Fish & Brewis

In my family Christmas morning breakfast has, for as long as I can remember, been a traditional fisherman's meal of Fish and Brewis (pronounced 'bruise') expertly prepared by my Dad.

It consists of flakey salt cod (readily available on the ships, salted for preservation), brewis (Purity brand hard tack, an extremely hard biscuit of flour and water that is soaked over night until it is roughly the consistency of boiled potatoes, another staple on the ships for its self-life– virtually indestructable and unspoilable) and...

scrunchions (salt pork belly that is diced and rendered down to crispy chunks of heavenly salty bacon).

Sounds questionable, but as the bf can attest it's "comfort seafood in breakfast form."

Served this year with the traditional partridgeberry jam and mixed melon and blueberries marinated in lime juice, mint and rum....like a mojito fruit salad.

A Very Bacon-y Christmas

St. John's, Newfoundland.

Sun pierces a stormy sky and a very bacon-y Christmas is had by all...

The bf traveled with me to visit my family on the Rock for Christmas. Christmas dinner was a feast of ridiculous proportions, as it usually is. Behold...

A twenty pound turkey with breakfast sausage artfully draped over top, surrounded by roasted baby potatoes.

The glorious sides from L to R: turnip with a crunchy breadcrumb top, cauliflower with cheese sauce, shredded brussel sprouts with proscuitto and pine nuts, and traditional dressing with peppercorn bacon, celery and Newfoundland savory.

Close up of the brussel sprouts.

Close up of the dressing (my favourite).

Refrigerator Pasta #2

To clear out the fridge before we head out for the Christmas holidays I made another refrigerator pasta, heavy on the bacon of course.

Ingredients:
the rest of a pound of bacon
the last onion
the last few garlic cloves
the end of a bottle of California Pinot Grigio
the second half of a can of tomato paste
most of a bottle of strained tomatoes
the rest of a container of arugula

Seasoned with s&p, red chili flakes and dried oregano and toped with crispy bacon and freshly grated parmesan.

Last minute bacon gifts

For those of you with a bacon lover on your list and an empty spot under the tree here's a list of 99 "Porky Presents for your most calorie-carnivorous friends."

Personally I'm loving the bacon and eggs scarf...delicious and practical for Canadian winter!

Pou-tig-ly

Poutini's House of Poutine has changed the way Torontonians eat late at night. Once restricted to pizza or a falafel, Poutini's has made the artery-clogging Quebecois special of french fries, gravy and squeaky cheese curds the go-to meal to preempt the hangover. Being the innovators that they are, they invented the Pou-tig-ly (traditional poutine as above plus crispy bacon on top) for folks like my bf to eat at 1:41am on a Saturday morning.

Bon Appetit.

What's your favorite way to eat poutine? I'd love to hear from you, let me know in the comments.

Smokey chorizo with butter beans

Well, though winter officially starts next week, it has most certainly arrived in the GTA. Temperatures are below seasonal averages, snow is falling, and the wind chill is whipping. Such meteorological horrors calls for long lazy Sundays inside with movies and cozy hearty meals. 

I spent this Sunday making my version of Donna Hay's Smokey Baked Beans, which is a misnomer because they're not baked at all, but slowly simmered on the stovetop. Not that it makes an ounce of difference.

I quickly browned a little bacon to up the smoke factor, then sauteed some onion and garlic, browned the halved (extra spicy) chorizo and deglazed with a little beef stock. Once reduced a little I added in fresh tomato sauce from the bf's mom, more beef stock, and the beans and let them go for about 20 minutes. 

Topped with some fresh italian parsley and served with Kozlick's Italian mustard and Roasted Red Pepper and Onion Fougasse to sop up the sauce.

Captain Canuck

On a rainy, cold and icy Sunday, Captain Canuck comes to the rescue.

The Lakeview's Captain Canuck: Peameal bacon with tomato and ancho chili garlic mayo on a sesame seed bun.

"Fancy a Pint of Bacon Beer?"

This is pretty much the perfect beverage for my household, bacon for me, beer for the bf.

The Guardian, out of the UK, ran an article in their Life & Style section on Friday about the world of unusual beers. With crazy combos like a Shellfish Stout and a Barley Tikka Vindaloo, you know that some inspired souls have gone the pig route and tried bacon-beer combinations. Whether imitated, or created with actual bacon right in the recipe, these brews sound good enough to eat...drink?

