3197. TANGY SORREL and POTATO SOUP with BACON

makes four servings 


2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 pound French baguette, crusts removed, bread cut into 1/2-inch dice  
2 ounces smoky bacon, cut into 1/4-inch dice
1 medium onion, cut into 1/4-inch dice
1/2 cup dry white wine  
1 1/2 quarts chicken stock or canned low-sodium broth
1 garlic clove, minced  
1/2 pound Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch dice  
Salt and freshly ground pepper  
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice  
1/4 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest  
3 tablespoons crème fraîche or heavy cream  
1/2 pound sorrel, stems discarded, leaves coarsely chopped

Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a large skillet. Add the diced baguette and cook over moderately low heat until browned on the bottom, about 3 minutes. Stir the croutons and cook until crisp all over, about 2 minutes longer. Transfer to a plate to cool.  

Melt the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter in a large saucepan. Add the bacon and cook over moderately low heat until lightly browned, about 4 minutes. Add the onion and cook until softened, about 7 minutes. Add the wine and simmer until almost evaporated, about 4 minutes. Add the stock and garlic and bring to a simmer. Add the potatoes, season with salt and pepper and cook until tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in the lemon juice and zest and the crème fraîche and simmer for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the sorrel. Season with salt and pepper. Ladle the soup into bowls and serve; pass the croutons at the table. 
 

Make Ahead: The croutons can be made a day ahead. Store in an airtight container. The soup can be made without the sorrel and refrigerated overnight. Bring to a simmer and add the coarsely chopped sorrel just before serving.

 

 

bacon recipe courtesy of: Eberhard Müller, "Cooking Seasonal: Spring Dishes from Eberhard Müller," Food & Wine, April 2001

3097. SWISS CHARD and BACON-WRAPPED PORK GAYETTES

makes 16 gayettes


2 cups cooked Swiss chard leaves
1 large leaf sorrel (optional)
1 cup chopped white portions of leeks or onions
1 tablespoon oil
2 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons minced garlic
salt and freshly ground pepper
4 tablespoons beef consomme
1 package unflavored gelatin
1/2 lb. chicken or pork liver
2 lb. ground pork, half lean and half fat
1 tablespoon salt
1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon crushed bay leaf
4 slices bacon

Squeeze chard, and chop with sorrel (if available). Stew the leeks or onions in the oil and butter until wilted, 5-10 minutes. Add garlic, cook for 30 seconds, mix in chard, and cook over high heat, stirring constantly, until moisture is evaporated. Season with salt and pepper, set aside. Heat consomme and dissolve gelatin in it; set aside. Finely chop or grind liver, add to pork along with all the spices, consomme, and chard; mix thoroughly. (Saute a small amount, taste, and correct seasonings if necessary.)

Chill the mixture; then form into either 2-3-inch balls or thick patties. Place on a buttered baking pan. Cut bacon strips into 16 pieces and place one on each gayette. Bake in a preheated 375 degree F oven for 35-45 minutes, turning once, if desired.


bacon recipe courtesy of: The Victory Garden Cookbook, by Marian Morash, p. 308; Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1982

1519. SALMON and CRISPY BACON TARTE TATIN with SORREL SAUCE and BUTTER CARAMEL SAUCE

serves four


4 x 100 grams salmon fillet portions
100 grams puff pastry, cut into 4"" discs
100 grams streaky bacon
1 bulb fennel
150 grams leaf spinach

For the sorrel sauce:
½ onion, finely chopped
100ml white wine
100ml fish stock
250ml double cream
1 bunch sorrel

For the butter caramel sauce:
100 grams sugar
100 grams butter
50 ml water

For the sorrel sauce: Pick the sorrel leafs and chop stalks. Keep the leaves to one side. Fry the onions and sorrel stalks in a saucepan, add the fish stock and white wine, reduce down by half. Add the cream and boil until pouring consistency. Taste and season. Pass through a fine sieve.

