Bacon Nation: 125 Irresistible Recipes (15 page)

8
Whisk the sherry vinaigrette again or shake it to combine just before dressing the salad. Place the salad greens and bread cubes in a large bowl, drizzle 2 to 3 tablespoons of the vinaigrette over them, and toss well. Divide the salad among 4 individual dinner plates. Place a bundle of asparagus and an egg on each plate and drizzle as much of the remaining sherry vinaigrette as desired on top. Serve the salads immediately.

Serves 6

When you think “chicken salad,” chances are you think of mayonnaise and diced celery. Mayonnaise adds moisture to chicken but often overwhelms its flavor. Instead, to moisten the chicken, here we add a ripe avocado blended with a little sour cream and some lime juice. Stuffing beautiful peak-of-summer tomatoes with chicken, bacon, and crunchy fennel instead of celery takes this tired old warhorse and puts some bounce in its canter. You can roast your own chicken for this dish or buy a whole roasted chicken. A 4-pound chicken will yield about the amount of meat you will need here.

6 slices bacon, cut crosswise into ¼- to ½-inch-wide pieces

1 ripe avocado, pitted, peeled, and coarsely chopped

5 tablespoons sour cream

¼ cup fresh lime juice

Grated zest of half a lime

1 large clove garlic, coarsely chopped

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

6 large ripe tomatoes (each 10 to 12 ounces)

4 cups coarsely shredded roasted chicken, homemade or store bought

¾ cup diced fennel

½ cup chopped red onion

½ cup chopped fresh cilantro

1¼ teaspoons seeded and chopped serrano pepper

1
Cook the bacon in a medium-size skillet over medium heat until lightly browned and most of the fat is rendered, 5 to 8 minutes, stirring often and adjusting the heat as necessary. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate to drain.

2
Combine the avocado, sour cream, lime juice, lime zest, and garlic in a blender and blend until smooth. Scrape the avocado dressing into a small mixing bowl. Season the dressing with salt and black pepper to taste, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and set it aside.

3
Cut a ½-inch-thick slice off the stem end of each tomato and discard the slices. Using a small paring knife or a melon baller, remove the inside of each tomato, leaving a shell about ½ inch thick. Spoon the tomato flesh into a wire-mesh strainer set over the sink to drain off as much of the juices as possible. Discard the seeds and chop the strained tomato flesh, transferring it to a large bowl.

4
Place the chicken, fennel, red onion, cilantro, serrano pepper, and drained bacon in the bowl with the chopped tomato. Add the avocado dressing and mix well to blend. Season both the chicken salad and the inside of each tomato shell with salt and pepper to taste. Stuff each tomato with chicken salad, mounding the salad over the top.

Serves 3 as a main dish, 4 as a first course

Here is a dish we couldn’t have imagined twenty years ago. Only Japanese food lovers in the know ate edamame (soybeans). An everyday café that served BLTs or bacon cheeseburgers was unlikely to serve these beans beloved of vegans and sushi eaters. But we are more adventuresome eaters today and this recipe offers our favorite way of preparing scallops, pairing them with edamame—which is both earthy and green—and then drives home the flavor with soy, ginger, and sesame oil.

We’ve made this salad with scallops that are seared in luscious bacon fat, but you can substitute pieces of tuna or omit the fish altogether and simply serve the edamame-bacon salad as a side dish all on its own.

4 slices bacon, cut crosswise into ½-inch-wide pieces

Extra-virgin olive oil, if necessary

8 to 9 large sea scallops (about ¾ to 1 pound) (see Note)

1 package (10 ounces) frozen shelled edamame (about 2¼ cups)

1 cup lightly salted boiling water

1 teaspoon grated peeled fresh ginger

2 medium-size ripe tomatoes (about ¾ pound total), cored and chopped

2 medium-size scallions, both white and green parts, chopped, or ⅓ cup chopped red onion

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon Asian (dark) sesame oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1
Cook the bacon in a large-size skillet over medium heat until lightly browned and most of the fat is rendered, 5 to 8 minutes, stirring often and adjusting the heat as necessary. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate to drain, reserving the bacon fat in the skillet. You should have about 1½ tablespoons of fat. If necessary, pour off enough fat or add enough olive oil to the skillet to measure 1½ tablespoons. Be sure to remove any burnt bacon bits from the skillet.

