What I Ate: Avocado BLT

Happy Friday! Since we’ve successfully made it though the week together, I figure this Avocado BLT a perfect ‘What I Ate’ addition since obviously you do not need a recipe for a BLT. Bacon + Lettuce + Tomato = delicious. I’m going to add a few special touches to an already awesome sandwich. (Check out How Sweet It Is’ Avo BLT from this week too!)

The BLT is a perfect I-ate-some-pretty-bad-for-you-food-this-week option for the weekend,

or a breakfast-versus-lunch tie breaker,

or I-don’t-like-traditional-breakfast-food.  It has the perfect grease requirement for hangovers and the ideal fresh factor to make up for unhealthy indiscretions.
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I think BLTs are perfect for a quick dinner or even brunch. They’re great on whatever bread you have, rolls, wraps, biscuits, flatbread, bagels, pita pockets, anything!

I added some pesto aioli and some avocado. Perfection! Mix up some mayo and some pre-made pesto. Also, if you refer to it as aioli, even people who think they don’t like mayo will be alllll about it.
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I grilled the bacon in a criss-cross lattice pattern. Bacon in every bite! I like it suuuuper crispy but bacon in any form is perfect.
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Layer it up! I like it in the order of B then L then T. I added avocado to make it more special, filling, and creamy. avo_BLT_plate_590_390
I think there are tons of fun ways to keep a BLT interesting. I think a salad-y wrap would be good too. Maybe the lettuce and tomato in chunks mixed with ranch, avocado, and bacon! Ooo. Yum! A BLT grilled cheese would be delicious right about now. Or maybe a BLT with fried egg on ciabatta! I’ve made BLT pizza (which was to die for). Just goes to show you, BLTs are great inspiration.

What do you do to keep sandwiches interesting? Any BLT variations I should try next?

Corn and Bacon Chowder

Are you stuffed and/or hungover from the Superbowl? This won’t undo any goodies you munched yesterday, but I thought: what food should be the morning-after the Superbowl? Answer: soup!

I’m trying to change people’s impression of soups. I fear they get a bad wrap for being not filling, or for lacking flavor. This recipe has been hanging out a bit because I made a creamy sherry tomato soup and pizza Soup ‎and roasted cauliflower soup all somewhat recently and I thought you might get souped-out. Not to worry though, I have a lighter soup Momma just made that is beyond words amazing. I’ll make it soon-ish. If nothing else, soup helps vary dinner ideas now and then.

This corn and bacon chowder is not exactly the healthiest soup, but the flavors are delightful. I based it off of Tyler Florence’s recipe and loved it. I shaved off some heaviness and calories by using half cream and half low-fat milk. I also used wine in place of some stock. This is a great spot for whole wheat flour since it is only thickening the soup.
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Corn & Bacon Chowder

Adapted from Tyler Florence

Ingredients:

2 tbs butter
1 small onion, chopped
2 tbs garlic, minced
2 tbs flour (I used wheat flour, all purpose is fine too)
2 cups vegetable or chicken stock
1 cup white wine (or increse stock by 1 more cup if omitting wine)
2 cups corn
2 large potatoes, cooked and chopped
2 cups milk/cream (I used half milk, half heavy cream)
4-6 slices of bacon/pancetta/chorizo
½ tsp liquid smoke (optional)
½ tsp dried thyme
salt & pepper

Directions:

Boil potatoes until cooked most of the way through (or microwave, or bake)
Saute onion in butter until translucent and cooked through over medium heat.
Add garlic and flour, stirring well before adding stock and wine.
Add corn.
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Cook over medium-high heat, gently boiling.
Pan fry bacon.
Add potatoes and milk to the pot cooking at medium-high heat.
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Stir well, allowing potatoes to break down slightly.
Chop bacon.
Bacon, liquid smoke, and spices, and stir to combine.
Cook for an additional 5-10 minutes.
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I did the whole thing in 1 pot and 1 pan. Score! I boiled the potatoes and when I drained them, I started the soup in that same hot pot.

I love the bacon in here and the liquid smoke plays off that a bit. I think the bacon adds a depth and difference to the sweet corn that is necessary, not optional. I think the herbs could really be anything you have/love. Sage might be interesting? Tyler uses parsley. Basil always makes me think of lightness/freshness. I love chives (and they’re about the only thing I can grow).

Have I proclaimed my love for liquid smoke? I recommend adding it to traditional chili, soups, butternut squash enchiladas, etc. It seems like a special ingredient, but it ends up going with everything. It also doesn’t go bad for about a million years and you only use a little at a time. Ok, are you sold?

