Bacon Garlic And Thyme Gougeres Food

SAUTEED SPINACH WITH BACON, GARLIC AND THYME

Steps:

• Cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium-high heat until crisp, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, thyme and red pepper flakes and cook until just fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the spinach and some salt and pepper, and cook, tossing, until the spinach is wilted, about 2 minutes. Add the balsamic vinegar and stir to combine. Serve hot or at room temperature.

BACON GOUGERES

Steps:

• Bring 1 cup water, 1 sliced stick butter and 1/2 teaspoon each kosher salt and pepper to a boil in a saucepan. Add 1 cup flour, reduce the heat to low and cook, stirring, until the mixture pulls away from the pan and looks shiny, about 3 minutes.
• Transfer the dough to a stand mixer; beat in 4 eggs, one at a time, on medium speed until smooth. Stir in 6 finely chopped cooked thick-cut bacon slices, 3/4 cup grated smoked gouda and 2 tablespoons chopped chives. Transfer to a piping bag; snip off the end. Pipe tablespoon-size mounds onto 2 parchment-lined baking sheets. Sprinkle with more gouda.
• Bake at 400˚ F, until the gougeres are puffed and golden, 25 to 30 minutes, rotating the pan after 20 minutes.

CHEDDAR CHEESE GOUGERES WITH BACON

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
• In a medium saucepan, add 1 cup water, the butter and salt, and bring to a boil over high heat. Lower the heat to medium and add the flour all at once. Stir rapidly with a wooden spoon; the mixture will form a dough ball that will pull away from the sides of the pan. Continue to cook for a couple minutes.
• Remove the pan from the heat and let cool for a couple of minutes. Stir so that the dough cools more evenly; you want the dough to be warm, but not so hot that when you start adding the eggs they cook as they hit the dough. In a mixer or by hand with a wooden spoon, add the eggs one at a time, stirring after each addition until the eggs are incorporated. The dough should become rather creamy. Stir in the grated cheese, bacon, thyme and a few grinds of pepper.
• Spoon out small balls (about a heaping tablespoon) of the dough onto the baking sheet, with at least an inch separating the spoonfuls. Cook for 10 minutes; lower the heat to 350 degrees F and cook until puffed up and lightly golden, another 15 to 20 minutes.

BACON, GARLIC AND THYME GOUGERES

Steps:

• Beat eggs and egg white in measuring cup or small bowl; you should have 1/2 cup (discard excess). Set aside. Fry minced bacon over medium heat until almost crisp, about 8 minutes. Add garlic and stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Drain mixture through small strainer, reserving 2 tablespoons bacon fat. Set aside. Bring water, butter, bacon fat, milk, and salt to boil in small saucepan over medium heat, stirring once or twice. When mixture reaches full boil, immediately remove saucepan from heat and stir in flour until combined. Return saucepan to low heat and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture is slightly shiny, about 3 minutes (paste should register 175 to 180 degrees on instant-read thermometer). Immediately transfer mixture to food processor and process with feed tube open for 10 seconds to cool slightly. With machine running, gradually add eggs in a steady stream. When all eggs have been added, scrape down sides of bowl and add Gruyère and cayenne to food processor. Process for 30 seconds until a smooth, thick, sticky paste forms. Pulse bacon-garlic mixture and thyme into batter until mixed. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. Spray large baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray and line with parchment paper; set sheet aside. Fill a large pastry bag with paste. Twist top of bag and pipe paste onto prepared baking sheet into 16 evenly spaced 2-inch mounds. Use back of teaspoon dipped in bowl of cold water to even out shape and smooth surface of piped mounds. Bake 15 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees and continue to bake until golden brown and fairly firm, 12 to 14 minutes longer. Remove baking sheet from oven. With paring knife, cut 3/4-inch slit into side of each puff to release steam; return to oven, turn off oven, and prop oven door open with handle of wooden spoon. After 10 minutes, transfer puffs to wire rack. Serve warm.

