Bacon & Caramelized Onion Tart

This recipe is one that I have enjoyed making for many years. Well, enjoyed is perhaps the wrong word. I enjoy the result. The process is a bit of a PITA.

It comes from the book Charlie Trotter Cooks at Home. Charlie Trotter was one of the first of the super-chefs back in the 80s and 90s. His Chicago restaurant, simply called Charlie Trotter's, was impossible to get into and had a price-tag that called for special occasions only. It's a little bit different now - people are really into food as a form of entertainment and balk much less at paying a for a meal what you might have paid for 2 orchestra seat theater tickets. But back then, if you went to Charlie Trotter's, it was a pretty big deal.

I am fortunate enough to come from parents who have always been really into food, whether it is high end or down-and-dirty cheap. About 15 years ago, my dad tried his luck at securing a reservation at the "kitchen table", which you could only get by calling at a certain time, over and over, until you got in. Well, he got in, and my husband and I flew to Chicago for what was to be one of the most memorable meals of my life.

The kitchen table is unique because you get to see all of the inner workings of the restaurant. And this was no barking-orders, sauce-sloshing operation. It felt more like an operating room - polished sparkling clean, with everyone brandishing knives and moving them at lightning speed. At the helm of the ship was Charlie Trotter himself, and my god, "perfectionist" doesn't even begin to describe him. I can't tell you how many plates he stopped from going out because they didn't look just right. I was glad to be on my side of the table, and not on one of the stations.

That said, he was a gracious host to us. He took us on a tour of his tv studio and wine cellar, and even let my mom and me "spy" on my husband and dad, using the hidden cameras. And the meal - oh my gosh. A special menu prepared just for us that had so many wondrous tastes, it was like eating a piece of fine art.

All this leads up to the fact that his meticulous attention to detail has paid off in some really amazing food. This rather rustic tart is no exception. It's all made from scratch, with very few ingredients, but tastes decidedly elegant.

Every time I make it, I can almost feel Charlie Trotter looking over my shoulder. Making sure I follow the directions, chastising me for complaining about any labor-intensive steps. When my whiny internal voice starts to say, "I don't know what julienned means!", he reminds me that he was entirely self taught, and that was before the internet. The bottom line is, the final product is a direct result of the labor you put into it. And whether you are cooking a $150 meal or a simple Sunday dinner at home, you owe it to yourself to put your best foot forward.

Bacon and Caramelized Onion Tart

Dough:

• 2 C. flour
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1 C. cold unsalted butter, chopped
• 2/3 C. ice water

Filling:

• 3 large yellow onions, julienned
• 2 T. unsalted butter
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 lb. bacon, julienned
• 1 egg yolk
• 1/2 C. heavy whipping cream
• 2 t. fresh thyme leaves

To prepare the dough:

Place the flour, salt and butter in a medium mixing bowl.

Using a pastry cutter or fork, cut the butter into the flour until it forms pea-sized chunks

Add the water and mix with a fork until the dough just comes together (it should have visible streaks of butter).

Form the dough into a disk, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

To prepare the filling:

Cook the onions with the butter in a large saute pan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 15 or 20 minutes, or until the onions are golden brown and caramelized. Season with salt and pepper, and cool to room temperature.

[my note here: this process has always taken me at least 40 minutes. You need to be patient and make sure the onions really start to release their sugars and become sticky]

Cook the bacon in a large saute pan over medium heat for 10 minutes, or until crisp. Drain on paper towels and cool to room temperature. Combine the bacon with the onions.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Whisk together the egg yolk, cream, and thyme in a small bowl.

To prepare the tart:

On a floured surface, roll out the dough 1/8 in thick, and then press into an 8 or 9 inch tart pan, trimming any excess. Spoon the onion-bacon mixture on top of the dough, pour in the cream mixture, and top with freshly ground black pepper.

Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until just firm to the touch and light golden brown. Cool slightly before cutting and serving.

Chocolate and Bacon

It may seem like a weird combination...until you try it. I first experienced this lovely union a few years ago in Vosges Chocolate's Mo's Bacon Bar. If you have never tried one, go out and get one immediately! It comes in milk chocolate, and dark chocolate - you simply can't go wrong. They sell them at fine chocolate shops, Whole Foods, or online on their website. The sweet/savory combination is irresistible:

So you can probably imagine how excited I was when my sister-in-law sent me her recipe for Chocolate Chocolate Chip with Bacon cookies. I finally made them for the first time last week. Wowza, yum. I changed a couple of things from the original recipe after making them a few times and getting some feedback - increased the amount of bacon from 6 slices to 10 slices, left the bacon in chunks rather than crumbling it, and changed the regular salt to coarse salt (thank you, Martha Stewart, for introducing me to this practice). Also, the original recipe calls for chocolate chunks, which I can never find, so I used Guittard chocolate chips which worked really well.

