of the woods mushrooms from Trader Joe’s and tomatoes from my friend Mew’s garden (lucky duck, her yard gets plenty of sunshine and no deer at all).

I didn’t want the typical scrambled/fried/poached egg and bacon axis — though a side of bacon was a no-brainer — and remembered a baked egg recipe from Orangette I’d been meaning to try. (Btw, she’s getting married today — let’s all send good thoughts her way!) Apart from my ramekins being too small (which later spelled disaster), it seemed like an easy enough recipe to attempt in my morning-addled state.

I washed the mixing bowl thoroughly to remove any speck of grease and set the whites to whipping. As the stand mixer was doing its thing, I grated the cheese and greased the ramekins. It all went smoothly, though I made a couple of extras just in case my previous bad luck with meringues/soufflés continued.

While a couple of yolks went Frank Lee Morris on me, the other two remained where they should’ve and put a fine spin on the typical eggy brunch dish. The yolks were blanketed with creme fraiche and nestled into delicate clouds of cheese with the faintest crunch on the edges. Yummmmmm…

Despite the rich cream, this was the most ephemeral of brunch dishes and one I’ll definitely try again, only next time with larger ramekins.

recipes after the jump

Braised Mushrooms adapted from Food Network

1 slice bacon, chopped
1 teaspoon parsley, chopped
1 small clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon olive oil
4 oz. hen of the woods mushrooms, thickly sliced
handful of grape tomatoes
olive oil
salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/4 teaspoon fresh thyme, chopped
splash of white wine
truffle oil
chopped parsley, for topping

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Quarter grape tomatoes and toss with olive oil, salt, and thyme. Roast on a greased baking sheet until tomatoes are soft and starting to blister, about 15 minutes.

While tomatoes are roasting, sauté bacon, parsley, garlic, and olive in pan until bacon fat has rendered. Add mushrooms, a light sprinkling of salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms are dry. Add roasted tomatoes and a splash of white wine to the pan and cook until mushrooms are dry again.

To serve, drizzle with truffle oil and topped with chopped parsley.

Baked Eggs from Orangette

Butter, for greasing ramekins
6 large eggs
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp black pepper
1/8 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/8 tsp cream of tartar
3 oz coarsely grated Cantal cheese, about 1 cup (I used Manchego because we had it on hand. It caused no problems.)
6 Tbs crème fraiche
Chopped fresh chives, for garnish

Position an oven rack in the middle position, and preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter 6 (8-ounce) ramekins or a 9″-by-13″ baking dish. If you are using ramekins, place them on a rimmed baking sheet for ease of transport.

Separate the eggs, putting the whites into a large mixing bowl and carefully sliding the whole, unbroken yolks into a small bowl of cold water.

Using an electric mixer at medium-high speed, beat the egg whites with salt, pepper, nutmeg, and cream of tartar until they just hold stiff peaks. Fold in ½ cup cheese gently but thoroughly. Divide the egg white mixture among ramekins or transfer to the baking dish, smoothing the top slightly. [The whites will stand above the rims of the ramekins.] Make an indentation in the center of the whites in each ramekin, or, if you are using the baking dish, make 6 evenly spaced indentations. Using your fingers, carefully remove the yolks from the water one at a time, and slip one yolk into each indentation.

Stir the crème fraiche so that it is smooth and free of lumps, and spoon one tablespoon on top of each yolk. Sprinkle the eggs with the remaining cheese.

Bake the eggs until the whites are puffed and pale golden, 10 to 14 minutes. The yolks should jiggle slightly. Sprinkle with chives, and serve immediately.

Yield: 6 servings

Color me happy.

The German Coast Farmers’ Market in St. Charles Parish, LA, has really taken off since its inception four years ago. Despite the nearly unbearable heat last weekend, the turnout was good for the anniversary celebration, and spirits were high. The growing season is much farther along down there than it is here in New Jersey, so I was really happy to get some juicy Creole tomatoes fresh from the Zeringue farm. Ponchatoula strawberries were already out of season, but I managed to get along knowing fresh berries will be along soon out here. I’d say the highlight of the GCFM was the jumbo crab-stuffed artichoke I bought at Betty D.’s booth. The artichoke really was enormous, but she’d stuffed it so full of seasoned crab meat, you could barely see the artichoke at all. Gil, my dad, and I had that for dinner one night and felt completely satisfied.

But even more exciting than visiting such a faraway market is knowing that WE HAVE OUR VERY OWN FARMERS’ MARKET RIGHT HERE IN RINGWOOD!! Yes, that’s right, from June to October, I’ll be at the local bus stop every Saturday morning to buy some of the freshest produce our farmers have to offer. I picked up some kohlrabi, garlic scapes, radishes, komatsuna, raw milk pepper colby cheese, and fresh herb plants — oregano, rosemary, and spearmint — which the vendor potted together for me free of charge.

Since komatsuna and garlic scapes were new to me, I had to dive right in and cook them for dinner last night. I used Floyd Cardoz’s ramps recipe (from his incredible One Spice, Two Spice cookbook) as a starting point and was really happy with the results. Unlike the ramps I made a month ago, this dish wasn’t as greasy and the greens were much more tender. We’d had a pretty big lunch already, so a light dinner of stir-fried greens really hit the spot.

Next weekend, I plan to branch out to try the kosher dills, grass-fed beef, and get a bunch more garlic scapes for pickling.

recipe after the jump

Indian-Spiced Komatsuna and Garlic Scapes

2 slices lean bacon, coarsely chopped
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon brown mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
4 small bunches komatsuna (or other tender, leafy green vegetable), coarsely chopped
1/4 cup chicken stock (or equal amount of water)
4 garlic scapes, finely chopped
1/2 lemon
salt and pepper to taste

Cook bacon in dutch oven until crispy. Remove bacon to paper towel-lined plate and add olive oil to rendered bacon fat in pot. Once heated through, add mustard seed and cook for 30 seconds until they start to pop. Add cumin seeds and cook for 30 seconds, until fragrant.

Add chopped komatsuna stems to pot and stir to coat with seasoned oil. Add chicken stock and cover pot tightly to soften stems, about 3 minutes. Add remaining komatsuna leaves and cook until wilted and pot is almost dry. Add garlic scapes and cook for one minute.

To serve, sprinkle with lemon juice and crispy bacon pieces, and add salt & pepper to taste.

Oh, well. Back to the drawing board. Maybe next time I’ll try a white sauce instead.

At least Fellowship on the big screen TV is redeeming my night.