Red lentils

“Have you ever eaten lentils for breakfast?” Faith Durand asks in “Not Your Mother’s Casseroles” (The Harvard Press, $16.95). “This is one of those breakfast dishes that is really just as good for lunch or dinner. It’s flexible; after you make up a batch of soft, mashed lentils with spices, you can serve them for any meal of the day. Serve this with Indian lime pickle or a spicy chutney.”

Bacon and Lentils with Eggs

4 slices bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces
4 shallots or 1/2 red onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons garam masala
2 cups red or yellow lentils, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
4 cups water
Salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
6 eggs

Place the bacon in a 2-quart (or larger) saucepan and place over medium-low heat. Cook the bacon slowly, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes or until it is crisp.

Turn the heat to medium and add the shallots and garlic. Cook, stirring, for about 5 minutes, then add the garam masala and lentils. Stir so the lentils are coated with the shallots and garlic, then add the cilantro and cook until it is wilted.

Add the water and turn the heat to high. Bring to a boil, then cover and lower to a simmer. Cook for about 20 minutes. if the lentils are too watery at the end, leave the lid off for a few minutes until the liquid is reduced and the lentils are nearly dry. Turn off the heat and taste. Season the lentils with salt and pepper, then lightly mashed them with a fork.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease six 6-ounce ramekins with baking spray or olive oil. Mount a few spoonfuls of the lentils in each (you may have some lentils left over), then make a hollow in the center of the lentils with the back of a spoon and crack in an egg. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the whites are just set. Serve immediately.

Makes 6 servings.

From “Not Your Mother’s Casseroles” by Faith Durand

Add blue cheese to bacon in these sandwiches.

Food Network star Sondra Lee is known for taking already made products and combining them for maximum effect. Her “Semi-Homemade Comfort Food” (SL Books, $19.95) is loaded with tips and she even offers her favorite brands to help you with your shopping. Of course, you could make as much of the dish as you had time for.

This recipe is for a quick sandwich that matches two favorite foods: bacon and blue cheese. The end result will have you seeing a BLT in a whole new light.

Bacon and Blue on Rye

16 slices fully cooked bacon (Tyson)
8 slices light rye bread (Oroweat)
1/2 cup creamy blue cheese dressing (Bob’s Big Boy)
4 tablespoons crumbled blue cheese (Sargento)
2 roma tomatoes, sliced
Salt, to taste
Ground black pepper, to taste
Spring salad mix

Heat the bacon in the microwave according tot package directions.

Toast bread and spread each slice with blue cheese dressing. Place 4 slices of the bacon on half of the bread slices. Sprinkle with blue cheese. Top each with tomato slices and season to taste with salt and pepper. Add the lettuce and then the other piece of bread. Slice in half and serve.

Makes 4 servings.

From “Semi-Homemade Comfort Food” by Sondra Lee

With the economy still in the tank and some of us marginally employed, why would we purchase Czech bacon at the price of $7 for a half pound?

First, it’s pork. Second, it’s one of our favorite artisan foods: charcuterie. This is the preparation of pork (mainly, though other meats can be prepared similarly) specialties such as pâtés, rillettes, sausages, and, of course, bacon.

If the product is made by those who adhere to a “slow-food” ethos, it becomes even harder to resist. This was our pleasurable predicament after sampling from the Kocurek Family Artisanal Charcuterie Saturday at the Pearl Farmers Market.

The Kocureks have been selling prepared sandwiches and packaged sausages, bacon and other hand-crafted foods at the Pearl market for some weeks now. Their stated mission is to “preserve the art of traditional charcuterie using local, free-range, hormone-free meat and game, and above all else, the preservation of our happiness in making authentic food with our family.”

Czech bacon, thickly sliced and seasoned with herbs and spices, comes from the Kocurek Family Artisanal Charcuterie in Austin.

Lawrence and Lee Ann Kocurek met at culinary school a decade ago, then moved to New York. Lawrence is an honors graduate from The French Culinary Institute and Lee Ann is a certified sommelier from the American Sommelier Association. They have a young son, born in 2009, who was their inspiration, after careers with top restaurants and wine merchants, to go into business for themselves in Austin.

