Who Knew I Could Make Scallops? SCALLOPS!

 

So preparing fish or seafood of any type frankly scares the bejeebus out of me, if I'm being honest. It's tricky (or so I thought!) and if you screw it up, you've just thrown away a small fortune in dry or chewy or par-cooked fish.  Scallops are no exception to this rule, at least not for me.  I'll make cheap grocery store tilapia all day long  (Make = season and throw in the cast iron skillet and bake it), but anything more challenging gave me the cold sweats.

 

Why now?  Why did I brave the unknown and expensive meaty mollusk?  Well, here's the thing folks, food cravings can be very ugly sometimes.  Alone these cravings can be manageable.  However, when coupled with the yearnings of others, the force is out of control. 

 

So here's the short version:  One of my new favorite terms is 'love food.'  See I started dating this amazing guy and as one does (I'm saying it like that so it seems normal to cook copious amounts of baked goods for a person your interested in.  Totally normal, right?), I bake for him. And bake for him and bake some more.  Being generous, he takes a lot of these baked goods to work to share.  One of the women in the office asked him, after the 3rd or 4th pan of brownies, cake or cookies showed up, who was baking him all of this "LOVE FOOD?"  I think I latched on to it because she's right! Personally, I'm holding my mother accountable for this trait. Love you, MOM!

 

So both having an untamed craving for sea scallops (I think bay scallops are weak and rubbery, but don't tell them I said that.), I went to my local fresh fish market.  **Ok, yes I live in the Midwest and yes, mine is a landlocked state, but with the miracle of technology and scorcery, we too can enjoy FRESH seafood.

 

With that, I shall blame him for this although it's a good 'blame'.  Really more like, give him credit because this buttery little dudes were delcious! This, my friends, is LOVE food:

Sea Scallops with Bacony White Beans & Spinach.  Oh! and LEMON*

3 tasty pieces of bacon, chopped into 1/4" chunks of goodness
1/2 of an onion, diced (I used white, but sweet would be good as well)
1 clove of garlic, minced
3-4 cups of spinach (1 bag of fresh spinach should do the trick)
1 lb of sea scallops (8-10)
2 T butter
Juice of one lemon

Heat a medium saucepan over low heat. Cook the bacon until crispy and your house smells of angels. Add the onion and garlic; saute until the onion is soft and translucent, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the white beans and spinach and simmer until the beans are hot.  Reduce heat to low, add spinach and cover to keep warm while you sear some scallops! Heat a large cast-iron skillet or saute pan over medium-high heat. Blot the scallops dry with a paper towel and season with salt and pepper on both sides. Melt butter in your skillet and add scallops.  Sear each side for approximately 2-3 minutes, until deeply caramelized.  Add the lemon juice to the beans and plate (2-4 servings depending on how hungry your crowd is.  The two of us killed the scallops and left some spinach mess behind). Top white beans and spinach with seared scallops and serve.

*Let's be realistic.  Having never made a scallop in my life, I did not brave this without some direction.  I modified this recipe from Women's Health.

 

Sweet Potato Pie with Bacon Crust & Pecan Topping

So I've already starting 'practice' cooking for Thanksgiving.  I seriously think my addiction to baking may be getting out of control considering my annual Turkey Day usually consists of about 10-12 family members and a minimum of three pies.  I've typically shown up with some sort of chocolate dessert for this occasion.  I've never understood why more chocolate desserts aren't on the table for this holiday?  Chocolate is so good and, let's be honest, should be a part of every meal and probably the food pyramid or food scale or food rhombus or whatever version of food geometry the FDA is imposing on us these days.

A dose a fall smacked me in the face this week and sweet potato pie just sounded like a good idea. But then again, when doesn't pie seem like a good idea?

The Crust!

1 slightly heaping cup of all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 Tablespoons cold butter
2 Tablespoons of chilled bacon grease
~ 3 Tablespoons ice water

In your handy dandy food processor, mix together flour and salt.  Cube and add butter, pulsing about a half dozen times to cut it in.  Repeat with delicious bacon grease.  Slowly add water 1 Tablespoon at a time until dough comes together.  There's a fine line between perfect and a sticky mess here so pay attention!  You may not need all 3 Tablespoons as indicated above.  Once dough forms a ball, press into a disk with waxed paper and refrigerate for 30 minutes or more.

The Innards

2 cups peeled, cooked & mashed sweet potatoes
1 cup sugar
4 Tablespoons melted butter
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla (I make my own.  Someday I will post that recipe.)
1 cup milk (I use 1/2 cup heavy cream + 1/2 cup 1% milk)

1/3 cup of brown sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In your electric mixer (or use a hand mixer),  mix together all of the innard ingredients except the milk and mix thoroughly. Add milk and stir to combine.  Set aside.

