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Lula Harp

~ one girl's journey into cooking, crafting and self discovery

Lula Harp

Tag Archives: bacon

compliments always make a girl feel good

27 Thursday Mar 2014

Posted by Lula Harp in baking

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

bacon, cheddar, compliments, dress code, King Arthur, rolled oats, scones, toffee, vanilla, work attire

This time of year is especially brutal at work. Customers are angry, coworkers are grumpy, and it hasn’t stopped raining in months.  I think I’ve mentioned before we don’t have a dress code at work. This leaves what folks show up in to great interpretation.  I usually dress business casual most days, the days I feel the shittiest are the days I dress the nicest. What makes a girl feel better than having folks compliment you all day?  Today a gal came up to me and said “why are you so dressed up?”  My response was “so you’ll say that!”  she laughed. she knew where I was coming from!

This year, even dressing for success isn’t helping my psyche. I realized I needed people tell me how fabulous I’ve done at something, even if it isn’t my job, so I decided to bake treats for my work peeps.

I made three different scones: bacon cheddar, toffee chocolate chip, and vanilla oat.  The bacon cheddar and the toffee chocolate chip are the same King Arthur recipe just with different add-ins. The vanilla oat scone has been running around in my head for about a year (Hi, I’m the world’s greatest over-thinker).  I cannot tell you how many scone recipes I have book marked, but I have a scone I’m trying to emulate. This morning, I finally pulled the trigger and I’m delighted with how it turned out.

In all of my baking exploration, I’ve learned what I like in a scone and I’ve learned how different ingredients make the final product. I know I like an egg in my scone (without the egg, it’s really just a biscuit.) Super cold butter is a must.  Mixing dry ingredients plus the butter in my food processor gives me a good, even distribution of ingredients and a tender, flaky crumb.

I started with a King Arthur recipe as my jumping off point, but made enough variations I’m calling this my own. It came out perfectly; simple and delicious, not too sweet. Hopefully some of the gals will give their thoughts here.

Here’s what I did:
Add the following dry ingredients plus butter to the food processor and pulse for about 10 seconds
2 cups All-Purpose Flour
1/2 cup  brown sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup (4 ounces, 1 stick) butter
then add
1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats and pulse two more times

In another bowl, mix
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup Greek yogurt
1 egg
1 tablespoon (generous) vanilla

Add dry ingredients to wet and mix until just combined.  Dump out onto a baking sheet lined with parchment or a jelly roll pan with a silpat.  Using your hands work dough into one one disk then divide into two.  Shape into two rounds, about 3/4-1″ tall.  Using a bench scraper, cut each round into 8 wedges.  Separate the wedges from the circle, leaving about an inch between each wedge.

Bake at 400* for about 20-25 minutes, until scones are golden and edges appear done.  The centers will seem a little soft, but when it cools, they will be perfect and tender.

13458182214_30a48640a5_zThe picture ain’t pretty and I didn’t take pictures along the way, but they were tasty.  Even got me a marriage proposal.  I’ll call this a win, my psyche sure will!

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snow day(s)

11 Tuesday Feb 2014

Posted by Lula Harp in baking

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

bacon, Bread Baker's Apprentice, easy tomato soup, focaccia, Ina Garten, King Arthur, olive salad, poolish, scones, snow day

Portland doesn’t see snow too often and when we do most folks just don’t know what to do.  The powers-that-be at work decided we needed to stick it out for far too long.  So by the time they decided we should go home the road were clogged and buses were way behind schedule.  I hopped on the first bus that would get me across the bridge then hoofed it 20 blocks in the snowy wind to a bar where I hoped the girls would catch up with me.  They weren’t too far behind and we had a good afternoon of beer and bar bites before snuggling in for a long winter’s weekend.

I woke early Friday to call the hotline to see if I had to go in.  First call said we had a late start – better than nothing.  What was even better was when the message updated and the office was CLOSED!

I had a day of nothing.  Not one single responsibility and no way to get out to visit anyone.  So what did I do?  Started baking… the day started with bacon cheddar scones and finished with an olive and parmesan focaccia.