2
Remove the tough tendon from each scallop (see Note) and pat the scallops dry with paper towels.

3
Heat the bacon fat in the skillet over medium-high heat. Arrange the scallops in the skillet so they are not touching. Cook the scallops without moving them until the bottoms are a rich golden brown, 1 to 3 minutes, depending on the size of the scallops. Using tongs, turn the scallops and cook until the second side is a golden brown, 1 to 3 minutes. When cooked, the scallops should be mostly opaque with a slightly translucent center and firm side. Transfer the scallops to a plate and cover them with aluminum foil to keep warm.

4
Add the edamame, boiling water, and ginger to the skillet, scraping the bottom of the skillet to loosen any brown bits. Cover the skillet, let the water return to a boil over medium-high heat, and let the edamame simmer until tender, 3 to 4 minutes. Drain the edamame and transfer it to a medium-size serving bowl. Add the tomatoes, scallions or red onion, soy sauce, sesame oil, and drained bacon. Toss well to combine. Season the salad with salt and pepper to taste.

5
Spoon the edamame salad onto 3 or 4 serving plates, dividing it equally among them. Place 2 to 3 scallops on each plate alongside the salad and serve.

Serves 4 as a main dish, 6 as an appetizer

Spinach is both delicate in texture and hearty in flavor, which means its taste doesn’t get drowned out by bacon. Red bell peppers and shrimp make for a juicy, sweet, nutty combination. Crisp bacon adds flavor and crunch and the pan drippings of bacon fat, the juice of the shrimp, and the bell peppers join for an extraordinarily flavorful salad. Baby arugula or first-of-the year chard or kale also work beautifully in this dish.

7 to 8 packed cups (about 8 ounces) baby spinach, rinsed and patted dry

6 very thin slices red onion

6 slices thick-cut bacon, cut crosswise into ½-inch-wide pieces

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, or more as necessary

2 medium-size red bell peppers, stemmed, seeded, and cut into ½-inch pieces

1¼ pounds extra-large shrimp (21 to 24 per pound), peeled and deveined

2 to 3 large cloves garlic, finely chopped

3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

½ cup loosely packed, fresh basil leaves, chopped

Grated zest of ½ lemon

Freshly ground black pepper

1
Arrange the spinach leaves on 4 dinner plates (or 6 salad plates if serving the salad as an appetizer). Scatter an equal portion of the red onion slices on top of the spinach.

2
Cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until browned and crisp, 7 to 9 minutes, stirring often and adjusting the heat as necessary. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate to drain. Pour all of the bacon fat into a small bowl and wipe the skillet clean with paper towels. Add 3 tablespoons of the bacon fat and the olive oil to the skillet. If necessary, add enough additional olive oil to the skillet to measure a total of 6 tablespoons. Heat the bacon fat and olive oil over medium-high heat.

3
When the fat mixture starts to shimmer, add the red peppers, reduce the heat to medium, and cook until the peppers start to soften, about 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the shrimp and garlic and cook until the shrimp start to turn pink and firm up, about 2 minutes, stirring occasionally and turning the shrimp so that they cook evenly. Add the wine vinegar and cook, stirring, until the shrimp are cooked through and no longer translucent, about 45 seconds. Remove the skillet from the heat and stir in the drained bacon, half of the basil, and the lemon zest. Season the shrimp and bacon mixture with black pepper to taste. The bacon contributes a fair amount of salt, so don’t add any now; pass salt at the table for those who want it.

4
Divide the shrimp mixture and pan sauce among the dinner plates, spooning them over the onion slices and spinach. Sprinkle the remaining basil evenly over each serving and serve the salad immediately.

Make about 2 cups, enough for 3 sandwiches

You might ask, “Why a recipe for egg salad?” Because bacon places it on culinary Olympus. The egg salad is wonderful on slices of good-quality multigrain bread, but we have also spread it on white bread, such as Pepperidge Farm sandwich bread, for making those crustless tea sandwiches perfect for a cocktail party, a bridal party, or a Sunday church reception.

3 slices bacon, cut into ¼-inch pieces

6 large hard-cooked eggs (recipe follows), peeled

⅓ cup mayonnaise

⅓ cup diced red onion

⅓ cup coarsely chopped fresh basil leaves or flat-leaf parsley

¾ teaspoon curry powder, or according to taste

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1
Cook the bacon in a medium-size skillet over medium heat until the bacon is browned and crisp and most of the fat is rendered, 5 to 8 minutes, stirring often and adjusting the heat as necessary. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate to drain.

2
Using a paring knife, slice the eggs into a medium-size mixing bowl and then mash them with a fork. Add the mayonnaise, red onion, basil or parsley, curry powder, and the drained bacon and stir well to combine. Season the egg salad with salt and pepper to taste (salt the egg salad lightly, or not at all, as the bacon adds salt).