Spinach Salad With Warm Bacon Dressing & Caramelized Onions

Saturday, February 23, 2013

Warm spinach salad by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2013

I made this delicious salad for lunch a couple of weeks ago. My first thought upon tasting it was, "Why have I never made this before?!"

It also gave me an excuse to try making oven baked bacon for the first time and now I am never going back! Perfectly cooked bacon without splattering hot grease all over the kitchen (and myself). Yes, please.

Bacon out of the oven by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2013

It's got a lot of great flavors going on. The crispy, salty, smokey crumbled bacon, the sweet, mellow, caramelized onions, the fresh, slightly mineral-like taste of the spinach, the hearty hard-boiled egg and the tangy, slightly sweet, rich dressing that melds it all together into a meltingly decadent salad.

Spinach by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2013

Prep is not too time-consuming (I wouldn't have made this if it were...) Put your bacon in the oven to cook, get your eggs boiling, slice your onions and get them caramelizing, wash and dry your spinach, crumble your bacon, peel and slice your hard-boiled eggs, make your hot dressing and combine it all.

Spinach salad awaiting the warm dressing by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2013

The result is a wonderful salad that eats like a true meal.

Warm spinach salad by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2013

Couple things to note:

1. Typically, a warm spinach salad also includes mushrooms (I am not at all opposed to including them but had none on hand) and raw onions. I definitely prefer the onions sauteed as their flavor is so much more concentrated, sweeter and mellower. Plus there's the added bonus of being able to talk to other humans WITHOUT breathing a blast of onion-scented breath in anyone's face after lunch :-)
2. There was a recall on several brands of baby spinach recently due to an E. coli scare so, in addition to making sure you're not using anything tainted, it's a good reminder to try to buy from a local farm/farmer whenever you can.

-- print recipe --Spinach Salad With Warm Bacon Dressing & Caramelized Onions
Serves 4 as an appetizer or 2 as a meal

Ingredients

* 3 hard-boiled eggs (I recommend using organic, pasture-raised eggs if you can get them)
* 6-8 slices thick cut bacon (I used a delicious maple hickory smoked from my cousin Norah's wonderful Sweetland farm in Vermont)
* 1 small red onion (you can use any color but red is prettier)
* 1 bag of spinach (I like to use full grown leaves, not baby spinach since it stands up so much better to the heat of the warm dressing) and any browned or tough stems removed
* 5 Tbsps bacon grease (from the strips you cook)
* 3 Tbsps red wine vinegar
* 1-2 teaspoons maple syrup (you can use sugar or honey but I like the maple flavor better)
* 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
* Sea salt to taste
* Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400. Lay strips of bacon in a heavy baking sheet (do not crowd) and bake for 25-30 minutes until crisp. Once the bacon is as done as you like it, remove from oven and drain on a paper grocery bag. Once cool enough to handle, break it into little chunks. Pour off the liquified grease into a jar -- do NOT throw it away, you will need it! It's also wonderful to cook with.

2. While bacon is cooking, fill a medium pot with water, add the eggs, bring to a boil, then turn off the heat and let sit for 10 minutes. Remove the eggs and cool them in a bowl of ice water. Once they're cool enough to handle, peel and slice.

3. While the eggs and bacon are cooking, peel and slice the onion and wash and dry the spinach. If you're not using baby spinach, tear any large leaves into bite-sized pieces. Place the spinach in a large salad bowl and set aside.

4. Take 2 tablespoons of the bacon grease from the jar and place it in a frying pan on medium heat. Once the oil begins to shimmer, add the onions and cook until soft and translucent. Then turn off the heat and remove to a small bowl to cool.

5. Now it's time to make the dressing: Put another 3 tablespoons of bacon grease in the pan you cooked the onions in, then add the vinegar, mustard, salt, pepper and maple syrup and whisk over medium-low heat until thoroughly heated.

6. Now you put it all together! Arrange the onions and crumbled bacon pieces on top of the spinach. Pour the hot bacon mustard dressing over everything and toss to make sure everything gets evenly coated. Arrange the sliced eggs over the top of the dressed salad and serve.

You might also like:
For more delicious recipes, gardening ideas, foraging tips, and food-related inspiration "like" the Garden of Eating on Facebook, or follow me on Twitter and Pinterest.