I didn’t freeze any of this soup. Cream based soups can seem kind of texturally off after being frozen to me. This made about 4 sizable portions for dinner & lunches.

Sweet Potato and Brussels Sprouts Hash

Happy New Year! December included a vacation then the whirlwind of the holidays in MA & ME. It was an awesome few weeks but I feel like now it is is major detox time. Time to eat real food and get back to the routine. There were some amazing meals on vacay, Christmases with both families, holiday parties, a cookie swap, some festive beverages etc.
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I spotted this easy sweet potato and brussels sprouts hash on Culinary Colleen’s blog. It looked awesome for brunch. I thought it could be an easy and balanced dinner.

Ingredients:
2 small sweet potatoes quartered
2 cups brussels sprouts, trimmed
4 strips of bacon
1 tbs chopped garlic
2 eggs

Directions:
Partially boil the potatoes and cook until the potatoes are halfway cooked.
Steam the brussels sprouts while pan frying the bacon.
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Drain the bacon, leaving the pan coated with bacon grease.
Cook potatoes, brussels sprouts, and garlic in the bacon pan.
When potatoes and sprouts are getting gently browned and crisp turn to low and keep warm. Add bacon just before serving.
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Pan fry eggs over easy, or poach the eggs.
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Serve eggs over the potato and sprout hash.
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I liked this. It was super easy. I think I should have dripped in a little liquid smoke, but the bacon gave a great smokiness. I don’t think I’d crave this weekly, but it was a nice change up and was only 1 pot and 1 pan to make. Love that!

Bacon Wrapped Scallops

There aren’t enough foods wrapped in bacon. I can sense when scallops wrapped in bacon are a passed appetizer near me. It is like radar. I work the cocktail hour scouting what waiter has them near by.
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I decided I should make some myself. I think the challenge was really to get the bacon crisp and not to overcook the scallops.

Ingredients:

3-4 sea scallops per person
½ strip of bacon per scallop
toothpicks
1 tbs butter
1 tbs olive oil

Directions:

Rinse scallops and trim any connective tissue.
Pat dry. Again, pat any excess water off.
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Wrap each half strip of bacon around each scallop and secure with a toothpick, through the center. Or try using 2 to make an X to get it going. Generously salt and pepper both sides.
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Melt butter and oil in a hot skillet.
Place scallops in, bacon side down.
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Don’t overcrowd the pan so you can rotate the scallops, crisping the bacon on each side.
At the 4th rotation, pan fry both top and bottom.

These were tricky. I made sure to (account for and) pull out each before serving. The bacon held well. If anything, they weren’t quite as crisp as I would have liked. I think the scallop maintained its integrity.
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Four scallops per person was too much. They were huge! I served them with some roasted broccoli and parmesan risotto.

I have lots of meals and a whole vacation recap ahead. I’ve been under the weather and I’m trying to vacay detox while still getting prepped for the holidays. Bear with me! I’m shooting for Monday 😉

Bacon, Butternut Squash and Gouda Pizza

I had an idea for a fall inspired pizza once I saw a good lookin’ pizza on Flying On Jess Fuel. Her pizza had bacon, gouda, apples, and caramelized onions. How delicious does that sound?! I also saw an awesome one on We Are Not Marta with pumpkin crust topped with prosciutto and brussels sprouts. I had a few fall flavors I thought would be good and it seemed like it’d be an ideal use for some butternut squash I had roasted. Bing, bam, boom.
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Ingredients:

pizza dough
¼ tsp dried thyme
¼ tsp nutmeg
½ cup shredded mozzarella
½ roasted butternut squash
1 cup sliced gouda
4 strips of thick cut bacon

Directions:

Preheat the oven (and pizza stone if using one) to 400-degrees.
While oven is heating, fry bacon until almost cooked (it keeps cooking when on top the pizza).
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Pre-bake the pizza dough for about 10 minutes.
Sprinkle mozzarella, thyme, and nutmeg on top after removing from the oven.
Spread the mashed butternut squash onto the dough.
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Top with sliced gouda.
fall_pizza_cheese_590_390Finish with bacon.
Bake 20-30 minutes until melted and crisp.
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I liked it. I think the gouda is nicely nutty and the quash layer provides a great moisture layer. I liked the crisp bacon in contrast to the soft squash.
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It was good. This fall pizza was a nice combo of flavors I’m glad I didn’t go bananas topping it with everything I thought might go. Sometimes I go pizza-topping-overboard. I can’t help it!

Psssst: get ready! I have a new series launching later this week. Stay tuned!