For the butter caramel sauce: Mix sugar and water together in a bowl. Place in a saucepan. Put over heat and boil until the sugar has turned a golden brown. Remove from the heat and let cool for 1 minute. Carefully whisk in the butter. The sugar will bubble up so great care must be taken. Pour into small blini pans or tart moulds and allow to harden.

Cut fennel into quarters and blanch. Place the salmon on top of the caramel and then the fennel. Push the puff pastry around and cook in the oven at 350F. Slice bacon and cook between two baking trays.

Pan-fry spinach.

To serve, slice the sorrel leaves into fine stips and fold into the sauce. Turn out the tatin and place on a large white plate. Bundle spinach onto the plate and place the bacon on top. Drizzle the sorrel sauce around the plate.


bacon recipe courtesy of: Salmon Recipes.net, Stewart Building, Esplanade, Lerwick, Shetland, ZE1 0LL, United Kingdom

1214. GUINEA FOWL, LEMON THYME, BACON and ASIAN GALANGAL

1 guinea fowl
500 ml chicken stock
2 rashers smoked bacon
10 grams lemon thyme, picked over and washed
1 whole lemon, washed and thinly sliced
1 stem galangal, washed and cut into thick batons
4 lime leaves
2 stems lemongrass, cut and slightly crushed
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

For Salad
amaranth
tatsoi
mizuna
pea asparagus
purple ruffled basil
burnett
baby spinach
red sorrel
chickweed

Flowers
broad bean flowers
Chinese leek flowers
red mustard
nasturtium flowers
chives

For Dressing
virgin olive oil
1 lemon, squeezed

Take the fowl and separate the legs from the main carcass. Cut the legs through the knee bone joint and reserve aside. Take the wishbone out at the front of the bird and continue to cut the remaining breasts of the guinea fowl off the carcass. Cut through the wing joint, thus retaining it on the breast. Lift the exposed breast fillet and place a quarter of the prepared lemon thyme underneath it. Take the rashers of bacon and stretch them out with the aid of a rolling pin so they attain twice their original length. Wrap the individual breasts with a bacon rasher securing with a wooden cocktail stick. Place the entire guinea fowl meat into a roasting dish with sides high enough to hold the chicken stock. Place the other ingredients alongside the meat, lightly season. Bring the bouillon to a gentle boil, place in a preheated oven 200C and cook for about 15 minutes.


courtesy of: bigoven: share your cooking

825. CASSEROLE-ROASTED CHICKEN with PEAS and BACON

a.k.a. Poulet Rôti en Cocotte aux Petits Pois et aux Lardons

makes 4 to 5 servings


1 5-pound boiling hen, with feet if possible
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons, unsalted butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups fresh or frozen peas
4 shallots, thinly sliced
1/4 cup dry vermouth or herbaceous dry white wine, such as Muscadet or Vouvray
1/4 cup crème frâiche or heavy cream
1/4 pound bacon, finely diced
12 sorrel leaves, center ribs removed and leaves chopped

Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F.

Rinse the chicken and pat dry. Season the chicken inside and out with salt and pepper. Turn the wings under the bird and tie the legs together.

Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in the oil in a Dutch oven. Lay the bird on one breast, cover, and transfer to the oven. Roast for 30 minutes. Carefully turn the chicken onto its other breast, cover, and roast for another 20 minutes. Turn the bird on its back, cover, and roast another 20 to 30 minutes, or until the juices run clear when a thigh is pierced. Transfer the chicken to a platter, cover, and keep warm.

Skim the fat from the juices in the casserole and return it to low heat. If using fresh peas, add them now. Add the shallots and cook until soft but not browned, about 2 minutes. Add the vermouth, creme fraiche, and prosciutto, and cook until the liquid is reduced by half about 4 minutes. Pour any juices that have collected around the bird into the pot. Add the frozen defrosted peas, which only need to warm through, and the sorrel.

Remove from the heat, swirl in the remaining 2 tablespoons butter, and pour the sauce into a sauceboat. Serve immediately with the chicken.


courtesy of: Parisian Home Cooking: Conversations, Recipes, and Tips from the Cooks and Food Merchants of Paris by Michael Roberts. William Morrow & Company, 1999