Tip - Bacon

There are many ways to cook bacon. 

Some like it just cooked and still moist and floppy, 

while others prefer it stiff and crispy. 

Here's a clever way to ensure your bacon is nice and crispy. 

Before you cook the bacon, run it under cold water.

This will make it crispy and crackling 

after 10 minutes in a prewarmed hot oven (200C),

and the flavour will be fantastic.

Tatter Tots with Cheese Sauce

Ingredients:

500ml tatter tots

6 strips streaky back

For the Cheese Sauce:

30g butter

30ml flour

250ml whole milk

375ml fresh grated cheddar cheese

Sea salt and white pepper to taste

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200˚C.

Line a baking dish with baking paper and spread the tater tots in one layer. When cooking larger amounts, if you want them to be crispy, don’t stack them, only do a single layer.

Bake for 20 minutes, check them at this point and stir them around a little. Bake longer if necessary. Remove from the oven when done.

To prepare the bacon:

While the taters are baking, cook the bacon bits. Chop the bacon sliced into pieces about 1/4 inch wide and place them into a frying pan. Cook over medium then low heat. While they are cooking, use a wooden spoon or tongs to stir and separate all the bits. When they are crispy use tongs to move them onto a plate that is lined with paper towels to absorb the fat. Set aside.

To prepare the Cheddar Cheese Sauce:

While the bacon and tater tots are cooking make the cheese sauce.

Grate the cheddar cheese. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and cook about one minute. Slowly whisk in the milk. Stir and cook for about 4-5 minutes until the sauce thickens. Turn off the heat and add the grated cheese. Stir with a wooden spoon until smooth. Taste and add salt and pepper to taste. This make a very thick sauce, if you want it thinner, just a little more milk.

Assembly:

Transfer the cooked tater tots into a serving dish. Spoon on a generous amount of cheese sauce. Sprinkle the bacon bits on top.

Bacon Broccoli Cheddar Corn Muffins

Bacon Broccoli Cheddar Corn Muffins

Ingredients:
1 cup fresh or frozen chopped broccoli
About 6 baby carrots or 1 large carrot
1 cup yellow corn meal
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup white whole wheat flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon sugar
2 strips of lean bacon
1 cup milk
1 egg
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 loose cup of shredded Cheddar Cheese
About 2 tablespoons snipped spring onion tops


Method:
Preheat the oven to 220C.

Put the broccoli and carrot in a food processor or handi chopper and pulse to chop into little bits.

In a medium mixing bowl, add the corn meal, flours, baking powder, salt & sugar. Stir to mix well.

Meanwhile fry the bacon until crisp and chop or crumble into little bits.

Add the crumbled bacon, milk, egg, olive oil, chopped vegetables, cheese and snipped spring onion to the batter and stir just until everything is mixed well.

Spoon the batter into 12 prepared muffin tins. 

Bake at 220C for 15 - 18 minutes or until they are golden brown on top.

Smoky Chicken Hotpot

Smoky Chicken Hotpot

Ingredients:

2 skinless chicken breasts, chopped

4 rashers rindless streaky bacon, each cut into 3 pieces

15ml olive oil

100g chorizo sausage, sliced into thick rings

1 onion, peeled and sliced

1 red pepper, deseeded and cut into strips

400g tin chopped tomatoes

300ml hot chicken stock

15ml dark brown sugar

410g tin chickpeas, rinsed and drained

60ml fresh chopped parsley

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method:

Heat a flameproof casserole dish, add the bacon and dry-fry for a few minutes. When the bacon begins to sizzle, add the oil, chicken and chorizo. Cook, stirring occasionaly, until the chicken is sealed and the pimento oil is drawn from the chorizo.

Add the onion and red pepper, put the lid on the pan and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes.

Add the tomatoes, stock, sugar, chickpeas and half of the parsley. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes, then take the lid off and simmer for another 15-20 minutes to let the sauce thicken. Season to taste.

Serve immediately, sprinled with the rest of the parsley.