I’ve mentioned before I’m on a quest for a good, reliable scone recipe.  I’ve narrowed down some of the things I like and the way certain ingredients react.  This day I used King Arthur’s basic scone recipe.  Instead of adding fruit or nuts, I added bacon crumbles and shredded sharp cheddar.  I reduced the sugar by half since it was savory.

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I like my scone to be a few bites instead of a meal.  So I shaped the dough into a ovalish rectangle then cut that into 4 strips.  From each strip I cut about 6 or 8 triangles.  I put these on my silpat and topped each with a few sprinkles of cheddar.

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This recipe suggests you put the entire baking sheet in the freezer for 30 minutes before baking to solidify the fat and relax the gluten.  I did this, then baked for about 20 minutes.

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This is hands down, my favorite scone recipe so far.  The crumb was tender and flaky.  The recipe came together so easily and is quite versatile.

I had hoped this was going to be a snow day, so I had started the Bread Baker’s Apprentice Poolish Focaccia the night before.  Then midday I started the dough.

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I love this image.  This is the power of yeast at work.

Fast forward to dinner time.  I took half of my focaccia dough and instead of using the herb olive oil the recipe suggested, I folded in 3/4 cup olive salad and about a cup of freshly grated parmesan.  The only thing I’ll change next time, is add a little parchment under the dough.  I put the other half of the dough in the fridge for a focaccia pizza the next night.  That one didn’t turn out very pretty so you don’t get pictures of that.

12375564375_52d6989da6_z (2)

To go with my focaccia, I made Ina Garten’s easy tomato soup.  I made a few modifications to her recipe since I was snowed in.  I’ll make it again with a little better preparation.

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Bare in mind, this baking was all just Friday.  We ended up closing the still all weekend.  Its a rare day that I do nothing and rarer still, that I have 3 days of solitude and laziness.  I didn’t bake another thing.  I’d baked myself out on day one.  I did finish the weekend with pulling a nice steak out of the freezer and making myself a decadent dinner.

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Soup for the soul

18 Monday Nov 2013

Posted by Lula Harp in recipes, soup

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

bacon, comfort food, cream, mason jars, parsnips, pecans, single serving, soup, tomato soup

There are days where nothing makes us feel better than comfort food.  Rich, warm, fatty, decadent, savory or sweet.  We all have that thing that takes us to a warm, safe place.  My mother never made meatloaf and mashed potatoes, but I love it so.  I also don’t recall her making lasagna.  She did teach me to make macaroni and cheese very early on (blue box of course).  But when I came home today and saw the distinctive square box on my porch, my spirit soared!!  I had fresh, raw pecans waiting for me.  For those of you who did not grow up in the south, there is nothing better.  They are soft and tender, earthy and sweet.  I could have easily eaten the entire gallon bag right there on my porch, but I restrained myself (sort of).  Thanks Mom!

Nothing makes a winter day better than a warm bowl of soup.  We have had the most ridiculous weather this fall.  I had roses blooming in my yard last week and tonight we are having a squall.  Thanks to my friend Pat, I now have a freezer full of warm savory goodness  She hosted a soup exchange and we each had to bring 8 quarts of our homemade soup to share with the other guests.

tomato soup collective

We had such a good turnout for the exchange.  Pat thought everyone would be health conscience, but almost all the soups had some cream and there was quite a showing of bacon.  The funnies thing was two different ladies, who had never met, made the SAME soup! It was an interesting contrast, but both were quite good.  I had been craving tomato soup and had easily bookmarked half a dozen different recipes, but mostly settled on a Cooking Light version.  I had to add a few tweaks and I am delighted with how it turned out.

 

Creamy Tomato-Balsamic Soup

Originally yields: 4 servings- serving size: about 1/2 cup (My variations made 18 pints.)

1 cup less-sodium beef broth, divided (3 32z cartons)
1 tablespoon brown sugar (probably 3T)
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar. (Probably 1/2c)
1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce (4-5T)
1 cup coarsely chopped onion (4 onions)
(I added 6 parsnips, chopped)
5 garlic cloves (1 whole head)
2 (28-ounce) cans whole tomatoes, drained (6 cans)
Cooking spray (omitted)
3/4 cup half-and-half (probably about 16-20z)
Cracked black pepper (omitted)
Preheat oven to 500.