Overall, most people loved them, even those who were a little bit skeptical about the combination! It's a great recipe and destined to be a new classic. In case you are wondering, they taste mostly sweet with just a hint of saltiness from time to time.

Finally, may I just say how wonderful it is to have another baker in the family!

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Bacon Cookies

Ingredients:

• 10-12 slices of maple cured bacon
• 1 1/2 C white sugar
• 1 C unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 eggs
• 2 t vanilla extract
• 2 C all-purpose flour
• 2/3 C cocoa powder
• 3/4 t baking soda
• 1/4 t coarse salt
• 2 C semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Cook bacon in a large skillet over med-high heat, turning occasionally until evenly browned. Drain the bacon slices on a paper-towel lined plate. When cool, tear into small pieces (see above photo for approximate size).
3. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.
4. In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, until well blended. Add the vanilla and beat until well blended.
5. Add the flour & cocoa mixture and stir until just blended. Mix in the chocolate chips and bacon.
6. Drop cookies by rounded spoonfuls onto cookie sheets lined with parchment paper.
7. Bake for 10 - 12 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes on cookie sheets before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Makes approximately 32 cookies.

New Meals in the New Year

Ringing in the New Year this year felt special for multiple reasons: my brother Josh flew in from Kansas City for a visit, we had great plans starting on Thursday evening and going non-stop until Sunday, and we left an entire decade behind and started a new one. Phew.

Our friends Jude & Ken hosted 2 breakfast meals this weekend - one on Friday morning after our all-night revelry, and another one on Sunday with all of the leftovers and some new additions. It was so nice to wake up and have somewhere to go - not a restaurant, with the masses of people lining up and vying for a table, but to another home, where the smell of freshly baked coffee cake greeted us as we walked in the door.

And what a feast it was! We had many highlights, starting with orange and grapefruit mimosas, and bloody marys:

duck confit hash with eggs:

brown sugar bacon with sage:

biscuits and gravy:

bagels and smoked salmon:

and of course, that wonderfully addictive coffee cake:

Of course my favorite part is hanging out in the kitchen with my friends, chatting and re-living our adventures from the previous nights, cooking together and enjoying the beautiful day. And the best part about brunch is that afterwards you have a whole afternoon ahead of you, with time to go home and relax, or go to the movies, or enjoy the outdoors. It may be my new favorite meal of the year. Bring on the paper plates and tumblers, throw on something comfortable, and pack up your favorite dish; I am ready for some new traditions.

Great Pairings: Food & Wine, Julie & Julia, Leeks & Bacon

Our favorite greens stand at the FM had some beautiful leeks yesterday, so at the suggestion of my friend, I decided to make a Leek & Bacon Quiche for our Sunday supper. I had all of the ingredients already except for the cheese, so it was a quick trip to the market and a nice relaxed afternoon preparing the quiche. The recipe was for two tarts, but I kind of fudged it and made one big pie. The flavoring was perfect - from a Food & Wine article about the movie Julie & Julia. Apparently, quiche was one of Julia Child's favorite things to make, and being laden with cream and cheese, I can see why!

One thing I learned is that leeks straight out of the ground are really, really dirty. Soil gets all up inside the layers, so you have to rinse and wash them very thoroughly before use.

The recipe is easy to make whether you choose to make the crust yourself or use a store-bought one. You want to use a good quality aged Gruyere, which can be expensive - I paid about $12 for the wedge that I bought at Mollie Stone's - so if you can find some at Costco or Trader Joe's for less, it will make the recipe much more cost effective. Don't skimp and go for cheap Swiss though - what would Julia say? Plus it does make enough for 2 pies, but I would still be happier if it were say, $6-7 for a block.

We had it with some leftover roasted chicken and salad for dinner (my husband loves it slathered with strong Dijon mustard) - and today I am having it with some lobster bisque for lunch. It's extremely rich and decadent, so a little goes a long way. Bon appetit!

Luke, I am your Father. Er, your Daddy.

When my husband gets into the kitchen, sometimes things of pure evil come out of it. And by pure evil, I mean pure deliciousness, of course.

For our Sunday morning breakfast, I made some bacon and scrambled eggs. He took that, added some shredded cheese, and wrapped all of it up in pieces of fresh pizza dough from our local pizzeria.

