Bacon Nation: 125 Irresistible Recipes (9 page)

6
Remove the toasted baguette slices from the oven and, using an oven mitt, carefully position an oven rack about 6 inches from the broiler element. Preheat the broiler.

7
Place the ramekins or soup crocks on a large heavy baking sheet. Remove and discard the bay leaf from the soup. Season the soup with pepper to taste. Divide the soup evenly among the ramekins. Spoon about 1 teaspoon Cognac or brandy into each ramekin. Arrange 1 to 2 toasted baguette slices on top of each bowl of soup so that they fit snuggly over the soup like a lid. Spread the grated cheese over the baguette slices.

8
Place the baking sheet with the ramekins of soup on the oven rack and broil until the cheese is melted and bubbly. Watch carefully; depending on the heat of the broiler it should take between 90 seconds and 3 minutes for the cheese to melt. Serve the soup immediately while it is piping hot.

Bacon-Flavored Stock or Broth

 

A rich and flavorful stock is the key to any soup. Packaged stocks are, as a rule, pretty bland. Our solution is to save time without sacrificing flavor by simmering pieces of slab bacon along with a few soup vegetables in store-bought stock or broth. After only about 30 to 45 minutes, you have an outstanding base for onion or other soups. If you decide to make our Bacon-Flavored Stock, make it with a low-sodium stock or broth and hold off on adding salt until the end of the recipe as you may find the bacon adds a sufficient amount.

The terms
stock
and
broth
have become somewhat interchangeable. Stock technically means a liquid made from bones, meat, and seasonings, while broth is made from meat and seasonings, without the bones. You can use either stock or broth to make our soups, but to simplify the recipes and avoid confusing you, we call for stock in our ingredient lists.

Serves 5 to 6

How can you lose with something that combines the words butter and nut? It almost sells itself as it conjures up images of a fire in the hearth, football on the tube, and napping in an easy chair (preferably all happening simultaneously). We discovered that instead of cooking the squash in broth, as many recipes instruct you to do, roasting it first concentrates the sweetness and brings out the squash’s smoky nuttiness. Voilà! Instead of being a mild-mannered platform for other flavors, the squash stands up to the power of bacon, garlic, and aromatic spices.

Vegetable oil cooking spray or vegetable oil, for oiling the roasting pan

1 butternut squash (about 2 pounds)

1 large russet potato (12 to 14 ounces), peeled and cut in quarters

5 slices thick-cut bacon

1 medium-size onion, chopped

2 large cloves garlic, minced

5 cups low-sodium chicken stock

1 can (14½ ounces) diced tomatoes

1 cinnamon stick (about 2½ inches long)

2 teaspoons ground cumin

½ teaspoon saffron threads

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

½ cup chopped fresh cilantro or flat-leaf parsley

1
Preheat the oven to 425˚F. Spray a large roasting pan lightly with vegetable oil cooking spray or coat the pan lightly with vegetable oil.

2
Using a large heavy knife, cut the squash in half lengthwise. Scoop out and discard the seeds and fibers. Using a vegetable peeler, remove the skin from the squash, then cut it into 10 to 12 large chunks. Place the chunks of squash and the potato on the prepared roasting pan. Cut 2 of the bacon slices into thirds. Arrange the cut bacon pieces over the squash and potato. Loosely cover the pan with aluminum foil. Bake the squash and potato until they are barely fork-tender, about 30 minutes.

3
While the squash and potato bake, cut the remaining 3 slices of bacon into ½-inch pieces. Cook the bacon pieces in a soup pot or large Dutch oven over medium-high heat until they begin to brown and some of the fat is rendered, 2 to 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the onion and cook until softened, about 4 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium, add the garlic, and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the chicken stock, tomatoes, cinnamon stick, cumin, and saffron threads, crumbling them over the soup. Cover the pot and increase the heat sufficiently to let the stock mixture come to a boil. Then, reduce the heat as necessary and let simmer until the flavors blend, about 20 minutes.

4
Let the baked squash and potato cool slightly, then cut them into ½-inch pieces. Finely chop the bacon that baked with the squash and potato. Add the squash, potato, and chopped bacon to the soup along with any liquid in the roasting pan. Add 1 cup of water and let simmer, partially covered, until the flavors blend, about 15 minutes. Remove and discard the cinnamon stick. Taste for seasoning, adding salt and pepper as necessary. Sprinkle the cilantro or parsley over the soup before serving.

Bacon-Flavored Stock

Makes 8 cups

While testing our onion soup, we found that when we used only store-bought beef stock the result was a little too strong and when we used only chicken stock the soup was a little too weak. But a combination of chicken and beef stock was just right and produced a full-flavored liquid that supported the richness of the caramelized onions. If you want to toss in other veggies, like a large leek, or add a handful of herbs, go right ahead. For a somewhat milder stock with more chicken flavor that will work well as a base for other soups in this chapter, omit the canned beef stock altogether and substitute all chicken stock or equal parts chicken stock and water.

