Gnocchi with Bacon and Green Beans

Gnocchi with Bacon and Green Beans

1 lb gnocchi
1/2 lb green beans, french cut
3 tbsp Bacon Olive Oil
4 strips precooked, crumbled bacon
1/4 cup slivered almonds
pinch of sea salt

Cook the gnocchi according to the package directions. Set aside.

Heat the olive oil to medium heat in a large saute pan. Add in the green beans and cook, stirring often for a couple minutes. Add in the gnocchi and gently fold everything over to combine. Spread in a single layer and let simmer for 2-3 minutes before stirring. Flip and repeat. Stir in the crumbled bacon bits and the almonds. Garnish with some Smoked Sea Salt, or maybe the Vermont Maple.

Serve warm.

Slow Cooked: Potatoes

I'm discovering you can slow cook almost anything. It just takes a little ingredient alteration and of course, time.

I never would have thought to put whole potatoes in a slow cooker. But thanks to the wonders of the internet, someone's idea floated around long enough to make it to me. I don't know who you are original person, but you are brilliant. Thank you.

This recipe is really for one potato. You just scale it around how many potatoes your crock pot can hold.

Crock Pot Baked Potatoes

Potatoes

1 tbsp Olive Oil per potato

Scrub your potatoes clean and poke them with a fork several times all around. Cut squares of tinfoil to wrap them in. 

Oil your potato on all sides. Wrap up.

Place in the crock pot on low for 5-8 hours or high for 2-3.

Break open and serve with your choice of toppings.

The Double Bacon and Cheese

Rubbed with Bacon Olive Oil and topped

 with crumbled bacon and shredded cheddar

The White Truffle Garlic

Rubbed down with White Truffle Garlic Olive Oil

 and topped with sauteed mushrooms and a

 little Black Truffle Sea Salt.

And the Zesty Onion!

Rubbed with the Zesty Onion Olive Oil and 

topped with sour cream and pickled jalapenos. 

Mushrooms and Rice

Now, this isn't your traditional breakfast. But it is filling, tasty and nutritious. Who is to say that breakfast has to be eggs!

Mushrooms and Rice

2 pints sliced mushrooms, any kind
3 cups brown rice, cooked
1 bell pepper
1 sweet onion
1 bunch spring onions
2-3 strips crispy bacon, crumbled
Salt and pepper
3 cups spinach
4 tbsp Bacon Olive Oil,
     Or Blood Orange Olive Oil

Add 2 tbsp oil to a large saute pan and heat to medium. Dump in the mushrooms and stir until coated with oil. Saute until they are reduced in size and well cooked, about 7-8 minutes. Add in the spinach and a little extra olive oil if needed and a pinch of salt. Toss together and let the spinach wilt, about 3 minutes.

While that is cooking, dice the veggies. When the spinach is fully wilted, add in the onions and the bell pepper. Stir to combine, then add the rice and black pepper. Stir to distribute the rice, add the rest of the oil if things seem a little dry.

Cover and cook about 3 minutes. Everything should be well heated through.

I suggest using our newest salt, the Vermont Maple Sea Salt. It is lightly sweet with a nice and strong maple smell and syrupy aftertaste, it just hit the shelves this week! Come in and try it today!

For a fun option, treat this like fried rice and add a couple chopped scrambled eggs! Great for breakfast or a nice side dish to anything. I may just eat this for all three meals today!

Leek and Apple Hash

You can use either fresh or frozen for this, it's not too big a deal. And I intend to use more apples in my hash browns. It's like you mixed little caramelized something's in....

Leek and Apple Hash

1/2 an apple, diced finely
1 leek, rinsed and finely sliced
1 or 2 carrots finely diced
2 cups finely shredded potatoes
3 tbsp Bacon Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper

Heat 2 tbsp of the oil in a large saute pan to medium high heat. Add the leeks and the carrots and toss to cover in the oil. Saute for 2-4 minutes, the leek will become more translucent, like an onion and the carrots should start to soften up.

Add the apple and cook another 2 minutes, stirring often. Add in the other tablespoon of oil and sprinkle the potatoes over top and lightly mix everything together. Spread it all out in the pan in an even layer.

Reduce the heat to medium and cook for about 3 minutes a side. The potatoes should be on the golden side of brown.

Sprinkle with salt and a little pepper and serve!

I know that not everyone is in to the Bacon Olive Oil. Don't worry. Just sub in your favorite flavor, Garlic would be nice, or Blood Orange. Go with the Persian Lime if you are feeling crazy!