Combine 1/2 cup of broth, sugar, vinegar, and soy sauce in a small bowl. Place onion, garlic, (parsnips), and tomatoes in a 13 x 9-inch baking pan coated with cooking spray. Pour broth mixture over tomato mixture. Bake at 500* for 50 minutes or until vegetables are lightly browned.

(I skipped all of this)Place tomato mixture in a blender. Add remaining 1/2 cup broth and half-and-half, and process until smooth. Strain mixture through a sieve into a bowl; discard solids. Garnish with cracked black pepper, if desired.

I put 2 cartons beef broth and reserved tomato juice from cans (plus a little water from rinsing cans out) on the stove to preheat.  Once roasted veggies are done, I scooped into the pot plus any juice left in roast pan.  Use a stick blender and puree until smooth.  Stir in half and half.  Taste and adjust salt if needed.

 

Pat also had the brilliant idea of putting the servings of soup in mason jars.  Think about it- a leak proof container that once you remove the lid can be your microwavable soup bowl.  I don’t know if this gem is at all Goodwill stores, but in Portland, mason jars are all .29 a piece!

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What I ate Wednesday

29 Wednesday Feb 2012

Posted by Lula Harp in dining

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

bacon, breakfast, Koi Fusion, Laurelhurst Market, lunch, muffin, nutella, OMSI

I usually do wordless Wednesday with some thoughtful image. But this morning’s breakfast has lead me to this. That and I am certain I haven’t talked about food enough in the last few weeks. I’m having withdrawals from spending so little time in my kitchen.

I am not a picky eater. The only thing that I vehemently will not eat are mushrooms. I appreciate fine dining and good cooking and also can see the value of an occasional fast food hamburger (best for a good hang over cure).

What irked/baffled me today was the Hippy Muffin I got this morning at the Freshii cafe in my office building. A pretty little muffin topped with an assortment of seeds. What it ended up being was a glorified yellow cupcake with a few seeds tossed in for good measure. I didn’t want cake for breakfast but I ate it since I had just plonked down $2.50.

Lunch though, was another thing all together. I was delighted to find on one of my lunch walks a few weeks ago Koi Fusion has a stand near my office. A little nook has 4 or 5 food vendors. Last week’s lunch treat out was Gandhi’s. You walk in and they fill a dish so full it’s really 3 meals. But today I indulged in the Koi Fusion bowl with short ribs and pork. I splurged the extra 25 cents on kimchi, well worth it. While it isn’t Gandhi’s 3 meals size portion I was able to nibble on it all afternoon.

Dinner was grazing at OMSI After Dark Bacon and Bridges. Bacon was a plenty but bridges were few. There was a creepy bridge made out of bacon and a suspension bridge we got to jump on. We sampled Bakon Vodka, waffle sandwiches with bacon and peanut butter or nutella (my pick) from Flavour Spot, bacon toffee cookies, and the most delectable pâté with bacon (bite size open face banh mi) from Laurelhurst Market. We nibbled and sampled so much I lost track.

The thing that almost topped the bacon-ness was the incredible gymnastic stylings of Brittany Walsh’s amazing, indescribable feats. I took a video, this is beyond words.  It goes super quick, so watch carefully.  and you’ll probably have to watch a couple times to really get it.  We also saw the AWOL Dance Collective, both were with William Batty from the Wanderlust Circus.

 

Such a good day and fun evening out!  I’ll pay for this tomorrow- well worth it though.

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blue cheese bacon dip

24 Tuesday Jan 2012

Posted by Lula Harp in bacon, recipes

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

bacon, blue cheese, cream cheese, homemade bacon, walnuts, wontons

I woke up this morning at 2am. I do that every night actually. I wake up thinking about a tv show, a book, a recipe, or any random crap my brain deems I need to be reminded of. This morning I woke up thinking I bought walnuts for a recipe but never used them. Which recipe did I forget to add walnuts to?

I had friends over for cocktails and made a few yummy finger foods.  I really wanted to pair my freshly made bacon with blue cheese.  I found this blue cheese bacon dip recipe at Baked Bree.

Of course I made a few changes, some I’ve already admitted, unwittingly.

