This post is short and sweet. My dad loves bacon, so for Father’s Day I made him candied bacon. The recipe is very simple and adds a nice sweet touch to salty flavor of the bacon. This works well as a side with breakfast or as a nice party appetizer. Enjoy!
So seafood took over this week on my blog and this is the last shellfish entry for this week I promise. Last weekend I picked up some incredible slab bacon form DiBruno Brothers in Philadelphia and wanted to work it into a dish. I chose scallops because they go so well with bacon. Instead of wrapping the scallops in bacon I slowly reduced the fat out of the bacon and used that to pan sear the scallops. Then made a maple bacon reduction to drizzle over the scallops. The dish turned out great. When cooking it just be sure to make sure you get the pan very hot before placing the scallops in the pan in order to get a good sear on them. Make these for your dad on Father’s Day he’ll enjoy them!
With the weather getting nicer and summer almost here I had the urge to make lemonade this past weekend. I first learned to make lemonade out of necessity when I lived in England. To the English lemonade is a lemon flavored soda and not the refreshing summer drink we know in America. This recipe is simple but takes a bit of work to juice the lemons. To make the job easier I would highly recommend buying a hand held lemon press. This drink is very refreshing and hits the spot on any warm summer day. Drink it by itself or mix it with some iced tea to make up a nice Arnold Palmer. Enjoy!
Last night I went to Isaac Newton’s in Newtown, PA for the Founders Brewing Company tap takeover. They had 5 or 6 Founders beers on tap. Unfortunately the kicked the keg of Kentucky Breakfast Stout within the first 30 minutes of the tap take over which was disappointing yet also quite impressive. I tried three beers at this event.
The first was the Double Trouble IPA, This Imperial IPA was very similar to the Dogfish Head 120 but with a much nicer finish. This is a great sipping beer and went well with the pork chop I ordered.
The second beer I tried was the Curmudgeon Old Ale. I was very surprised by this beer. It was very smooth and finished like a mellow scotch. This oak aged ale is a great easy drinking beer but be warned it has a 9.8% Abv.
The last beer I had was Founders All Day IPA this beer has become my recent go to anytime I see it on tap. It is a very easy drinking IPA and is not overly hoppy. A great beer to drink during the summer when you are just hanging with some friends.
I decided to take a stab at some southern country style cooking earlier this week. We had breaded pork chops on Sunday and I decided to make a bacon gravy for them. In the end the gravy turned out pretty well. However while I was making it I was disappointed with how bland and plain it tasted. The slat and pepper helped but it just needed something else. I took a few spoonfuls out of the pan and experimented with a few additions. Mustard didn’t work well with the flavor of the gravy, Horseradish was too harsh, Finally I settled on chipotles in adobo sauce. The chipotles gave the gravy the subtle zing it needed. If you want you can use the gravy recipe as a base and substitute out the chipotles for whatever direction you want to take the gravy. I am also thinking about substituting the bacon with sausage the next time I make this to see how that works.
This is a very easy to make appetizer that is sure to impress. If the scallops you use are very large be sure to cut them in half so they all cook evenly. When picking scallops try to find dry packed, they cook better than wet packed scallops. Make sure to precook the bacon. by precooking the bacon you solve the problem of having either overcooked scallops and crispy bacon or perfectly cooked scallops and undercooked bacon. You can pair the bacon wrapped scallops with ginger BBQ sauce or a nice cocktail sauce. You will find the recipe’s for the scallops and the BBQ sauce below. Enjoy!
Firstly I want to thank all of the service men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country. I would also like to thank those currently serving and hope they come home safe.
This past Memorial Day we had a snow crab feast. We started out with a few appetizers and playing some back yard games with the family. We steamed the crab in the oven in foil pan for ~40 minutes.
This allowed us to cook a lot of the crab at once instead of smaller batches in a pot. We served the crab with Summer spaghetti and corn with a lime chipotle butter.
With summer approaching I have been looking for a light refreshing dessert. I came across this recipe in cooking light magazine and gave it a try. This dessert is perfect for a hot day. It tastes like a cold sweet cantaloupe. When I first tried this sherbert I was surprised with how refreshing the sherbert turned out. This dessert will become a staple throughout the summer. Take advantage of the fresh cantaloupes at you local grocery store and give this recipe a try. Enjoy!
As I said in the Mother’s Day dinner post I made Bananas Foster for dessert. This is the first time I have attempted this dish and was pleasantly surprised with how easy and delicious this dish turned out. Now I must warn everyone this is far from healthy and the recipe turns out a very rich product. I would recommend saving this dessert for special occasions. The flambe step also adds a bit of excitement to the presentation. Enjoy!
With the nice weather we have been having I wanted to make use of the grill. This dinner combines one old favorite and one new favorite dish. My mom has made Summer Spaghetti my whole life and still makes it better than I have ever been able to. It is a great side dish to have throughout the summer. The honey bbq chicken wings have quickly become a summer favorite with my family. By cooking the wings over indirect heat they come out moist and tender and are healthier than frying chicken wings. The wings turn out best if you can marinate them overnight in hot sauce. Also cutting the wings into the drumstick and wing section can be time consuming. Get out there and grill and enjoy these two recipes!
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