Recipe Thursday: Chocolate Covered Bacon-Roses

Less of a recipe, and more of an attempt to do something different that others have started online. I wanted to take it a step further though, and you can't go too wrong with dark chocolate for valentine's day.  A few hours early, but I wanted people to have the chance to replicate this if they felt like it.

Thursday Recipe:

Chocolate Covered Bacon Roses

The ingredient list is very short, and it actually only consists of two food items. Chocolate and Bacon, and both of those are the choice of the maker. I chose a 82% dark chocolate and regular bacon, though you can use thick bacon, darker, or more sweet chocolate. The process would still be the same.

1. Get the tools needed. There is several ways to do this, but the bacon needs a way to drain while cooking. You can get a pan like I did, or drill holes in a cheap pan, or possibly make some aluminum foil molds with holes to drain. I also used wooden skewers to make sure the bacon was clear in the center, to better facilitate staying on the stems.

 

2. Wrap the bacon around the skewers. To get the right look it might take some practice, but make sure you wrap more near the top, and have it taper down. To keep it together, I tied one end with butchers twine, to allow it to seem more flared when cooked. Important to make sure you don't wrap it too tightly, or too lose.

 3. Let the Bacon cook. It took mine about 45-50 minutes at 350 degrees, before I was comfortable with how it looked. I removed from the oven, let cool for a few minutes then transferred to the refrigerator wrapped in paper towels to absorb extra grease.

4. After cooled, i made sure that the wooden skewer ends were the right lengths, and the bacon was well cooked.


5. Use your preferred method for melting chocolate, (double boiler, slow cooker, low power microwave) until the chocolate is creamy. Once it is, dip and swirl the bacon in the chocolate until it is well covered.  Place on a piece of parchment, or wax paper so it doesn't stick. Let cool for 10-15 minutes, before moving to a different spot on the paper (to avoid pooling) and then place in the refrigerator for chocolate to harden.





6. Disassemble flowers, keeping the important stems. (I got the flowers from Walmart for $3.00) Clean and wash before attaching cooled and chocolate covered flowers to your nice stems.

Recipe Thursday: Crepe style Omelettes

I know, there are many ways to prepare eggs. People disagree on the best way, and probably always will. Today rather than a recipe, I have decided to share (what I started a few weeks ago), is a almost crepe style omelet.


There aren't many ingredients, in fact the list is almost wholly up to you. I recommend that you always cook something in the pan beforehand... something like bacon. :)

Thursday Recipe:

Crepe style Omelet


2 eggs per omelete
2-3 ounces of cheese per omelete
dash of kosher salt
dash of pepper
Any ingredients you feel you want to put in the omelet (Spinach, peppers, mushrooms, etc)


1. Make sure you have adequate pan lubrication. Coconut oil, or animal fats work best and impart the most flavor.
2. Whisk eggs, cut cheese (haha). Make sure pan is not smoking the oil, you never want to cook eggs on full temperature, instead cook at about 1/2 or less what your stove top can do. Use a large size pan so the eggs have space to spread out, and become thin.
3. Pour eggs into pan, and rotate at an angle until eggs fill all portions of the pan evenly.

4. When eggs are mostly cooked (Very fast, less than 2 minutes typically), then add your extras, including salt, pepper, and cheese to one half.

5. Lightly using a silicon spatula to lightly fold over the egg half that has no extra ingredients. Let cheese melt for 30 seconds.

6. Flip omelet, and remove from heat. Allow cheese to continue to melt for 30 seconds, and then serve.

Recipe Thursday: Coffee Rubbed Beef Brisket

One of the best things I have ever made, and amazingly perfect for special events, is a coffee and spiced rubbed beef brisket. It sometimes can be a little pricey, but the first bite you have will have you wanting more and more.

Thursday Recipe:

Coffee Rubbed Long Roasted Beef Brisket

Pick a beef brisket of your choice, size doesn't matter much unless you are trying to feed a larger crowd. Since we aren't grilling this, there is no sauce that will be needed, just your oven.

1 Tbsp Garlic
3 Tbsp Coffee grounds
1 Tbsp Kosher salt
1 Tbsp Black Pepper
2 Tsp Paprika
2 Tsp Onion powder
1 Beef brisket (7-15 lbs)
2 Tbsp Oil of choice (Olive, coconut, lard, bacon fat)


1. Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl, making sure there are no lumps.
2. Set the oven for 250 degrees.
3. Heat the oil in a pan that the brisket will fit in on the oven top. Once it is warmed up, cook brisket on all sides for 1 minute each. After each side has been seared remove from the pan, and let cool for 5 minutes.
4. Once the brisket has cooled enough to handle, generously pat the rub into all sides of the brisket making sure to cover it fully.
5. Place brisket in preferred roasting pan, and then place in oven.
6.  Cook for approximately an hour per pound, and allow your home to fill with the delicious smell.