Bacon Egg and Toast Cups

In my mind, this recipe was the surprise favorite from my personal menu contributions for our Breakfast Themed Dinner Club.  Funny how that works since this one had such simple ingredients and was the easiest to make in bulk!  Or, maybe it's because this was a blog recipe (vs. All Recipes) and I generally have better luck with those.  You can bake up to 2 muffin tins (24 bacon egg and toast cups) at the same time so it's a great recipe to serve for to a crowd.  They're great snacking and finger foods which are generally popular in our dinner club crowd.  And, they can be saved and re-heated in the oven or toaster oven for later.  These made an awesome lazy breakfast the morning following our gorge fest.  Yum!

I'll say that I've always been slightly afraid of eating my eggs any way except for scrambled, hard boiled, or in an omelette because there's something about liquidy egg yolks that just gross me out...that and a fear of contracting samonella.  The eggs in this recipe when cooked as directed are still runny but you can cook them longer (watchout, this could result in a rubbery egg white though).  Since I did make this recipe, I gave the recipe a try...runny yolks and all.  I'm happy to report that I did not get sick and I actually enjoyed it!  This recipe has converted me..at least in this application.  I'm still not a sunny-side up girl and will stick to my fully cooked yolks, if at all, for other egg applications!

I can also see this recipe with a variet of twists - added ham bits, peppers, onions, mushrooms, different types of cheese and/or bread.  The possibilities are endless!

The Noshery, the blog from which I found this recipe, also has a version that is french toast cups stuffed with sausage and apples that I'd like to try sometime.  I think I'd have more luck with Chris eating that one over this one which is clearly eggy.  Of course, with all the other stuff I was making for this round of dinner club, that recipe will have to wait for me to make it another time!

Bacon Egg and Toast Cups
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Yields: 6 cups (can easily be doubled, tripled, or even quadrupled for a crowd!)

Ingredients

• 6 slices of bread (I used wheat)
• 6 slices of bacon
• 6 eggs
• 1/2 cup of shredded cheese
• salt & pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray muffin pan with butter non-stick spray.
2. Using a cookie cutter or a wide-mouthed glass, cut circles out of bread slices about 3 inches in diameter.  Take bread circles and press them into the muffin pan, set aside.
3. Heat a large skillet on medium-high. Cook bacon on the skillet until partially cooked but still pliable, about 3 minutes. 
4. Shape bacon strips into the toast cups, fill with 1 Tablespoon of shredded cheese. Place in the oven for 5 minutes, allowing the bacon to toast just a little more. Remove from oven.
5. Crack an egg and drop a whole egg into the cup, sprinkle with salt & pepper to taste.  Repeat for remaining cups.  Place back in the oven and cook until white begins to set, about another 8 – 10 minutes. The yolk should be creamy.  If a more fully cooked yolk is desired, continue cooking until desired done-ness is achieved.
6. Remove from oven when done and pop out using a spoon, serve warm.

Source: The Noshery

Fancy Macaroni

Courtesy of Pioneer Woman: LINK

Ingredients
4 cups Macaroni
8 Tablespoons Butter (Salted Butter)
2 whole Medium Onions, Cut In Half And Sliced Thin
10 slices Regular Bacon
1 Tablespoon Bacon Grease (reserved From Bacon Slices)
¼ cups All-purpose Flour
2 cups Whole Or 2% Milk
½ cups Half-and-Half
2 whole Egg Yolks, Beaten
Salt And Pepper, to taste
½ cups Grated Gruyere Cheese
½ cups Grated Fontina Cheese
½ cups Grated Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese
4 ounces, weight Chevre (soft Goat Cheese)

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cook macaroni for half the time of the package instructions. Drain and set aside. Fry bacon until slightly, but not overly, crispy. Drain on a paper towel. Reserve grease.

Melt 4 tablespoons butter in a skillet and then saute onions over medium-low heat for 10 to 12 minutes, or until golden brown and soft. Set aside.

In a pot, melt 4 tablespoons butter (and add 1 tablespoon of the reserved bacon grease for good measure!). Sprinkle in flour and whisk to combine. Cook, stirring constantly, over medium heat for 1 minute. Pour in milk and half & half, then cook for 3 to 5 minutes or until thick. Reduce heat to low. Add salt & pepper to taste. (Do not undersalt!)