Roll out your pie crust on a floured surface to the appropriate size.  *The fats in this crust will soften the more you handle them, and you'll quickly have a gooey, sticky mess if you fuss with it too much. With that, the easiest way to roll it out is under a piece of waxed or parchment paper.

After you get your crust rolled, situated and appropriately scalloped (I don't do this, it's too much trouble) into a beautiful masterpiece in your pie plate, use a fork to prick holes all over the bottom of that thing so that it doesn't bubble up while baking. 

Sprinkle brown sugar all over the bottom of the crust.  Pour the filling into the pie crust and bake for 40-50 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.  If your crust edges start to brown too quickly, tent with foil. 

Cool on a rack for about an hour and then move to the fridge to cool completely.

The Toppin

2 Tablespoons of melted butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup coarsely chopped pecans

Melt butter in a small saucepan. Add sugar & pecans and mixed until incorporated.  You can add a tablespoon of heavy cream here, if you'd like but it's not necessary. 

Feel free to top cooled pie after the toppin's have cooled off a bit or serve this nut mixture on the side, since some crazy people (my father, for instance) don't like nuts in their baked goods.

And there ya have have it.

Now go forth and add a little bacon to your favorite Thanksgiving classic!

The Pancake Muffin

So I started a new job and got increasingly lazy with the whole blogging thing.

I love pancakes and I don't discriminate, well expect Buckwheat pancakes, I just can't get on board with those for some reason. But all of the other types are fine by me: plain, stuffed, whole wheat, lemon curd, yogurt, oat, whatever...shove them in my face covered in butter & maple syrup (and maybe some peanut butter) and I'm gonna to eat them.  HOWEVER, I hate making breakfast for someone (because who really makes pancakes solely for themselves. Um, well, I guess I do, but all the same) and not being able to sit down and eat with them because I am standing over a griddle waiting for the next batch of cakes to finish cooking so BEHOLD The Pancake Muffin!

This is so simple, it's almost ridiculous! 

Spray a muffin tin with oil. I use canola because, well, I like it.  Fill each round about 2/3 full with your favorite pancake batter recipe.  For this recipe, I use King Arthur Flour's Simply Perfect Pancakes. Top with some mix-ins.  The one pictured above contains blueberry and almonds, but you can use just about anything. Think bananas, chocolate chips, strawberries, raspberries, peaches, etc or you can savory this little dude up with some cheese and chives too.  I'd omit the sugar in the linked recipe if you're going to go savory on this one (bacon & cheddar or add some goat cheese to the blueberry almond, but that's just off the top of my head). 

Bake at 350 degrees for 12-14 minutes or until the edges get golden brown.

Serve with butter, peanut butter and warm maple syrup.  There ya go, no more standing over the stove while everyone but you enjoys warm pancakes!

Bacon Jam

So I've had some major stuff going on lately and let the blog get a little (ok, a lot) behind. Regardless, I am back AND now with more BACON!

I begun to compile a list of foods that I would like to roll around naked in/on. These are those foods that I find so appealing and bring such joy to my taste buds that well...yea, you get it. Bacon Jam was just added to this list. Congratulations, Bacon Jam. Congratulations.

No, seriously, my mom sent me this recipe not too long ago in a not so subtle attempt to get me to make it for her. Well, cheers to her for appealing to my bacon side with this nonsense.  Henceforth to be known as my new favorite condiment. Allow me to introduce...BACON JAM!

*Compliments of King Arthur Flour Company

• 1 1/2 pounds bacon
• 2 medium onions, peeled and thinly sliced
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1/4 cup cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/4 cup boiled cider (available at KAF.com)
• 3/4 cup strong brewed coffee
• 2 dried bay leaves
• salt and pepper to taste
• 
  
• Slice the bacon into 1" slices and cook in a large skillet until well browned. Drain fat. 
  Place the cooked bacon and all other ingredients into a 2 quart or larger crock pot. Cover and cook over high heat for 3 to 4 hours.  The smell of this cooking will likely break your will to do anything productive besides sitting very still and inhaling.*
  Remove the cooked jam from the crock pot, fish out the bay leaves, and carefully transfer to a food processor or blender. Pulse until the consistency is to your liking, a soft spreadable jam. You can leave the bacon in larger bits or pulse until very small, your choice. 
  If you find the jam too liquid for your taste, transfer to a small saucepan and cook over medium heat until the liquid has evaporated and the jam is thick and syrupy. Adjust the seasonings and serve warm. Store airtight in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Warm in the microwave before serving.