7 bacon slices, cooked and minced (I use my thick-cut applewood smoked bacon)
a sprinkling of powdered garlic
1 package cream cheese, softened
1/3(ish) cup half and half
1/2(ish) cup blue cheese crumbles
1/3 cup toasted chopped walnuts (accidently omitted, will add next time)

With a hand mixer (because I don’t have a kitchenaid), I mixed cream cheese and half and half until smooth. add blue cheese and bacon mixing or stirring until well combined.

Instead of serving this as a dip, I made baked wonton cups that I filled with my blue cheese bacon yumminess.  Place a wonton wrappers in a mini muffin tin and bake at 350* for 7-9 minutes or until lightly golden.  These aren’t a tasty as a phyllo cup, but crazy easy!

Dig in and enjoy!

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bacon wrapped…

17 Tuesday Jan 2012

Posted by Lula Harp in bacon, charcuterie, recipes

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

bacon, celery seed, garlic, herb blend, homemade bacon, pork belly, smoker, Tails & Trotters, Weber grill

Bacon wrapped around anything is pure heaven. But sitting around giggling with the girls over cocktails you can only imagine how the conversation could take a turn. I cannot put in print all the giggly bacon brashness that was bandied about.

What I can share with you is my latest foray into Bacon Nirvana…

This time I started with 2 (yes, 2) pork bellies from Tails and Trotters.  I used a touch less cure (that wasn’t entirely intentional) and added a lovely herb blend that I modified from one I found at Adventures With the Pig.  While my first bacon was incredibly delectable, I found it a bit too salty.  Friends raved, but I was aiming for something a bit more savory.

I sprinkled 1 tablespoon pre-mixed cure per side of pork belly.
Then I mixed my herb blend:
3 teaspoons celery seed
2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
4 grams fresh thyme leaves
2 teaspoon oregano
1 1/2 teaspoons white pepper
1 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
3 small bay leaves crumbled
I mixed all this up and divided it between my 2 pork bellies.

I discussed what I was aiming for with Aaron from T&T and he gave me a few suggestions to get me closer to my perfect bacon.  I shortened the cure time by a couple of days and I think that made a big difference.  This time I let the cure sit for a total of 5 days instead of my previous 8.  He had also suggested a dry cure after the salt cure, but I just didn’t have room in the fridge this time.

I set the Weber up for smoking (indirect heat) and I smoked for about 2 hours  at 250 (or until it reaches an internal temperature of 150).  I used applewood chips from Home Depot.

This bacon made it’s way into several recipes which I will be sharing shortly. (gotta save something for another post!)  But I will say, this bacon was nothing short of divine.

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some bacon nuttiness

10 Tuesday Jan 2012

Posted by Lula Harp in bacon, recipes

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

bacon, cayenne, maple syrup, mixed nuts, spiced nuts

This wasn’t going to be today’s post but these people keep pestering me. It is hard work being so poopular 😉

I made bacon again recently (more to come on that little adventure) and I wanted to do something fun with it. Certainly just eating bacon is fun in its own right, but I needed something different.

I found this recipe while surfing around for bacon ideas. This is originally from The Redhead in New York but I made my usual modifications to make it my own.

Bacon Spiced Nuts
3 slices very thick bacon (I doubled-ish and next time I’ll use even more)
1 tablespoon thyme leaves, minced (omitted)
1 tablespoon Kosher salt
¾ teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning (1t)
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper (3/4 t)
½ teaspoon dry mustard
3 cups unsalted roasted peanuts (about 1 pound) (I used 16z bag of Trader Joe’s raw mixed nuts)
½ cup pure maple syrup

Preheat oven to 325° (I increased the heat a touch to 350 since I was using raw nuts). In a medium skillet (I cooked in the oven. Chef Connie has a great tutorial here), cook the bacon over moderate heat until crisp. Transfer to paper towels to drain, then finely chop. In a medium bowl, mix the thyme, salt, Old Bay, cayenne, and dry mustard. Add the peanuts, maple syrup, and bacon and toss until the peanuts are evenly coated. Scrape the nuts onto a parchment paper-lined (silpat) baking sheet and roast for about 30 (more like 40-45) minutes, stirring once, until the maple syrup has thickened. Let the peanuts cool completely, stirring frequently to break up any large clumps (this step is important). Transfer the peanuts to glass jars or a large bowl and serve.

