Bacon Week Part 2: Bacon Salt

Tags

bacon, gifts, gluten free, salt, seasoning, Southern

Salt and bacon are two cooking essentials. The combination of the two is perfection indeed. Use this salt on things like eggs, potatoes, sprinkled onto steak before grilling…

For more on the inspiration of this post, see this post- Bacon Week Part 1: Bacon! Bacon! Bacon!

Bacon Salt 

• 6 slices of bacon
• 1/2 cup coarse sea salt
• 3/4 teaspoon ground peppercorns

Preheat an oven to 350 degrees. Lay your bacon out in single strips over a cookie rack and put that in a baking tray. Bake for 20-25 minutes until the bacon is crisp and starting to blacken(It should look overcooked rather than how you’d normally eat bacon).

Once the bacon has cooled, use a paper towel to press out any excess oil. Transfer the bacon to a food processor and process until there are only small chunks and a paste begins to form. Add in the sea salt and ground pepper(note: whole peppercorns will not break up in the food processor) and continue to process until the salt breaks up into smaller pieces and mixes with the bacon. Transfer to an airtight jar and keep in the refrigerator when not using.

Vanilla Scented Walnuts

Tags

Christmas, food, gifts, snacks, vanilla, vegetarian, walnuts

These walnuts have a gently, lovely vanilla flavor that is just out of the world. Who would have thought something so simple would be so wonderful. Proof that the best things in life aren’t always filled with pomp and circumstance.

Vanilla Scented Walnuts (from Elana)
2 cups English walnuts, raw
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons honey
¼ teaspoon sea salt
1 vanilla beans

Place walnuts and oil in a cast iron skillet and turn heat to high. As soon as you hear the slightest sizzle, turn heat down to medium or low. Toast walnuts a few minutes until they smell nice and nutty. Add honey and distribute around pan stirring; cook for a minute or two, then add salt. Scrape the beans out of the vanilla pod and stir into walnuts. Remove walnuts from pan.

Coconut Almond Macaroons

Tags

chocolate, Christmas, coconut, cookies, dessert, gifts, holiday, macaroons

Here is a great recipe to help you use up all those left over egg whites from making your lemon curd. I made several large batches to give to the neighbors. I hope they like them.

On a side note, use a squeeze bottle to pipe the chocolate onto the cookies. I had always heard of doing that but never tried it. It is way better than using a ziploc bag or a fork to drizzle. It is much more controlled and clean up is minimal. Any left over chocolate can just be stored in the bottle. The ease of application and cleanup is definitely worth the $3 for the bottle.

Coconut Almond Macaroons

• 1 (14 oz) packages sweetened shredded coconut
• 1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
• Pinch salt
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 4 large egg whites at room temperature
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 tbsp vegetable shortening

In a stand-up mixer, combine sugar and egg whites. Beat until they reach medium peaks. In another bowl, combine condensed milk, coconut, almond extract, and salt. When egg whites are ready, fold in the coconut mixture. Spoon in 1 to 1 1/2 tbsp amounts onto a parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake in an oven preheated to 350 degrees for 18 to 20 minutes. When done, remove immediately from the pan and onto a cooling rack.

When cookies are completely cooled, they can be decorated. In a small saucepan, melt together the chocolate chips and the shortening. Pour into squeeze bottle. Decorate macaroons as desired. Allow chocolate to harden before storing in an air-tight container.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Icing

Tags

cake, chocolate, dessert, frosting, gifts, icing, peanut butter, sweets, Valentine's Day

This is another great recipe from Confections of a Foodie Bride. I made them for my hubby for Valentine’s Day (as well as getting him a new bottle of his favorite cologne). I rarely love icing but this stuff is addicting. There was some left over that my co-workers and I enjoyed with graham crackers… MMMM! Your valentine will love this!

I love the Elvis curl on this cupcake!

Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Icing 

The Cake:

• 1 cup flour
• 1 1/4 cup sugar
• 3/8 cup dutch process cocoa
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 3/4 cup water
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 Tbsp white vinegar
• 1 egg

For the Peanut Butter Frosting:

• 5 oz cream cheese, at room temp
• 4 Tbsp butter, at room temp
• pinch of salt
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 1/3 cup peanut butter

Line 15 cups of a muffin pan with cupcake papers. Add dry ingredients to the bowl of your stand mixer. Turn on low and add sour cream and oil. When completely mixed, add water in 1/4-cup increments until the batter is uniform. Add vanilla, vinegar, and the egg, mixing on medium until combined. The batter will be very runny. Ladle batter into the cupcake liners, filling 3/4 full. Bake for ~25 minutes, until a skewer inserted in a center cupcake comes out with moist crumbs attached. Let cool in pan for 20 minutes and then cool on wire rack completely before frosting.

To make the frosting, beat cream cheese and butter on high, until light and creamy (2-3 minutes). Mix in salt and powdered sugar on low speed until just combined and then beat on high for 2-3 minutes, until the frosting is fluffy. Add peanut butter and mix on high until completely combined. Ice and enjoy!