Bacon, Egg and Hash Browns

Simple and delicious brunch, with pan fried hash browns, fried bacon, and fried eggs, served with black pepper, a pinch of salt, and American mustard. 

The hash browns were cooked in a small pan for twenty five minutes at a low to medium heat, in sunflower oil. Watch carefully, and turn occasionally. 

The bacon came from a pack of cooking bacon. Normally these consist of rashers which didn't quite make the aesthetic grade, but what I was working with was a solid block of bacon. I cut it up with a serrated knife. Fried slowly for half an hour, the last fifteen minutes of which were under glass. 

Eggs cooked for five minutes at a lowish heat in the bacon fat, and dosed with a pinch of salt. 

 

Bacon and Mushroom Omelette

A meal intended to pack a punch in a relatively short space of preparation time. The ingredients were two eggs, some rashers of cooking bacon (dice if necessary), and some diced mushrooms (four).

The bacon was cooked first until crispy, with the mushrooms being added to the non-stick omelette pan after seven minutes of cooking at a medium heat.

The eggs were beaten with some water, paprika and herbes de Provence, and a little white pepper.

The beaten eggs were added to the omelette pan, and allowed to cook under glass at a medium heat for about five minutes. After that the omelette was turned, and cooked at a low heat for a further four or five minutes.

Served with a small bistro style salad, and two squirts of tomato ketchup.

Bacon with Penne Pasta

Cooking bacon cut into chunks and stir-fried until browned. Add chopped onion, green pepper, carrot and celery. Cook for ten minutes at a medium heat, stirring frequently

Add boiling water and tomato puree, and stir. Cook for fifteen minutes under glass, and add the basil and half a spoonful of smoked paprika.

I used wheat-free pasta, which cooks in the same sort of time as the regular variety (9 to 10 minutes).

Serve the bacon and the salsa on top of the pasta in a pasta bowl. Dress in some black pepper.

Bacon, Tomato, Celery and Mushroom Stew

Prepared with about 150g of chunky cooking bacon, cut into gougons, and fried until golden brown. Add finely chopped celery, mushrooms and onion to the stir-fry, and cook until the onions also begin to brown.

Add boiling water (around a cupful) and add a 400g tin of plum tomatoes. Crush the plum tomatoes with a spatula. Stir together and allow to simmer under glass for half an hour to forty-five minutes.

Add the vegetable stock, and the herbs, Sage, Basil and Herbes de Provence. Add a pinch or two of paprika and stir together. Simmer for another ten to fifteen minutes. Serve on a bed of basmati or American long grain rice.

Bacon and Tomato Pasta

Penne pasta with a tomato and parmigiano regiano sauce salsa, with bacon chunks, garlic and herbs.

I cooked the bacon first at a medium heat, together with the garlic, which takes around fifteen to twenty minutes, until the bacon pieces are slightly browned. Then I added boiling water and pieces of the cheese (about 75g). Cooked for twenty minutes to half an hour until the cheese has melted, stirring frequently.

Then I added about 150g of tomato passata, plus the herbs basil, oregano, and a pinch of paprika. Added a dash of Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce. Stirred together thoroughly. This is essentially a neopolitan style salsa, which is the basis of many excellent Italian meals.

I left it  to cook at a low heat under glass for another twenty minutes to half an hour. During which time I prepared the wheat-free, gluten free pasta from Sainsbury's. I boiled water, and added about a third cupful of the dried pasta. I also added a quarter teaspoonful of turmeric, for both flavour and colour. The pasta was stirred frequently to prevent sticking.

The pasta was ready to serve in ten minutes. I spooned the salsa into a pasta bowl and used a slatted spoon to capture all of the bacon chunks. The pasta was drained, and decanted into the bowl. The dish was served with black pepper. Delicious!

Bacon and Potato Hash

Some cooking bacon to be used up, and some leftover boiled potato? A bacon and potato hash is in order! So, halve the boiled potatoes, halve about a dozen cherry tomatoes, chop up two spring onions, and cut the bacon into thin strips. Stir fry in a saute pan, with a little salted butter, for ten to fifteen minutes, depending on the heat and how brown you want your bacon. The photograph shows the dish midway through the fry.

For really crispy bacon, fry the bacon first before adding the other ingredients. Serve as it is, or with a fried or poached egg, with mustard on the side and black pepper. 

Bacon and Potato Hash

Bacon Broth

A simple and delicious broth recipe, made with 3 carrots, 1 large leek, 2 sticks of celery, 1 potato, a third of a cup of lentils, and 150 grams of cooking bacon. 

Chop the carrots, the leek, and the celery. Peel the potato, and slice into pieces. Add to a pan of boiling water. Add the lentils. 

Chop the cooking bacon into small pieces, and add to the pan of vegetables. Add some ham stock, and black pepper. Simmer for half an hour to 45 minutes. Mash the contents of the pot. Simmer again for another 20 mintes to half an hour. The soup is ready to serve, either by itself, or with buttered wheat-free bread. 

Bacon Broth

Bacon and Celery Soup

Chopped bacon misshapes, onion, celery, courgette and carrot. With ham stock, rosemary and thyme, black pepper. Bacon and diced celery cooked in olive oil. The other ingredients were added after twenty minutes. Stock added after a further ten minutes.

Bacon and Celery Soup