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Creamy Chicken Breasts

Creamy Chicken Breasts

Ingredients:

4 skinless chicken breasts

60ml garlic and herb cream cheese

8 rashers of streaky bacon

300g cherry tomatoes

15ml dried thyme

Olive oil

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200˚C.

Cut a pocket in each of the chicken breasts using a small, sharp knife. Stuff a tablespoon of cream cheese into each chicken breast pocket.

Wrap 2 rashers of bacon around each chicken breast and place them in a roasting pan. Drizzle with a little olive oil and roast for 20 minutes.

Add the tomatoes to the roasting tin and lightly coat them with more olive oil. Sprinkle over the thyme and roast for a further 8 minutes or until the chicken is thoroughly cooked through. 

Bacon Smashed Potato Poppers

These crisp, tender taters are made even better with the addition of crunchy & smoky bacon!  Smashing the Potatoes makes for super crispy edges that totally grip the Bacon and won’t let go! 

Ingredients:

Streaky bacon
Baby potatoes
Salt and pepper to season


Method:

Preheat the oven to 190 C.

Boil the potatoes in salted water. Drain the through a colander and allow them to cool.

Ever so gently smash them with the back of a spoon.

Wrap each smashed potato with a strip of bacon and place them seam-side down on a baking rack. 

Sprinkle with salt and pepper and bake them  for about 30 minutes, or until they are browned and crispy.

Enjoy!

   

Jalapeno Popper Chicken Chilli

Jalapeno Popper Chicken Chilli is a delicious meal and perfect for cool nights. It has a lot of incredible flavours and protein, and will keep you full for a long time!


Ingredients:
50ml virgin olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
5 jalapeno peppers, chopped. I like to leave the seeds in for extra heat, but you can take them out if you wish.
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 boneless chicken breasts cut into bite-sized pieces
10ml chilli powder
5ml ground cumin
5ml dried oregano

A pinch of chilli flakes

1 tin of chopped tomatoes with green chillies

375ml chicken stock

1tin cannelloni beans, drained

1 tin of sweetcorn, drained

250g cream cheese

500g streaky bacon, cooked crispy and crumbles

Cheddar cheese

Method:

In a large pan that is deep enough to make soup heat half of the olive oil over medium heat and saute the onion, jalaoeno and garlic until tender.

Season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper, then add to the pan with the rest of the oil. Add cumin, chilli powder, oregano and chilli flakes. Toss the chicken and seasoning together and lightly brown the chicken on all sides.

Stir in the diced tomatoes, chicken stock, sweetcorn and beans and turn up the heat to bring the contents of pan to the boil.Simmer for 30 minutes.

Stir in the cream cheese, stirring till completely melted. 

Stir in half of the bacon and remove from the heat. Check the seasoning and add more salt and pepper if required. Add mor chicken stock if the sauce is too thick.

Serve garnished with Cheddar cheese and the rest of the crumbled bacon.

Bacon Wrapped Onions

These roasted onions go wonderfully with a roast and vegetables dinner or with warmed Camembert cheese. Yum!

Ingredients:

4 large sweet onions

8 strips of smoked streaky bacon

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

olive oil

30ml butter

shavings of Parmesan cheese

sprigs of rosemary to garnish

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200˚C.

Cut off the top and bottom of the onions and remove the skins. Score each onion fairly deep across the top of the onions about half way through.

Wrap two strips of bacon around each onion and secure with toothpicks. 

Season each onion with salt and pepper, drizzle with a little olive oil and top with a blob of butter.

Place the onions on a baking sheet and bake for 1 hour or until the onion is soft and caramelised. 

Top each onion with shavings of Parmesan cheese and sprigs of rosemary. Bake for a further 5 minutes.

Serve hot.

