Savory Soda Bread

Savory Soda Bread

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
2 tbsp finely chopped herbs of your choice
2 tbsp chopped scallions
2 oz. cubed sharp cheddar cheese *or cheese of your choice
2 oz. shredded cheddar *or cheese of your choice
1 cup buttermilk (1 cup milk and about 1 tbsp lemon, which you let sit 5-10 minutes)
1 large egg
1 tbsp melted butter
1/4 c roasted sunflower seeds
a bunch of cloves of garlic, chopped and sauteed until golden brown
at least 4 slices of cooked and largely crumbled bacon


DIRECTIONS:

1.) Preheat oven to 425. Line sheet pan with parchment paper, sprinkle lightly with flour

2.) In a medium-large bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Stir to combine. Add herbs, scallions, cheese, sunflower seeds, bacon, and garlic. Stir again. Run through the dough with fingers to break apart diced cheese that has stuck together.

3.) Combine the egg and buttermilk in a small bowl or cup until well combined.

4.) Make a well in the center fo the flour mixture and add the buttermilk and egg. Stir just until all the flour is incorporated.

5.) Turn the dough out onto a work surface that has been generously dusted with flour. Turn the dough several times to coat with flour then form into a round loaf. If the dough is sticky and difficult to shape, add a little extra flour to the work surface and your hands if need be.

6.) Transfer the loaf to the sheet pan. With a sharp derated knife, cut an "X" on top of the loaf (maybe 1/4 to 1/2 inch deep).

7.) Bake for 20 minutes. Cover with foil if getting too brown. Bake for another 8-10 minutes. The top should be a nice golden brown.

8.) Remove from oven. Brush the loaf with melted butter and allow to cool for about 20 minutes before slicing.

Fried Zucchini Spaghetti

Guess which two of the following three things Gwyneth Paltrow counts among her "favorite things on earth": fried zucchini, spaghetti, and caring for orphans?  According to her cookbook, the answer is fried zucchini and spaghetti - no mention of the poor orphans :(

Recipe

3/4 lb (1 box) spaghetti
2-3 zucchini, thinly sliced
1 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 c Parmesan cheese, grated
handful basil leaves, roughly torn
olive oil, salt & pepper

Cook the spaghetti.  Meanwhile, toss the zucchini with the flour and some salt and pepper.  Heat a quarter cup of olive oil high, and cook single layers of zucchini, turning until golden brown on both sides.  Meanwhile x2, whisk the cheese with 2 tbsp olive oil, adding about a quarter cup of pasta water to make it creamy.  Toss in the pasta, basil, salt and pepper, and most of the zucchini, saving some slices and extra cheese for the top.

Notes

This was pretty easy!  However, I thought it lacked some protein/meat elements, so why not sizzle up some bacon first and use the grease to fry the zucchini?  Done.  The cheese mixture got a little melty and clumpy, but with a little extra effort I got it mostly mixed in with the pasta.  How's this look, orphans?

Potato & Bacon Soup

Guy Fieri provided me with a great way to work through a big bag of potatoes and the summer's backlog of bacon-of-the-month:

Recipe

4 large potatoes (or more smaller potatoes)
12 slices bacon
1/2 c flour
6 c milk
5 oz cheddar cheese, grated
3 tbsp chives, chopped
sour cream
salt & pepper

Bake the potatoes at 350 degrees until cooked through and soft, about 45 minutes.  Once those are close to done, slice the bacon into thin strips (lardons - thanks Guy).  Crisp them up in a thick-bottomed pot, then remove but leave the drippings.  Stir in the flour and cook a minute.  Add the milk and whisk together, then cook about 15 minutes, until thick and bubbly.

Scoop out the insides of the potatoes and mash them into the milk mixture.  Add in most of the bacon and cheese, and some salt and pepper to taste.  Remove from heat and serve with more bacon and cheese, plus chives and sour cream.

Notes

This one goes simply enough, not a ton of prep and everything goes in phases.  The one tricky bit was the potatoes.  Obviously, they took longer to bake than the 45 minutes, then were very hot to get out of the skins.  Next time, I'd probably just skin them before baking - not sure why that isn't the default.

In the end, the potatoes fit nicely into the soup.  Except for a few slightly undercooked lumps, we actually had a nice, thick broth with a ton of flavor:

Sweet & Spicy Chicken

Gave the top half of this recipe a try - will have to go back again for the sweet potato and bacon fritters.