Oven Baked Bacon! Perfectly Cooked Without The Mess

Saturday, February 9, 2013

Like most meat-eaters, I love bacon. Its savory, crispy, salty, smokey, and, well, fatty flavor makes for a very happy mouth (if not a healthy heart.)

Hickory smoked nitrate free bacon from Sweetland Farm by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2013

But I HATE cooking bacon. I hate dealing with a pan of burning hot, splattering fat. And I hate cleaning the grease off the stove and surrounding counter tops afterwards.

Bacon out of the oven by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2013

So this whole oven-baked bacon thing is a real revelation! Not only does it allow you to make perfectly cooked, crispy bacon, but it also limits the mess to a single baking sheet! Muchas gracias to my brother-in-law, Michael, who introduced us to this method when he and his lovely wifey visited over the holidays.

Bacon draining on a paper bag by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2013

And it's so easy! You can also pack even more heavenly punch by sprinkling some brown sugar, ground coffee, maple syrup or cayenne over the strips of bacon before you put them in the oven. (Thanks to my Facebook fans for those tips!) Here's what you do:

-- print recipe --Oven Baked Bacon

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Then open your bacon. I used the amazingly good hickory-smoked, nitrate-free, naturally raised bacon we bought from cousin Norah's Sweetland Farm in Vermont (MMMMWAAAAH! IT IS SO GOOD!).

2. Lay the strips out on a heavy baking sheet in a single layer. Make sure that the sides of your baking sheet are high enough to handle an ocean of melted bacon fat (if not, you can throw a big old sheet of aluminum foil in there and twist the sides up to make a tall enough border.) If you want to flavor the bacon - sprinkle/drizzle the coffee, maple syrup, brown sugar or cayenne over the strips at this point.

3. Put the baking sheet in the oven and bake for anywhere between 15-25 minutes. The cooking time will vary depending on how thickly cut your bacon is and also on how you like it cooked.

4. Take the baking sheet out of the oven and lay out a heavy brown paper grocery bag (more effective and less wasteful than using paper towels). Lay the strips on the bag to drain. Then serve!

5. Pour the fat off into a jar with a tight-fitting lid and store it in the fridge for future use. Read more about some good ways to use this tasty fat.

You might also like:


Want even more recipes, photos, giveaways, and food-related inspiration? "Like" the Garden of Eating on Facebook, or follow me on Twitter or Pinterest.

Braised Chicken With Onions, White Wine & Mustard

Friday, February 1, 2013

A few years ago, my good friend, Naushon (whose unusual name you may recognize from many of the restaurant reviews on this blog) lent me a short but wonderful book called On Rue Tatin by Susan Hermann Loomis, an American cookbook writer who lives in France.

The courtyard of the house on Rue Tatin. Photo by Stacey Haines.

Susan moved to France with her husband and their young son a number of years ago and the book chronicles their journey to making a true home in the little city of Louviers in northern France. I loved it not just for the mouth-watering recipes it includes  which are all gathered from her friends and acquaintances in France - the pear seller at the farmers market, the butcher, the florists across the street, the rug salesman, and more, but also for her account of the struggles and joys of cultural differences and her detailed and loving account of French life.

And as the daughter of a designer-builder and an artist who grew up in the midst of creative construction, I also enjoyed every detail about the restoration of the glorious but decrepit 12th century convent they bought and painstakingly turned into their home which is also home to Susan's cooking school.

This is one of my favorite recipes from the book although there are lots of good ones to choose from - I've also blogged about a wonderful rustic plum (or peach or apricot) tart you should try when those stone fruits are in season.

Braised Chicken With Onions, White Wine & Mustard by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2013

This chicken dish is simple, hearty, comforting, and easy to prepare. Easy to prepare is practically my middle name since James was born... Eve Easy-To-Prepare Fox has a nice ring to it, dontcha think?

White wine, onions, Dijon mustard, salt, and pepper by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2013

The onions provide a delicate sweetness which mixes deliciously well with the white wine and the mustard, making for a mellow, flavorful sauce that you'll enjoy sopping up with the starch of your choice.

Sauteeing the onions by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2013

I think this dish goes well with pretty much anything -- salad, bread, roasted potatoes, rice, glazed carrots, haricots verts, etc. I was in a rush (as usual) so I served it with some herbed rice and a green salad. 

And don't be fooled, it's much tastier than I've made it look here - it's just hard to take good pictures when you're dealing with a baby who's fussy from getting a couple of vaccines that morning and an almost four-year-old who would rather play than eat dinner. Someday there will be time for the lighting and staging you all deserve. Maybe once James starts Kindergarten in about five years. For now, we'll just make do with less than perfection.

