Bacon re-incarnated

This is the first I've ever heard, seen or tasted bacon… in a pretzel. Stopping into a Polish grocery store on Roncesvalles to pick up some perogies, my pal Tomi spotted these and gave me the nudge to buy them, not that she had to nudge that hard. She's a vegetarian so bacon pretzels aren't exactly on her to-eat list.

I ripped open the package when I got home and settled in to watch some Olympics (men's speed skating 1500m) with a fresh gin and tonic in hand. Smoky, salty, dry and crispy… bacon pretzels are pretty addictive. I wrapped up the remainder of the package with elastic bands and hid it away, in fear I'd down the entire thing in one sitting.

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A Happy Birthday!

What could be better than having a birthday dinner with friends? For me, only a home cooked meal with friends on your birthday. Prosecco and C (C—I'm officially giving you the blog name: Risotto) invited fusilli and I to the villa for an extravagant meal with fine wine, fine dining and even finer company.

To start we had pork lard on fresh toasted bread... yeah, I ate that so fast, no time to take pictures. Next, melon wrapped prosciutto and a delicious frittata. It was tough, but I was careful not to fill up, I could see at least three more courses waiting in the wings.

Risotto made an excellent, well... risotto. The incredible colour is from the beets.


Another favorite — Osso bucco.


I hope I get this right... chocolate peanut butter bacon pie, with candied bacon on top. Insane? Yes. Delicous? If you like choco-peanut-bacon pie... YES! This wins for the most unusual dessert I've ever had.

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Haddock with Corn & Tomato Salsa

There's a great seafood store called T&J on the way home from work, so I stopped in recently to see what was fresh. On that day it was the haddock that caught my eye. I had already decided I was going to make a recent recipe from Bitten,Pan-Roasted Corn & Tomato Salsa and the Haddock seemed like a good play mate. I made a dry rub for the haddock from cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper and tossed it on the BBQ. It was totally tex-mex, but it worked.

One thing to note about the corn salsa recipe. The instructions call for the corn to be added to the bacon and onion after they've cooked for a few minutes. Don't do it. In fact, don't even add the onion to the bacon. Cook the bacon to your preference, take it out of the pan, reserving the fat to cook the onion and corn. If you add the corn to the bacon it gets all soggy. The only thing worse than a recipe with no bacon, is one with soggy bacon.

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Cannellini & Lentil Soup

There's still time for some comfort food before the weather turns. This hearty soup has cannellini beans, lentils, fennel, red pepper, onion, bacon & spinach. Perfect for a crispy anchovy bruschetta.

Healthy, delicious, and it made enough to take leftovers for lunch.

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Lemon Penne with Broccoli & Bacon

I'm thinking about changing our name to Broccoli & Bacon – I'm totally obsessed with the combo. In fact, I almost made broccoli wrapped in bacon, but I decided that would be too weird. Bacon wrapped things always sound better than the end result.

I made a light sauce with white wine and lemon juice, and then topped it with lemon rind to add some brightness. The Peperoncini from Terroni brought the heat.

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Un-Hungover?

What does it mean when you wake up feeling hung-over, but you know you're not? Too boot, I had a craving for a greezy breakfast sandwich! Uh-oh, I think I might be preggo.

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Broccoli's Bacon Mac & Cheese

Cupcake's recent post had me hankering for mac & cheese. Tonight I made my own version, which included broccoli and bacon. It turned out, but  not nearly as saucy as I would have liked.

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Grape Pickers' Potatoes

I had to try this recipe based on the sheer amount of bacon required. It's another Winter Food recipe.

It didn't turn out quite as I had expected, so I'll have to try it again. I blame user error for it being soggy and undercooked. The recipe recommended a cast iron dish which I think would have made the outside crispier. I also kept it covered the entire time, which I assume made it soggy. I'm still confused about the potatoes being undercooked, it was in for over an hour.

After cooking it a bit longer we had it with a side of spinach and apple salad. 

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Pasta Wednesday

What can you say about Wednesday? You've made it to the middle of the work-week, but from the glass is half-empty perspective, you still have half the week left. Let's just say Wednesday sucks.

Comfort food always helps. So this Wednesday called for a warm plate of whole wheat pasta with chicken, bacon, spinach and parmesan. A nice glass of wine almost made it feel like Friday.

I'm still ironing out my pasta technique, and this one wasn't a saucy as I would have liked. I'm giving this a 3.

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Fava Beans with Ricotta Salata

These may not look very big, but imagine a bean the size of your thumb. When it comes to fava beans, the bigger the better. You have to shell them twice, first to get them out of bed, and then again once they've been blanched. Early in the season, when they're small, it's a lot of work to make a salad... but it's always worth it.

I used some of my emergency bacon, toasted walnuts and then tossed with olive oil, balsamic vinegar and salt. It's sitting on shaved Ricotta Salata.

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In Case of Emergency

Having emergency bacon in the house is just as important as bottled water and candles. Mark my words... one night you'll get home from work late, have a craving for a bowl of Carbonara, and then curse your poor emergency planning. Of course you'll have eggs and pasta, everyone has eggs and pasta. But what about the bacon?

This slab of heaven came from the North Market, and it's destined to be carefully cut into cubes and frozen in small batches for emergencies. I'll sleep better knowing that I'm prepared.

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A salad so nice we ate it twice

Made this Martha smoked salmon Cobb salad the other night. And then made it again for lunch the very next day.

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Corner Cavatelli

There's a tiny corner restaurant in NYC called The Little Owl. If you can't get a reservation, just show up early – they'll find a spot for you.

My favorite was the ricotta cavatelli with fava beans and bacon. Mmmm, lean in and smell the screen.

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We growed it!

Finally, some fresh lettuce and dill from the garden. Add chicken & bacon from Rowe Farms and you're done.

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Bacon's Burger

The burger was good, but the yellow beet salad really was the star of the meal. Rosti came too, but he was just filling the plate.

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Bacon salad

Is there any point mentioning the other ingredients? Once you add bacon, it's perfect and it can't be improved further.

Anyway, the other insignificant bits are, spinach, apple, toasted walnuts and Roquefort. Finished with an olive oil, lemon and red wine vinegar dressing.

Bacon, bacon, bacon!!!

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