This has some heat, not obnoxiously hot, but reminds you you’re alive. It got rave reviews and made a perfect party snack. I’d actually made enough bacon for a second batch of nuts, but that got eaten. I guess I’ll just have to make more bacon!

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Bacon + Vodka = BFF

02 Wednesday Nov 2011

Posted by Lula Harp in bacon, cocktails

≈ 9 Comments

Tags

bacon, cocktails, hot monkey, martini, New Deal Vodka, vodka

Do I need to say any more that title?

I applewood smoked 2 cups of Portland 88 Vodka for 40 minutes.  Then used the smoked vodka to make one of the most amazing martinis.

1 part applewood smoked 88
1/2 part Hot Monkey Vodka
1″ bacon
shake, strain, enjoy.

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mmmm mac & cheese

01 Tuesday Nov 2011

Posted by Lula Harp in bacon, dinner, recipes

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

bacon, Halloween, macaroni and cheese, penne, potato chips, Tillamook cheese

It was a dark and stormy night.  Not really, it was clear and cool and the kiddies were all decked out in costumes.  How else should I celebrate Halloween than with a few friends and a giant vat of macaroni and cheese.

As per my norm, I scoured the web for visual inspiration then set off on a random course of throwing stuff together until it tastes good.

I cooked up the last few slices of my bacon, rendering the fat.  I set aside the cooked bacon to add back in later.

To the rendered fat (it was a couple of tablespoons) I added 2(ish) tablespoons butter and 1/4 cup flour to make my bechamel.  Stirring about 3-4 minutes then adding 2 cups half and half and 2 cups 2% milk.  Again, stirring another 3-4 minutes until it begins to thicken.

I added 3/4 of a pound of both Tillamook Pepper Jack and Extra Sharp Cheddar cheeses.  At this point I added back the cooked bacon and stirred till it was all melty and smooth.  I added roughly 2-3 teaspoons each cayenne, smoked paprika, dry mustard, and a little salt.  Add in 1 1/2 pounds of cooked whole wheat penne.

In a gallon zip top bag, add 1 cup goldfish and 1-2 cups jalapeno potato chips and roll with rolling pin until evenly crushed.  Spread evenly on top of cheesey noodles and dot with couple teaspoons butter.

Bake at 400 for 30 minutes until bubbly and browned on top.

Not the greatest picture but it sure tasted good!  Next time I’ll add a bit more heat and more of the jalapeno potato chips.

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drunk on love

18 Tuesday Oct 2011

Posted by Lula Harp in bacon, charcuterie, homemade bacon

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

bacon, grill, homemade bacon, pork belly, smoker

I have a few addictions…  obsessions.  call it what you want.  I love shoes.  That love is only rivaled by my love of bacon.  I had a shoe closet built (a shrine really).  Only a select few have been invited into the inner sanctum and seen the shoeshrine.  It holds several mortgage payments worth of pretty little things.

My love of bacon has reached a new height today.  Refer a few days back, where I started curing a pork belly.  I let the pork belly cure in the fridge for 8 days.  After that I rinsed the cure off, dried the pork belly and stuck it back in the fridge until I could throw it on the weber in the afternoon.

Enter Weber.  I threw about 12(ish) briquettes in the chimney and about 30 (again -ish.  I didn’t count) on one side of the grill.  When the briquettes in the chimney were white hot, I poured them on the pile of unlit briquettes and added a generous handful of applewood to smoke.

I kept the grill at 230-250 for the better part of 2 hours.  At 1 1/2 hours I checked the temperature and gave it another half hour.

Right at the 2 hour mark the internal temperature was 150* and it came off the grill.

The really dark layer on the top is skin.  I cut that off and threw it back on the grill to dry out.  Coe will get this yummy skin later as a treat.  She doesn’t get anything this decadent very often.

This cut like butter and just melted in my mouth!  Nice smoky flavor.  A little salty.  It was at this point, that I sent a picture to several friends.  The most apt response I got was “are you drunk on bacon?”  I guess I was drunk bacon texting 😉

This fried up beautifully.  (I could insert a sound bite here of said bacon frying. left over from drunk bacon texting)  It has taken a considerable amount of effort to stop and not eat an entire pound of bacon!  Gotta save some for tomorrow 😉

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