Braised Chicken With Onions, White Wine & Mustardby Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2013

Bon appetit!


-- print recipe --
Chicken & Onions Braised In White Wine with Mustard
from Susan Hermann Loomis' book, On Rue Tatin
Serves 4-6 

Ingredients


* 1 cup of white wine, preferably something light & perfumed like a Sauvingnon Blanc or Friuli but use whatever you have around
* 3-5 Tbsps Dijon mustard
* About 2-3 Tbsps olive oil
* 6 bone-in chicken thighs or 1 (whole) cut up chicken
* 2 yellow onions, peeled, cut in half through the root and sliced into thin half circles
* Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
* Fresh Italian parsley, chopped, enough to garnish (about half a handful)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 475 degrees. In small bowl, whisk together wine and mustard and set aside.

2. In a Dutch oven or an oven proof pan over medium heat, brown the chicken pieces on both sides in a little olive oil until the skin is golden and crisp. Transfer chicken to a plate.

3. Add the onions to the pot and cook until tender and lightly browned. When the onions are softened, return chicken to the pot and season with salt and pepper. Pour the wine mixture over the chicken and onions.

4. Put the pot in the oven, uncovered. Roasting time will depend on what you are using -- chicken thighs cook more quickly than breasts do (maybe 30 minutes). A whole chicken will take a bit longer, closer to 45-50 minutes. Don't forget to turn the chicken pieces once or twice to keep everything moist and give both side a chance to get some crisping heat. You can add more wine if things are getting too dry.

5. Once the chicken is cooked through (when the juices run clear when pierced with a small knife), transfer the chicken to a serving platter. If the onion sauce is already thickened to your liking, pour it over the chicken. If not, place it back on the stove and cook the sauce until it reaches the desired consistency. Once it has cooked down to the way you like it, pour the remaining sauce over the chicken. Sprinkle with the chopped parsley and serve. 

You might also like:
Want even more recipes, photos, giveaways, and food-related inspiration? "Like" the Garden of Eating on Facebook, or follow me on Twitter or Pinterest.

Saturday, February 23, 2013

Spinach Salad With Warm Bacon Dressing & Caramelized Onions

Warm spinach salad by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2013

I made this delicious salad for lunch a couple of weeks ago. My first thought upon tasting it was, "Why have I never made this before?!"

It also gave me an excuse to try making oven baked bacon for the first time and now I am never going back! Perfectly cooked bacon without splattering hot grease all over the kitchen (and myself). Yes, please.

Bacon out of the oven by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2013

It's got a lot of great flavors going on. The crispy, salty, smokey crumbled bacon, the sweet, mellow, caramelized onions, the fresh, slightly mineral-like taste of the spinach, the hearty hard-boiled egg and the tangy, slightly sweet, rich dressing that melds it all together into a meltingly decadent salad.

Spinach by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2013

Prep is not too time-consuming (I wouldn't have made this if it were...) Put your bacon in the oven to cook, get your eggs boiling, slice your onions and get them caramelizing, wash and dry your spinach, crumble your bacon, peel and slice your hard-boiled eggs, make your hot dressing and combine it all.

Spinach salad awaiting the warm dressing by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2013

The result is a wonderful salad that eats like a true meal.

Warm spinach salad by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2013

Couple things to note:

1. Typically, a warm spinach salad also includes mushrooms (I am not at all opposed to including them but had none on hand) and raw onions. I definitely prefer the onions sauteed as their flavor is so much more concentrated, sweeter and mellower. Plus there's the added bonus of being able to talk to other humans WITHOUT breathing a blast of onion-scented breath in anyone's face after lunch :-)
2. There was a recall on several brands of baby spinach recently due to an E. coli scare so, in addition to making sure you're not using anything tainted, it's a good reminder to try to buy from a local farm/farmer whenever you can.

