Bacon, Shallot and Garlic Green Beans

I'm pretty lucky. I don't have any trouble getting my kids to eat vegetables, in fact most of the time they'll clean the vegetables off their plates and pick at the meat. Yes, my kids are strange... but in a good way :)

This recipe is a favorite around here and gets made anytime there's leftover bacon (yes, Susan, I said LEFTOVER BACON). Granted, this is not how you want to cook green beans all the time, but it's great for a special occasion... they're easy enough to throw together while you have a roast in the oven and they look and taste impressive.

Bacon, Shallot and Garlic Green Beans

2 lbs fresh green beans, trimmed
4 slices bacon, cooked crisp and chopped
1 Tbs reserved bacon drippings
2 Tbs butter
2 shallots, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste

Cook green beans in boiling salted water for 4 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water to stop cooking.

Heat reserved bacon drippings and butter in a large saute pan on med-low heat. Add shallots and garlic and saute 1 minute, until fragrant. Add green beans, stirring to coat in butter mixture. Cover and cook about 8 minutes, stirring every few minutes. Add in chopped bacon and cook, stirring, another 2-3 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Bacon Cream Cheese Rolls

Twice a year we have a munchie night, where we don't really have dinner, we just eat junk food. The kids, of course, love this... heck they LIVE for it. They love it so much that they no longer look forward to New Year's Eve for any other reason than that it's munchie night.

To give you an idea of how bad this tradition is for you, this year's menu included bacon and cheese sliders, deep fried chicken wings, baked brie with raspberry preserves, gruyere and fontina fondue, and then these little heart attacks: the bacon cream cheese rolls.

Ok, I know... these are SO 70's, but believe me... they're incredibly addictive. If you've never made these, you really should... at least once.

Bacon Cream Cheese Rolls

1 lb of bacon
8-12 slices Pepperidge Farm Very Thin bread
3 oz cream cheese
toothpicks

Preheat oven to 350ºF.

Cut bacon in half lengthwise.

Remove crusts from bread slices and cut each slice into thirds.

Cut cream cheese into small pieces, about 1/2 tsp each.

Lay out bacon slices and place one piece of the bread on each slice, then top with a piece of cream cheese.



Roll each slice and secure with toothpick. Place on cookie sheet about so that the rolls don't touch each other.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, turn and continue baking for another 10-12 minutes until bacon is browned and cooked through.

Ultimate BLT

I was browsing some other food blogs this week when I came across a post for a blogger's ultimate BLT. I began thinking, what makes an ULTIMATE BLT? A BLT is such a simple sandwich by pure definition, bacon, lettuce and tomato on bread. Really though, it is the sandwich of sandwiches, a favorite to all (at least I don't personally know anyone who doesn't like a BLT... I mean, really... it has bacon... how can anyone not like something that has BACON??). I looked around the web and found quite a few definitions of the ultimate BLT, some fairly normal and some a little out there (uhh... hold the pears on my sandwich please). I decided that even though I'm normally willing to try the latest and greatest, I would stick to my ultimate, and here it is:

Homemade peasant bread, sliced thick and lightly toasted (recipe to follow)
homemade chili garlic mayonnaise (recipe to follow)
LOTS of bacon (just trust me on this, make more than you think you need)*
fresh, vine ripe tomatoes, sliced
lettuce (any kind you want, I like romaine or iceburg on mine)
chopped jalapeño peppers

Pile on the bacon, lettuce and tomato, and be sure to give both slices of bread a good slathering of the homemade mayo. As my husband says, it may seem impossible, but this simple sandwich tastes even better than it looks.

*If you're like me, have someone else cook the bacon for you. I'm just not capable of cooking bacon, well... I'm CAPABLE... but there's usually not much left when I'm done "cooking". Hubby has much better self control at this task than I do. I'm of the mind that if I have to stand here and be splattered with little droplets of super hot grease, then I should get to enjoy the spoils of my labor IMMEDIATELY. So yeah... I don't cook the bacon in this house.

Peasant Bread

(I also don't bake, the bread machine is my friend).

1 1/2 cups water
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 1/2 cups bread flour
2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

Place ingredients in the pan of the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select Light or Medium Crust cycle; press Start. For a crispier crust, use the French cycle or turn machine off after first rise and start the cycle over.

Chili Garlic Mayonnaise

This is just SO much better with homemade mayonnaise, but store bought will work in a pinch, or if raw eggs are a problem for you.

1 cup homemade mayonnaise
1 Tbs Chili Garlic Sauce
1/2 tsp garlic powder

Mix all of the above together and refrigerate at least one hour before serving.