So, I was inspired to try this dish after seeing some pictures of people forming bacon into crazy shapes after it had been cooked but before it had crisped up. I though it would be cool to make them into taco shells and stuff them full of lettuce and tomato to counter all the salty, greasy, bacon goodness, like a BLT minus the bread. Then Jen decided to mix up and awesome green aioli to put on top and all that was left was something to wash it all down. The obvious answer, of course, was a bloody mary. A super baconny BLT should have a super tomatoey drink as a companion.
Note: My first attempt at this bacon taco shell was successful but very time consuming and so I would not repeat it again, ever. It took almost 40 minutes for the bacon to crisp when I had woven it into a lattice and tried to bake it in a taco shell shape (pictured at right). Instead I will present a far simpler and less time consuming process (pictured below) that I saw here.
To accompany the dish, there was no group, or song, better than the Supersuckers covering Willie Nelson's "Bloody Mary Morning". Can't get much better than that! - justin
Place 4-5 strips of bacon on a paper towel on a microwave safe plate. Make sure the edges all overlap so that the bacon "fuses" when it's cooking. Microwave on high for 3-4 minutes, checking on it every minute or so to make sure it isn't burning. When it's done, pull it out and fold the bacon pancake in half with something inside to make it form into a shell. Some tinfoil should work. After a minute or two it should have set up and become crispy. Slice your tomato and lay some in your shell. Stuff the rest of the space with 3 of the large leaves of lettuce. Top with the aioli (recipe below) and you're good to go! Make as many more as you have guests or as you think yourself capable of consuming.
The aioli can actually be made ahead of time. It lasts for a long time in the fridge and goes well on everything; sandwiches, salad, wraps, slaw, etc.
Combine the mayo, sour cream , lemon juice, parsley, cilantro, green onions, and garlic and mix thoroughly. Voilà!
2 oz Demitri's Bloody Mary seasoning (this stuff is awesome but use what you like or can find)
1 qt V8 or tomato juice, whichever you prefer
4 shots vodka
2 dashes Worcestershire sauce
2 dashes Tabasco or hot sauce
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
olives or celery or some other garnish
Mix all ingredients thoroughly in a large pitcher and place in the fridge for an hour. Serve in a large glass over ice. Garnish with olives, celery or whatever you stick in your Bloody Mary. I prefer whole green olives!
Here's the thing about this recipe - you can go all out and do the whole thing: marinated chicken, whiskey caramelized onions and mushrooms, whiskey cheese sauce, and it'll take a few hours, but be well worth it! Or... you can only go half ass and make it quick! You could just marinate the chicken and bake it, easy enough. You could make the onions and mushrooms to stuff in the chicken breast, and pass on the cheese sauce. Or throw the whiskey onions and mushrooms on a burger. You could just make the cheese sauce to go on some veggies, or nachos, or pasta or whatever you want to put cheese sauce on. I'm trying to say it's versatile! And only as complicated as you want to make it. But it was smokey and rich... delicious.
I could see this being good with a variety of whiskeys. I used Jameson, because that's what we like to drink. Jack would be good. Use whatever you like to drink... and I highly suggest shots while cooking.
So tunes to go with it... some SoCal punk we were just introduced to and really enjoying - The Sparring. Check out their Facebook page for tour dates, news and new music! But first... enjoy their video for "Straitjacket". -jen
1-2 teaspoons minced garlic, depending on taste (we love garlic)
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon minced ginger
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
a few good cranks of fresh cracked black pepper
4-6 chicken breasts
2 cups Whiskey Caramelized Onions And Mushrooms (see recipe below)
2 cups shredded Smoked Gouda cheese
Whisk all ingredients together. Butterfly chicken breasts and place one at a time in a Ziploc bag and using a mallet or bottom of a sauce pan, pound the chicken out to 1/4" thick. Then place all the butterflied breasts into the Ziploc and add the marinade. Refrigerate for 2-3 hours.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil (for quick clean up) and coat foil with non-stick cooking spray. Lay the butterflied chicken breasts open on the foil and on one half of the breast, sprinkle a layer of smoked Gouda. Top with a big mound (about 1/2 a cup) of the caramelized onions and mushrooms, then sprinkle another layer of Gouda on top. Fold the breast the other half over the stuffing like a taco. Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes, or until chicken has reached 265 degrees. Cooking time is going to vary depending on size of chicken breasts. (We use a leave-in thermometer, they're awesome.)