Recipe

8(-ish) bone-in skin-on chicken thighs
1 tbsp coconut oil

Rub
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1 tsp salt

Glaze
1/4 c honey
1/4 c maple syrup
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

Preheat oven to 375.  Combine rub ingredients and get it on the chicken.  Heat the oil high in a cast iron skillet and brown the chicken, a few minutes each side to get the skin crispy.  Then transfer to the oven and cook for about 15 minutes.  Meanwhile combine the glaze ingredients, then brush on the chicken and cook until done (at least 10 more minutes).

Notes

The chicken came out well, but it felt like it could have been crispier and spicier.  Some of that may be on me/something that can be fixed.  Still ended up as a nice meal:

Spinach Bacon Cheddar Biscuits

Bacon.  Spinach.  Cheddar cheese.  Bacon.  Onions.  Bacon.  All solid ingredients.  Oh, and bacon.  What happens when you bake them all into one biscuity mass?  I'm glad you asked!  Original recipe here.

Recipe

1/4 lb bacon, chopped
1/2 lb spinach, chopped
1 1/2 c cheddar cheese, shredded
3/4 c bread crumbs
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 a small onion, minced
seasonings: pepper, mustard, jalapeno, hot sauce, etc.

Sizzle up your bacon.  Combine everything in a big bowl and mix up.  Cluster into patties and put on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper.  Cook at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

Notes

I'll be honest.  I scaled the amounts mathematically when copying the recipe above, but when I actually cooked this, I eyeballed everything - about half a bag of spinach, the end of a block of cheese, generous sprinkles of bread crumbs, a tiny onion, squeeze of mustard, etc.  My patties came out a bit crumbly, but I definitely had no cause to complain.  Really really good.  I ate it as a meal; it might be a bit hearty for a side, and probably too much for a starter if you plan on eating much else on the night.  Anyway, good stuff, worth tinkering with (soberer) for structural integrity if not taste reasons.

December 2014 addendum: So, did some tinkering around Thanksgiving this year.  These notes encompass some experimentation with ingredients, balance, etc...

• I shied away from frozen spinach at first, but it seems to be the best for not having everything fall apart.  Just make sure you drain it well so the spinach-y taste isn't overpowering.
• Moar bacons and onions and cheeses!
• The consensus was that it's better to err on the side of cooking longer, leaning toward crispness.

Root Veggie Mashed Potatoes

Look, if you've got some potatoes you just want to use up, boil 'em up and smash 'em and serve with ur meats nom nom.  I thought this rigorously-tested Cooks Illustrated recipe was worth trying though - a little extra effort, but some new tastes and probably vitamins and stuff in there.

Recipe

1 1/2 lbs potatoes, cut into small chunks
1/2 lb your combination of carrots, turnips, parsnips, celery root, etc., cut into small chunks
4 slices bacon, cut into small pieces
1/3 c broth
3/4 c half and half
1 tsp thyme

Start by crisping up your bacon in a large saucepan, then remove but leave the grease.  Put in your root vegetables and brown, then stir in the potatoes, broth, and a sprinkle of salt.  Cover and simmer 25-30 minutes, until the liquid is absorbed and everything is nice and crushable.  Mash gently (you want chunks, not puree) and mix in the bacon (if you haven't eaten it all in the meantime), thyme, and half and half.

Notes

This one will come down to the balance of liquid.  You want your potatoes to cook through softly but not end up soggy.  I didn't quite nail it the first time, but the flavors were still very rich (OK, it was mostly bacon but I'm sure the carrot and turnip (my combo) helped).  Here it is with a bit of the night's protein, baked salmon:

Bacon-Wrapped Chicken Tenders & Zucchini Chips

Double duty here.  I wanted to try the entree (who wouldn't?), and thought this side would go well.  And yes, that first dish is from Martha Stewart.  Is that really any more embarrassing than Gwyneth Paltrow or Rachael Ray?  Yes, probably :(

The Recipes

chicken tenders
bacon
sage

Put a sage leaf on each chicken tender, then wrap in bacon.  Heat some oil over medium-high and add tenders sage side down.  Cook until the bacon is browned, then flip and do the same on the other side.