-- print recipe --Spinach Salad With Warm Bacon Dressing & Caramelized Onions
Serves 4 as an appetizer or 2 as a meal

Ingredients

* 3 hard-boiled eggs (I recommend using organic, pasture-raised eggs if you can get them)
* 6-8 slices thick cut bacon (I used a delicious maple hickory smoked from my cousin Norah's wonderful Sweetland farm in Vermont)
* 1 small red onion (you can use any color but red is prettier)
* 1 bag of spinach (I like to use full grown leaves, not baby spinach since it stands up so much better to the heat of the warm dressing) and any browned or tough stems removed
* 5 Tbsps bacon grease (from the strips you cook)
* 3 Tbsps red wine vinegar
* 1-2 teaspoons maple syrup (you can use sugar or honey but I like the maple flavor better)
* 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
* Sea salt to taste
* Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400. Lay strips of bacon in a heavy baking sheet (do not crowd) and bake for 25-30 minutes until crisp. Once the bacon is as done as you like it, remove from oven and drain on a paper grocery bag. Once cool enough to handle, break it into little chunks. Pour off the liquified grease into a jar -- do NOT throw it away, you will need it! It's also wonderful to cook with.

2. While bacon is cooking, fill a medium pot with water, add the eggs, bring to a boil, then turn off the heat and let sit for 10 minutes. Remove the eggs and cool them in a bowl of ice water. Once they're cool enough to handle, peel and slice.

3. While the eggs and bacon are cooking, peel and slice the onion and wash and dry the spinach. If you're not using baby spinach, tear any large leaves into bite-sized pieces. Place the spinach in a large salad bowl and set aside.

4. Take 2 tablespoons of the bacon grease from the jar and place it in a frying pan on medium heat. Once the oil begins to shimmer, add the onions and cook until soft and translucent. Then turn off the heat and remove to a small bowl to cool.

5. Now it's time to make the dressing: Put another 3 tablespoons of bacon grease in the pan you cooked the onions in, then add the vinegar, mustard, salt, pepper and maple syrup and whisk over medium-low heat until thoroughly heated.

6. Now you put it all together! Arrange the onions and crumbled bacon pieces on top of the spinach. Pour the hot bacon mustard dressing over everything and toss to make sure everything gets evenly coated. Arrange the sliced eggs over the top of the dressed salad and serve.

You might also like:
For more delicious recipes, gardening ideas, foraging tips, and food-related inspiration "like" the Garden of Eating on Facebook, or follow me on Twitter and Pinterest.

Saturday, February 9, 2013

Oven Baked Bacon! Perfectly Cooked Without The Mess

Like most meat-eaters, I love bacon. Its savory, crispy, salty, smokey, and, well, fatty flavor makes for a very happy mouth (if not a healthy heart.)

Hickory smoked nitrate free bacon from Sweetland Farm by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2013

But I HATE cooking bacon. I hate dealing with a pan of burning hot, splattering fat. And I hate cleaning the grease off the stove and surrounding counter tops afterwards.

Bacon out of the oven by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2013

So this whole oven-baked bacon thing is a real revelation! Not only does it allow you to make perfectly cooked, crispy bacon, but it also limits the mess to a single baking sheet! Muchas gracias to my brother-in-law, Michael, who introduced us to this method when he and his lovely wifey visited over the holidays.

Bacon draining on a paper bag by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2013

And it's so easy! You can also pack even more heavenly punch by sprinkling some brown sugar, ground coffee, maple syrup or cayenne over the strips of bacon before you put them in the oven. (Thanks to my Facebook fans for those tips!) Here's what you do:

-- print recipe --Oven Baked Bacon

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Then open your bacon. I used the amazingly good hickory-smoked, nitrate-free, naturally raised bacon we bought from cousin Norah's Sweetland Farm in Vermont (MMMMWAAAAH! IT IS SO GOOD!).

2. Lay the strips out on a heavy baking sheet in a single layer. Make sure that the sides of your baking sheet are high enough to handle an ocean of melted bacon fat (if not, you can throw a big old sheet of aluminum foil in there and twist the sides up to make a tall enough border.) If you want to flavor the bacon - sprinkle/drizzle the coffee, maple syrup, brown sugar or cayenne over the strips at this point.

3. Put the baking sheet in the oven and bake for anywhere between 15-25 minutes. The cooking time will vary depending on how thickly cut your bacon is and also on how you like it cooked.

4. Take the baking sheet out of the oven and lay out a heavy brown paper grocery bag (more effective and less wasteful than using paper towels). Lay the strips on the bag to drain. Then serve!

5. Pour the fat off into a jar with a tight-fitting lid and store it in the fridge for future use. Read more about some good ways to use this tasty fat.

You might also like:


Want even more recipes, photos, giveaways, and food-related inspiration? "Like" the Garden of Eating on Facebook, or follow me on Twitter or Pinterest.

