Warm Bacon and Mushroom Salad

Becky and I like to have a salad with just about every dinner. But with a distinct chill in the air, there are nights when a warm salad is much preferred over a cold one.. This is one our favorite cold weather salads and the two main ingredients, bacon and mushrooms, add comforting warmth and blockbuster flavors to the salad.

I want you to be sure and secure the right kind of bacon. We will have two requirements. First, you want thick-sliced bacon. You need some substance to partner with roasted mushrooms. Skinny bacon is out. And skip hickory smoked. You want applewood smoked bacon...unique for its complex and sophisticated combination of flavors. 

1.  

Next up on our favorite foods list are oven-roasted Cremini mushrooms. A brief flash of high heat will shrink these babies down, concentrating the incredible umami taste into little chewable celebrations of joy. Your palate will be delighted at the fusion of applewood bacon and roasted mushrooms. But wait.....there's more....

To complete the trifecta, we are going to add our very favorite lettuce....arugula. It has a spicy, peppery taste that sits in stark contrast to the bacon and mushrooms. All the salad needs now is a little dressing with lemon, cider vinegar, bacon fat...and a generous helping of goat cheese.

INGREDIENTS

1 pound Cremini mushrooms, stems discarded and caps sliced thick

1/2 cup olive oil

Kosher salt

1/2 pound thick-sliced applewood smoked bacon, cut into 1/2" strips

1 small sweet yellow onion, peeled and thinly sliced (about 1/2 cup)

1/2 cup cider vinegar

2 teaspoons lemon juice

6 ounces arugula

3/4 cup walnuts

Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper

3 ounces goat cheese, crumbled

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 425º F.
2. In a large bowl, toss the mushrooms with olive oil. Spread the mushrooms on a sheet pan, salt lightly and roast for 35 minutes, stirring once or twice, until crisp and golden. 
3. In a large skillet, cook the bacon over moderately low heat, stirring frequently, until crisp, about 8 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the bacon to a paper towel–lined plate. Strain the fat into a heatproof bowl and return half of it to the skillet. Add the onion to the skillet and cook over moderately low heat until softened, about 6 minutes. Add the vinegar and simmer until all of the liquid is reduced to 3 tablespoons, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and whisk in the lemon juice and add the remaining bacon fat.
4. In a large bowl, combine the greens with the vinaigrette, mushrooms and walnuts, then toss. Season with salt and pepper and toss again. Sprinkle with the bacon and goat cheese and serve.

Pairing: Pinot Noir

Party Ribs in the Oven

 

 

When you slice up a rack of ribs and cook them as individual pieces, the dish is called Party Ribs. Party ribs are a favorite because they caramelize the rub and sauce on all 4 sides of the rib. And they are called party ribs because they are ready to party the minute you pull them out of the oven. Appy's anyone?

Besides the advantage of party ribs being a lot more flavorful than a rack of ribs, party ribs cook a lot faster than a rack of ribs. It's a breeze to crank out these ribs in under 3 hours....less than half the time of the standard 3-2-1 method. And sure...you could cook them in a smoker. But your oven is a much easier tool and it greatly lessens your workload. And it's always available...regardless of the weather.

Did someone say party ribs?

This recipe scales up easily. But a word of caution....a wire rack/cookie sheet holds 2 racks of ribs. So if you are looking to cook 3 or more racks, you are going to need another cookie sheet set-up.

The second step, which involves coating the ribs with olive oil, is critical so that the rub sticks to the meat. I would also encourage you to tamp down the rub on the ribs to make sure it sticks.

To save cleaning time and elbow grease, line the cookie sheet with foil before you add the wire rack in both steps 3 and 6.

This recipe will give you "tender-to-the-bite" meat still attached to the bone. If you like your rib meat falling off the bone, increase the cooking time in step 5 by 20 minutes (cook for 1 hour and 20 minutes).