1 zucchini, sliced into 1/4" disks
1/4 c bread crumbs
1/4 c grated parmesan cheese
1 egg white
1/4 tsp each of salt, pepper, garlic powder, and any other spices you want

Mix the bread crumbs, cheese, and seasoning.  Dip the zucchini slices into the egg and then coating.  Place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and cook at 450 degrees, 15 minutes, flipping halfway through - until nicely brown.

Notes

In the case of the bacon-chicken tenders, apparently simplicity does not equate to fool-proofing.  I'd maybe recommend using cheap, thin-sliced bacon, since my Boar's Head seemed to take forever to brown while the chicken was clearly done...  A few near the middle of the skillet came out nicely enough.  The others, though, I just unwrapped and put the bacon back in.  Obviously only the pretty ones made the picture below.

As unexpected as it was, the zucchini chips were really the star here.  I didn't even have parm, but even with a sesame/Asian turn they were delicious.  The zucchini becomes soft, but the crust gives a needed crunch to each bite.  It's more complicated than other veggie chips/sides I've done, but worth it.

Apple Smothered Pork Chops

Every once in a while (usually when I haven't had a serving of Chipotle carnitas in a while), I feel like whipping up pork chops for dinner.  This recipe comes from a meat cookbook that's provided a couple strong recipes already.  I skipped straight to their version that subs in some apple and cider:

Recipe

4 bone-in pork chops
4 oz bacon (4 slices), chopped
2 tbsp flour
1 3/4 c apple cider
1 onion, halved & sliced
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled and sliced into thin wedges
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp fresh thyme, minced
2 bay leaves
oil, salt & pepper

1. Sauce: Fry up the bacon, then remove but leave as much of the grease as you can.  Reduce heat to medium low and whisk in the flour.  Cook, whisking frequently, until it's a rich brown (about 5 minutes).  Then whisk in the cider, increase heat, bring to a boil, then cover and remove from heat.
2. Chops: Heat a tbsp of oil in a skillet over high heat until smoking.  Sprinkle the pork chops with pepper, then put them in the skillet to brown (about 3 minutes per side).  Set aside.
3. Stew: In the same skillet, reduce heat to medium, add a tbsp oil and the onion, apple, 2 tbsp water and a sprinkle of salt.  Caramelize the onions (about 5 minutes), then stir in the garlic and thyme.  Then put the chops back in, cover with onion mixture, pour in the sauce, and add the bay leaves.  Simmer over low heat for about 30 minutes, or until you can stab the pork with a knife easily...
4. Gravy: Remove the pork chops to a serving plate.  Increase heat to medium high and simmer the sauce until it thickens into a gravy (about 5 minutes).
5. Serve: Serve the pork chops over a starch, pour over the gravy, and sprinkle with the bacon.

Notes

This one's a bit more labor-intensive than I'm usually looking for.  I definitely like the combined browning and stewing pork chop approach.  I may not have browned them quote enough (I felt like the times above were underestimations), but you do get some good flavor and keep it tender while not overcooking in the pan.

In the end,  I think this came out very well, with a better balance of sweet and savory than some other apple/cider-based recipes I've tried recently.  Sprinkling bacon on top is almost cheating, although I guess the grease plays a key role earlier on.  The recipe recommends egg noodles for a starch.  Here's the (somewhat crowded) final plate I ended up with: chops and gravy over spinach & goat cheese mashed potatoes.  No recipe for that side; just added the extras to the flakes...

Cod & Fennel Chowder

I'm always on the lookout for good, easy seafood options, and appreciate simple, one-dish recipes.  And there are chilly winter days that are just right for soup.  This recipe fits all those criteria, with paleo options if that's what you're looking for.

Recipe

2 fennel bulbs, fronds & core removed, chopped
1 onion chopped
1 pint cream (coconut creamer for paleo)
1 qt stock
1 - 1 1/2 lb cod, cut into chunks
juice of 1/2 lemon
1/4 lb bacon, chopped
salt & pepper

Crisp up your bacon in a large soup pot, then remove but leave in that grease.  Next, in goes the fennel and onion until soft.  Then add the creamer and stock.  Once it simmers, add in your cod and cook for about 10 minutes.  Squeeze in the lemon juice, sprinkle in some salt and pepper, and top with the bacon.

