Oven-Baked Bacon √

Sonya's Note: PERFECT way to prepare bacon! I'll be doing it this way from now on!

Difficulty: Easy

Time Required: 20 minutes

Here's How:

1. Line a baking sheet with foil. This will make cleanup easier later.
2. Arrange bacon slices on the foil and place the baking sheet on the center rack of a cold oven. Close oven door. Turn oven on to 400°F. Walk away.
3. Come back 17 to 20 minutes later. As soon as the bacon is golden brown, but not excessively crisp, it's done. The exact time will depend on the thickness of the bacon slices, and also on how quickly your oven reaches the target temperature.
4. Remove the pan from the oven. Transfer the bacon to another sheet pan lined with paper towels to absorb the fat. You can pour the liquid fat into a heat-resistant container to save for other uses.

Tips:

1. Don't pre-heat the oven! Make sure the oven is cold when you put the bacon in.
2. Keep your eye on the bacon during the final few minutes of cooking to make sure that it doesn't burn. Also, remove the cooked bacon from the hot pan right away. The heat from the pan and the hot bacon fat will continue cooking the bacon.
3. You can slightly undercook the bacon, then cool it and freeze it in a zipper bag. Then, to reheat, cook two slices in the microwave on medium power for 30 seconds or so.
4. Variation: Dredge bacon in flour or corn meal before baking.
5. Variation: Sprinkle bacon with brown sugar or freshly ground black pepper before baking.

What You Need:

• 1 lb package of bacon
• Oven
• Shallow baking sheet
• Aluminum foil and paper towels
• Heat-resistant container for collecting drippings

Potato-Bacon Torte

* 4 strips bacon
* 3 sprigs fresh thyme
* 2/3 cup heavy cream
* 2 Pie Crusts, recipe follows
* 3 medium baking potatoes, peeled
* Salt and freshly ground black pepper
* 1/4 cup grated Gruyere cheese
* 1 egg yolk, whisked with a splash of water

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

In a skillet over medium heat, cook the bacon until just crispy. Drain on paper towel lined plate and set aside. Crumble the bacon when cool to the touch.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, heat the thyme and cream over low heat to a bare simmer. Turn off the heat and let steep for about 5 minutes. Remove the thyme sprigs.

Remove the pie pan from the refrigerator. Slice the potatoes in half lengthwise and then finely slice the potatoes. Working in circles, arrange the potato slices in the pie crust, stopping to season each layer with salt, pepper, and about 1/4 of the crumbled bacon. Continue layering until the pie pan is nearly full. Top with an even layer of the cheese and gently pour cream around and over the entire pie, allowing it to seep down between the potato slices. (You may not use all the cream.)

Roll out the remaining disk of refrigerated dough. Cover the pie with the dough and crimp the edges closed. Brush the top and edges of the crust with egg wash. Make a few slits in the center of the top crust, for the steam to escape, and put the pie pan on a baking sheet. Bake the torte until the crust is browned and crispy and the potatoes are cooked through, about 50 to 60 minutes. If the crust edges get too brown, cover them with some strips of aluminum foil. Remove the pie from the oven and let rest at least 15 minutes before cutting into wedges and serving.

Pie Crust:

* 1 cup butter (2 sticks), cubed and chilled
* 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 8 to 10 tablespoons ice water

Put the butter, flour, and salt in the food processor, and pulse lightly just until the mixture resembles wet sand. Add the water, 1 tablespoon at a time, pulsing briefly after each spoonful of water. Keep adding water until the dough just begins to gather into larger clumps. Transfer equal amounts of the dough into 2 resealable plastic bags and pat each into a disk. Let rest in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. Remove 1 of the disks from the bag to a flour coated surface. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out to a 10-inch round. Gently fit the rolled dough into a 9-inch pie pan, and refrigerate while you prepare the torte ingredients.

Yield: 2 (9-inch) pie crusts

Bacon and Egg Pies

Bacon and Egg Pies
(adapted from Donna Hay’s Modern Classics I, page 158)

• 1 sheet ready-made puff pastry (mine is 9.5 x 9.5 inches, you will have some scraps left over…use them for this!)
• 6 strips of bacon (Donna rationed 2 rashers per person, but I felt we deserved 3 each)
• 1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese (Donna used cheddar)
• 1 – 1 1/2 teaspoons wholegrain mustard
• 4 eggs

- Preheat the oven to 200C (400F).
- Place bacon on a baking sheet and place in the pre-heated oven for about 8-10 minutes. You just want to get the edges a bit crisp. Remember you are going to be baking it again with the tart! When done, drain on paper towels.
- Thaw pastry (in my kitchen this takes two seconds so I make sure everything is ready before taking it out of the freezer) and cut to fit two 1-cup capacity pie dishes (I just used whatever I thought would fit).
- Spread mustard on the pastry bases and sprinkle with the cheese.
- Top this with three pieces of bacon for each pie. I like to curve them around so they will cradle the eggs.
- Break two eggs over each pie.
- Bake for 15-18 minutes or until the pastry is golden and the eggs have set to your liking. Serve immediately.
- Serves two.