Bakin’ With Bacon and King Ted

It is your King!   With another bacon recipe you’re going to love!

But today I’m not “baking” I’m just “making”.     It’s a salad………..with two of our favorite things in the castle:  avocados and bacon.     Ready?

Bacon Avocado Salad

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 4 teaspoons sugar
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• SALAD:
• 1 bunch romaine, chopped (about 12 cups)
• 3/4 pound bacon strips, cooked and crumbled
• 3 medium tomatoes, chopped
• 1 medium red onion, halved and thinly sliced
• 3 medium ripe avocados, peeled and cubed
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 cup crumbled Gorgonzola or feta cheese

Directions

• Place first 6 ingredients in a jar with a tight-fitting lid; shake well until blended. Refrigerate until serving.
• In a large bowl, combine romaine, bacon, tomatoes and onion. Toss avocados with lemon juice and add to salad. Sprinkle with cheese. Serve with dressing, shaking the jar to blend again if needed.

 

Holy Cow………………..my Mom – oops I mean THE ROYAL MOM – loves this salad.    She’s always loved avocados and in fact often she’ll start an avocado plant from the seed – we have two four foot avocado plants in our kitchen right now in fact.   She can eat an avocado just like it was an apple or some other snack.    Anyway, if you like avocados I can guarantee you’ll love this salad.

It’s easy to grow your own plant by the way…………………Mom moves her avocados to the back deck in the summer – sure they won’t ever have avocados probably because we don’t have the right weather BUT they are pretty plants on their own……………….

In some parts of the country you might just grow actual avocados but not where we live – still the plants are fun to grow – kids love to watch this process but so do adults (especially THE ROYAL MOM!!!!!).

Highly Recommended Recipe from THE KING!

Bakin’ With Bacon and the King

Oh yeah!  Saturday is BACON DAY!  Ready?

We’re making a trip to “low country” this morning for this delicious dish I’m going to show you.    My Mom and Dad just got back from an overnight at a VERY beautiful country Inn and the Chef was from Lousiana – one of the breakfast items available was very similar to this recipe.     It’s better for lunch or dinner but – well – it was tough for Mom and Dad to resist ordering it for breakfast since it was on the menu so they did!!!

Shrimp and Cheesy Grits With Bacon

INGREDIENTS

1-1/2 cups chicken broth

1-1/2 cups evaporated milk

3/4 cup quick-cooking grits (yes I know these aren’t available everywhere but if you CAN find them – PERFECT – if not – well – I’m so sorry!!!!)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese   (plus one extra tablespoon of shredded cheese for topping when it’s all done!!)

1 cup chopped raw bacon

2 tablespoons bacon drippings

1 pound uncooked medium shrimp – peeled and deviened

1/2 cup diced green bell pepper

1/2 cup diced onion

Directions

Bring chicken broth and evaporated milk to a boil in a large saucepan; stir in grits and salt and return to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer grits until thick, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Stir in 1 cup Cheddar cheese until melted. Set grits aside and keep warm.

Cook and stir bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until crisp, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer bacon to a bowl. Drain all but 2 tablespoons of bacon drippings from the skillet and cook and stir shrimp, green bell pepper, and onion in bacon drippings until shrimp are bright pink and no longer translucent inside and green pepper is tender, 5 to 8 minutes. Stir bacon into shrimp mixture.

Spread grits into a serving dish, top with shrimp mixture, and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon Cheddar cheese for garnish.

 

I wish I could say that I can think of a good substitute for grits in this recipe – maybe rice?   Not sure about that but I think that would work.    Grits are one of those things my Mom says she just FORGETS about but this dish was one of her and Dad’s faves when they used to eat at one of the restaurants in our town (pre-pandemic).    Shrimp with Grits – talk about delish!!!!!!!

Pooh knows what he’s talkin’ about!!!!

Happy Saturday from the Castle Baconia Kitchens!!

Bakin’ With Bacon And The King (and his guest!)

Hello Bacon Lovers!   Today I have my Guest Chef and friend Raz back in the kitchen with me!