Notes

This was not a premeditated dinner.  I actually went to Morton Williams for some red meat, but saw their usually unimpressive seafood cooler had a bunch of cod as the day's special.  So I fired up the mobile Internet, recovered this recipe, and went to work.  Things looked grim, though, when I went to the produce section and there was no fennel.  The only thing that looked like my very vague conception of raw fennel was labeled anise.  Back to the smartphone!  Wikipedia calls fennel and anise "similar-tasting"; I also figured that, if either one is good enough for the anise swallowtail, who am I to discriminate?  Onward!

The grocery store was the trickiest part.  Otherwise, the recipe was pretty simple.  The fennel-onion saute seemed to take a while; not sure if it needed that long since you want it kind of crisp in the chowder.  I also figured the whole thing was (over-)done when the cod chunks started to fall apart.

Baked Sweet Potato Fries

I love that sweet potato hash, but it was a revelation to me that you can just pop sliced sweet potatoes in the oven and pull them out soft and tasty like 20 minutes later.  Here are two ways to get some nice additional flavors in there:

Spicy Sweet Potato Fries

1 sweet potato
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp dry mustard

Cut the sweet potato into fries, not more than 1/2 inch wide.  Toss with oil and spices, then put on a baking sheet.  Cook at 425 degrees for about 25 minutes.

Bacon-Wrapped Sweet Potato Fries

1 sweet potato
about 1/2 lb bacon

This time cut the sweet potato into slightly smaller fries; the original recipe I went off of says pinky-finger width.  Then cut the strips of bacon in half both ways.  Wrap each piece of bacon around a fry; if you have extra sweet potato you can put it in the tray to soak up bacon renderings.  Cook about 15 minutes at 425, then broil to crisp up.

Yucca Hash

As much as I love my sweet potato hash on weekend mornings, it never hurts to mix it up a bit.  One of the nice things about NYC is that some grocery stores are good about stocking somewhat ethnic ingredients like yucca.  So it was definitely worth trying out this recipe.

The Recipe

1 yucca, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 tsp each of paprika, pepper and salt
1/4 lb bacon, chopped (optional)
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
chopped green onion for garnish (optional)

Drop your chopped yucca in a pot, sprinkle with the spices and cover with water.  Bring to a low boil until yucca is soft, about 15-20 minutes.  Once that's well on the way to done, start crisping your bacon; if you're going vegetarian, wait a bit longer and heat some olive oil.  Then add your onion and garlic, and brown.  By then your yucca should be done.  Add it into your skillet, mix up, brown, and flip.  Once that's done, you're ready to eat, with or without your garnish.

Notes

The biggest question might be when your yucca is done.  Once it starts to look gooey around the edges, I'll poke a couple pieces with a fork to test softness.  I haven't quite figured it out, but also haven't turned out inedible hash.

Visually, the dish looks like it really needs some color - maybe the green onion garnish would help.  The taste is actually pretty solid though - pepper and paprika really come through.  Good stuff.

One yucca makes a heaping serving, more than enough for me:

Swiss Chard with Bacon & Raisins

As I write this, Hurricane Sandy is bearing down on the Atlantic seaboard.  Luckily I'd braved the ridiculous Morton Williams line situation yesterday, as hundreds of New Yorkers scrambled to make what was probably their first grocery run in months.  Amateurs ;)  With a little planning, though, I'm ready to eat well for the next few days.  Assuming the power stays on, otherwise all bets are off...

Who better to wait out the storm with than Rachel Ray?  I dogeared this one in her book since Swiss chard is apparently a pretty healthy fall-seasonal vegetable, and it's got fruit and meat too!

The Recipe

1/8 pound pancetta or bacon (two slices, which I obviously doubled), chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1+ pound Swiss chard, stems removed and chopped (um, now re-reading it calls for red Swiss chard? oops!)
1/4 cup golden raisins
1 container (14 oz) chicken broth
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

It all proceeds pretty logically: Heat the pancetta/bacon in a pan with olive oil, add onions and cook until bacon is crispy and onions are soft (funny how that works).  Then add the chard in bunches until it wilts.  Stir in the raisins and add the broth (and nutmeg if you've got it).  Boil the liquid and simmer until greens are soft and no longer bitter, about 10 to 15 minutes.

