Foodie? Prove It

Fried Alligator

A fellow foodie friend posted an app she'd found on facebook. It's a checklist of 100 top foods to eat before you die. Apparently, according to the application, (which we know can be as factual as this weeks tabloids) most people have only tried 20 (or less) of these 100 foods.

I've had 63... Does that mean it's okay to call myself a foodie? :)

Bagel and lox

Abalone
Absinthe
Alligator
Baba Ghanoush
Bagel & Lox
Baklava
BBQ Ribs
Billini
Bird's Nest Soup
Biscuits & Gravy
Black Pudding
Black Truffle
Borscht

Durian (on my patio furniture)

Spring Rolls

Calamari
Carp
Caviar 
Cheese Fondue
Chicken & Waffles
Chicken Tikka Masala
Chile Relleno
Chitlins
Churros
Clam Chowder
Cognac
Crab Cakes
Crickets
Currywurst
Dandelion Wine
Dulce de Leche
Durian
Eel
Eggs Benedict
Fish Tacos
Foie Gras
Fresh Spring Rolls
Fried Catfish
Fried Green Tomatoes
Fried Plantain
Frito Pie

All kinds of lobster pieces. Mmmm

Frog Legs
Fugu
Funnel Cake
Gazpacho
Goat
Goat's Milk
Goulash
Gumbo
Haggis
Head Cheese
Heirloom Tomatoes
Honeycomb
Hostess Fruit Pie
Huevos Rancheros
Jerk Chicken
Kangaroo
Key Lime Pie
Kobe Beef
Lassi

Pho. I make this at home even.

Lobster
Mimosa
Moonpie
Morel Mushrooms
Nettle Tea
Octopus
Oxtail Soup
Paella
Paneer
Pastrami on Rye
Pavlova
Phaal
Philly Cheese Steak
Pho

My one and only time trying uni (sea urchin)...far right

Pineapple & Cottage Cheese
Pistachio Ice Cream
Po'Boy
Pocky
Polenta
Prickly Pear
Rabbit Stew
Raw Oysters
Root Beer Float
S'mores
Sauerkraut
Sea Urchin
Shark

First time for spaetzle too. So good.

Snail
Snake
Soft Shell Crab
Som Tam
Spaetzle
Spam
Squirrel
Steak Tartare
Sweet Potato Fries
Sweetbreads
Tom Yum
Umeboshi
Venison
Wasabi Peas
Zucchini flowers

How many have you tried?

There's WHAT in this cookie?

So I'm putting this out there now. If you're a vegetarian, devote Muslim, Jew, or Seventh Day Adventist....or if you just don't like/eat swine this recipe is not for you. If you're not open minded or adventurous in your eating you might want to join the non-pig eaters. Go to the next entry. It'll be better.

Okay. Are we alone?

Now let's discuss BACON FAT.

In my house growing up, and even now as an adult, having a coffee cup of rendered bacon grease in the refrigerator. It's something my German great grandmother taught my grandmother, who taught my mother, who has taught me. 

For the longest time it grossed me out beyond belief! The cholesterol... the fat.... cooking with grease! Yuck! But the thing is we don't use it that often or in that much food. To help brown pork chops and the pork roasts. But the one area that we use it in - that often makes people gag unless you too had a German grandparent - we use it in Molasses Cookies!

It's an old German recipe (or so says my family) - using the bacon grease in place of butter or some other shortening. I've tried them without the bacon fat and it's just not the same. So today when The Stir had a chocolate chip recipe using bacon fat I was intrigued. It's too warm for baking but as soon as it cools down I'll be trying this recipe out.

Chocolate Chip Cookies With Bacon Fat
from Chef Ross Sveback

Ingredients

1/2 cup rendered bacon grease

1/2 cup butter

1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp. maple flavoring

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

2 cups flour

1 cup chocolate chips

1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Sea salt for sprinkling on top (optional)

Instructions

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream bacon grease, butter, and brown sugar together, scraping bowl if necessary to combine.

2. Add eggs, vanilla bean paste or extract, baking powder, baking soda, and salt -- mix on medium low to combine.

3. Add flour and stir to incorporate -- scraping bottom of bowl to ensure all the flour is mixed together.

4. Add chocolate chips and nuts, then stir again. Let dough rest for a half hour.

5. Scoop spoon-sized balls of dough onto baking sheets.

6. Bake for 16 minutes at 350, turning pans or rotating them bottom to top if necessary depending on your oven halfway through the baking time.

7. Remove from oven and allow to cool on a rack until you are ready to eat them.