Tag Archives: Bacon

Recipes - Side Dishes

Country Cabbage

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A rainy day seemed a good day for preparing this dish; it is colorful, nutritious, and mama and I love it!  Reasons enough to get out the electric skillet and mix up this combination of cabbage, vegetables, and bacon!  Mashed potatoes on the side a must!

This simple dish has a quick prep. Shred the cabbage and prepare the vegetables and you’re ready to go. Saute the vegetables in the reserved bacon drippings, add the cabbage, the seasonings and the tomatoes (with juice) and let it cook covered. With 5 cups of cabbage in this dish, I find my high-sided electric skillet best for mixing the cabbage well with the other vegetables and the liquid from the stewed tomatoes.  Cook only until the cabbage is fork tender.  I allow this to sit, covered, a few minutes after cooking to allow the flavors to mingle and the cabbage to soften. This makes a perfect side dish for meatloaf or a pot of beans and any leftovers are fine microwaved for one more serving.

It really is country good, y’all!

Country Cabbage

Ingredients

3-4 slices bacon, cooked, drained, crumbled
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1 small green pepper, chopped
1/2 cup celery, chopped
5 cups cabbage, shredded
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
1-(16 oz.) can stewed tomatoes, chopped small

Directions Fry bacon; drain, crumble, and set aside. Reserve drippings in pan. Add onion, green pepper and celery to bacon grease. Cook until tender but not browned, about 3 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and bring to simmer in skillet. Reduce heat to medium low; cover, and cook 8-10 minutes longer or until the cabbage is tender. Top with the crumbled bacon and serve immediately.

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Recipes - Appetizers

Cheese Bacon Bread Bake

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Super Bowl viewing requires something a little heavier than just dip and chips, and this bread bake, stuffed with bacon and cheese is a good place to start for a heartier appetizer. The outside of the bread bakes seasoned with the tang of dry Ranch mix and melted butter and the inside softens with slices of sharp Cheddar and bacon. An easy prep, only five minutes frying the bacon halfway then layering it into  the bread along with the cheddar slices, and just 25 minutes in the oven and you’ve got a hearty appetizer on the table, ready for sharing. The bacon will get crisper as the bread bakes and it is a sublime little bite you get along with buttery seasoning and the sharp melted cheddar.

Today I halved the recipe as given in my cookbook because I bought only a small loaf of sourdough but do use a pound loaf to feed a hungry and appreciative bunch.  Serve it up warm, add a few cold beverages and you’ve got ‘game on’ here!

Bacon & Cheddar Bread Bake

Ingredients

3 slices bacon
1 lb. loaf of round sourdough bread
(8 oz.) block sharp Cheddar cheese, sliced
1/2 stick butter, melted
1 T. Ranch dry seasoning mix

Directions

Preheat oven to 350.  Place bacon in a large skillet and cook over medium heat, turning occasionally, until halfway cooked, about 5 minutes. Drain the bacon slices on paper towels; cut crosswise into 1/2-inch wide strips.  Cut slits halfway through bread in two directions creating a checkerboard pattern. Slip Cheddar cheese slices and bacon pieces into the slits.  Mix butter and ranch dressing mix in a small bowl; pour over bread, allowing to drip into the slits. Wrap entire loaf in a sheet of aluminum foil and place on a baking sheet.  Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes. Unwrap bread and return to baking sheet; bake until cheese is melted and bacon crisped, about 10 minutes more.

 

Direction Preheat oven to 350.  Place bacon in a large skillet and cook over medium heat, turning occasionally, until halfway cooked, about 5 minutes. Drain the bacon slices on paper towels; cut crosswise into 1/2-inch wide strips.  Cut slits halfway through bread in two directions creating a checkerboard pattern. Slip Cheddar cheese slices and bacon pieces into the slits.  Mix butter and ranch dressing mix in a small bowl; pour over bread, allowing to drip into the slits. Wrap entire loaf in a sheet of aluminum foil and place on a baking sheet.  Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes. Unwrap bread and return to baking sheet; bake until cheese is melted and bacon crisp, about 10 minutes more.

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Recipes - Side Dishes

Bacon Bundled Green Beans

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Prep
Prep

Bacon Bundled Beans

Thanks to friend, Micki Welsh, for sharing this recipe with me last week. You tell me: what’s NOT to like about combining bacon and fresh green beans baked with a mixture of brown sugar and butter? Reading this recipe you know already exactly how this will taste. Admit it, you DO! And, it sounds wonderful, no?

Once I had the beans, I was SO excited about making this that I sashayed straight into the kitchen and fell to putting the dish together. Beans trimmed, bacon cut, bundles rolled and secured with a toothpick, and then OH, NO! I belatedly realized the recipe instructed blanching the beans before rolling them up in the bacon!

Yep, you got it: I had to unroll, blanch, and re-roll. Time wasted and a slippery mess! Take away Lesson #1: DO read a recipe thoroughly before beginning. In the end, however, these baked up perfectly and they are definitely a new “go-to” recipe for fresh green beans. The bacon crisps and the brown sugar-butter mixture caramelizes as the bundles broil the last five minutes of cooking time resulting in tender veggies AND tangy flavor that will leave you reaching for more.

This recipe is excellent for enticing the kiddos into eating their veggies and the prep time is minimal (IF you read the directions carefully!). The presentation is more appetizing and tidier than a simple bowl of green beans and all you need do is just sit back and accept the compliments.

Concerned that the beans might become overdone, I adjusted my oven to 325 and baked them for 37 minutes on my timer, broiling them the last five minutes. The beans were tender and the bacon crisp and I will be honest and admit that my supper turned into a little chowder and a whole lot of beans. I halved the recipe today and it yielded 9 bundles. I ate half of the halved recipe; they are THAT good!

Bacon Bundled Green Beans

Ingredients

2# fresh French green beans, ends trimmed
8-10 bacon strips, cut in half
1 stick butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp. garlic powder, optional

Directions Blanch the beans for five minutes in a large sauce pot in boiling water to cover (or microwave them). Drain and cool. Bundle 10-12 beans and wrap each bundle with a strip of bacon, securing each bundle with a toothpick. Prepare the sauce by melting the butter in a small sauce pot on the stove, add the sugar and the garlic powder if using. Cook over medium heat until bubbly, whisking continually, then remove from heat and pour the mixture evenly over the bean bundles. Bake 350 for 35-40 minutes. Before removing from oven, place the baking dish under your oven’s broiler element and broil five minutes. Remove from oven and serve in a flat dish with shallow sides, providing tongs for picking up each bundle.

The bundles can be refrigerated, covered, overnight, once you have them wrapped and secured with the toothpicks. Remove from fridge the next day and allow them to warm slightly before baking. The bacon and sugar can produce a bit of a mess so I took Micki’s advice and prepared this using a throw-away aluminum pan for easy clean up.

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