Bacon Mayo

Eons ago (OK it was last September, so nearly a year, then) I reviewed a book called Fat, by Jennifer McLagan. It's a very thought-provoking book to say the least, and after reading I decided to become a hoarder of fat.

When I say "hoarder of fat" I mean that in the mildest of ways. I skimmed all the beef fat off of my braised beef ribs to use in McLagan's cornish pasty recipe, wrapping it well after letting it solidify, and then freezing it. It's still there. I also started collecting my bacon fat whenever I cooked bacon. Because I don't eat that much bacon, and I tend to buy leaner bacon to begin with, it took me just over 11 months to save up the 1/2 cup of bacon fat required for McLagan's Bacon Mayonnaise recipe found on page 101. I kept the fat in a small ramekin, covered at all times, in my fridge. I finally, finally had half a cup last week.

Here is the recipe.

Bacon Mayonnaise, from Fat by Jennifer McLagan, page 101

1 egg yolk

3/4 tsp Dijon mustard

1 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

Sea salt & freshly ground pepper, to taste

1/2 cup liquid bacon fat

Combine egg yolk, mustard, & lemon juice in small bowl of a food processr or blender and process to mix. Season with salt & pepper.

Have the bacon fat liquid but not hot. With the machine running, gradually add bacon fat until the mixture starts to stiffen & emulsify, about 2 minutes. Once it begins to emulsify, add the fat more quickly. Adjust seasoning. If it's too thick, thin with 1 tsp of boiling water.

I have a small food processor but even so, the yolk/mustard/lemon juice mixture was too small an amount to properly mix in the food processor. I ended up having to whisk everything in a bowl by hand after the first ingredients kind of stuck to the bottom of the food processor bowl.

Here is the finished product:

It tasted...OK. Not overpoweringly of bacon, surprisingly. In fact, it was a tad bland. To test it out, I put in on a great burger I made, served with grilled veggies.

It actually complemented the burger a lot, lending it a bacony flavour and an extra juiciness to the meat, since the mayo basically melted when it came into contact with the hot burger. Will this replace Hellmann's for me? No way. I can't see this being as versatile as Hellmann's and it just isn't the same. But it was a good experiement.

No, no more bacon fat hoarding!

Magazine Monday #28: Olive & Sun-Dried Tomato...Something...

Today's recipe was a bit of a flop, but it was also a lesson in improvisation. I just got the latest edition of Clean Eating Magazine, and the recipe for Olive & Sun-Dried Tomato Spread caught my eye. It seemed simple enough so I decided to make it on the weekend.

Olive & Sun-Dried Tomato Spread (adapted slightly by me)

6 sun-dried tomatoes, chopped (the original recipe specifies "not packed in oil" but that's all I had. If you have the dried ones, just soak them in some boiling water for 5 minutes, drain, chop)
6 oz low fat Greek-style yogurt
4 oz low fat cream cheese
3 tbsp black olives, seeded & chopped (I used Kalamata)
1/2 tsp dried oregano
ground black pepper, to taste
1 clove garlic, grated

Whiz the yogurt & cream cheese in blender until smooth. Mix in everything else by hand. Season to taste.

Seems simple enough, right? But, my spread was really runny and, though it tasted really great, it simply wasn't spreadable or even dip-able. Even after chilling overnight, the spread didn't tighten up at all. I used 3.5%MF yogurt, and I think it was a little runny for some reason. I can't explain the consistency any other way.

So, I had to do something with this. The note at the end of the recipe recommended all kinds of ideas for the spread, and so I thought I would turn this into a nice pasta salad.

Pasta Salad with Olive & Sun-Dried Tomato Dressing

1 recipe Olive & Sun-Dried Tomato Spread
2 cups penne or other short pasta, cooked & drained
3 cups chopped veggies of your choice (I used red pepper, cauliflower, green onion, and diced zucchini)

Rinse the pasta off under cold water after you've cooked it. Add it to the veggies in a large bowl. Add the dressing. Combine. Enjoy.

Well, there you go: proverbial lemons into proverbial lemonade!

End of Summer Canning

When I moved back to the bosom of my family in July 2006, I discovered shortly thereafter that my SIL's family has a tradition of canning some of our summer bounty: pickles, salsa, jam, tomatoes, antipasto, and pasta sauce are amongst the items. My dad makes a day trip to the Okanagan, purchasing hundreds of pounds of produce that is fresh and relatively local, and one day at the end of August, my SIL, her mom, me, her friend, and whoever else might be interested, all get together to do the canning, splitting the jars and the costs among us depending on how much we take.

I have canned before. Shortly after I got married in 2002, I decided canning would be a great idea for some reason, and I organized a day with two other friends. I went to the Byward Market to get ingredients, bought a canner and jars from Zellers, and we spent a day making pickles and salsa. The pickles turned out OK but our salsa left a lot to be desired. It was OK, but we never canned again, and I left (for all intents & purposes, anyway) in Sept. 2004 to attend culinary school.

So, I was happy to see that my SIL's family canned, only they have a much bigger production - and a large outdoor propane burner that makes everything go super fast. I missed pickle day and I don't like antipasto, so I participated in tomato and salsa day.

Here is the salsa recipe we use, and this year we quadrupled it.

1/2 lb jalapeno peppers (10 -15 small)
8 cups chopped, peeled tomatoes
3 cups peppers, chopped
2 cups chopped onions
4 cloves garlic
1 bunch cilantro
1/2 cup vinegar
1 can tomato paste
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp salt
1 tsp oregano
2 tsp paprika

You can chop most of this stuff in a food processor, but it is important to peel the tomatoes, which means you put them into boiling water for a minute or so, then put them immediately into cold water. The skins should come off quite easily. Mix the salsa up in a vat! Bring to boil and boil for 5 minutes. Fill canning jars, wiping the rims clean. Process in a canner for 15 minutes. This is also a great fresh salsa to serve and keep in the fridge. During our canning day, we take out some before it's cooked and much on chips dipped in it, and it's so wonderfully fresh.

We never seem to have a shortage of jars, but my SIL has picked up many extras at the local thrift store for very cheap, so if you don't want to spend a lot of money, you might want to see if you can find second hand jars this way, and then you only have to buy new lids. Rings can be second hand or new. But, there is a difference between a good lid and an el-cheapo lid, which we learned the hard way. Bernardin brand jars and lids are always reliable and we've never had a problem with them sealing properly. However, this year, we also used some cheaper lids, and many of them buckled after processing, which means they didn't seal properly. So, just to let you know: don't use Home Discovery Cinch Seal Lids. Also, last year, someone brought non-Bernardin jars, and we found that the bottoms fell out of some of them when removed from the canner! Very ungood.

As for the tomatoes we did this year, that was very easy. Again, we peeled them, but as they were romas, no chopping was necessary. Just fill the jars and press down on the tomatoes so that there are no air pockets. We did have lots of peppers and garlic left over, so we chopped up the peppers and added them to some of the jars, and we added two cloves of garlic to each jar. Also, one heaping teaspoon of coarse salt, and we were on our way. I think these were processed in the canner for 15 or so minutes, too.



I came home with 12 jars of tomatoes and five jars of salsa (I don't go through as much salsa as some people in my family do), and a great time was had by all. It's a lot of work, but it's so worth it in the winter months when you can just go down into the basement and find yourself a home-canned jar of something from the summer. I'm looking forward to making soups and pasta sauces with my tomatoes, and having various Mexican-ish dishes with my salsa, not to mention chips!