History has seen many different ingredients added to beer but more unusual ingredients are starting to find their way into brew pots and bottles around the world. Bacon beers have seen a strange increase in popularity in the US, some using smoked malt and others using actual bacon. Goose Island brewed Maple Bacon Stout with maple syrup and bacon and the appropriately named Uncommon Brewers in California have Bacon Brown which has a faintly smoky aroma and flavour which adds an interesting complexity to the beer.

Read the whole article here.

Bacon-wrapped Filet Mignon with wilted spinach and sweet potato fries

Tonight's meal was a quick throw together after a long week. I picked up two small but mighty little steaks and wrapped them a slice of smokey bacon to lend a little fat and a lot of flavour.

I feel like I'm not very creative when it comes to sides, I often forget about them, so they're usually an after thought consisting of whatever's in the fridge, or the first thing I think of while walking through the produce section. So tonight I decided to go waaaay far out of my comfort zone and go for two vegetables that are usually at the bottom of my list: spinach (I've explained my feelings on the matter here) and sweet potato.

The spinach turned out well, I sauteed some shallots and garlic in butter and quickly wilted the spinach down. It was flavourful and buttery, while still maintain its bright green colour, and, as I've recently discovered, all of its nutrients. That made me feel a little better about skipping the gym tonight in favour of bacon-wrapped beef.

Now I will say, while they tasted yummy with all the spices (cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, salt, paprika and brown sugar) these fries didn't turn out as crispy as I would have liked. I did them in the oven because I don't have a deep fryer, plus I didn't actually want them fried to begin with. I'm not sure if they needed a little more time at a lower heat, or to be salted and rinsed before hand to get rid of some if their water...if anyone's got any tips I'd love to hear how you make your oven-fries crispy!

Bacon News - Holiday Edition

Some linkage from the world wide web...today in Bacon News:

Now this got me in the Holiday spirit...

And this little tidbit from The Fox Foodie's Gourmet Gift Guide made my mouth water, nothing beats the salty-sweet-boozey combo.

Bacon and chocolate is so 2010. Bacon and popcorn is so 2011.Chicago’s Salted Caramel’s Bacon Bourbon Caramel Corn is Cracker Jacks for grown-ups - salty popcorn, crunchy Bourbon caramel and bits of smoky bacon. 8 oz. $12. Follow with Imperial Stout Marshmallows chasers,$7. saltedcaramel.net.

Lazy Boeuf Bourguignon with roasted garlic smashed potatoes

A cozy Sunday meal for a cold wintery day.

Starting with some diced peppercorn-crusted bacon this delicious stew is my version of the classic French dish notably perfected my one Ms. Julia Child. I haven't the patience to go through all of the intricate French steps; separately braising the onions and browning the mushrooms in batches, so I browned the meat and tossed everything in my crock pot (stewing beef slowly braised in red wine, beef stock and tomato paste with carrots, mushrooms and pearl onions) to let the house fill with that beefy aroma while I sat back.

After many hours at last it was ready. The meat was fork tender and just soaked up that velvety gravy-like sauce.  Served with roasted garlic, scallion smashed potatoes and fresh crusty bread, a gut-warming hearty bowl of happiness to end the weekend just right.

Bacon is a Vegetable

A gift from a dear friend. Does this make me a Baconterian?

Spinach salad with warm bacon & shallot vinaigrette

In an effort to be semi health-conscious while blogging about bacon, tonight's post-gym meal was a big plate of spinach salad with warm bacon and shallot vinaigrette, topped with the traditional mushroom, red onion and hard boiled egg, plus some thinly sliced radish.

Spinach is probably one of my least favourite things to eat. I just don't get it. Texture is a big thing for me and quite frankly the texture of spinach oogs me out. Raw I find it spongy and squeaky against my teeth, cooked it feels like baby food, or like it's already been chewed for me, a la mama bird. Ew.

So to solve this problem, as not only does the bf love spinach, but I'm smart enough to know that I should eat it once in a while cause it's good for you (calcium, vitamins...yada yada) my solution is to pour warm bacon-y vinaigrette all over it!

After crisping the bacon, reserve a little fat and transfer to a clean pre-heated small pan, add finely chopped shallots and whisk in dijon, red wine vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper and some vegetable oil. Spoon over salad and eat up.