Notes

So I already posted some notes above.  Just by doing a Google image search, I don't think red chard makes a big difference, which is reassuring.  In fact, it looks like the main difference is in the stem color, which mostly doesn't make it into the dish anyway.  I also neglected to pick up broth of any kind in my last-minute preparations, so I subbed in salt water with a splash of whiskey as per wise, wise Internet folks.  The final product was salty but still very tasty!

Sweet Potato Hash

Got to give credit for the idea here and here, but basically just sort of winged it this weekend.  Grating three sweet potatoes was a bit of work, but one or two would be much more manageable and still plenty of grub.  Here's my usual for a hearty breakfast for myself - scale up as needed:

1 medium sweet potato, grated
1 small-to-medium onion, chopped
1/4 pound bacon (four slices), chopped
Optional ingredients - garlic, peppers, mushrooms, anything else

First, fry up your bacon until it's just starting to crisp up.  In go the onions until they're soft and brown; add your other ingredients around here as well.  Then, drop in the sweet potatoes and mix it all up.  Cook about 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sweet potato is cooked through.  From that point, doneness is up to you - soft, a little crusty, charred, somewhere in the middle.

Here's a nice tasteful serving of the first try, which used fancy wild boar bacon:

Spaghetti alla Carbonara

I haven't cooked this one in a while, but it's definitely worth including in the archives here...  The backstory comes from when I was just starting to think about cooking for myself more, was hungry one night but didn't want to get groceries.  With help from Google and the Food Network, I found a recipe for which I actually had all of the key ingredients on hand - pasta, eggs, bacon, garlic, olive oil and parmesan cheese. Here goes:

The Recipe

1 lb spaghetti
4 oz bacon (or pancetta), chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 eggs
1 cup grated Parmesan
pepper

Get all your ingredients queued up because this moves fast.  Start your pasta.  Beat the egg and Parmesan together.  Meanwhile, heat your oil, then bacon until crisp, then garlic for about a minute.  Your pasta should be done here - add it to the pan with about 1/2 cup of the water.  After that's mixed, turn off the heat and add the egg/cheese and some pepper.  Eat.

Notes

Returning to this recipe many, many times over the following months, I refined it to my liking with a few footnotes to the Food Network recipe:

• Start the oil just a minute or two after the pasta goes in the pot.
• Plop the bacon in with around five minutes to go. It hits that perfect point quickly! One minute it looks like it'll end up undercooked, the next it's crisping up...
• I suck at cracking eggs.
• Don't strain the pasta. Just pour out as much water as you can without losing any noodles, and the rest of the pot gets tossed with the rest of the mix.
• Never bother with parsley or (ugh) peas.

After a quick but intense 15 minutes or so, you too can end up eating this:

Blackened Salmon

This recipe comes from (paleo-friendly) Health-Bent.  The couple of different parts (requiring their own dishes) are all necessary, but it doesn't use many out-of-the-ordinary ingredients.  It's a good one for when you have some time for a more elaborate, hands-on salmon preparation.

Recipe

4 salmon fillets

Seasoning
3 tsp paprika
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp black pepper

Gravy
4-6 slices bacon, diced
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 can (14.5 oz) crushed tomatoes
1/2 cup stock
1/2 lemon, juiced (optional)

Start with the gravy.  Cook up the bacon, then the onion and garlic; you can either add in the second set of ingredients if you're confident, or set aside the bacon while the onion and garlic go.  Then everything goes in with the stock and tomatoes.

While that's simmering, skin the salmon and rub the spice mixture into both sides.  Get some oil hot in a skillet and cook the salmon maybe five minutes each side.

Outcome

For once, I basically played this one as written with no real substitutions: salmon skinned and coated with paprika, cayenne, thyme, etc., with a bacon tomato sauce.  Cooking for myself, I about halved the salmon portion but left the sauce the same except for adding zucchini for some summer-seasonal veggies.

I was skeptical even after the first couple of tentative bites from the outside of the filets.  Could the salmon really have been cooked through without burning the outside?  In short, yes.  Doneness is tricky to judge, but the spiced outside is almost a crispy, tangy crust, while the inside of the thicker filet especially was nicely rich and juicy.  The tomato sauce is pretty simple, but a necessary element to bring some extra moisture.

The one minor disappointment was the spice mix, which was a little bit underwhelming.  Maybe in the future I'd use smoked paprika, or more cayenne pepper for an extra kick?