Beat egg yolks and drizzle 1/4 cup hot mixture into the yolks, stirring constantly. Stir to combine. Pour egg mixture into sauce and cook for another minute.

Add cheeses and stir until melted. Add onions and bacon and stir. Taste for seasonings and add more salt if needed. Add cooked macaroni and stir to coat.

Pour into a baking dish and bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until sizzling and hot. Serve with red meat or a green salad.

Sushi

Below are the basic ingredients for sushi.  You can then buy fillings of your choice to make various delicious rolls. 

I highly suggest Sushi Day for inspiration and recipes...there's even some rolls with BACON! (Bacon Crunchy Shrimp Roll and Kristen Maki). 

Pioneer Woman has an awesome tutorial with really good pictures (very helpful if you're a visual person like I am!) on how to create your rolls.  There's also a few good recipes on there as well.

Mmmm...good thing Emily took pictures of my rolls because I forgot to!

As I wasn't sure how adventures our group of Dinner Clubbers would be, I opted for all cooked (and inside out so you can't see the nori (seaweed) - out of sight, out of mind right?) maki rolls.  For my rolls, I made the standard California Roll and then did some Spicy Crab Rolls and just a few Shrimp Rolls.

Sushi Rice
(Source: Cody the Sushi Chef as seen on Pioneer Woman)

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Yields: 8 cups cooked rice or about 16 rolls

Ingredients

• 4 cups Short Grain/sushi Rice, uncooked
• 1 cup Rice Wine Vinegar
• ½ cups Sugar
• ¼ cups Sake Or Mirin (a Japanese Rice Wine)

Note: Used seasoned rice wine vinegar instead of sushi su (vinegar + sugar + sake).

Instructions

“Rice Prep”

1. Use short or medium-grain rice. It’s more starchy and round than the long-grain variety, which just won’t hold together well enough to support ingredients in sushi. Many stores now sell specifically-labeled “sushi rice”.
2. Before you cook it, wash/rinse the rice until the water runs totally clear—about five or six times. If you don’t thoroughly rinse the rice, it’ll end up in a big, sticky ball. There’s enough internal starch in the rice for it to sufficiently hold together for sushi, so get all the stuff on the outside off by rinsing well.
3. Use a rice cooker/steamer. Rice made on the stovetop will not work for sushi; it won’t be the right consistency. Rice cookers are widely available for as low as $12.
4. Add the rinsed rice to the rice cooker with equal parts water, and follow the directions for the rice cooker. After it’s done, transfer the cooked rice to a large mixing bowl.

You’ll need 1 part sushi su for every 4 parts rice.

Sushi Su/Sushi Rice:

1. Heat vinegar, sugar, and sake or mirin in a saucepan just to dissolve and combine. Allow to cool to room temperature. (Note: skipped this step as I just subbed pre-made seasoned rice wine vinegar)
2. Cook rice according to rice cooker directions. Transfer to large mixing bowl.
3. Pour su (vinegar mixture) over the rice, gently folding to incorporate.
4. Let rice stand for 10 minutes, then fold again.

Rice should be shiny, not mushy and have a slightly tart/sweet taste. Cover with a warm, wet towel and keep warm.

Spicy Mayonnaise
(Source: Group Recipes)

Ingredients

• ½ cup (low-fat) mayonnaise
• 2 Tbsp Sriracha hot sauce
• ¼ tsp roasted sesame oil

Directions

1. Whisk the ingredients together until well blended.
2. Store in fridge until ready to use.  Use in rolls or as a dipping/drizzled sauce.

California Rolls
(Source: Pioneer Woman)

Ingredients and Supplies

• 1 piece Makisu (bamboo Rolling Mat)
• Dark Green Nori (dried Seaweed)
• Sushi Rice (recipe above)
• Imitation Crab (round leg style)
• Avocado, Thinly Sliced
• Cucumber (Japanese, If Available), Thinly Sliced
• Toasted Sesame Seeds
• Soy sauce, for dipping
• Wasabi, if desired (used prepared Wasabi in a tube that I bought at Kroger)
• Ginger, if desired