*If you consider sitting still and inhaling to be productive, please visit your local library or a specialist.  Go with the latter. 

Candied Bacon Apple Pancakes

If you have been following this blog even in the very slightest, you know of my sickening obsession with all things bacon.  So it should come as no great surprise that I have found a delicious way to make it a part of a complete, well-balanced breakfast (well not really, unless you add some fruit & veggies and other generally healthy food items).

All the same, it took a couple of tries but I've finally gotten these bad boys nailed down to the point of moist bacon debauchery! Enjoy...

1 cup buttermilk
3/4 cup milk
2 eggs
1 Tablespoon honey (optional depending on how sweet you like your pancakes)
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat (or pastry whole wheat) flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 medium apple, grated
5-6 slices of candied bacon, cooled and coarsely chopped

Butter
Maple syrup

Whisk together flours, baking powder, baking soda & salt.  Mix in grated apple and set aside.
Whisk together milks, eggs and honey.  Combine wet ingredients with dry and allow to stand for 10-15 minutes.  Fold in chopped bacon (follow the link above to learn how to candy bacon).

Spoon 1/4 cup of batter onto preheated griddle or lightly oiled skillet.  Cook until tops become bubbly (about 2-3 minutes).

Flip to cook through.You can store cooked pancakes in an oven preheated to 250 degrees until all are finished and you are ready to serve, if you would like.  Adorn with butter and maple syrup. Dive in!

Midwesterner's Bread (aka Cheddar, Bacon, Ranch Pull Apart Bread)

Due to an overwhelming number of requests on Facebook after I posted a picture of this nonsense, I had add the recipe on here.  To give credit where it is due, this recipe came from Plain Chicken (She has a bunch of other great recipes on her blog as well that you should probably check out).  However, due to my weird aversion to packaged foods, I made some modifications to make it my own.

I renamed it Midwesterner's Bread because of the Ranch dressing and bacon components.  Bacon, much like smiles, is the universal language of food.  But Ranch...well, if you've ever been to Indiana you know how much we Hoosiers covet our Ranch dressing.  We will dip anything in that delicious white condiment of the gods.  Fries, chicken wings, mozzarella sticks, potato chips...we don't care what the vehicle, we just want more!

1 unsliced loaf of sourdough bread
8-12 oz cheddar cheese, thinly sliced
1/2 lb of thick slab bacon, fried to crispy perfection
1/2 cup (yup, an entire stick!) butter
1 Tbsp Ranch dressing mix (you can use Hidden Valley powder, but I recommend making a trip to Penzey's or hitting them up online for some of theirs.  Here, I will make it easier for you:  Penzey's Buttermilk Ranch) 

Score the bread in both directions using a sharp bread knife while leaving the bottom intact. (read as: Don't cut it all the way through!) Shove cheese slices and tasty bacon in between cuts. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat and mix in ranch dressing powder. Evenly poor the buttery ranch goodness over the bacon & cheddar stuffed bread.  Place in a 8-9" cake pan (for a round loaf) or place on a baking sheet (for those elongated numbers) and wrap in aluminum foil. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Remove foil and bake for an additional 10 minutes, or until cheese is melted.  Bask in this bread's glory for at least 5-10 minutes while it cools (or you'll, no doubt, burn your fingers and mouth) and then plunge face first into it*...yea, it's THAT good. 

 *Note: Don't really do this. You'll burn your face. Can't believe I had to point that out, but it seemed necessary. 

Candied Bacon

I am a firm believer that there are few foods more perfect than bacon. So when I found a way to not only easy the cooking process, but make bacon even tastier...well, to say the least, I was ecstatic! 


All you need is some thick cut bacon and some brown sugar! 2-ingredient recipe? With bacon?  It's ok to profess your love for me out loud right now.  I won't judge.

Be on the lookout! …Because I’m going to be employing candied bacon in a variety of ways soon. I’m thinking Candied Bacon & Chocolate Chip cookies and possibly Candied Bacon & Maple Syrup Ice Cream. Yup, that’s happening. I’m sick with bacon power, I know!

1 pound thick bacon
1/2 cup brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350º F. Lay bacon (in all of its bacony glory!) in a single lay on a parchment lined baking sheet. Sprinkle the brown sugar over the bacon. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until it reaches the desired level of crispiness. I’d let it cool for a minute before you start stuffing your face with it.  Boom! That’s it. You’re done.