Count Down to Turkey

Thanksgiving is less than 2 weeks away, so I thought I would just relive the glory of last year repost last year's Thanksgiving post for those who are wondering what to do with their turkey this year.

Or in my family's case, with 2 turkeys.

Turkey #2 from last year

The Three B's will not let you down:

Bacon

Brandy

Butter

Go forth and make awesomeness for those you love.

Linguine with Clams, Leeks, & Bacon

This is a nice twist to wake up the same old linguine and clams.

Yes. There are two leeks shown there.

Just use one to feed two people.

Live and learn.

Remove the root end and the darkest green part, split in half and rinse the dirt from between the layers of the leek. If your leek appears REALLY dirty as you are prepping it, slice it into half-moons and soak it in a cold water bath so the dirt falls to the bottom of the bowl.

Bacon.

Yes please.

That's about 2 slices split, but figure one to two slices per person.

(More if you know you're going to snack on it while cooking...)

Once the bacon has rendered its fat and become crispy, place it on a paper towel to drain and keep the fat in the pan.

Add the washed (and dried) chopped leeks to the bacon fat and allow to soften over medium heat, 5-7 minutes. Use only a pinch of salt to season as the bacon fat is salty.

Half way thru cooking, grate (or mince) two cloves of garlic into the mix.

If you want to let the leeks go a little farther into caramelizing, that would also be delicious with this combination of flavors. 

I was just in a hurry to eat, so mine only got to wilt.

After scrubbing your clams and letting them sit in cold salted water for 30 minutes to discharge their grit:

Cook the clams in a covered sauce pan with white wine and one bay leaf over medium-high heat 6-8 minutes, or until all the clams opened.

Give the pan a shake to make sure they have room to open.

Discard any unopened clams, as well as the bay leaf.

I remove the shells when I make this so eating it is easier, but if you want to keep them for presentation's sake, go for it.

Put your linguine, cooked 1 minute shy of the directions on the box, into the remaining white wine and clams and add in the cooked leeks and garlic mixture. Add a bit of chopped parsley or basil and a tablespoon of butter (or 2) and stir to combine.

Check your seasoning after a minute and then plate.

I top the dish with the cooked bacon as I hate soggy bacon, but really the bacon drippings make this dish as they impart all their smokey, porky goodness into the cooking leeks.

Without it you'd just be eating very onion-y pasta.

But I'd call this one a hit!

Broccoli Bow-tie Carbonara

Carbonara is such a decadent and satisfying meal. I mean, it's pasta with bacon.

What's not to like?

There are arguments as to whether or not carbonara has cream in the sauce or if it's just egg yolks.

I fall in the middle and occasionally use 1/4 cup or less of cream for a little added richness but not a huge shift in the sauce's texture.

But traditionally it's just egg yolks and grated parmigiano.

Traditionally there are no vegetables in carbonara either, but I'm a vegetable nut, and I can also tell myself this dish is not as evil of a diet-killer if I throw a bunch of green things in it as well.

This time I had broccoli on hand, so that's what went in.

Chop up one large broccoli stem and steam them with a pinch of salt so they are still slightly firm, only about 4-5 minutes. Drain and set aside.

Technically you only need 1 egg yolk per person, but as I was using quite a bit of broccoli, which does not coat with sauce as easily as say, peas or zucchini when mixed in with pasta, I used 4.

Also, I wanted a LOT of sauce.

Make sure your eggs are fresh!

And save the whites for an egg-white omelette the next morning.

(Tho it's smart to label the clear white goo...)

Beat the egg yolks together with about 1/2 cup of grated parmigiano (pecorino can make it too salty once combined with the bacon) and set aside.

Mmmm... bacon.

I used two slices per person, but you can make as much as you like of course.

Just make sure you do not have too much rendered fat in the pan when you add the pasta and vegetables. Maybe 1-2 TBSP tops.

Crumble the bacon and add the broccoli into the pan with the drippings.

Stir to combine a bit.

Add the cooked pasta to the pan with the broccoli and drippings and remove it from the heat source.

Take a medium ladle-full of the hot and starchy RESERVED pasta water and, while stirring, add it to the egg and cheese mixture. This is "tempering" your egg.

If you add the yolks directly to a hot pan, you will just get scrambled eggs.

Toss everything well to combine, adding more pasta water if the sauce seems too tight.

Garnish with crumbled bacon and black pepper (unless you are like me and hate black pepper) and Get It While It's HOT!

My Bacon Valentine

Men really get the short end of the stick when it comes to Valentine's Day. They're expected to do the heavier share of the gift-giving as decreed by Hallmark and the Florist contingent. And since I do wake up every year to some form of chocolate sitting on my computer table when I wake up, I try to show my appreciation for my hubby with what I'm good at: cooking.

Awwww...

I chose his 2 favorite foods: Steak and Bacon.

(Arguably his 2 favorite foods could be bacon and bacon, but that's just redundant.)

I also decided to incorporate bacon into every part of the meal except the beverage, just to really show I care.