Yes indeed – it’s my buddy and pal Raz from FRIENDSFUREVER.   Raz is joining me again today because his Mom Miss Sharon sent us a FABULOUS baconized recipe that we absolutely MUST SHARE with all of you.  I thought it would be nice if Raz would help me out as we make this goodie for all of you today in the Castle………….

I’m trying to give you all a lot of FUN and tasty recipes for the holiday season – snacks, appetizers – anything goes!     Ready?

Spiced Bacon Nuts

 

INGREDIENTS

• 3 cups mixed nuts (roasted and salted)
• 5 slices thick cut bacon, cooked and crumbled
• 3 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 2 tsp chili powder
• 1 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/4 tsp cayenne powder
• 1/4 tsp salt

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Heat oil in a large pan over medium-high heat.
2. Add nuts to pan and coat with oil. Stir until peanuts are warm. Add in chili powder, cumin, brown sugar, salt, and cayenne powder. Stir in bacon and gently stir until well coated.
3. Remove from heat and drain on paper towels for about 10 minutes.
4. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Now I must say that if there’s too much HEAT in this recipe for you (spicy stuff) then you surely can cut back on the amounts OR even leave out any of the hot stuff that your tummy would be mad at you for using.    After all, food is NOT torture – it’s FUN!!!

My Mom makes what she calls “spiced nuts” every year at Christmas and they are SWEET – they do not have any “kick” to them.    That’s why this is a very interesting variation – not only does it have bacon in there for some nice salt but there’s a little sugar and lots of spice.    Since my Mom loves nuts that have sweetness to them, she used TWO tablespoons of brown sugar in this recipe.    It’s TOTALLY up to you.    Recipes are GUIDELINES so decide what you want and go for it.

Raz, it’s been a blast cooking with you today!   Now that you’re an experienced Guest Chef you know you are welcome any time at all here in the ROYAL KITCHEN!!!    Thanks for the help and please give your Mom a hug from me for sending in the recipe.

See you all next week for more bacon fun in the kitchen!!

Bakin’ With The King for Thanksgiving!

Greetings Loyal Subjects of Baconia!   Your King has a recipe to share!

That’s right – but this one is a little different because it’s actually a recipe for something you can make with your LEFTOVERS from Thanksgiving dinner………..if you’re like my Mom you always have lots of leftover mashed potatoes.   She goes nuts making mashed potatoes (blame my Dad because he loves mashed potatoes with gravy).   ANYWAY, this is a delicious little recipe that makes something that’s yummy for the day after – especially BREAKFAST!     They’re delish with scrambled eggs or whatever.

BACON-CHEDDAR PATTY CAKES

Ingredients:

3 (or more!) slices of bacon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

4 cups of mashed potatoes

2 eggs

1 teaspoon onion powder (optional)

1 cup shredded cheddar

Directions:

1. Place the bacon in a large, deep skillet, and cook over medium-high heat, turning occasionally, until evenly browned and crisp, about 10 minutes. Remove the bacon slices, crumble, and set aside. Leave the bacon drippings in the skillet.
2. Mix the mashed potatoes, eggs, onion powder, salt, and black pepper together in a bowl; stir in the crumbled bacon and Cheddar cheese.
3. Form the mixture into 8 patties. Heat the bacon drippings over medium heat, and pan-fry the patties in the drippings until crisp on each side, about 4 minutes per side.

 

Is this EASY OR WHAT???????????????????

I……WANT……SOME……NOW!!!

Yes I hear you…………………..they are delicious too.   You can make them ANY SIZE you want.    Silver dollar size or larger……..they kind of melt in your mouth too.   What a treat.   So – give this one a whirl on your “post-Thanksgiving guests” who stick around for breakfast the next day OR your family.    You’ll be getting some hugs from this one!

Be sure and come hang out in the kitchen next week – we’re getting closer to Thanksgiving and I’ll have another recipe for you!

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll go take a ROYAL NAP in the ROYAL CHAMBER……it’s tough work being King AND the Baker for the Castle!