Cheesy Braai Pie

Ingredients:
2 rolls of puff pastry, defrosted
15ml vegetable oil
1 onion, finely diced
1 Italian sweet red pepper, finely chopped
400g chicken fillet, cut into thin strips (as for stir fry)
250g streaky bacon chopped into bits
1 packet Thick White Onion Soup
1 bunch of Swiss chard (or spinach), washed, removed from the thick stems and roughly chopped
50g button mushrooms, sliced (optional... before using please check that there isn't anyone who is allergic to mushrooms)
200g Mozzarella or Cheddar cheese, grated
1 round of Feta cheese (about 50-60g), crumbled
1 egg, lightly whisked

Method:
Heat the oil in a pan and fry the onion and red pepper over a medium heat until they are soft. Add the chicken strips and brown them before adding the bacon. Fry until the bacon is cooked through. Remove from the pan and set aside.

Prepare a cool braai with an elevated grid.

Brush the braai grid with a wire brush to remove any charred deposits, then brush the grid with vegetable oil.

Unroll a roll of pastry onto a pastry board. Place a layer of spinach over the pastry and top with the prepared chicken mixture. Sprinkle the White Onion Soup powder over this. Add a layer of mushrooms, if using. Top everything with grated cheese and finish the layering with spinach. Place the second roll of pastry on top. Seal the edges of the pastry as if making a pie. Lightly brush with egg wash. With a small sharp knife, make a few slits in the top pastry to allow steam to escape.

 Slide the pie onto the braai grid and allow to cook for about 20 minutes, turning the pie over half way through the cooking so that both sides are cooked through.

Cooks Note

If you only have a small braai, this pie could be made in small individual portions by cutting the pastry sheet into 4-8 rectangles, thus making smaller pies that can be put around the outside of the braai to cook while you are doing braaied vegetables or braai roasties.

Breakfast Bites

Preparing the muffin cups.

Ingredients:

12 eggs

6 strips of bacon cut lengthways to make 12 strips

12 bits of proscuitto to fill bottom of muffin tins

12 cherry tomatoes halved

12 slices of mushroom

12 large pieces of flat leaf parsley

salt and pepper

Breakfast Bites cooked and ready to devour.

Method:

Pre heat oven to 180 ˚C.

Spray olive oil in the muffin tin and place proscuitto on the bottom , and bacon around the sides of each muffin spot.

Place mushroom slice, two halves of cherry tomato and a piece of parsley in each muffin tin. Crack open an egg on each muffin and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Place in the oven and cook for 10 minutes.

Meatnuts

Ingredients:

750g beef mince
2 eggs
5 mini peppers, diced
5ml marjoram
a few leaves of fresh basil and parsley, chopped
250g bacon

Method: 

Mix together meat, spices, and eggs.
Form into patties, poke a hole in the middle, and thread strips of bacon through the centre, wrapping it around the edges.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes, flip over, bake at 425 for fifteen minutes more. If you want crispy bacon, broil for the last five minutes.

Cheese and Bacon Buttermilk Bread

Buttermilk makes a tasteful base to a savoury bread. With undertones of bacon, cheese and onion, this loaf is quickly prepared. It's a great bread to serve at a braai or barbecue and is bound to be a family favourite.

Ingredients:
375ml wholemeal flour
250ml cake flour
10ml baking powder
2ml bicarbonate of soda
10ml sugar
5ml salt
5ml English mustard powder
2ml cayenne pepper
50g butter
80 ml grated Parmesan cheese
5 slices streaky bacon, crispy cooked and crumbled
1 egg, lightly beaten
500ml buttermilk
10ml Worcestershire sauce
2 spring onions, chopped fine.

Method:
Preheat the oven to 160C.
Mix together the flours, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt, mustard and cayenne pepper. Rub the butter into the mixture until it resembles fine bread crumbs. Fold in the cheese and the bacon, reserving a little of each to go on the top of the loaf.
Combine the egg, buttermilk and Worcestershire sauce and blend. Mix into the dry ingredients.
Pour the mixture into a buttered loaf tin, which has been lined with baking paper. Sprinkle the chopped spring onion, reserved cheese and bacon on top of the loaf.
Bake for one hour. To test for readyness, knock on the top of the loaf; it should sound hollow, or test with a metal skewer pushed into the middle of the loaf. When the loaf is cooked it should come out clean.
Cool before slicing and buttering to serve.