BACON-GARLIC CHICKEN

Steps:

• Pound chicken with a meat mallet to 1/2-in. thickness; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Lightly coat both sides with flour; shake off excess. , In a nonstick skillet, cook bacon over medium-high heat until crisp, stirring occasionally. With a slotted spoon, remove bacon to paper towels; reserve 1 teaspoon drippings., In same pan, heat butter and drippings over medium heat. Add chicken; cook until no longer pink, 4-6 minutes per side. Remove from pan., Add garlic, rosemary and pepper flakes to pan; cook and stir until garlic begins to color, 1-2 minutes. Stir in broth and lemon juice; bring to a boil, stirring to loosen browned bits from pan. Cook until slightly thickened, 3-4 minutes., Return chicken and bacon to pan; heat through, turning chicken a few times to coat.

ROAST CHICKEN WITH THYME, GARLIC AND BACON

Steps:

• Wash the chicken well, removing any excess fat pockets, and trimming the skin lightly if desired. Loosen the skin from the breast and leg meat carefully. Take out any innards trapped in the bones of the cavity and let fresh water clear it out. Dry the chicken well, all of you.
• Combine the thyme, garlic, salt, pepper, and olive oil in a bowl. Stir well, adding the lemon zest, and strained juice, if desired.
• Slather some of the mixture into the cavity of the chicken. Put in the chopped bacon.
• Massage the remainder, as deeply as possible, into the breast and leg meat, reaching deep into the drumstick, and around the thighs.
• Tie the chicken legs. If any of the skin tears along the seam of the breast, tape it back together with toothpicks.
• Fit a roasting pan with a rack and add broth to a level that will not touch the chicken.
• Lay in the hen, breast side down and roast at 350 for 40-50 minutes.
• Retrieve the chicken from the oven, turn, breast side up. Continue roasting at 350 until done, and the breast registers 165 degrees in the thickest part. Make sure to take its temperature periodically, I find that people have other things to do and let the chicken cook lazily, thinking that it is never going to be done, and then go to check it, to find that it has already ruined. Check it, at least twice.
• Transfer to a plate, cover loosely with foil, and discard the rack. Transfer the drippings to a measuring cup. Retrieve off most of the fat, you can save some out to add back to the pan, if you feel the desire to have it a little richer, I don't really like a fat gravy.
• Taste the drippings, add more broth if desired.
• Do not have it too salty. Mix some cornstarch into a bowl with a little water or room temperature stock (about 2 tablespoons starch).
• Bring the drippings to a simmer in a small saucepan. Let the pan be slightly below the boil, and add in the starch, by degrees until it is thick and proper.
• Cook, if needed, then serve with the roast, carved up at table.

HICKORY-BACON AND ROASTED-CORN GOUGERES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°F with racks in upper and lower thirds.
• Cook bacon in skillet over medium heat, turning occasionally, until crisp. Drain on paper towels, then finely chop.
• Pour off fat from skillet, then wipe clean. Add corn and pan-roast over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until kernels are mostly golden brown, 10 to 15 minutes.
• Bring water to a boil with butter and salt in a heavy medium saucepan, stirring until butter is melted. Add flour all at once and cook over medium heat, stirring vigorously with a wooden spoon, until mixture pulls away from side of pan, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and cool slightly, about 3 minutes. Add 4 eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. (Batter will appear to separate at first but will then become smooth.) Mixture should be glossy and just stiff enough to hold soft peaks and fall softly from a spoon. If batter is too stiff, beat remaining egg in a small bowl and add to batter 1 teaspoon at a time, beating and then testing batter until it reaches proper consistency.
• Stir in bacon, corn, cheeses, chives, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.
• Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper or lightly butter sheets. Fill a pastry bag fitted with 1/2-inch plain tip with batter and pipe about 35 (3/4-inch-diameter) mounds, or spoon mounded teaspoons, 1/4 inch apart, onto each sheet. Bake, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until puffed, golden, and crisp, 25 to 30 minutes total. Transfer to a rack (still on parchment if using). Make more puffs on cooled baking sheets. Serve warm or at room temperature.