Slow-Cooker Bacon Jam Recipe

(My sister took home a small container.)

I first heard about Bacon Jam from my youngest brother-in law. He was raving about it and told us we should buy a jar. We do love bacon, but buying meat in a jar? I don’t know about you, the thought of it didn’t appeal to me.

There had to be a recipe for this. I went to my usual hang out at Pinterest and sure enough Stephanie Parko had ‘pinned’ a recipe from Martha Stewart. You can find it here.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds sliced bacon, cut crosswise into 1-inch pieces
• 2 medium yellow onions, diced small
• 3 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
• 1/2 cup cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup packed dark-brown sugar
• 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
• 3/4 cup brewed coffee

Directions

1. In a large skillet, cook bacon over medium-high, stirring occasionally, until fat is rendered and bacon is lightly browned, about 20 minutes. With a slotted spoon, transfer bacon to paper towels to drain. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon fat from skillet (reserve for another use); add onions and garlic, and cook until onions are translucent, about 6 minutes. Add vinegar, brown sugar, maple syrup, and coffee and bring to a boil, stirring and scraping up browned bits from skillet with a wooden spoon, about 2 minutes. Add bacon and stir to combine.
2. Transfer mixture to a 6-quart slow cooker and cook on high, uncovered, until liquid is syrupy, 3 1/2 to 4 hours. Transfer to a food processor; pulse until coarsely chopped. Let cool, then refrigerate in airtight containers, up to 4 weeks.

There are quite a recipes out there with different versions.
This one includes whiskey.

One with Red Pepper Flakes

Bacon-Jalapeno Jam

Without coffee.

The list goes on…

Here it is in the slow cooker:

and in a mason jar:

We had it on crackers at first. Then with eggs on a crumpet. Next up will be grilled cheese! Mmmmm…..

Enjoy!

 

 

 

Black-Eyed Susan Cheesecakes

I used the recipe from Hershey’s Chocolate Lover’s Cookbook. The only thing I changed was the bottom crust. I had no vanilla wafers and wanted to use up my chocolate baking crumbs.

Mind the condensation on the bottom ones. I had them in the refrigerator and took them out for tonight. They are best eaten at room temperature.

Ingredients for my recipe*

Bottom Crust

1 1/2 cups of chocolate crumbs

1/4 cup butter, melted.

OR you can follow the original recipe and use 24 vanilla wafers.

—————————————————————————————————————-

2 packages (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup Reese’s Peanut Butter Chips

1/2 cup Hershey’s Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

3 tablespoons butter

Sliced Almonds

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 F. Line pans with foil baking cups. (I used paper and they turned out fine)

♦If you are not using vanilla wafers and decide to use the crumb crust:

Melt butter. Add crumbs. Mix. Put equal amount into bottom of cups and press lightly with the bottom of a glass or something that will fit inside the cup. Put in oven for about five minutes.

If you are using the wafers:

Place one in the bottom of each cup.

♦In a large mixer bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Stir in peanut butter chips. Spoon heaping tablespoonful cream cheese mixture into each cup.

♦Bake 15 minutes or just until set, but not browned. Cool pans on wire rack.

♦In a small microwave-safe bowl, place chocolate chips and butter. Microwave at HIGH 30 seconds to 1 minute or until chips are melted and mixture is smooth when stirred. (Took 30 seconds for me)

♦Drop teaspoons of chocolate mixture onto center of each cheesecake, letting white show around edge. Place almond slices around chocolate mixture to resemble petals. Cover; refrigerate. About 2 dozen cheesecakes.

I can’t believe how good these were. Everyone loved them.

Let me know if you try them. You really could make them and put whatever topping you want. I am really glad I used the chocolate crumb bottom instead of the wafer. Seriously good stuff! 

I wrap and freeze these for quick snacks. They thaw in no time. You could use any type of topping…fruit, sauce…it’s up to your imagination.

What to do With all Our Tomatoes? Make Bruschetta!

I went a little overboard with the tomatoes in this recipe. But we really needed to use some up.

My husband went on a guys night out with his family a while ago and had Bruschetta. He raved about it so much the chef told him what his secret was. So, I thought I would try it tonight.

First the secret: He cuts them in razor-thin slices instead of cubes. Cleans the seed and juice from the tomato and then lays them on paper towels to absorb any extra juices. That was all he said.

I cut mine into thick slabs. Next time I will make them thinner. It was still yummy!

Ingredients:

6 tomatoes

2 large cloves of garlic (minced)

1 large clove of garlic cut in half.

2-3 teaspoons of balsamic vinegar. (I used 2 of balsamic and 1/2 of my homemade garlic chive blossom vinegar)

3 Tablespoons olive oil

Basil, salt, pepper (to taste) I had no fresh basil! 