Gruyère and Bacon Soufflé

A Soufflé is a light and fluffy, sweet or savoury baked dish consisting of stiffly beaten egg whites folded into a sauce pr puree that has been thickened with egg yolks. Origin: A French noun use of the past participle of the verb, souffler, to blow or puff, from the Latin, sufflare, to breath on or blow on.

Ingredients:

500ml milk

2 sprigs fresh thyme

1 bay leaf

1 pinch ground nutmeg

1 tbsp olive oil

150g heavily cured bacon, finely chopped

65g butter, plus extra for greasing

55g plain flour

pinch English mustard powder

5 free-range eggs, separated

salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 tbsp fresh chopped chives

To serve

300ml double cream

110g gruyère cheese, very finely grated

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200C (convection mode) and generously grease six ramekins of 7cm x 4cm.

Place the milk in a saucepan, add the thyme, bay leaf and nutmeg, and bring to a simmer.

Turn off the heat and leave to infuse for a few minutes.

Heat a frying pan until hot, add the olive oil and bacon and cook until crisp. Remove and place on a plate lined with kitchen paper.

Melt the butter in a saucepan and add the flour and mustard. Cook for a couple of minutes until a nutty aroma is released.

Strain the milk and add it to the saucepan containing the flour and mustard. Whisk continuously until thick, then beat in the egg yolks and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Allow to cool slightly.

Whisk the egg whites in a clean bowl until firm, adding a pinch of salt.

Add one-third of the egg white to the soufflé base mix and beat in. Stir in the chives and then carefully fold in the remaining egg whites. Spoon the mixture into the buttered ramekins and bake for 5-7 minutes, or until the tops begin to brown.

To serve, preheat the grill to high.

Warm the cream in a saucepan and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Increase the temperature and cook until the volume of liquid has reduced by one-third.

Add the crispy bacon and mix well, then add salt and pepper, to taste. Pour the cream into six serving bowls and turn the soufflés out onto the cream.

Cover the soufflés with the grated gruyère cheese and place under the grill. Once golden-brown and bubbling, remove from the grill and serve immediately.

Buckwheat and Apple Crumpets with Braised Cabbage and Bacon

These would probably be better known as pancakes, which most people think of as an American idea, but they actually come from Europe, especially the Saxon or Germanic peoples, including the British. In South Africa we call them crumpets, which are usually sweet, but those who are of Dutch heritage also make savoury varieties. They are wonderful for breakfast when you have time to make them, or served with a meat course as a side dish.

Ingredients:

For the pancake batter:

2 eggs, lightly beaten

220 ml milk, plus a little extra if necessary

1 apple, peeled and grated

200 g buckwheat flour

10ml baking powder

30ml oatmeal

butter, for frying

For the braised cabbage:

1 small/medium savoy cabbage, cored and cut into wedges

1 red onion, thinly sliced

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

5ml fresh thyme, leaves

30ml maple syrup

75 ml cider vinegar

100 g butter, diced

To serve:

12 slices lean bacon

apple sauce

6 bags maple syrup

thick crème fraiche

Method:

For the pancake batter:

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and milk, then stir in the apple. Sift in the flour, baking powder and a pinch of salt, sprinkle over the oatmeal and fold in until just combined, adding a little more milk if necessary. Transfer the bowl to the refrigerator to rest the batter for 30 minutes.

For the cabbage:

Preheat the oven to 190C. Put the cabbage on a large sheet of tinfoil, top with onion, garlic, thyme, maple syrup and cider vinegar. Dot with butter and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Seal the foil edges, put the packet on a baking tray and bake for 45 minutes. Heat a little butter in a heavy-based non-stick frying pan, add spoonfuls of pancake batter and cook until the pancakes begin to bubble on the surface, then flip them over and continue to cook till golden.

