3664. BACON SEMOLINA POTATO SOURDOUGH with CHEDDAR CHEESE BREAD

15 oz. 65% hydration starter refreshed 5 oz. durum flour
12 oz. European-style flour or bread flour
2 oz. wheat germ
5 oz. mashed potatoes
3 oz. cheddar cheese
4 slices of cooked crisp bacon, cut into small pieces
1 tablespoon toasted onions
14 ounces lukewarm water, 90-95ºF
2 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast

Using your stand mixer or by hand, mix the water with the starter to break up the starter. Add the flour, potatoes, salt, yeast (if using), and mix on the lowest speed for 2 minutes. Let rest for 5 minutes. Add the bacon. Mix for 4 minutes more on medium speed, adding more flour if necessary to produce a slightly sticky ball of dough. Remove dough to your lightly floured work surface and need for 1 minute and form into a ball. Flatten into a rectangle and add the cheese and form dough into a ball. Leave uncovered for 10 minutes. Do a stretch and fold and form into a ball again and cover with a clean moist cloth or oiled plastic wrap. After another 10 minutes do another stretch and fold and put into a lightly oiled bowl that has enough room so the dough can double overnight. Put in your refrigerator immediately for at least 12 hours or up to 3 days. When ready to bake the bread, shape the dough as desired being careful not to handle the dough too roughly so you don’t de-gas it. Place it in your bowl, banneton or shape into baguettes. Let it sit at room temperature for 2 hours covered with oiled plastic wrap or a wet cloth. Pre-heat oven with baking stone to 500 degrees F. Slash loaves as desired and place empty pan in bottom shelf of oven. Pour 1 cup of very hot water into pan and place loaves into oven. Lower oven to 450º and bake for 25-35 minutes until bread is golden brown and internal temperature reaches 200º.


bacon recipe source: Ian, Mookie Loves Bread, January 24, 2012

3663. BACON, EGG and CHEESE CALZONE

makes 6 calzones


2 (¼-oz.) packages active dry yeast
1⁄4 teaspoon sugar
1 3⁄4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1⁄2 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
1 1⁄2 lb. sliced bacon, cooked until slightly crisp and roughly chopped
4 cups grated cheddar cheese
10 eggs, lightly beaten
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Fine semolina, for dusting
Olive oil, for brushing

Combine yeast, sugar, and ¾ cup water heated to 115° in a bowl; let sit until foamy, about 10 minutes. Whisk flour and salt in a bowl. Add yeast mixture; stir until a dough comes together. Transfer to a lightly floured surface; knead briefly until the dough becomes smooth and elastic, about 2 minutes. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and set aside for 10 minutes.

Place pizza stone in oven and heat oven to 450°. Mix bacon, cheese, eggs, salt, and pepper in a bowl. On a lightly floured surface, divide dough into 6 balls. Working in 2 batches, roll 3 balls into 8" circles about ⅛" thick. Place about ¾ cup egg mixture on one side of each circle, leaving a 1" border. Fold other half of circles over, and pinch edges to seal. Transfer calzones to a semolina-dusted pizza peel. Brush tops with olive oil and slide calzones onto pizza stone. Bake until golden, 15-20 minutes. Repeat with remaining balls and egg mixture. 


bacon recipe source: Saveur (@SAVEURMAG), May 3, 2013

3224. WHITE CHEESE PIZZA with GRILLED CORN and WOOD SMOKED BACON

yields six slices


8 ounces pizza dough, store-bought

1 tablespoon semolina flour
3 slices sharp Cheddar
5 (1/2-inch) cubes brie cheese
1/4 cup grilled corn kernels
3 strips cooked smoked bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 tablespoon freshly flat-leaf parsley, no stems
1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon grated Pecorino Romano

 

Preheat oven with pizza stone to 475 degrees F for 30 minutes.

Gently stretch dough to 11-inches in diameter. Place dough on pizza peel dusted with semolina to prevent sticking. Top dough with the Cheddar and brie cheese. Scatter corn, bacon and parsley leaves. Sprinkle pizza with olive oil then Romano. Slide pizza onto hot stone in oven. Bake 6 to 8 minutes until golden, cut into 6 slices and serve on warm plate.

bacon recipe courtesy of: Chef Bill Poirier, Sonsie's, 327 Newbury St, Boston, MA 02115; on the Boston episode of Giada's Weekend Getaways, Food Network

2726. PAN-SEARED DUCK BREAST with GNOCCHI, SALSIFY, BRUSSEL SPROUTS, HOUSE-CURED BACON and RED WINE REDUCTION

yields 2-4 servings


2 duck breasts
4-6 salsify (if unavailable, use parsnips)
1 lemon
8 Brussels sprouts
2 slices thick-cut bacon (house cured preferably)
1 cup duck or chicken stock (home-made if possible)
1/2 cup red wine (merlot works well)
1/2 cup sherry vinegar
5 ounces butter (divided into: 2 ounces, 2 ounces, 1 ounce)
1/3 cup flour
1/3 cup semolina flour
1/2 cup water (plus 1 gallon for boiling)
2 eggs
Kosher salt
Black pepper
1 bunch fresh thyme
1 bunch flat-leaf Italian parsley

Bring 1 gallon of water to boil in a pot, preheat an oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.

