The hangover skillet

Aaron spent 4 years at the University of Colorado in Boulder and had ample time to perfect this weekend breakfast cure. It takes the edge off a hard night.

Ingredients:
2 russet potatoes
2 eggs
4 strips peppered bacon
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 jalapeño, chopped
Canola oil
Sour cream
Pea vines or sprouts
Cheddar cheese
Salt & pepper
1 tsp Cajun spice (salt, cayenne, & chili powder)

Directions

1. Pierce the potatoes with a knife or fork and microwave for 2 min until they are partially cooked
2. Fry bacon, and chop and set aside; reserve bacon grease
3. Cube the potato and fry over medium high heat in 2 tbsp oil until golden in color and crispy
4. Add onion and jalapeño pepper, season with spices + 1/2 tsp salt
5. Fry eggs over easy in reserved bacon grease
6. Serve potatoes with shredded cheddar cheese and the fried egg on top, garnish with sour cream and greens

 

 

Pre race pancakes

Cycling is hard work. A 30 mile bike ride at a sustained tempo pace will burn upwards of a thousand calories so fuel is critical. A couple of teammates swear by pancakes (sometimes smothered with peanut or almond butter) and I’ve spent the last month experimenting with whole wheat pancake recipes. The results have varied from eating fried black sand to dense, chewy pieces of dough depending on the various quantities of whole wheat flour, buckwheat flour, and ground farro I use. I’m still working on perfecting the recipe, but this a solid pre-race or workout meal.

Ingredients:
2 cups whole wheat flour
< 1/4 cup buckwheat flour or ground flax
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp of sugar (optional)
2 eggs
1 cup almond milk (most recipes call for 1% buttermilk, but I rarely have that on hand)
1/4 cup sour cream
2-3 tbsp melted butter
1/4 tsp cinnamon
<1 cup quick cooking oats*

Directions:
Stir all dry ingredients together
Mix wet ingredients and slowly add flour mixture
Add sliced bananas or fresh berries for a sweeter and slightly less doughy texture
Cook in a hot skillet with melted butter on medium high heat; flip when edges start to bubble and turn the heat down to medium
*I usually make this recipe the night before; the oats will absorb moisture overnight and swell up. You may need to add a little more milk before cooking.

Special Edition White Pepper Crusted Bacon

Being food lovers, we often get food related gifts from the travels of our friends and relatives- a great way to bring true international flavor into our own home. One such recent gift was some whole white peppercorns from Ben and Ashley’s honeymoon to Turkey. It took me awhile to come up with something that would feature the flavor of the pepper, without burying it in some complexly flavored dish. What I came up with was White Pepper Bacon. Most people don’t realize how easy, or how rewarding it is to cook bacon at home. It’s one of those things that has been cooked for time immemorial, and you really get the sense that you’re immersing yourself in food history every time. Plus, it tastes way better than store bacon, especially when it’s got your fingerprints on it.

For the record, historically, bacon is cooked at low temperature, then cooled before it’s sliced. So it’s already cooked before you throw it in they frying pan, more like the bacon you get at the Whole Foods Deli Counter, not like the raw bacon you typically get in the package. It’s a difference of texture. Real bacon is firmer, more flavorful, keeps longer, and is what you’ll end up with if you use this recipe.

The pork:
A 3 lb slab of pork belly, skin on

The Brine:
3 Tbs Kosher salt (good rule of thumb, one Tbs per pound of meat), or if you don’t have a smoker, substitute smoked salt and cook in the oven
1 Tbs Rosemary
1 Tbs Sage
1 Tbs black peppercorns
1 Tbs garlic powder

The Rub:
3 Tbs ground white peppercorns

The Directions:
1. Mix all of the dry spice ingredients and salt for the brine in a bowl.
2. Put the belly slab in a ziploc bag, and cover it evenly with the dry spices and salt, put in the refrigerator for a week, switching sides every day or two
3. After it’s been brining for a week (doesn’t have to be exact, but within a couple of days either way), the belly should feel firm to the touch. Remove from the bag, and wash all spices off thoroughly, then pat dry with paper towels.
4. Grind the white peppercorns with a grinder, and rub all sides except the skin side of the meat generously with the ground pepper
5. Cook by
a. cook it in your oven at 200 degrees for about 2.5 hours, until internal temperature reaches 150.
b. put it in a smoker for about 6-8 hours until internal temperature reaches 150
c. putting it in a smoker for as long as you can, then finish it in the oven (this is what I did. Still get some smoke flavor, but didn’t have the 6-8 hours to hang out)
6. Remove the skin with a sharp knife, leaving some of the fat. Let cool, then slice to your desired thickness, fry, and enjoy.

I usually slice, then wrap by the pound in butcher paper, put each in a ziploc bag, and put one in the fridge and the other two in the freezer. It will keep in the fridge for a couple of weeks, and in the freezer as long as you need. A slicer is very handy here, but you can do it with a sharp chef’s knife too.