Bourbon Bacon Peaches

I almost never eat or make sweets or deserts. However, I was reviewing our posts the other day and I realized almost every desert I have made in the last year or so has been post worthy.  I might have a flair for creating items I don't eat. Correction, that I usually don't eat. And yes, I really enjoyed this one. I even made it twice. Actually, that isn't fully correct. The second time I made it the UB made a Manhattan killing almost all my rye whiskey. Inventory control in the kitchen is important to those who cook. I ended up making a variant -I will list that too.


How to make:
First make the sauce by covering and heating in the 'nuker' for 30-45 seconds one ounce of maple syrup and the leaves from 1/3 sprig of fresh rosemary.  Once cooked and cool mix in the whiskey and a pinch of salt. Stir.

Halve the peach. Melt the bacon fat on medium. (yes, you heard me - bacon fat) in a pot/pan (with a lid) that can barely hold the two peach halves flat side down.





Once the fat is liquid, coat inside of the peaches with bacon fat (pour some of it inside each peach) and then place them in the pan face down.

Cover, bring to medium heat, lightly boiled  for 8-10 minutes, until cooked.

Pour sauce on top of peaches, make sure rosemary stays on top.


Place the peaches on small plate and spoon the now thickened sauce on top of the peaches. Eat and enjoy the goodness of making a healthy snack unhealthy.


Ingredients:

1 peach halved
1 1/2 tsp bacon fat

Sauce:

1oz maple syrup
1/3 sprig rosemary (8-10 leaves)
1 oz rye whiskey: Variant:1/3 oz rye whiskey, 1/3 oz dark rum, 1/3 oz cognac
A titch of salt

Elvis is in the House

Sometimes I channel Elvis.  No, not his sultry voice. Not his curled lip, Not his over-the-top one piece Evil Knievil jump suits. I channel his love of peanut butter and bacon. Oh, yeah. Now we are talking.  That combo is worth being found dead next to the 'throne'. I recently introduced the UltimateBeta to the joys of salty and smoky combined with sweet and nutty.


The UB wanted breakfast.  She wanted an egg sandwich.  I asked her, "Are you sure you want me to take the time to saute up onions and peppers?" The UB replied, "Nope. just some bacon."  The limitation of the word 'some' should never precede 'bacon'. Do not take bacon's name in vain. For that I knew the UB needed to be reminded of the higher power of bacon.  I decided to show her the correct coarse; the proper path that leads to enlightenment; the direction to nirvana was to add peanut butter. Spread of the gods.


I slowly fried up some apple-smoked, cinnamon-cured bacon. Then I prepped two English muffins cut in half and placed them into the toaster oven to be toasted just before the eggs were complete.

Next:
I diced up 1 tsp. of fresh sweet basil
Diced 1 tbsp. of aged Gouda
Placed 4 egg rings onto a well oiled frying pan and then brought the pan up to med-high. [if you don't know what an egg rings is - Google it]

Once the pan was hot I dropped an egg into each of the egg rings also well oiled. Salted the eggs to taste. I then added 1/2 tsp of peanut butter on top of each egg, and then added a quarter of the cheese and basil to each. I finished it all with a dollop of garlic habenero sauce.

Once the eggs were cooked not runny, but not hard. I placed them onto the bacon which was sitting on top of the toasted muffin.

 After (egg)wich you bite into a hunk of burning love.

Collard Greens

 It's so hot here in good ol' Minnesota, it feels like we're in the south. Heat and high humidity. Let's eat some greens. Yes, greens. Turns out my Jewish AC knows how to make kick-ass collard greens. Since you can now get them fresh and local, I thought I'd pass on the recipe. 

Start with fresh collard greens from the farmers market near you, or the CSA box at your door.

A large bunch of collard greens- the AC guesses about 2 lbs, I think that sounds heavy.

3 slices of bacon
1 small red onion
1 large shallot
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper- our are very hot- add more if you like it spicy
1/2 tsp black pepper
3 garlic cloves minced fine
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup vegetable broth
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Cook the bacon in a high-sided frying pan, extra crispy. Chop fine, set aside.

 In the same pan, saute the shallot, red onion, crushed red pepper and garlic in the leftover bacon fat, until soft. Remove most of the stem from the greens- not to the point of de-veining, just the majority of it. Cut the leaves into 2-3" strips. Put the greens into the frying pan, sprinkle with balsamic and mix with the other ingredients until wilted. When wilted, add the broth, bacon and black pepper. Bring to a simmer for about 40 minutes until the stems are soft.

These were not bitter at all (a common complaint). They were sweet, salty and spicy. We ate them, ravenously I might add, with some local cheese. Greens and cheese, sometimes you have to improvise. Even though this didn't feel like improvising.

Bacon Fried Bananas

Have you ever noticed that we don't mention desserts on this blog? There's a story behind that. The AC doesn't have a sweet tooth, a fact he always brags about whenever it comes up. Conversation drifts towards favorite candy, that new bakery that makes the best donuts, and AC gets quiet, waiting for his opportunity to shrug his shoulders and say "I don't eat that stuff, I don't have a sweet tooth, never have". Then he'll talk about the super-human, weight-lifter convenient fact that instead of sweets, he craves protein. Meat. Not sugar. This is usually followed by the story about his mother hiding sweets in his room because she knew he would never eat them. Apparently the Thanksgiving turkey was another story. It was gone before the first sandwich was made. Guess you have to pick your poison. 

As a result we don't order dessert often and make it even less. I, the UB, do have a sweet tooth, but feel like a pig if I eat more than a few bites of the dessert I ordered for myself, the one AC will have "a bite" of, and he does have just one bite. So it turns into a pretty great diet plan for me too. When we're with friends who want dessert, I joyfully join them, happy to have a partner in the crime of utter indulgence.

Out of the two of us I am the baker. I have learned to bake things AC will eat. Pancakes are one, and as you can see, I have several recipes. The recipe with cottage cheese and yogurt are his favorite...no duh. He also enjoys my fruit cobblers, his favorite is cherry/rhubarb, that really is amazing. I add very little sugar and a scoop of ice cream or coconut sorbet. If it ever warms up around here, I'll post the recipe. He'll also eat crepes with nutella, bread pudding, certain fresh baked cookies (but never day-after) and once ate a chocolate cupcake at a bonfire party we hosted, after several rounds of drinks. I was very pleased.

You can imagine my shock then, when AC offered to cook myself and my lovely sister (who was in town and happened to be over for dinner- yay!) bacon-fried bananas. He even said it this way "I've never made you my bacon fried bananas have I?" Apparently he's had this recipe forever and after eleven years hadn't thought about cooking it for me. I guess saving that stuff up makes for new discoveries? Anyway. They were fabulous. He took about five minutes to make them and here is the recipe:

1. Take 2 bananas, and slice into 1/2" slices.
2. Dredge the bananas in panko breadcrumbs to coat.
3. Sprinkle with cinnamon.
4. Take bacon fat and melt in a hot frying pan. He used enough fat to cover and coat the pan, about 1/8 inch. (Did I tell you we got a new hood? One that actually vents outside? Oh the possibilities...)
5. Place the bananas in the pan, flip when golden brown and cook the other side until golden brown. If you like it sweeter, sprinkle with powdered sugar.
6. Place in a bowl and put down in front of shocked partner and sister-in-law.
7. Earn major points. 

They were made before we even got through the first bit of crazy family gossip and gone before that bit was over. My sister and I were both awed that AC would even suggest a dessert, let alone get up from the table and start to make it, finishing before we even processed what had happened. Anything is now possible. Yes, I realized the dessert involved bacon, but let me have my moment.