Eat Your Greens
We had bacon for breakfast one recent morning, good, thick, meaty applewood smoked bacon with scrambled eggs. Yummy, but for once I couldn't finish it all. I saved two of the bacon strips for later, not knowing quite what I would do with them.Fast forward to dinner time when I had a nice chicken roasting in the oven with fingerling potatoes, whole shallots and Brussels sprouts surrounding it, a nice reward for "estate work," our least favorite chore. I had planned to have rainbow Swiss chard with the chicken, so I had crushed about four fat cloves of garlic and was sauteing them in butter in a wide frying pan prior to adding the washed, destemmed chard leaves to the pan, when I had a brainstorm.
Chopped those two rashers coarsely and added them to the pan to sizzle and mingle with the garlic just long enough to heat them through, then tossed and turned the leaves in the garlic bacon butter until they wilted into a dark green softness.
Our new favorite chard recipe. Rock on!
posted by Zoomie at
6:54 AM
7 Comments:
Because, of course, bacon makes everything better.
You mean to say that you've never added bacon to your greens before this? You must be a Yankee (or as my grandmother used to say "damnyankee." :-).....Greens and bacon go together like...well, they just do. Plus you must have Pickapepper on the table or, at the very least, Tobasco Sauce. Have you made Hoppin'John? Cornbread with bacon? Even roux gets a bit of nice smoky flavor if you sautee a bit of bacon in the oil/fat before you add the flour.
Dagny, amen to that!
NamasteNancy, believe it or not... no! And, yes, I'm a Yankee - mother from NY, father from Philly. I love the idea of the cornbread w/bacon - are you going to share that recipe?
This is "tweeked" from a recipe that I found on the internet; my grandmother would not have EVER allowed a cornbread mix in her kitchen. But for those of us with less time (or a weaker work ethic...)
Cornbread recipe is made with bacon and cheese and corn muffin mix.
INGREDIENTS:
* 1 package corn muffin mix (i.e., Jiffy)
* 1/2 cup grated sharp Cheddar cheese
* 6 slices crisply cooked and crumbled bacon (well drained)
* 1 egg
* milk, as label directs
I also add jalapeno peppers to taste and a spoon or two of the bacon drippings. You can do this with "scratch" cornbread as well; if you have the Joy of Cooking cookbook, their recipe is a good one. I also have an ancient cast iron skillet. I grease it and heat it up and then, pour the mix into it and then, put it into the over. That will give you a much crisper crust. You can also add a cup or two of Nibblets canned corn (drained of course).
Let's see... what have I left out? Oh, of course, the Mystery Mojo Manta but that's going to remain a mystery. Us granddaughters of Southern Grandmothers dare not risk their wrath by spilling all our secrets. This give me an idea - I should post a bunch of these recipes on my blog. It would be a nice change from all my posts about art, my art, my struggles with art, etc. I may even try to take photos but my food photos...alas...
PREPARATION:
Empty corn muffin mix into a medium mixing bowl. Save about 1 tablespoon of shredded cheese and bacon for topping; stir remaining cheese and bacon into muffin mix. Mis in egg and milk, following label directions. Pour batter into a greased and floured 8-inch square baking dish. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes; sprinkle reserved cheese and bacon over top and bake 10 minutes longer, or until cornbread is browned and firm.
NamasteNancy, wow, thank you! I do have the Joy of Cooking so I'll look at that but might start with the mix as I've never made cornbread before. I completely understand about the Mantra - my maternal family would never even share the recipes, much less the mantras! :-) And, yes, I'd love to read some of your recipes on your blog - but beware, they call up all kinds of family memories and thoughts! And don't worry too much about the photos - I know artists are obsessed with images but they are only part of the fun of food blogging.
NamasteNancy must have had a similar upbringing to mine. Greens are not complete without some bacon or ham in the pan. If you have neither, then that's what the can of bacon grease is for. Even my aunt who has been pescatarian (sp?) since the early 70s swears that there is nothing better than greens, cabbage, or string beans that have been cooked with bacon.
Dagny and NamasteNancy - we are now converted to your way of thinking! Bacon with greens, YES!
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