Bacon Nation: 125 Irresistible Recipes (33 page)

2 cups corn kernels (cut from 2 freshly shucked ears)

1 cup fresh lima beans, or 1 cup thawed frozen lima beans, if fresh are unavailable

3 tablespoons heavy cream

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the bacon and cook until some of the fat begins to render, about 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the shallots and ginger and cook until the shallots are translucent, about 2 minutes. Add the yellow squash, stir to coat well, and cook until the squash begins to soften, about 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the corn and lima beans, cover the skillet, and reduce the heat to medium.

2
Cook until the squash is just tender but still firm, about 5 minutes. Stir in the heavy cream and cook until just heated through, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper to taste before serving.

Serves 4 to 6

Bourbon, bacon, shallots, ginger, sweet potatoes . . . what’s not to like! Although we have nothing against french fries, if you would like a change of pace, try this with anything that goes with fries: fried fish, steak, burgers. Likewise, for a change of pace from mushy Thanksgiving sweet potatoes, serve sweet potato sticks with roasted turkey, or pair them with Christmas ham. We tested the recipe two ways—with and without peeling the sweet potatoes. It worked in both cases, but we prefer not having to peel the potatoes (and the skin is loaded with nutrients). Word of caution: Just like french fries or potato chips, once you start eating sweet potato sticks it’s hard to stop, as we found when we took our first test batch from the oven.

3 medium-size sweet potatoes (2¼ to 2½ pounds total), trimmed and well scrubbed

5 slices bacon, cut into ½-inch pieces

Unsalted butter

¾ cup diced shallots (about 2 large)

2 teaspoons chopped, peeled fresh ginger

⅓ cup bourbon or dark rum

4½ teaspoons packed dark brown sugar

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1
Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 425°F.

2
Cut the sweet potatoes in half lengthwise. Cut each sweet potato half lengthwise into 3 wedges. Place the sweet potato wedges in a single layer in a large roasting pan or shallow baking dish (they should fit snugly) and set them aside.

3
Cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until lightly browned but not crisp, 5 to 7 minutes, stirring often and adjusting the heat as necessary. Transfer the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate to drain, reserving the bacon fat in the skillet. You should have about 2 tablespoons of fat. If necessary, pour off enough fat or add enough butter to the skillet to measure 2 tablespoons.

4
Place the skillet over medium-high heat, add the shallots and ginger and, using a wooden spoon, stir and scrape up any brown bits from the bottom of the skillet. Cook the shallot mixture until the shallots have softened, about 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in 1½ teaspoons of butter, the bourbon or rum, and the brown sugar and cook just until the butter melts and the sugar dissolves, about 1 minute.

5
Drizzle the bourbon sauce over the sweet potatoes. Sprinkle the drained bacon evenly over the potatoes and season them with salt and pepper to taste.

6
Cover the roasting pan with aluminum foil and bake the sweet potatoes for about 20 minutes. Then, uncover the pan and gently turn the sweet potatoes over. Continue baking the sweet potatoes until they are just tender, about 10 minutes longer. Spoon some of the browned bits of bacon and shallots from the bottom of the pan over the potatoes before serving.

Serves 4 to 6

From Peter: This is the first recipe I ever invented. It is the final recipe in my book Culinary Intelligence: The Art of Eating Healthy (and Really Well). My friend the late Johnny Herald was a great guitar picker and singer. He was also a great mushroom picker. One day he left some tomatoes and corn on the stove while he went mushrooming. He was gone a little too long and somehow a fire started, burning his house to the ground. He wrote “The Fire Song” about tomatoes and corn and I liked the sound of it, so I did some composing of my own, the culinary kind. It’s a high-summer treat when corn is at its sweetest and fresh Jersey beefsteak tomatoes are plump, juicy, and almost smoky.

6 slices bacon, diced

2 tablespoons (¼ stick) unsalted butter

4 to 6 cups sweet corn kernels, cut from 4 to 6 freshly shucked ears

2 large ripe beefsteak tomatoes, coarsely chopped

Freshly ground black pepper

½ cup coarsely chopped basil

1
Cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until the bacon is browned and crisp and the fat is rendered, 6 to 9 minutes, stirring often and adjusting the heat as necessary. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate to drain. Discard the bacon fat or save it for another use.

