Bacon Kale Chips

Some things just make sense eh? Bacon and Kale go very well together. Also, good quality bacon isn't the cheapest on the shelf. I prefer to buy my bacon from a local source so that I know how the pig was treated. Recently Chipotle took pork off of their menu due to the ethical concerns of how pigs are raised. Between horrible treatment of animals and the questionable ingredients added to bacon I've been playing with making my own. Recipe to come. So if I'm going to go to the effort to source high quality pork, uncured, that doesn't have any nasty chemicals you'd better believe that I'm going to save the bacon fat. Bacon fat is great to cook with. Not only does it have a high smoke point but it also gives amazing flavors to anything you cook in it.

I keep my bacon fat in a mason jar in the refrigerator. For this recipe you'll need to heat the fat slightly. You don't want to turn it into a hot liquid. I popped mine into the microwave for a few seconds. (go in 10 second increments until you achieve the desired consistency) It was still white but was no longer solid.

Here is my bowl of kale chips. It looks a bit empty because I kept eating them while the second and third trays cooked. I wanted crispy chips so I made sure that none of the kale was touching another piece. There weren't many chips on the last tray but I suggest spacing them out instead of overcrowding the chips, no matter how many trips to the oven you have to make.



Bacon Kale Chips

8 kale leaves torn into pieces, stems removed
3T of bacon fat
1/2 t salt

Bake at 350 F for 10 minutes on a cooling rack over a baking sheet. I'd always baked kale chips directly on a piece of parchment on a baking sheet but some parts of the chips came out over cooked from direct contact with the sheet whereas other parts were sometimes soggy. When I cook bacon I put it on a cooling rack over a baking sheet and it comes out perfectly crisp so I decided to give it a try with kale chips.






As you can see below they came out perfectly crisp and not burnt or soggy. The next time I make these I think I'll grind up some cooked bacon into a dust and sprinkle it over the chips before I bake them for an extra bacon kick.

Asparagus With Mushrooms

When I walked past this asparagus in the supermarket I had to buy two bundles because the spears are so small. That may sound counter intuitive to some but the smaller the spears the more tender they are.


Looking for something different to do with asparagus I decided to add sauteed mushrooms. These aren't just any mushrooms, this is how Julia Child taught me to make mushrooms in her book Mastering The Art of French Cooking. Thinly sliced and browned on both sides, I think this is the closest any food can ever come to tasting like bacon. One of these days I may cook up a bunch just so I can snack on them.

 If you know anything about Julia you know that she cooked with lots of butter. Since I have a horrible reaction to dairy I thankfully have found a replacement. Nutiva makes a shortening (non-hydrogenated and sustainable) that is a combination of coconut oil, palm oil, and red palm oil. The red palm oil gives it a slight buttery flavor and it has a high smoke point. I've tried but I'm simply not one of those people who can use coconut oil in every dish, especially savory ones. Whether you use butter, ghee, bacon fat, or shortening my husband and I decided that THIS is the way to eat asparagus.

Ingredients
3T Nutiva shortening
6 cremini mushrooms thinly sliced
1/2t salt
1/2C water
bunch of asparagus with the woody ends trimmed off.



Melt the fat of your choice in a skillet. Add the thinly sliced mushrooms and 1/4t of salt to the hot oil and cook until browned on both sides.



Remove the mushrooms and add the asparagus and remaining salt to the pan. Stir the asparagus around so that each spear is coated in fat. Add water to the pan to steam the asparagus and cover with a lid.



Cast iron skillets don't typically come with lids. In the past I have used larger lids to cover the pan but condensation eventually begins to drip onto the stove top. One of my new favorite kitchen gadgets is this silicone sunflower in the photo below. You can use it for an airtight seal on bowls or on hot items such as a pot on the stove. I'm saving on plastic wrap and avoiding drips on the stove. Brilliant!

Remove the lid periodically to stir the asparagus. You are aiming for bright green and tender stalks that aren't mushy and complete evaporation of the water added to the pan. When the stalks are bright green there shouldn't be much water remaining. If there is a bit you can remove the lid to let it evaporate if the asparagus is nearly cooked. If the asparagus is completely cooked simply remove it from the pan and don't worry about the water. We don't want to overcook your asparagus.

Top the asparagus with the cooked mushrooms.

AIP Faux-tato Soup

The auto-immune paleo diet is strict for good reason but sometimes you just want a bite of something familiar and comforting. When I went to make dinner tonight all of the meat was still frozen and I wanted something quick because it was 6:30 an the little one goes to bed at 8. I learned tonight that parsnips don't cook as quickly as potatoes do so if you're pressed for time cut your parsnips smaller than I did. Like most nights this recipe was simply an experiment of mine and I had no idea how it would turn out when I began assembling ingredients. However, the final result hit the spot and I could barely eat it fast enough.

Faux-tato Soup

2 parsnips peeled and diced (about 2 cups)
2 stalks of celery diced
1/2 of a medium onion diced
4T of palm shortening
3 cloves of garlic
2C of vegetable broth
2C of water
10oz bag of frozen cauliflower
1 bay leaf
1/2t dry thyme
1t salt
3 lg cremini mushrooms thinly sliced
fresh sage leaves

In a large stock pot melt 1T of palm shortening over medium heat and saute the onion and celery until the onion is translucent. Add the garlic and stir a few times before adding the broth, water, bay leaf, thyme, and cauliflower.

While the cauliflower is cooking heat the remaining 3T of palm shortening in a saute pan over medium heat and quickly fry the sage leaves. Remove the leaves and add the mushrooms, cooking until they are brown on both sides. When they are done place them on a paper towel or cooling rack to keep them from getting soggy.

When the cauliflower is fork tender remove the bay leaf, set aside, and puree the contents of the pot with a blender. Be careful of hot liquids and don't fill a blender more than half full. I used an immersion blender tonight. Return the liquid to the pot along with the bay leaf, salt, and diced parsnip. Cook over medium heat, the soup should lightly boil, until the parsnips are tender.

Garnish with mushrooms and sage leaves. I grow sage around our covered patio and it provides me with fresh sage almost year round. Since it's early in the year and I was just playing in the kitchen I only picked about 10 leaves. Next time I'll definitely find more leaves to fry up.

Here is a photo of sage I took last summer. It is nearly the only thing that grows here in southwestern Idaho without human intervention. If you have a dry place in your yard with poor soil I bet sage will grow there.