Friday, February 1, 2013

Braised Chicken With Onions, White Wine & Mustard

A few years ago, my good friend, Naushon (whose unusual name you may recognize from many of the restaurant reviews on this blog) lent me a short but wonderful book called On Rue Tatin by Susan Hermann Loomis, an American cookbook writer who lives in France.

The courtyard of the house on Rue Tatin. Photo by Stacey Haines.

Susan moved to France with her husband and their young son a number of years ago and the book chronicles their journey to making a true home in the little city of Louviers in northern France. I loved it not just for the mouth-watering recipes it includes  which are all gathered from her friends and acquaintances in France - the pear seller at the farmers market, the butcher, the florists across the street, the rug salesman, and more, but also for her account of the struggles and joys of cultural differences and her detailed and loving account of French life.

And as the daughter of a designer-builder and an artist who grew up in the midst of creative construction, I also enjoyed every detail about the restoration of the glorious but decrepit 12th century convent they bought and painstakingly turned into their home which is also home to Susan's cooking school.

This is one of my favorite recipes from the book although there are lots of good ones to choose from - I've also blogged about a wonderful rustic plum (or peach or apricot) tart you should try when those stone fruits are in season.

Braised Chicken With Onions, White Wine & Mustard by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2013

This chicken dish is simple, hearty, comforting, and easy to prepare. Easy to prepare is practically my middle name since James was born... Eve Easy-To-Prepare Fox has a nice ring to it, dontcha think?

White wine, onions, Dijon mustard, salt, and pepper by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2013

The onions provide a delicate sweetness which mixes deliciously well with the white wine and the mustard, making for a mellow, flavorful sauce that you'll enjoy sopping up with the starch of your choice.

Sauteeing the onions by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2013

I think this dish goes well with pretty much anything -- salad, bread, roasted potatoes, rice, glazed carrots, haricots verts, etc. I was in a rush (as usual) so I served it with some herbed rice and a green salad. 

And don't be fooled, it's much tastier than I've made it look here - it's just hard to take good pictures when you're dealing with a baby who's fussy from getting a couple of vaccines that morning and an almost four-year-old who would rather play than eat dinner. Someday there will be time for the lighting and staging you all deserve. Maybe once James starts Kindergarten in about five years. For now, we'll just make do with less than perfection.

Braised Chicken With Onions, White Wine & Mustardby Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2013

Bon appetit!


-- print recipe --
Chicken & Onions Braised In White Wine with Mustard
from Susan Hermann Loomis' book, On Rue Tatin
Serves 4-6 

Ingredients


* 1 cup of white wine, preferably something light & perfumed like a Sauvingnon Blanc or Friuli but use whatever you have around
* 3-5 Tbsps Dijon mustard
* About 2-3 Tbsps olive oil
* 6 bone-in chicken thighs or 1 (whole) cut up chicken
* 2 yellow onions, peeled, cut in half through the root and sliced into thin half circles
* Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
* Fresh Italian parsley, chopped, enough to garnish (about half a handful)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 475 degrees. In small bowl, whisk together wine and mustard and set aside.

2. In a Dutch oven or an oven proof pan over medium heat, brown the chicken pieces on both sides in a little olive oil until the skin is golden and crisp. Transfer chicken to a plate.

3. Add the onions to the pot and cook until tender and lightly browned. When the onions are softened, return chicken to the pot and season with salt and pepper. Pour the wine mixture over the chicken and onions.

4. Put the pot in the oven, uncovered. Roasting time will depend on what you are using -- chicken thighs cook more quickly than breasts do (maybe 30 minutes). A whole chicken will take a bit longer, closer to 45-50 minutes. Don't forget to turn the chicken pieces once or twice to keep everything moist and give both side a chance to get some crisping heat. You can add more wine if things are getting too dry.

5. Once the chicken is cooked through (when the juices run clear when pierced with a small knife), transfer the chicken to a serving platter. If the onion sauce is already thickened to your liking, pour it over the chicken. If not, place it back on the stove and cook the sauce until it reaches the desired consistency. Once it has cooked down to the way you like it, pour the remaining sauce over the chicken. Sprinkle with the chopped parsley and serve. 

You might also like:
Want even more recipes, photos, giveaways, and food-related inspiration? "Like" the Garden of Eating on Facebook, or follow me on Twitter or Pinterest.