And no, I'm not trying to kill the hubs or myself. My genetically high cholesterol has dropped 170 points in the past year thanks to medication, but I am slightly anemic, so I am now not only allowed to eat bacon on occasion, I need to eat more steak!

Yay!

Now bacon-wrapped filet mignon is a classic, but it's an expensive classic, so I opted to go another way.

Bacon compound butter, on a cheaper cut of steak.

(Saving money shows I care about our future...)

Above you see room temperature butter (about 2 TBSP) and 2 slices of cooked bacon, finely chopped.

After mixing it together, spoon it onto some plastic wrap and mould it however you like.

I went with an attempt at a heart...

Awwwwww...

Potatoes!

As potatoes are probably #3 on the hubs's favorite food list, I had to have them for a side dish. These I roasted in the oven in a combination of rendered duck fat, a little bacon fat, some salt, onion, and fresh thyme. Roughly 40 minutes at 400-425º, turning once halfway through, and they come out crispy and brown and fabulous. 

Don't forget to season them again while they are hot so the salt sticks.

Mmmm... more bacon

Not to be left out, I chopped up and crisped one more slice of bacon and cooked the frozen peas in the rendered fat.

There was one healthy-ish aspect to this meal, I swear.

Guess which is my piece

In a very hot skillet, I seared some seasoned (room temperature!) steaks that I had pat dry and brushed lightly with olive oil, cooking until medium-rare. About 2-3 minutes per side for a 3/4" thick steak.

Place the bacon compound butter atop the hot steak and watch it melt.

Just like the hubs's heart when he saw what was for dinner.

(Wah-wah...)

Money shot of the fabulous potatoes

I added the crisped bacon pieces to the potatoes after I had plated them so they would not get soggy.

I cannot stand soggy bacon.

It's such a let-down.

Ta da!

My Valentine's Day dinner to show how much I care was not a let-down.

It was quite tasty.

Unfortunately dessert was not as big a hit as I'd hoped, as I had ordered a custom-made chocolate bar for the hubs, which was dark chocolate with bacon and peanut butter chips in it.

For shame Chocomize.

Your options are intriguing, but your chocolate quality kind of sucks.

Luckily there was plenty of Godiva to go around, and dessert was salvaged.

Hubs to the rescue again.

I do love him so.

The Best Roast Chicken Ever

According to the hubs, this is The Greatest Roast Chicken Ever.

And to me, it's The Easiest Roast Chicken Ever.
But possibly also one of the tastiest possible.

WIN! WIN!

And just whhhyyyyyy is it so delicious AND simple?

BACON!

Also, it only requires 6 ingredients:

1 whole roaster chicken (between 3 and 6 lbs.)

3-6 slices of bacon (depending on size of chicken, or preference)

1/3 cup of brandy

1 onion, quartered

salt

water or chicken stock

THAT'S IT!!!!!

There is no brining, no complex stuffing, no chopping except for 2 whacks at an onion, no picking the tiny leaves off of fresh herbs, nada.  The hardest part of this meal is just remembering to baste!

And frankly, in my house, the only things I'd have to go out and purchase for this meal would be the chicken and the bacon, as the other ingredients are always on hand in my kitchen.

It's such a magical food.

 This recipe was inspired by an episode of one of Nigella Lawson's cooking shows, but I could not find the recipe online later, so I just winged it, added a bit more bacon than she mentioned, and threw in the salt for the cavity and the onion out of habit.

Step One: Preheat your oven. (I do 425º for the first 30 minutes, and then the rest of the time cook the chicken at 350º but stick with whatever method you're used to.)

Step Two: Brown your bacon and set aside to drain on paper towels. Possibly make extra as you KNOW you're going to want to snack on some once you smell it cooking.

 Step Three: Pour your (pre-measured) brandy into the pan of bacon drippings and allow it to sizzle (step back!) and combine until it calms down. Set this aside off of the heat.

See the flecks of bacon from the drippings?!

For the bird, I salt the cavity and then place half to a whole onion (quartered) into the cavity for flavor and moisture. (Depends on the size of both the bird and the onion.)

Step Four: Insert bacon into the chicken's cavity and truss your bird. Refrain from placing broken bits of bacon under the chicken's skin, as they will burn a bit. (Things you learn the hard way.)

Step Five: Pour brandied bacon fat over the chicken.

Step Six: Add about 3/4 of an inch of water or chicken stock to the bottom of the pan for basting and to prevent spitting or burning.

 Step Seven: Cook.
(Yes I chose to throw some carrots and onion into the bottom of the pan as well because then you get roasted carrots THAT TASTE LIKE BACON!)
This happened to be a 6 pound bird, so it took 1 hour and 30 minutes to cook, and I basted every 15-20 minutes... or when I remembered.

Crappy photo taken because I just wanted to EAT!

Let the chicken rest on a baking sheet (or carving board, wherever works for you) and turn those amazing drippings into a sweet dark gravy. All I used was a tsp of flour to help it thicken and a little time over a burner with a whisk.

THE GREATEST ROAST CHICKEN.

You're welcome.