Customer Recipe: Jim's Chicken and Potatoes

One of our customers stopped by to restock over the weekend and showed off his cooking skills with this Instagram photo. He described it thus:

"White truffle sauté chukar, pancetta essence seared diminutive tubers and savoy florets over a bed of fresh spinach drizzled with piquant dressing and a fresh cut of lemon for zest."

Or, as he told me later, "Boneless chicken fried in White Truffle Garlic oil, baby potatoes and broccoli florets seared in Bacon oil. Everything was laid out on fresh spinach with a drizzle of Buffalo Ranch dressing (and a slice of lemon)."

Thanks Jim! It looks divine!

Bacon Apples

I was having brunch a few years ago with my friend and her, then, 3 year old son. The waiter had mentioned that they were serving applewood smoked bacon and his eyes got very wide and he declared that he would have the apple bacon because apples were good for you.

It was very hard to convince him after that that bacon was not, in fact, made of apples.

He's 7years old now and I wanted to see if I could make his dreams of bacon apples come true.

Bacon Apples

2 apples, sliced thinly
1/2 cup golden raisins
4 tbsp Bacon Olive Oil
2 tbsp cinnamon sugar
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350degrees.

In a large bowl, toss the apples, raisins and nuts(if you are using them) with the cinnamon sugar and the Olive Oil.

Pour into an oven safe casserole and spread out evenly. Bake for 20 minutes, stirring once halfway through.



I served this with real bacon and some eggs, but I think next time I'll turn this into a real breakfast casserole. I'll add eggs and hash browns and cheese too.

I'll put an update here when I do that. Never fear.

A Different Kind of Pesto Bread

This recipe was inspired by a customer on their second bottle of Bacon Olive Oil. I had to find out what they used it for! So they told me that they made Bacon Pesto. My brain broke. You can make bacon what? Of course I realize that you can make pesto with any kind of olive oil you have, but it only ever seems to be made with basic oils or maybe the Basil or Garlic.

This does not disappoint.

Bacon Pesto

2-6 Tbsp Bacon Olive Oil

2 cups fresh basil

1/4 cup walnuts

1/4 cup grated parmesan

Mix everything in your food processor except the olive oil. Add that slowly until you get a consistency you like. It took me about 3 tbsp.

Now, you can serve it like this over pasta and things. Or that inspiring customer told me they stuff thin chicken breasts with it and bake it. (I will so eventually make that!) Or you can do what I did and toast up some bread!

Bacon Pesto Bread

Sliced bread, any loaf bread works great. I used challah.
2 -3 slices crispy bacon, broken up
Bacon Pesto
Cheese shreds, I used cheddar

Spread the pesto on the bread. Add bacon pieces. Add cheese. Toast in the oven or toaster oven until the cheese is bubbling and the edges of the bread are getting brown.

Serve while hot.

Steak with Polenta

So I made a whole bunch of polenta. I have so much left over that I froze about half of the leftovers. Every couple days I grab it and slice off some to go with my dinner.

Today I decided to make steak. I wanted to serve it with some smashed red-skin potatoes, but when I got home I realized I had used the last of them on Monday night.

What to do?

I sliced it up and sent it to the frying pan.

Steak and Polenta 

You need a nice frying pan, some sliced polenta and some steaks. This will serve as many people or as few people as you need it to. This is directions for each serving.

Salt (Himalayan Pink) and Pepper
Steaks
2 Tbsp for each steak, I like Jalapeno, Bacon or Roasted Garlic Olive Oil. I used Portobello and Garlic Olive Oil for this one.


Salt and pepper your steaks liberally. Add 2 Tbsp of olive oil to a frying pan and heat over medium high heat.

Add the steak and cook until desired level of 'done'. This will vary according to how well-done you like your meat. I prefer medium-well, and cooked mine for about five minutes a side.

Keep it warm.

Slice your polenta into thin slices. Add it to the pan and cook until crispy. Also about five minutes.

Serve together and enjoy!

Bacon Hash

Oh my goodness! We just got in our newest olive oil flavor. Bacon! It tastes just like it sounds so I knew I had to take it home with me.

This recipe can be scaled up or down however you like. I think it would make a great dish to serve for guests for brunch.

Bacon and Egg Hash

Eggs

Frozen Hash Browns

Bacon Olive Oil

Toasted Onion Sea Salt

Pepper

Golden Raisins

Shredded Cheddar

Stream two tablespoons of oil into the pan, add the eggs and scramble over medium heat. Set aside.

Add a couple more tablespoons of oil and layer in your hash browns. Follow the package directions and resist the urge to poke them with your spatula. They will be golden and crispy, it just takes time.

Once the hash browns are done, break them up with your spatula and add the scrambled eggs. Mix well. Top with the shredded cheddar, raisins, salt and pepper. Cook until the cheese has melted.

Plate, serve and enjoy!