Cook the bacon on a griddle until done to your liking. To serve, put the pancakes on serving plates, top with apple sauce, braised cabbage, bacon and crème fraiche and drizzle with maple syrup.

Cheese and Onion Scones with Bacon Topping

Sunday morning breakfast is always a little laid back,

but different from the rest of the week.

We try to have something a bit more imaginative

than the run of the mill rushed breakfast of the rest of the week.

Today we had scones,

but scones with a difference:

- Breakfast -

All in one bite.

.

Ingredients:
2 small shallots, chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped
10ml olive oil
10ml butter
15ml chopped fresh parsley
500ml flour
20ml baking powder
2ml salt
50g grated cheddar cheese
250ml milk
8 strips streaky bacon

.

Method:
Preheat the oven to 220C.
In a frying pan, add the olive oil and melt the butter. Sweat the onion and garlic until the onion is translucent, but not coloured. With a slotted spoon, remove the onion and garlic to a mini blender and whizz to a paste.
In a mixing bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, salt and grated cheese. Add the onion and garlic paste and fold through the flour.
Make a well in the middle of the flour and pour in the milk. Blend to a dough with your fingers, mixing in the flour a little at a time. Pat the dough into a flat circle and turn out onto a floured board. With a rolling pin, roll out to about 3/4 inch thick and cut into circles with a floured, fluted scone cutter, or cut into squares with a floured knife.
Place on a baking tray about 1 inch apart and bake for about 10 minutes or until cooked through when tested with a metal skewer. Set aside on a wire wrack to cool slightly.
While the scones are cooking, fry the bacon in a skillet until cooked through, but not quite crispy. Cut the bacon rashers with a scissors into little strips, about 1/4 inch wide.
Cut each scone in half and butter each open side. Top with the bacon strips and serve.

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Christmas Turkey Paté

My family are not very fond of turkey,

so I had to find a way to include it in our Christmas dinner.

This is my way of having turkey without all the fuss of having to cook a whole bird.

This meat mixture can be used to make great turkey burgers.

.

Ingredients:

175g chopped chicken livers

125ml milk

100g raisins

125ml sherry

thigh meat from a turkey, skin removed, cut from the bone and chopped into small dice

350g belly pork, cut in small dice

175 g un-smoked bacon, cut in small dice

100g pure pork fat, cut in small dice

1 onion, finely chopped

sea salt and white pepper to season

100g white bread crumbs

5ml mixed spice

5ml french herb mix

30ml chopped fresh parsley

75ml brandy or whiskey

1 egg

24 rashers of streaky bacon

.

Method:

Soak the chicken livers in milk for an hour or two, or overnight. The calcium in the milk helps to remove the toxins and bitterness from the livers.

Soak the raisins in sherry for an hour or two, or put them in the microwave for 30 seconds on high and leave for a few minutes for the raisins to plump up and the mix to cool.

Drain the sherry from the raisins if there is any left into the onions and sweat the onions in a dry pan and set aside.

In a large bowl, mix the turkey meat, belly pork, un-smoked bacon, pork fat and chicken livers.

Put the meats through a mincer or pulse them in a kitchen blender. Do not make the mix too smooth.

Season liberally with sea salt and ground white pepper.

Add the onions, raisins, bread crumbs, spice, herbs, brandy and egg and mix well, using your hands to macerate the mixture. Once mixed, fold with a wooden spoon. The mixture should take on a firm texture. Put the mixture in the fridge for about half an hour to firm up well.

Line an 8 inch round cake tin with stretched streaky bacon in a radial pattern, almost half of the length hanging over the side of the tin. Fill the centre with meat mixture and fold in the ends of the bacon rashers over the top.

Put a fitting circle of baking paper (a cartouche) over the top, and place a small plate that fits inside the baking tin over the paper. Cover the baking tin with foil and make a rolled seal in the foil.

Bake in a hot oven for about 90 minutes.

Just before serving, turn out on a baking tray and put under the grill to crisp the top of the bacon covering.

Serve in wedges as a substitute for stuffing.

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