1 loaf of Italian bread cut into slices.

Shredded Mozzarella cheese

Directions:

Slice tomatoes. I just used my fingers to poke out the seeds. Lay onto paper towels to absorb juice.

Mince 2-3 cloves of garlic. Add vinegar. Salt/pepper to taste.

Lay 1/3 of the tomato slices in a bowl and top with about 1/3 garlic mixture. I did three layers. Let sit for 20 minutes.

Cut bread into thick slices. Put on baking tray and broil until lightly toasted. I flip mine over and toast the other side as well. Take the clove of garlic that you cut in half and rub the tops of each slice. (Use both slices)

After the tomatoes have sat for 20 minutes, put them on top of toasted bread. I sprinkled dried basil on top because I didn’t have any fresh. Drizzle any remaining juice from tomato/garlic mixture evenly over slices. Top with cheese.

Put under broiler until cheese is melted and or browned. It’s up to you.

Enjoy!

 

 

Yorkshire Pudding Recipe

I love Yorkshire Pudding. I could care less about the meat. Smothered in gravy with a side of whipped potatoes. Could there be any greater pleasure?

Apparently there is. My brother came over to tell us about a meal he had at a restaurant and I begged my Mom to make it last night. What little piggies we were! An eight inch round Yorkshire each! My husband was the only one to finish it all in one sitting. We were giggling in joy with each bite!

Fresh out of the oven:

Here is moms with peas. (What a way to ruin a good meal) I’ll eat them fresh out of the garden but these were frozen and cooked! Ewww!)

Mine:

Recipe:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Grease pans with pans with oil and put a dab of butter in the bottom of each pan.

Ingredients: (Note: This would be tripled for 3 eight inch round pans)

1 cup of All-purpose Flour

2 eggs

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup of milk

Directions:

Stir flour and salt together. Beat eggs and combine with milk. Make a well in the middle of the flour mixture and gradually stir in egg mixture. Whisk batter until well mixed. (2-3 minutes)

Pour batter into pan in equal amounts. Put in oven. Cook at that temperature for about 15 minutes. Turn heat down to 375 F for about 20 minutes or until browned and puffy in the middle. If it is not puffed up, it isn’t ready.

I know most people preheat the pans and then put the batter in. This is just the way we eat ours.

Enjoy!

 

The Best Cake I Ever Made!

I can now say this is by far the best cake I have ever made! It was a flavor unlike anything I have ever experienced. No one thought they could finish their slice so soon after dinner but we did.

My husband is still smiling. It was worth every minute spent. I wish I could put into words what an exquisite cake this is. I am actually proud of myself. 

Here is the middle:

To give you an idea how high it is. Next to a bottle of wine:

Have to run.

For recipe and earlier post on this cake click here.

The Most Terrifying Cake I Have Ever Made!

I saw the most amazing cake recipe while reading another Word Press blog called tales of thyme & place. It was a version of the cake they had made for their wedding. Just the title alone was enough to perk my interest. They have a wonderful blog, it’s fast becoming one of my favorites!

White Almond Cake with Cherry Cheesecake Filling (This link will bring you to the recipe)

I know how much this cake means to them and I didn’t want to mess it up. It took two days to make! If that is not love, I don’t know what is! 

I was terrified of messing it up, not only to make a total bomb out of everything Jason put into it, but this is for my sister. It’s her birthday in a few days but we are having her for dinner tonight. I really wanted something special and this was a recipe I had never tried before.

I followed it to a “T”. Well…almost. I was supposed to chop the cherries and ended up with more a puree. 

I decorated it with tempered chocolate. We won’t be trying it until tonight but here are some photo’s:

Before the cherries went on.

The almonds.

Almost done!

Done!

Now I have to clean up my mess and finish cooking dinner!

You’ll get to see the middle late tonight. I pray it tastes as good as it looks!

Thanks for sharing this recipe, Jason!

If you would like to see the middle of the cake, it is on the next post found here.

Anniversary Chicken

I found this recipe over at The Rantings of an Amateur Chef and knew I had to try it. It looks like he used way more bacon than I did. (I will use more next time)

My husband had a music buddy, his teenage son and two of his friends over jamming (music not food) for the evening. They showed up unexpected and I had no idea what I would make for supper (I call it dinner, my mom calls it supper, take your pick). The Amateur Chef to the rescue!

I thought I had teriyaki and didn’t! Replaced it with honey garlic sauce. Ran out to the garden and picked a bunch of zucchini and used this recipe. The only changes I made was to add bacon and drizzled them in garlic butter.

Whipped potatoes. There. Dinner was an absolute hit! Thank you Amateur Chef!