WHISKEY CARAMELIZED ONIONS AND MUSHROOMS Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 30-40 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Yields: about 4 cups
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 large onions, julienned
16oz of sliced crimini mushrooms
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon minced ginger
3 shots of whiskey
Heat butter and olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, add onions and mushrooms, Worcestershire, brown sugar and pepper flakes. Toss to coat, then let cook for about 10 minutes, stirring once or twice. When onions start browning, turn heat to low and add garlic, ginger and whiskey. Let cook an additional 20 minutes or until all liquid has evaporated and onions have caramelized, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat.
(If you're going to make the cheese sauce below, you can remove the caramelized onions and mushrooms and just use the same skillet - no need to even rinse it out. That's flavour!)
WHISKEY AND SMOKED GOUDA CHEESE SAUCE
Time: 15 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Yields: about 2 cups
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
1 and 1/2 shots whiskey (divided)
1 pint (2 cups) heavy cream
1 cup chopped Caramelized Onions and Mushrooms (optional)
dash of cayenne pepper, depending on taste
1.5 cups shredded smoked Gouda cheese
salt and pepper
In a skillet or sauce pan, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add flour and whisk for 3-5 minutes. Whisk in 1/2 a shot of whiskey and heavy cream. Add Caramelized Onions and Mushrooms (if you choose to) and cayenne. Continue stirring until sauce begins to thicken. Once thickened, turn off heat and stir in shredded cheese, one handful at a time, until melted. Stir in 1 shot of whiskey. Add salt and pepper to taste if needed.
For years now, when we've wanted an Asian dressing, we've just thrown some crap together. Some have been good, some have been not-so-good, but we never wrote down what we did. So a little while ago, I decided I was going to get myself a solid recipe that I could make that would be consistently awesome every time. Bam! Here it is! I love this dressing! We use it for all kinds of things: green leaf salads with some cucumber, shredded carrot, green onions and cashews; marinade for chicken or pork (but only marinate it for a few hours or the vinegar and lime juice will "cook" the meat and make it kind of mealy); sometimes we'll toss some veggies like broccoli, onions, bell peppers and zucchini with it and then roast them; made a Thai-style 4-bean salad with it. Very diverse. Very yummy.
I was in an Elvis mood the other day (because I love Elvis)... but then I remembered U.S. Bombs' "Rocks in Memphis" and had to listen to it again. You think Lisa Marie has even heard this song? -jen
ASIAN SALAD DRESSING AND MARINADE Time: all of like... 5 minutes, maybe, if you measure slowly Difficulty: Easy Makes: 1.5 cups
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1 teaspoon fish sauce
2 tablespoons hoisen
2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
juice and zest of 1 lime
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon hot mustard (or any mustard)
dash of sriracha (or more, if you want it spicy)
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon chopped ginger
1 cup canola (or vegetable) oil
Combine all ingredients together in a blender and blend for a few seconds! You can store this in your refrigerator for a few weeks at least. It should emulsify pretty well, so there shouldn't be much separation. Just give it a quick shake before use!
Awww yeah! I just made these bad boys a few minutes ago! They're like reverse chile rellenos - the eggs are on the inside instead of the outside. My fingers are still burning from the pasillas (which were spicier than expected, maybe I didn't de-vain them well enough!) - I never wear gloves when I handle chiles and then I regret it. Wear gloves!!! But really, these are only a little spicy, not really "hot".