Instructions

1. First, in order to keep your rice from sticking to the Makisu and making a terrible mess, carefully wrap the Makisu in plastic cling wrap.
2. To begin, fold the pieces of nori in half to split them. Nori is very delicate, so as soon as you press along the seam, it easily breaks in two. Next, lay the half-sheets of nori on the work surface and grab a handful (about a ½ cup) of sushi rice and cover one side of a half-sheet of nori with it. To do so, first set the rice on the end of the nori sheet closest to you. Then, working with your fingertips and/or knuckles, gently spread the rice over the surface of the nori.
3. On California Rolls, the rice is typically on the outside – not the inside – so to begin, quickly flip the rice-coated sheet of nori so that the rice side is down. Carefully position it horizontally so it will roll lengthwise. Next, place a single row of the crab across the middle of the nori. Next, place slices of avocado end to end right against the crab. It’s best to use an avocado that’s ripe but still quite firm. Lastly, lay the very thin (slightly thicker than a matchstick) cucumber slices end-to-end right alongside the crab and avocado.
4. To roll the sushi, carefully lift the edge of the mat closest to you, begin rolling the mat away from you, pressing it lightly to keep it firm. At this point, the end of the roll has been rolled upward, and your very light pressure is ensuring that they roll will remain nice and tight. Next, lift up the end of the rolling mat and pull it away from you, allowing the roll to roll the rest of the mat. Then carefully remove the roll from the mat and place it on a cutting board. Lay the mat over the top of the roll and exert gentle pressure once more to make sure it’s all secure.
5. Next, hold the roll on the mat and sprinkle the top with toasted sesame seeds. Slice using a very sharp knife, first running the knife through a damp dishtowel with the blade facing away from you. Begin by slicing the roll exactly in half. Then set the two halves side-by-side to slice into individual pieces. This ensures that each piece will be a uniform size.
6. Wrap in plastic cling and store in refrigerator until ready to serve.  Serve with soy sauce, wasabi, and pickled ginger, if desired.

For the Spicy Crab Rolls I just shredded some imitation crab and then mixed with the spicy mayonnaise.  Added some avocado and cucumber.  For the Shrimp Rolls I used cocktail shrimp (cut in half lengthwise), a dab of spicy mayo, carrots, and avocado.

Apple Bacon Tomato Soup

It has apples AND bacon - how could you ask for more?

source : http://allrecipes.com/recipe/apple-bacon-tomato-soup/Detail.aspx

Ingredients

• 5 slices bacon
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 white onion, chopped
• 2 teaspoons garlic, minced
• 2 cups beef stock
• 1 (15.5 ounce) can pinto beans
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can Italian-style stewed tomatoes
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 medium apple, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup red wine
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, coarsely chop, and set aside.
2. Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat, and saute white onion and garlic 3 to 5 minutes, or until tender. Stir in beef stock, pinto beans, tomatoes, celery, and bay leaf. Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer.
3. In a small saucepan over medium heat, cook and stir the apple in the red wine until soft.
4. Mix bacon, apple, and remaining red wine into the soup mixture. Season with salt and pepper. Continue to simmer, stirring occasionally until well blended.

Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Bacon and Herbs

INGREDIENTS

1 head garlic

2 tablespoons olive oil

6 pork tenderloins, (about 1/2 pound each), rinsed and patted dry, trimmed of excess fat

6 sprigs fresh sage

6 sprigs fresh rosemary

6 sprigs fresh thyme

18 strips bacon, (about 3/4 pound)

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

DIRECTIONS

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Remove papery outer skin from garlic head. Place garlic head on square of foil; drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil, and wrap. Bake until softened, about 45 minutes. When cool enough to handle, squeeze garlic flesh from head, pressing garlic against work surface with flat side of table knife.

Arrange 3 tenderloins on work surface, flat side up. Spread flat side of each tenderloin with one-third of the roasted garlic. Strip leaves from fresh sage, rosemary, and thyme; discard stems. Place one-third of each herb on each tenderloin, scattering leaves over the garlic. Place 3 remaining tenderloins on top of herb-coated tenderloins, with the flat sides down, and matching the larger ends to the tapered ends. Wrap 6 strips of bacon around each pair of tenderloins; tie bacon in place with kitchen twine. Sprinkle with salt and pepper on all sides.

Place large, heavy-bottomed skillet over high heat. Add remaining tablespoon oil and butter, and melt. Arrange tenderloins in skillet in batches to keep them from touching. Sear until golden brown on all sides, rotating as needed, about 10 minutes per tenderloin. Transfer seared tenderloins to large roasting pan; place in the oven. Roast until meat thermometer inserted into thickest part of meat registers 150 degrees. about 15 minutes. Transfer tenderloins to cutting board; let stand 10 minutes. Remove twine before carving.