Chop 1 tablespoon of parsley and 1 teaspoon of fresh thyme. Boil 1/2 cup of water in a sauce pot with fresh herbs, add a pinch of salt, 2 ounces of butter and wait for it to melt. Add flours and cook for 2 minutes, transfer to a kitchen aid mixer with paddle attachment. Mix for 1 minute, add eggs, mix 1 more minute until smooth. Transfer batter to a pastry bag and pipe long lines onto a sheet pan dusted with flour. Cut gnocchi into 1 inch pieces. Cook in boiling water for 2-3 minutes until doubled in size. Drain, cool under cold water and reserve.

Score diagonally across the breasts (hatch marks) making sure not to penetrate into the meat, only the skin and season breasts with salt and pepper and place skin side down in a oven safe skillet. Render fat and crisp skin over med-low heat, about 10-15 minutes. Remove fat from the pan twice during this process. Reserve. Throw in 5 sprigs of fresh thyme and place in the oven to finish cooking (about 4 minutes for medium temp, and 10 minutes for well done). Remove from the oven and flip breasts over to briefly cook the other side, about 1 minute. Remove and let duck rest for 10 minutes.

Cut bacon in to cubes and render in a skillet until browned. Remove and save for garnish.

Peel salsify and place in water with the squeezed lemon until ready to cut. Thinly slice the salsify on a mandolin and sauté pan with reserved duck fat until cooked, but still crisp, remove and reserve.

Blanch Brussels sprouts in boiling water for 3 minutes. Remove and shock in ice water. Peel outer leaves and reserve, discard the centers.

Reduce red wine and sherry vinegar in a sauce pot until glossy, add duck stock reduce again until slightly thickened, add butter last minute, season with salt, reserve.

Heat a sauté pan over med-high heat and add 1 ounce of butter. Sauté gnocchi until browned on all sides. Add salsify and Brussels in the sauté pan with a splash of chicken stock, season and reduce until no liquid remains. Slice duck breast into 1/4 inch pieces and plate with vegetables and gnocchi. Pour sauce around.


bacon recipe courtesy of: Joel Gargano, Rocco's Dinner Party, Season 1, Episode 2 (Signature Dish, Winner), Bravo TV

2438. HANDMADE CAVATELLI with SMOKED BACON, CHANTERELLES, GREEN GARLIC and GRANA PADANO

serves 4-6


4 cups durum semolina flour
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling out
1 ½ tablespoons kosher salt
Water as needed (approximately 4 cups)
¼ pound smoked bacon, medium dice
½ cup white wine
1 pound chanterelle mushrooms, sliced thin
2 bunches green garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
3 tablespoons whole butter
Black pepper, to taste
Grana Padano, to taste
2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves

In a stand-up mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment, add both kinds of flour and salt; slowly add water with mixer on speed 2 or 3. Mix for about 2 minutes. Dough should be crumbly, but still hold its shape. Remove from mixing bowl. Dust table with a little all-purpose flour, and knead the dough, folding it into itself repeatedly, for approximately 6 minutes. Let the dough rest for about 2 hours; by then it should be a solid mass, ready to be rolled through the cavatelli machine.

Roll the dough out with a rolling pin, to about half an inch in thickness. Then cut into strips, half an inch wide. Start rolling strips through the cavatelli machine, dusting cavatelli with all-purpose flour once finished. Let the pasta air-dry for about an hour.

Bring a pot of heavily salted water to a boil. Meanwhile, heat a large sauté pan; add smoked bacon and sauté, frequently draining of fat (leaving about 1 tablespoon to sauté mushrooms). Add one-third of the white wine to bring down temperature of bacon. Add the chanterelles and sauté until light brown. Add green garlic and thyme, and de-glaze bottom of pan with rest of wine. Reduce wine until it is nearly gone, add butter, and turn off heat.