And THEN (prepare to go to the Dark Side)...

...each "breakfast ball" was then dropped into the FryDaddy, and fried to a golden crisp puff. Part breakfast sandwich, part donut, it was quite something to behold.

Feel the force...of your arteries clogging, your heart stopping...yes, yes, I must rule the galaxy and beyond...(heavy breathing)...

I'm pretty sure I passed out after eating it, with a big smile on my face.

God Bless America Bacon Cupcakes

Exciting day yesterday: Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th President of our United States. We celebrated with a gathering of friends at our friend Mike's house, with a big BBQ pot luck dinner and plenty of food and drink. My contribution was to bring Bacon Cupcakes, which I realized I had to somewhat invent, as all of the recipes online didn't seem right to me. (How "right" are Bacon Cupcakes, anyway?) I thought about the flavors that I like together...bacon and chocolate (like Mo's Bacon Bar), bacon and maple...

I finally came up with something that seemed palatable. It's a combination of a lot of different recipes, and I ate no fewer than 4 cupcakes to come up with just the right balance of salty and sweet. I still don't think it's perfect, but everyone seemed to like them a lot. The best was when our friends' 2-year old son Josh took his cupcake in hand and said, "There's bacon in it!" That's right, lad. There is a new president, and there is bacon in your cupcake. God bless us, everyone.



Bacon Cupcakes
- 10 slices bacon
- best quality maple syrup
- 1 C. unsalted butter
- 1/2 C. cocoa powder
- 3/4 C. water
- 2 C. granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 C. buttermilk, well-shaken
- 2 T. vanilla
- 2 C. all-purpose flour
- 1/2 t. baking soda
- 1 t. baking powder
1/4 t. salt

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Place cupcake liners in 24 muffin tins.
2. Prepare bacon. Either chop into 1/2 in pieces and cook until brown & crisp OR put on wire racks on a baking sheet and cook for 35-40 min at 350F. Brush with maple syrup when almost done cooking. Drain on paper towels. Set aside a small portion of the bacon pieces to top the cupcakes later.
3. Melt butter in a heavy saucepan over moderately low heat. Whisk in the cocoa. Add water and whisk until smooth. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.
4. Whisk in one at a time: sugar, eggs, buttermilk and vanilla.
5. Sift flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt into the cocoa mixture and whisk until just combined (it will be lumpy). Stir in bacon.
6. Fill muffin tins about 2/3 full (note, this is a very drippy batter. I didn't use my usual cookie scoop but filled a measuring cup with a spout with batter and poured it in)
7. Bake 20-25 minutes.
8. Cool cupcakes on a wire rack

Maple Frosting
- 1 lb. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 8oz. package cream cheese, at room temperature
- maple syrup
- 1 box Confectioners sugar
- best quality coarse sea salt
- Demerara sugar (if you don't have this, use Sugar in the Raw)

1. In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat butter and cream cheese until smooth (5 min)
2. Add the maple syrup, about 2 T.
3. Add about 3/4 of the box of confectioners sugar, and beat until smooth and fluffy.
4. Frost cupcakes and sprinkle with a little bit of coarse salt, and a little bit of Demerara sugar.
5. Top with a piece of cooked maple bacon, and a tiny drizzle of maple syrup.

Slow Cooked Maple Glazed Bacon

Are there any better words in the English language?

So, Jude and I enjoyed a wonderful brunch at paul k yesterday - consisting of Lox Eggs Benedict, Duck Confit Hash, and a plate of Maple Glazed Bacon. Lovely space, great food, etc etc.





I woke up this morning and thought, that's it, I am going to duplicate that bacon right now, right here in my own kitchen. I looked around online for some basic instructions, then used my instincts and did a little bit of experimenting. It was SO easy and came out great. I will never, ever make bacon in a pan again - my stove is not covered in grease, and the bacon cooked perfectly evenly. The beauty of making bacon this way is that you can make the other components of breakfast (eggs, toast, whatever) without having to fight for room on the stove. And did I mention the clean-up? Ahhh! Why have I been pan-frying for so long?!

Slow Cooked Maple Glazed Bacon

1 pkg bacon
2 T. best quality maple syrup

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Line baking sheets with tin foil, and lay bacon on a baking rack on top of the tin foil.
- Bake for 35 minutes.
- Remove from oven. Brush maple syrup on top of bacon slices.
- Cook for 5 more minutes.
- Remove from oven, and let drain on a plate covered with paper towels.