3 whole cloves

1 onion, cut in half

5 cups low-sodium chicken stock

4 cups low-sodium beef stock

8 to 12 ounces slab bacon, with rind, cut into large chunks

2 carrots, trimmed, scrubbed, and cut into quarters

2 ribs celery

1
Stud the onion halves with the cloves. Place the chicken stock, beef stock, slab bacon, carrots, celery, and clove-studded onion halves in a large pot over high heat. Cover the pot and let the stock come to a boil. Then, reduce the heat as necessary and let the stock simmer, partially covered, until the liquid is reduced and the flavor is concentrated, about 45 minutes.

2
Strain the stock and discard the solids before using the stock for soup. (You can save the slab bacon, if you wish, to slice and add to omelets, salads, or other dishes.) You should have 8 cups of stock but, if you find that the liquid has evaporated to less than that, add a little water to make up the difference.

Serves 6

Many different ingredients can be used to make minestrone. Some cooks add potatoes, others favor kidney beans over cannellini, and some prefer to skip the beans altogether. This minestrone recipe begins with a bacon-enhanced store-bought chicken stock that simmers about 30 minutes before the pasta, cabbage, and beans are added.

Because it calls for cabbage, ours is more of a winter version, but you could easily substitute such spring or summer vegetables as green beans or zucchini. Experiment with the recipe that follows, but be sure the finished soup is quite thick. You want that lovely mix of vegetables sitting up, not swimming, in the broth. You don’t usually find tasty chunks of bacon floating in minestrone, but you will here.

This makes a big pot of soup, but the good news is it’s fairly inexpensive and can be refrigerated or frozen to serve weeks later. Fresh oregano is added at two points in the cooking: the first time to infuse the broth; the second time, just before the soup has finished simmering. This second addition punches up the herb flavor, allowing it to come through when most needed. You’ll note that here we chose to add the bacon rind to the broth for extra flavor and body.

12 ounces slab bacon, with rind

1 large onion, finely chopped

1 cup ½-inch pieces fennel

2 medium-size carrots, trimmed, peeled, and sliced crosswise into ¼-inch-thick rounds

2 large cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 can (14½ ounces) diced tomatoes

8 cups low-sodium chicken stock, or more, if necessary

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh oregano

2 bay leaves

3 to 4 cups (about 6 ounces) coarsely chopped cored green cabbage (see Note)

1 can (15½ ounces) cannellini or red kidney beans (optional), rinsed and drained

⅔ cup small pasta, such as ditalini, farfalline, or small shells

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1 loaf crusty French bread, sliced and drizzled with extra-virgin olive oil

1
Using a sharp chef’s knife, remove the rind from the slab bacon and set the rind aside. Cut the bacon slab into ½-inch cubes (see the facing page).

2
Place a soup pot or large Dutch oven over medium heat; add the bacon cubes, and cook until browned, 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. If the bacon starts to brown too quickly before the fat is rendered, reduce the heat. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the bacon cubes to a paper towel-lined plate to drain, setting aside 2 to 3 tablespoons of bacon fat in the pot. After the bacon has cooled, remove and discard any solid cubes of fat.

3
Add the onion, fennel, and carrots to the pot. Using a wooden spoon, stir the vegetables to coat them with the bacon fat and scrape up any brown bits from the bottom of the pot. Cook the vegetables over medium heat until they have softened but not browned, 7 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.

4
Stir in the tomatoes, browned bacon cubes, reserved bacon rind, and the chicken stock, 1½ teaspoons of the oregano, the bay leaves, and 1 cup of water. Cover the pot and increase the heat sufficiently to let the soup come to a boil. Then, reduce the heat as necessary and let the soup simmer, partially covered, until the bacon cubes are quite tender, about 30 minutes, occasionally skimming any fat or foam that rises to the surface with a large spoon. Remove and discard the bacon rind and bay leaves.

5
Stir in the cabbage and beans, if using. Cover the pot and let the soup come to a boil. Add the pasta, reduce the heat as necessary, and let the soup simmer, partially covered, until the pasta is al dente, 6 to 7 minutes, depending on the size of the pasta. Check the soup’s consistency and, if desired, add ½ to 1 cup more water or chicken stock, if you have it.

6
Add the remaining 1½ teaspoons of oregano. Season the soup with salt and pepper to taste. Ladle the minestrone into individual serving bowls and serve it with Parmesan cheese and the slices of French bread. The soup can be refrigerated, covered, for up to 5 days or frozen in an airtight container for up to 6 months.