Add the cavatelli to the pot of boiling water and boil until cavatelli floats to the top (about 8 minutes). When cavatelli is finished cooking transfer with a mesh strainer directly into sauté pan with rest of ingredients. Toss pasta, adding pasta water as needed to make sauce in the pan, season with salt to taste. Finish with generous amount of fresh black pepper and parmesan. Garnish with chopped parsley.


bacon recipe courtesy of: Cory Obenour and Matt Sullivan, The Blue Plate, 3218 Mission Street at Valencia, San Francisco, California 94110

1936. GOATS MILK RICOTTA GNOCCHI with VIOLET ARTICHOKES, OLIVES and BACON

yields 4-6 servings


For the ricotta gnocchi
1 3/4 cup goat milk ricotta, drained overnight
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 egg
3/4 cup Parmesan, grated
1/2 tsp. salt
1 pound Semolina flour

For the Artichokes Barigoulel
2 tsp. olive oil
10 baby artichokes, cleaned and cut in quarters
1 clove garlic
1 sprig thyme
1/2 sprig rosemary
1 tsp. salt
1 cup white wine
1 cup olive oil

For the artichoke puree
1 tbsp. olive oil
5 large artichoke hearts, cleaned and cut into small pieces
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup white wine
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup canola oil

Bacon
1 slab bacon, 1 inch piece

Garnish
2 tbsp. butter
12 Taggiasca olives
12 leaves of Petit Sylvetta Arugula

For the ricotta gnocchi: First, ricotta must be drained and be as dry as possible. Place cheese in cheesecloth and tie closed with twine. Place in colander and set inside a bowl -- set a heavy soup can on top of the cheese to weigh down. Drain overnight in refrigerator. The next day, squeeze out the remainder of liquid from the cheese while still in cheesecloth. Pass cheese through a fine mesh tamis/sieve by using a flexible pastry scraper.

Combine cheese, flour, egg and salt in a standing mixer with a dough hook. Place semolina in a low sided pan. Start rolling gnocchi into about 10 gram balls, or just about the size of a fresh cherry. Place each rolled gnocchi into the pan with semolina and cover with the flour. Continue until all gnocchi is rolled and in the pan with semolina, covered with the flour. Place pan of rolled, covered, gnocchi into the fridge and lest rest overnight.

For the Artichokes Barigoulel: To clean the baby artichokes, you will not need to clean them quite as far as the full grown artichoke. The choke hasn't quite developed yet, so the innermost part is still tender and edible.

First, cut off the top of the artichoke with a serrated knife. Then clip off the tips of the outer leaves with scissors, and snap them back to reveal the lighter green inner leaves. With either a pairing knife of a vegetable peeler, cut off the hard, full grown leaf remnants around the base. A vegetable peeler is also best of peel off the outer layer of the stem. Trim the very bottom of the stem if it is a little tough. Cut into quarters and hold in acidulated water as you are cleaning the remaining artichokes. This will inhibit oxidation and browning of the artichoke.

Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a high sided sauté pan, over medium/low heat. While heating the pan, quickly drain the artichokes on a kitchen towel. Sweat the artichokes until tender, allowing for no colorization. Add the herbs and garlic and continue to sweat.

Season with salt. Remove pan from heat and carefully add the wine. Return to heat and bring to a boil. Cover with remaining amount of olive oil. Continue to cook over moderate heat, uncovered, until artichokes are tender. Remove from pan and set aside.

For the artichoke puree: Clean and cut artichokes into small pieces, making sure to remove the inner purple leaves and the choke of the full grown artichoke. Also, be sure to hold in acidulated water until all artichokes are cleaned. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in sauté pan. While heating pan, drain pieces on kitchen towel. Add artichokes and sweat for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly and allowing for no colorization. Season with salt. Add wine and cover, cooking over low heat, until the wine has reduced by half. Add water and recover, cook until artichoke pieces are tender. Place artichokes, with any remaining liquid, in the blender and blend. Emulsify with canola oil. Check seasoning. Set aside.

Heat oven to 200° F. Place bacon on a baking sheet and bake overnight, or about ten hours. This will completely dry out the bacon, creating an almost "jerky" quality to the bacon. Remove from the oven the next day and allow to cool completely.

Remove Semolina covered gnocchi from fridge and remove from semolina. Bring a large pot of salted water to a gently rolling boil. Place gnocchi in water and poach for a two minutes. While gnocchi is poaching in water, heat up 2 tablespoons of butter in sauté pan.

Remove gnocchi from water and drain. Place in pan with melted butter and gently coat with butter. Add olives and baby artichoke quarters and sauté gently to warm through.

Warm the artichoke puree gently in a small sauté pan. Separate the artichoke puree evenly between 4 dishes. Separate the gnocchi, olives and artichoke quarters evenly and place on top of artichoke puree. Using a microplane, shave the bacon over the top of the gnocchi. Finish with petit sylvetta arugula.


bacon recipe courtesy of: Daniel Humm, From Eleven Madison Park to Your Dinner Table, Good Morning America, ABC