INGREDIENTS

1 rack of baby back ribs, trimmed

Olive oil

Famous Dave's Rib Rub

Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ Sauce

2 pats of butter

DIRECTIONS

1. Cut ribs into individual pieces by slicing between the bones.
2. Put the ribs in a large bowl and add 1/2 cup olive oil. Toss the ribs until they are well coated with oil.
3. Preheat oven to 325º. Put a wire rack over a cookie sheet. Place the ribs on their sides on the wire rack so that none of the ribs are touching. Pick up each rib, season all sides with Famous Dave's Rib Rub and replace the rib on the rack. Once all ribs are seasoned, slide the rack/sheet into the middle of the oven and cook for 1 hour and 20 minutes. Remove ribs from oven.
4. Increase oven heat to 350º. Layout 2 large sheets of aluminum foil (for double wrapping the ribs). Pour about half of a cup of BBQ sauce on the bottom of the foil. Then lay ribs out in a single layer on the foil (it's OK if they touch). Pour another half of a cup of BBQ sauce over the top of the ribs and add 2 pats of butter to the top of the ribs. Cover the ribs tightly with foil (but not so tight that the bones puncture the foil).
5. Place foil packet in the oven and cook for 1 hour. Then remove ribs from oven.
6. Increase oven heat to 450º. Carefully remove the ribs from the foil, saving all of the liquid in the foil. Put the wire rack back on the cookie sheet and place the ribs on their sides but not touching each other. Using a basting brush, dip the brush in the liquid in the foil and baste each rib with the liquid. Then slide the rack/sheet into the middle of the oven and cook for 5 minutes until ribs are well-browned. Remove ribs and serve.

Pairing: An ice-cold pilsner.

Bulgogi Sloppy Joes

 

When I was attending Edina's Wooddale Elementary School back in the early 60's, lunch was nothing to write home about. Fish sticks on Fridays. Industrial Mac & Cheese (made with paste) on Tuesdays. Warm whole milk...5 days a week. 

Fortunately, Sloppy Joes made it on the menu about every 2 weeks. And my little-7-year old self would marvel at my plate. Look at the lovely carbs in that big, fluffy bun! Real meat from cows! But alas, the ground beef was flavored with ketchup. Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce was not on the government approved subsidy list. Oh....the horror.

But it is 2024 and a very good time to revisit the beloved sloppy Joes of my youth...but this time with a little Korean twist. Lime juice, sriracha, soy sauce, gochugang, scallions and garlic! Ladies and gentlemen...from the incredible people that brought you kimchi and BTS...welcome if you will...Bulgogi Sloppy Joes!

INGREDIENTS

For the Slaw 

2 tablespoons mayonnaise

1-1/2 tablespoons lime juice

3 tablespoons sriracha chile sauce 

3/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

4 cups thinly sliced Napa cabbage

1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion

For the Sloppy Joe

1/2 cup chicken stock

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon gochujang

1 teaspoon cornstarch

1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil

1 pound 90% lean ground beef

4 garlic cloves, pressed or chopped

4 scallions, chopped

4 sesame seed hamburger buns, split and toasted

DIRECTIONS

1. Whisk together first five slaw ingredients in a medium bowl. Add cabbage and onion; toss well to coat. Let stand at room temperature while beef cooks.
2. Whisk together stock, brown sugar, soy sauce, gochujang, and cornstarch in a small bowl; set aside. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Crumble beef into skillet and stir in garlic. Cook, stirring often to break up beef into small pieces, until browned, 4 to 5 minutes. Stir in scallions, and cook, stirring often, until scallions are softened, about 2 minutes. Add reserved stock mixture. Bring to a simmer over medium-high; cook, stirring often, until sauce is thickened and glossy, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat.
3. Spoon about 1/2 cup beef mixture onto each bottom bun. Top each with about 1/2 cup cabbage mixture and cover with top buns.

Pairing: Try Kloud, a Korean Pilsner

Grogs and Goldie, 1955