UPDATE:

I had taken extra chicken out yesterday because on the week-ends there are always people stopping in for dinner. You just never know. If no one else comes by I just cook it the next day and freeze it. My husband liked this so much he asked me to whip up another batch to bring in his lunches. Here it is fresh out of the oven and still bubbling:

I was going to make perogies today but didn’t have everything I needed. 

 

Busy Day!

This is going to be a long post!

It has been so dry and hot here. This morning when I left for work it was pouring down rain. YAY! I thought the gardens will be so happy but by the time I got home there wasn’t even a hint of wet soil. If I hadn’t seen it for myself I wouldn’t have believed it rained at all!

Everything seems to be okay so far. Look at the tomatoes:

The Romaine:

We might even get a watermelon after all!

My babies (jalapeno):

Maybe get a Pumpkin too?

We ate these:

We have peas!

This tomato plant grew on its own in the middle of our pepper plants! I hope it is the Brandy Wine! Could be the small cherry tomatoes too:

I came home an ate this bean straight away! Yummy goodness!

The half-dead black berry bush we saved from the trash bin seems to be living!

I also want to say how happy I am that Canada is a melting pot of Immigrants. I am so lucky to have a job where I get to meet new people all the time. The conversation always turns to gardening and food. 

Over the years I have been privileged to meet some truly wonderful people from so many different countries. We usually end up sharing tips, recipes and food!

Last week I was given a blackberry bush by a customer after saying ours haven’t been doing well. Today I came home with this from another customer:

The woman asked me if I had ever tried food from Georgia (the country). I haven’t. She sent me home with a jar of sour green plum sauce, purple plum sauce (not sweet) and very concentrated grape juice that she said is great for the immune system.

Normally I would never accept food from someone I don’t know very well, her house is immaculate, I have seen that she cooks all the time. I can’t wait to try it!

What a nice thing for her to do. She even asked me to come back after the gardening season to give me more sauces and food! I know she doesn’t have the space for a huge vegetable garden so she buys most of her veggies at the local organic store where she lives. I told her I would bring her a basket of tomatoes and she was so happy.

Seriously though, meeting all these people really restores my faith in human kind. There are so many good people out there. Lovely, kind people. When we read the news it seems such an awful place and I wonder how it can be. I guess I am just fortunate to meet the good people. Sorry to go on and on, it just makes me happy! 

UPDATE: I forgot to mention that I told my Mom about this Lemonade pie from Pillows-A-La-Mode and came home to this:

It is very refreshing! I can see using all kinds of frozen juice flavors! (The Bacardi ones too!) Sweet, creamy and rich! My husband loved it and was bragging to his brother over the phone. He does that whenever we make pies because we usually make one for him to bring home. I better make him one for his next visit!

Barbecued Jalapeno Poppers

My husband let me make the BBQ’d poppers for the first time! This is usually his thing. His pride and joy. 

I did it a little different this time:

Cut the peppers in half (we had to use them up, they started getting wrinkles):

Take a spoon and clean out the white lining and seeds. Wash. Choke half to death. Walk away. Gasp for air. Go back in and get them. Put them on a tray.

We were out of spreadable goat cheese. It is so much better.

I used half feta, half room temperature cream cheese. Threw in a touch of roasted red pepper and garlic. Mixed them together.

Fry bacon, sop up the grease:

Sprinkled bits on bottom of peppers:

Fill 3/4 full of cheese mixture:

Looks so messy. My husband is so careful to make them look perfect. Me…I think they will taste good, so who cares! Besides, I was in the middle of making the rest of the meal.

Top with cheddar cheese:

Put them into a lightly greased cast iron pan (or two):

Heat the BBQ. Throw them on. Cook until cheese melts and the poppers let out a little scream:

Bring them in, push everyone aside, fill your plate. Make sure to have some form of bread or potato nearby. You will need it if they are hot. Some of these were terribly hot. Wipe the tears from your eyes, go back for more.

Enjoy!

Grinding Meat

Look away Peter…look away. 

Sorry to all vegans. I have cut down on my meat consumption but we will continue to be meat eaters.

It’s been a busy and hectic week but we did manage to get some things done.

I had two eye of round beef cuts to grind. One I ground for meals and the other for hamburgers.

I love my meat grinder. Making our own sausage and grinding our own meat has been great. Not only that, we can add flavor, spice, herbs…and know what we are eating!

The grinder:

You get to control the amount of fat. If you need extra, ask for a chunk of it. We have used bacon for extra fat in making some of our sausages. Mmmmm!

We tightly double wrap (plastic wrap) all our meat. Since we have done this we have never once had freezer burn. Throw it in a bag, label it. Done deal!

Another garden post coming up in a few minutes!