I was thinking these stuffed chiles are pretty versatile. I used green onion and bacon. You could use jalapeños, cilantro (wish I'd had some!), sausage, chorizo, salsa. Someone gave a shout for more vegetarian recipes - well here's one you can make vegetarian any way you want. I love recipes like this where you can change it over and over and over again and just keep coming up with different combinations. And... low-carb, if you're watching that kind of thing.
What goes with breakfast? Well, naturally, I went straight to crack and dope... so Choking Victim was my only option, singing "500 Channels". Get your skank on. -jen
Wash and dry chiles. Spray a baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray (I like to line the pan with foil for easy clean-up). Place chiles on baking sheet and broil on one side for 4-5 minutes until charred, then flip and broil on the other side 4-5 minutes until charred.
Immediately place charred chiles in a large bowl and cover with plastic wrap or place in a large plastic zip bag and seal. Let rest for 10-15 minutes so that the chiles sweat. Then remove and peel off the charred skins. Cut stem ends off chiles and slice down one side to open them up so that they lay flat. Remove all seeds and ribs from inside of chile. Re-spray the same baking sheet with more non-stick spray and lay chiles flayed open on baking sheet.
While chiles are roasting, you can dice up your bacon and cook in a skillet over medium-high heat until crisp and crumbled, 10-15 minutes. Line a plate with paper towels and place the bacon onto the paper towel to absorb the grease. In the same skillet, saute the diced green onion for 1-2 minutes, just until tender. Mix in with the crumbled bacon on the paper towel plate.
When chiles are done roasting, turn oven down to 350 degrees F.
In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the eggs, salt and pepper, Tabasco, and dash of milk. (We always have some homemade "taco seasoning", and I used some of that to season my eggs, too!) Using the same skillet again (I left a little bit of the bacon grease in it, or you can drain the grease out and use non-stick spray) over medium heat, scramble the eggs. After 2-3 minutes of cooking, add the crumbled bacon and onion into the eggs and cook until just barely wet still. Turn off heat.
On the open-faced chiles, add a layer of shredded cheese, then 1/4 of the egg mixture, then another layer of cheddar cheese. Carefully fold the chile together and use a toothpick to secure it, leaving it seam-side up. Bake at 350 degrees F for 10-12 minutes, until cheese is melted. Remove toothpicks and serve immediately.
So this is an old recipe from several years back that I make every so often and realized that we hadn't yet shared. I know scones aren't on everybody's list of "Stuff To Eat Whenever Possible" but these scones will be! I have had some scones in my day that were awfully bland and much more akin to the offspring that would be produced by a hockey puck mating with a biscuit. This is not okay. Scones should be light, flaky, buttery, and generally awesome. So I set out to make a good one and after tweaking a couple recipes to get the desired result, I have come up with this.
I like dill and cheddar but you could substitute any cheese and herb combo that you may desire. Fennel and Havarti or Gruyere and basil or whatever you like. Or leave out the cheese and herbs and toss in some fruit like blueberries or raspberries.
Since scones make me think of stuffy old British folk taking tea and how awfully boring that must be, I decided to rock out with someone Brits who may take their scones with some whiskey and a side of mayhem and blasted some Siouxsie & The Banshees. I definitely like their earlier stuff so I went with a classic of theirs from 1977 "Bad Shape". - justin
CHEDDAR DILL SCONES Time: 35 min Difficulty: Easy Servings: As large or small as you want to make them but about 15
4 cups + 1/4 cup (to flour a rolling surface) of flour
2 tbsp baking powder
2 tsp salt
3/4 lb cold, unsalted butter, diced into cubes (the butter must be refrigerated until final mixing or the scones will be small and dense)
4 extra large eggs, beaten lightly
1 cup cold heavy cream or half-and-half
1/2 lb extra sharp yellow cheddar, grated
1 cup fresh dill, minced fine
1 egg beaten with 1 tbsp water or milk
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Dice butter into cubes and put back in fridge for later use. Add the 4 cups flour, the baking powder, and the salt to a large bowl and mix. Take the butter cubes out of the fridge and add them to the flour mixture all at once and incorporate them with either a stand mixer or hand mixer/egg beaters until the butter is in pea-sized pieces. Add the grated cheese and chopped dill and incorporate quickly. Combine the eggs and heavy cream in a small bowl and mix them into the butter and flour mixture until it just holds together. Do not over mix! The scones will turn out like a hockey puck mated with a biscuit!Again: Do not over mix! Less is better! If you aren't sure if you are over mixing, you are probably over mixing!
