Fabulous Flatbread

I'm not sure what it is about the combination of goat cheese, figs and bacon that just sounds so amazing. But when I saw this I started to drool. Thank you Chef Jenna.

Goat Cheese, Fig and Bacon Flat bread

Jenna has her own pizza dough recipe - but if you're like me, you don't have time to make your own pizza dough on a busy Wednesday night. I've found that Tandoori Naan makes for great flat bread pizza crust. So when I finally get around to make this that's what I'll be using.

Ingredients:
Pizza Dough (Or premade flat bread)
4 slices of bacon, cooked crisp and chopped
1 small log of soft goat cheese (I think I'll pick an garlic cheese)
10 fresh figs, sliced in half (If you're like me make sure to buy extra because of "accidental" eating)
1 TB extra virgin olive oil
1 bunch of arugula
Sprinkle of sea salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees

Prepare pizza dough (if you are using precooked flatbread skip down to *)

After preparing the dough, divide it into four parts on a floured surface. Then divide those four parts in half so you have eight little balls of dough.

Roll each small dough ball out to a circle (you can probably just stretch the dough) and * top with goat cheese crumbles, bacon crumbles and two sliced figs.

Drizzle a little olive oil over each.

Place flat breads on a lined baking sheet, reduce oven temperature to 425 degrees and bake for 12-15 minutes. After baking, top with arugula, another drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of sea salt.

Time:

30 minutes (not including time to prepare dough)

Chocolate Chip Cookie Guru

W/ Bacon Fat

There is just something satisfying about a homemade chocolate chip cookie. The entire process is comforting and warming (and not just because the oven is turned on). My family could (and would if I let them) just eat the dough without ever having it baked. 

Chewy pieces of cookie with a chocolate chip in every bite. 

Little pillows of yumminess!

Then I stumbled across Ross Sveback who has become my chocolate chip cookie guru.

First I find his recipe for chocolate chip cookies using rendered bacon fat as the shortening. 

W/ Sea Salt

Then I find he has a Salted Chocolate Chip cookie recipe....and if that isn't good enough I finally learn (thanks to Mr. Sveback) that the trick to a chewy cookie is to let the batter sit overnight before baking!

Now I have beautiful chewy-sea-salted-dark-chocolate-chip cookies in my kitchen just asking for a cold glass of milk. 

Mmmmmm.

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.