Roast Apples and Bacon with Onions and Thyme

This recipe comes from Saveur. This was probably the favorite of Christmas dinner. I'm not sure that whoever wrote the recipe understands dimensions because the 1 lb. piece of slab bacon that I got did not yield 8 1/2 inch slices. I was able to get 8 pieces, but they were a 1/4 inch thick at best.

Use a corer for the apples - almost all corers cut 12 pieces. It made the work fast and easy. I used honey crisp apples which have a great balance of sweetness and tartness. They also stay fairly firm so the dish maintains its size and shape well.

Finally, I suggest adding pomegranate seeds for serving. They have a tart almost citrus flavor that complements the bacon and apples really well.

SERVES 8   45 MINUTES

Ingredients

4 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 whole (1-lb.) piece slab bacon, cut across the grain into eight 1⁄2-inch-thick slices
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 large yellow onions, thinly sliced lengthwise
1 tbsp. thyme leaves
2 1⁄2 lb. (about 6) medium sweet baking apples, cored and cut into 12 wedges each

Instructions

In a 12-inch nonstick skillet, melt the butter over medium-high heat and season the bacon with salt and pepper. Add half the bacon slices to the skillet and cook, turning once, until caramelized on both sides and tender, 8 minutes. Transfer the bacon to a plate and repeat with the remaining 4 slices of bacon.

Heat the oven to 400°. Drain off all but 1⁄4 cup of the rendered fat and return the skillet to medium heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until caramelized and soft, about 20 minutes. Stir in the thyme, remove the skillet from the heat, and scrape the onions into a 9-by-13-inch baking dish or small roasting pan.

Add the apples to the onions, toss to coat evenly in the fat, and bake, stirring once halfway through, until the apples are just tender and lightly caramelized, about 20 minutes. Using tongs, push the apples and onions to one side of the baking dish and nestle the bacon slices next to them. Continue baking until the apples are very tender and the bacon is warmed through, about 10 more minutes. Transfer the dish to a rack and let cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Mr. B's Gumbo Ya Ya

This recipe comes from Saveur, and as usual, I think it is excellent. Because I'm not a big fan of butter both from a taste perspective and health perspective, I have experimented with making the roux with oil. I used olive oil and gluten free flour according to the proportions (1 c oil to 1-3/4 c flour) listed in the roux article.

INGREDIENTS

1 (3 ½-lb.) whole chicken
2 medium onions (1 quartered, 1 finely chopped)
3 stalks celery (2 halved, 1 finely chopped)
2 tbsp. black peppercorns
3 bay leaves
2 medium carrots, halved
2 sprigs thyme
16 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 ½ cups flour
1 each red and green bell pepper, minced
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 lb. andouille sausage, sliced
1 tbsp. Creole seasoning
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 tsp. dried thyme
½ tsp. crushed red chile flakes
Cooked white rice

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Bring chicken, quartered onion, halved celery, peppercorns, 2 bay, carrots, thyme sprigs, and 10 cups water to a boil in an 8-qt. saucepan. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer until chicken is cooked through, 35-40 minutes. Remove chicken; cool, then shred meat. Strain stock; discard solids and set aside.

2. Heat butter in an 8-qt. saucepan over medium-high heat. Whisk in flour; cook, stirring, to make a dark roux, 18-20 minutes. Add remaining chopped onion, celery, and bay, plus bell peppers, garlic, salt, and pepper; cook, stirring, until soft, 8-10 minutes. Add andouille, Creole seasoning, cayenne, dried thyme, and chile flakes; cook until fat begins to render from sausage, 3-4 minutes. Stir in 5 ½ cups of reserved stock (chill remainder for another use); bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium; cook, stirring, until thickened, 8-10 minutes. Add chicken; cook until hot, 2 minutes more. Serve with white rice.

How to Render Lard

There are a million posts on the internet but I figured why not add another just in case. Don't worry if you don't get that many cracklings.

2 1/2 pounds pastured leaf lard or hog fat
1/2 cup filtered water

With a sharp knife, trim any blood spots or remaining meat from the lard. Chop the fat into smallish pieces.

Add the chopped fat and water to a heavy bottomed stock pot and simmer over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally.

After about 45 minutes to one hour, the water will evaporate, the fat will begin to melt and the cracklings - little bits of browned fat - will begin to float to the surface. Continue to gently stir the melted fat periodically, taking care not to let it splatter.

Eventually the cracklings will sink to the bottom of the stock pot, remove the pot from the heat.

Line a fine mesh sieve with cheesecloth and strain the melted fat, reserving the cracklings for another use (they're quite nice salted and eaten as a snack.)

Pour the melted fat into containers (glass jars are best) and allow to cool. The melted fat will be golden-brown in color, but, when cooled, will appear a creamy white.

Herbed Balsamic Roast Pork

Lindsey Johnson has created a great recipe. The pork came out tender, moist and the perfect amount of sweet. I let the roast cook longer so it shredded with a fork and didn't reduce the sauce. It was awesome for tacos. Don't worry if you don't have a slow cooker, you can use a Dutch oven too. 

Ingredients:

One, 3-5 pound pork roast (shoulder or loin are great)
1 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup honey
2 teaspoons dried rosemary
3-4 sprigs fresh thyme, or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
2 bay leaves
2 teaspoons sea salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Instructions:

Place pork roast in the slow cooker and top with the other ingredients. Cook on low for 6-8 hours, or high for 4-6 hours, depending on the size of the roast. (I put mine in frozen and it was done in 4 hours, but I left it for longer so it was more fall-apart tender*.)

Remove the cooked roast from the slow-cooker. Cover and keep warm. Pour the accumulated juices and vinegar into a saucepan and bring to a boil. Let it reduce by about half. Slice the roast and pour the sauce over the top and serve.

Note: If you let the roast cook even longer, it will shred easily with a fork and makes delicious sandwiches. Don’t reduce the liquid, it will be absorbed into the shredded meat. We’ve done both ways and like them equally. It’s a great thing to make when you’re having company for dinner.

Serves 6-10 depending on size of roast

Preparation time: 10min

Total time: 6hours including cooking time. May take less or more time depending on size of roast and slow cooker settings.