Pour the dough out onto a surface dusted with the remaining 1/4 cup of flour and roll out into a rectangle 1 inch thick. Cut into 4 inch squares and then in half diagonally to form triangles. Mix the 1 egg and water/milk to make an egg wash and brush it on top of the scones. Bake on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or sprayed with non-stick spray for 20 to 25 minutes or until the outside is a nice crusty brown and the inside is fully cooked. Guess you'll just have to try one to see if they are!
I guarantee you that you could serve this to 10 people who claim they don't like cauliflower, not tell them what it is, and at least 9 of them are going to love it. If you're into watching your carbs, this is the PERFECT substitution for mashed potatoes. A little high in fat, maybe, because of all the cheese. But it's great. We made it last night to eat with Fish Piccata and I'm eating the leftovers for breakfast as I type this up. Good way to fool kids into eating their veggies too, if you happen to have that problem.
So how about a little smooth and creamy singing by Iggy Pop with "The Passenger". (I dug all the clips from classic movies on this video.) -jen
salt and pepper to taste (and any other seasoning)
2 eggs
1/4 cup green onion, chopped (about 3 onions)
3/4 cup Cheddar cheese, shredded
3/4 cup Gruyere cheese, shredded
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Generously coat a 2-quart baking dish with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.
Cut cauliflower into medium-sized florets. Steam until tender. Times will vary, depending on the size of your florets, 5-15 minutes. You should be able to slide a fork into it easily - "fork-tender". Remove from heat.
Place cauliflower into food processor bowl (if you don't have a food processor, egg-beaters/hand mixer would probably work). Add butter, milk, garlic and cayenne. I added just a pinch of salt, a few cranks of fresh black pepper, and a pinch of Caldo de Pollo (seasoned Mexican chicken bouillon). You can use whatever seasoning you want - thyme, rosemary, dill, seasoning salt. Blend in the food processor until smooth and creamy. At this point taste it to see if it's seasoned to where you want it, add more seasoning if necessary. Then add the eggs and blend those in.
Stir in the green onion and cheeses with a spoon, leaving a little bit of cheese to sprinkle on top; don't use the food processor. Pour into your greased pan. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
I know it's the middle of winter, but sometimes, you need some summer food. Something light, refreshing and easy. So I came up with this the other day and it's been great. We've eaten it straight up, we've eaten it on top of a lettuce salad, we've eaten it with an olive, salami and cheese platter. And you can't beat something that tastes great and is still healthy. Good New Year resolution food, if you're into that kinda thing. I hadn't initially planned on adding beans... then I saw them sitting on the shelf and thought, "Yeah!" I liked how it turned out a lot!
I was listening to some Boston punk, so I decided to post a little Darkbuster, playing "Whiskey Will". I should have saved this song for a recipe with whiskey in it but... I don't think I'll be at a loss for punk songs about whiskey. ;) -jen
GREEK SUMMER SALAD Time: 20 minutes, no cooking Difficulty: Can you use a knife? If yes, then easy. Yields: 4-5 cups
2 cucumbers, seeded and chopped
2 roma tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1 shallot, chopped
1/2 cup green olives, chopped
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 can (15oz) white beans, rinsed
3/4 cup feta cheese
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
Mix all ingredients and toss! Can't get much easier than that!