2
Melt the butter in a medium-size skillet over medium heat. Add the corn kernels and cook until crisp-tender, about 2 minutes. Add the drained bacon and the tomatoes, and season with pepper to taste. Increase the heat to medium-high and cook until the liquid from the tomatoes partially evaporates, 5 to 7 minutes.

3
Transfer the tomato and corn mixture to a bowl, toss it with the basil, and serve.

Serves 4

This recipe came out of our frustration with attempting to make a better potato latke by incorporating bacon into the traditional batter. But, though we tried several variations, the result wasn’t spectacular, just ho-hum. Sometimes you just have to keep searching for a solution and we think this is it. Sweet potatoes, with their natural sugar, proved to be a wonderful taste counterpoint to bacon’s saltiness. And because sweet potatoes are much drier and denser than white potatoes, it’s not necessary to wring out the potato liquid before frying the pancakes. We added chopped scallions, instead of the more traditional grated onion, and found them to contribute a spark more color and flavor. These pancakes are lovely eaten on their own with sour cream and applesauce or served as a side for roasted pork or chicken.

8 slices bacon, cut into ½-inch pieces

1 pound sweet potatoes, peeled

3 scallions, both white and green parts, trimmed and finely chopped

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

½ cup unbleached all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon ground ginger (optional)

⅛ teaspoon salt, or more to taste

Freshly ground black pepper

½ to ¾ cup canola or other vegetable oil

Sour cream and applesauce (optional), for serving

1
Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 250˚F. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with paper towels.

2
Cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until lightly browned and most of the fat is rendered, 5 to 8 minutes, stirring often and adjusting the heat as necessary. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate to drain. Pour the bacon fat from the skillet into a wire-mesh strainer set over a small bowl. Set the bacon fat aside. Using a paper towel, wipe the skillet clean; you will use it to cook the pancakes.

3
Using the large holes of a box grater, coarsely grate the sweet potatoes. Transfer the grated sweet potatoes to a large mixing bowl. Add the drained bacon and the scallions, eggs, flour, ginger, if using, and salt and stir until thoroughly combined. Season with pepper to taste.

4
Using a ¼-cup measure, divide the potato mixture into 12 to 14 equal portions, setting each portion on a baking sheet. Using the back of a metal spatula, flatten each mound into a ¾-inch-thick pancake.

5
Add the strained bacon fat and ½ cup of the oil to the large skillet. Heat the fats over medium heat until they shimmer, about 1 minute. Using a metal spatula, carefully transfer 3 or 4 pancakes to the skillet and, using the back of the spatula, gently flatten them so that each is about ½ inch thick. Do not crowd the pancakes in the pan; a large skillet will hold 3 to 4 pancakes at a time.

6
Cook the potato pancakes until golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes per side, adjusting the heat as necessary to prevent them from browning too quickly. Transfer the cooked pancakes to the paper towel-lined baking sheet and keep warm in the oven. Repeat with the remaining pancakes, adding more oil to the skillet, if necessary. Serve the potato pancakes hot with sour cream and applesauce, if desired.

Serves 6

Bacon, tomatoes, and blue cheese are, to our way of thinking, wicked great on a cheeseburger. So we thought, why not make them the star of their own recipe? The tomatoes stand alone as a light main course, as a side to grilled meat, or as the fillings of a sandwich. With a rib eye or a fish fry, they are heaven. Make this dish using only locally grown summer tomatoes. There is no way to substitute for a tomato in season.

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for oiling the grill grate

5 slices bacon, diced

⅔ cup diced red onion

1 large clove garlic, diced

¾ cup coarsely ground homemade whole-wheat bread crumbs (see
page 32
)

¼ cup coarsely chopped fresh basil leaves

½ cup loosely packed, coarsely crumbled blue cheese

6 large ripe tomatoes (6 to 7 ounces each)

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1
Lightly oil the grill grate. Preheat a gas grill to medium or prepare a medium-hot fire in a charcoal grill.

2
Cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until lightly browned and most of the fat is rendered, 5 to 8 minutes, stirring often and adjusting the heat as necessary. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate to drain, reserving 1½ tablespoons of bacon fat in the skillet.