If you like bacon--lots of R.O.D. here! (LONG)

One of the reasons I love my DS so much is that my "need" for massive volumes of food is severely diminished. I can still put away a decent amount (I had seconds of the potato dish), but now I focus on QUALITY, instead of QUANTITY. And man, was Saturday night all about quality!

Here's my update on our "Everything’s Better with Bacon" Class update!

On Saturday, my husband and I had a fabulous night out and it was all about bacon! We sat with 4 other couples and sipped wine and watched a world-class chef make this feast before us, in just under 2 hours. As we went, we asked questions, sampled things, laughed and learned a lot. Such a great date night!

Until recently, this chef was a chef at one of Chicago’s most fabulous restaurants, Alinea. Now he teaches and has a catering business. To give you an idea, his former restaurant has a 24-course tasting menu that takes 5 hours to complete. At the low end, it’s about $200 a person, and usually more about $300-400 each. I cannot justify that now, with young kids, but my hubby and I would consider it for a major anniversary when our kids are grown, just for the incredible experience.

These recipes are so damn easy, that I think even I could replicate them at home with the sad little kitchen tools that I already own. I am going to attempt at least a few of these for guests on Christmas Eve. They tasted so damn good, I swear I almost had tears in my eyes.

The menu:

Frisee, Prosciutto and Poached Egg Salad
Mushroom and Sausage Stuffed Pork Loin with Bacon Apple Compote
Sweet Potato and Canadian Bacon Gratin
Bacon Corn Meal Cake with Bacon “Ice Cream"

As promised, here are the recipes.

Frisee, Prosciutto and Poached Egg Salad

Imagine a salad with a homemade vinaigrette (minced shallot, Dijon mustard, honey, red wine vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper) BUT with a poached egg on the top AND crispy prosciutto “chips" sprinkled on top. To make the chips, simply get 4 slices of prosciutto and bake them on a parchment-lined cookie sheet and bake until they are light brown, about 15 minutes on 325 degrees).

Every ingredient is a dream, but the prosciutto is an inspired choice on top of the plated salad. I’ll bet the chips would be a good snack or chip for dips.

Mushroom and Sausage Stuffed Pork Loin with Bacon Apple Compote

4-6 servings, takes 90 minutes

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 pound assorted mushrooms roughly chopped
1 shallot minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons fennel seeds, cracked
½ cup Madeira
1 pound ground Italian sausage
1 tablespoon oregano, rough chopped
1 tablespoon parsley, rough chopped
Kosher salt and pepper to taste
A three-pound pork loin
2 tablespoons grapeseed oil
Bacon Apple Compote (see recipe)

1.       Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2.       1. Brown the sausage in a pan.

3.       2. Heat a large sauté pan over medium heat and add the olive oil. Sauté the mushrooms until they are lightly caramelized and all of the water has evaporated. Reduce the heat to medium low and add the shallot, garlic and fennel seeds. Gently sauté an additional minute. Deglaze the pan with the Madeira and reduce until dry.

3. Allow this mixture to cool.

4.       4. Mix the mushrooms with the sausage, oregano, parsley, salt and pepper. Taste it to make sure it is seasoned to your taste.

5.       5. Trim the pork loin of excess silver skin or connective tissue.  Using a sharp knife, slit the loin open on the side, creating a pouch in which to stuff the sausage mixture. Do not cut completely through the loin as it will make it very sloppy later!

6.       6. Fill the loin with your stuffing mixture and generously tie with butcher’s twine—about 6-8 strings around it should hold it closed. Season the outside of the loin with salt and pepper to taste.

7.       7. Sear the pork on all sides in a sauté pan with grapeseed oil until it is golden and crisp. This is your browning stage, so be sure and brown all sides. The oven will just heat it up in the next step.

8.       8. Transfer roast to a pan with preferably, a roasting rack in the bottom, but no biggie.

9.       9. Roast in the oven until the internal temp reaches 140-145, basting about halfway though with pan juices. Allow the pork to rest for 10 minutes, remove the twine and then cut the loin into ½ inch slices with a very sharp knife.

Bacon Apple Compote

(This is simply great with the pork loin, but as long as the loin is juicy or you make another type of sauce/gravy, then you do not have to make this.)

¼ cup bacon, cut into little squares.
1 small diced shallot
3 Granny Smith apples, peeled and medium diced
1-2 teaspoon s apple cider vinegar
1 tsp thyme, rough chopped
1 tsp cold butter
Salt and pepper to taste

1.       Sauté the bacon until crispy. Add the shallot and coo****il  tender, about 1 minute.

2.       2. Add the apples and vinegar and simmer, covered until the apples are softened, about 10-15 minutes. Slightly mash the apples with a potato masher to make a smoother sauce and fold in the thyme and cold butter, season with salt and pepper to taste and spooned onto the pork loin slice.

Sweet Potato and Canadian Bacon Gratin

(Think “sweet potato lasagna.")

6-8 servings

1 ½ cups heavy whipping cream
5 roasted garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon thyme, rough chopped
3-4 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into thin slices (a mandolin slicer would be helpful, but not necessary)
Salt and pepper to taste
½ pound Canadian bacon, small dice
3 cups Gruyere cheese, grated

1.       Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2.       2. Heat together the cream, garlic and thyme in a saucepan until steaming. Set aside while  prepping the potatoes.

3.       3. Lightly butter a baking dish. Layer the sweet potatoes on the bottom of the dish in concentric circles. Salt and pepper each layer to taste. Ladle about ¼ cup of the infused garlic cream on top and finish with a sprinkling of cheese and bacon.

4.       4. Continue layering all of the ingredients until the dish is full.

5.       5. Top the gratin with more cheese and cover with foil (to prevent the cheese from sticking to the foil, spray with a Pam-like spray or olive oil).

6.       6. Put baking dish on cookie sheet in over, as it may bubble over. Bake for 40 minutes. Uncover the baking dish until the cheese is brown and bubbly (or flip on your broiler).

7.       7. Allow to cool for 10 minutes, cut into slices and serve. (As we were more hurried, he simply ladled it out and it was fabulous too)

These can also be made in individual ramekins, which cuts the baking time in half.

 

Bacon Corn Meal Cake with Bacon “Ice Cream"

The “ice cream" here is really a whipped cream, but it melts on the tongue like ice cream!

½ cup fine yellow cornmeal
½ cup cake flour (can substitute all-purpose flour)
1 tablespoon rosemary, finely minced
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
1 stick butter, softened
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ¼ cups powdered sugar plus more for dusting
4 eggs yolks
2 eggs
¼ pound of bacon, cut into cubes and cooked until crisp, reserving any rendered fat.
½ cup sour cream
Cream of balsamic for drizzling (not necessary, but it is yummy on this and on steaks)
Bacon Ice Cream (recipe below)

1.       Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour an 8-inch round cake pan and set aside.

2.       2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, cake flour, rosemary, baking powder and salt. By doing this, your cake will rise evenly.

3.       3. In a large bowl, beat the butter and vanilla, until combined. Gradually add the powdered sugar and increase the speed to high. Beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

4.       4. Add the eggs yolks and eggs, one at a time. Reduce the speed to medium and add the sour cream. On low speed, add the dry ingredients until just incorporated. Fold in the crisp bacon and reserved bacon fat.

5.       5. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and smooth the surface with a spatula. Bake until the cake is golden brown and pulls away from the sides of the pan, about 35 minutes. Transfer out of pan and allow to cool.

6.       6. Dust cake with powdered sugar and cut into slices. Top each slice with a scoop of “
Bacon Ice Cream" and a drizzle of cream of balsamic.

 

Bacon “Ice Cream"

Yields 4 cups

 

¼ pound bacon, cut into a small dice

5 egg yolks, room temperature

6 tablespoons maple syrup

5 tablespoons Marsala

1 cup heavy whipping cream, whipped to medium peaks

 

1.       Sauté bacon to crispness. Set aside.

2.       Heat about 2 inches of water in a sauce pan until simmering. Place the eggs, maple syrup and Marsala in a stainless steel bowl and set over the just simmering water. Whisk the egg mixture until light and fluffy, being careful NOT to scramble the eggs. Place in the refrigerator and allow to cool.

3.       Once cool, fold in the whipped cream, crisp bacon and bacon fat.

4.       Place in a shallow baking dish and cover with plastic wrap. Place in the freezer and allow to set up to an ice cream-like consistency. (Our chef just cooled it a little in the fridge and we ate in immediately, like a whipped topping. It was very good that way, too.)                                                                                                                                       
Bon appétit!

Sounds good...thanks for posting!
The salad and the pork loin sound especially good and I will put them into my files (along with the others!)

Most days, I wish I has a DS, but it was not a choice when I had my surgery......;-(