As Lawrence described it, the bacon is not as salty as American bacon. It is seasoned, however, with a lengthy list of herbs and spices. The flavor was plenty bacon-y, and we didn’t miss all the salt we have become accustomed to. It sizzled nicely in the pan and turned very crisp. It was utterly delicious with scrambled eggs, green chile salsa and hot corn tortillas for breakfast, and in BLTs at lunch.

Later on Sunday, my husband and I pan-broiled the Kocurek’s Saucisse de Toulouse, a half-pound French sausage made with pork, wine, garlic, nutmeg and other seasonings. Served with an herb-scented pilaf of tiny green French lentils seasoned with salt pork and sliced fresh tomatoes, it was a perfect Sunday supper.

John Griffin took home with him his own packages from the Kocurek booth, not being able to resist the Boerewors sausage, a taste of South African-seasoned beef, pork and bacon with red wine, garlic, coriander, nutmeg, allspice, cloves and Worcestershire sauce among the spices. We’ll look forward to the report on that— or, better still, a taste!

To look at a comprehensive product list of the Korcurek family’s charcuterie, a schedule of the farmers markets they visit, and to sign up for their newsletter, click here.

Saucisse de Toulouse, pan-grilled and served with French Lentil Pilaf with Wine.

For the French Lentil Pilaf with Wine recipe that we served with the Saucisse de Toulouse (see below), click here.

Photos by Bonnie Walker

Bacon-Avocado-Mango Breakfast Sandwich

Every time someone uses the word “bam” near a kitchen, Emeril Lagasse comes to mind. The celebrity chef, who told us all that “pork rules,” would probably love this version of BAM, a breakfast sandwich made with bacon, avocado and mango.

The silky smooth textures of the mango and avocado are a nice contrast with the crisp bacon and the hot buttered bread. If you want to make this more like a Mexican torta, use crema instead of butter.

It’s a great way to get two fruit servings with breakfast, so you can start the day right.

Bacon-Avocado-Mango Breakfast Sandwich

4 thick-cut slices bacon or 6 regular slices bacon
2 bolillos, toasted, or 4 slices Texas toast
Butter or crema (optional)
1 Ataulfo mango
1 large avocado
Salt, to taste (optional)

Over low-heat, fry the bacon, turning frequently, until you reach the desired crispness. Using a paper towel, remove any excess grease.

Meanwhile, cut the bolillos in half and toast. Spread butter or crema, if using.

Peel and slice the mango. Halve the avocado, remove the pit and cut out slices, removing them from the peel.

To assemble: Place one side of the bread down on a plate. Top with bacon, mango and avocado. Sprinkle a little salt on, if desired. Top with other half of bolillo or toast.

Makes 2 sandwiches.

From John Griffin

Use new potatoes in this Irish-infused potato salad.

In Ireland, bacon is more like what we Americans would call Canadian bacon. That’s not what is called for here. In this creamy potato salad, use crisp American bacon.

Bacon-Potato Salad

8 to 9 strips bacon
3 pounds small new potatoes
1/3 cup red onion, chopped
4 to 5 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
1 1/2 tablespoons wine or herb vinegar
4 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3/4 cup sour cream
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste
Fresh parsley (for garnish)

Four hours before serving: Cook, drain and crumble bacon. Cover potatoes with cold, salted water, bring to boil, cook until tender but still firm, about 20 minutes. Drain, cool; peel if desired, but red skins make a prettier salad. Cut into 1/4-inch slices. Add onion, parsley and half of bacon; toss. Combine vinegar, oil, sour cream, salt and pepper. Add to potatoes, toss. Chill 4 hours.

When ready to serve: Add a little more sour cream if potatoes seem dry. Garnish with parsley and remaining bacon.

Makes 8 servings.

From “Tampa Treasures Cookbook: The Junior League of Tampa”

The potato may be a New World food that only made its way to Europe in recent centuries, but the Irish have certainly made it their own.

In fact, a chapter of American history in the mid-19th century would not have been written if the Irish diet weren’t so dependent on potatoes. When the Great Famine wiped out the potato crop from 1845 to 1852, 1 million died and 1 million more left for life elsewhere, including the American shores, according to Wikipedia.

“The potato was introduced to Ireland as a garden crop of the gentry,” the site says. “By the late 17th century, it had become widespread as a supplementary rather than a principal food, as the main diet still revolved around butter, milk, and grain products. In the first two decades of the 18th century, however, it became a base food of the poor, especially in winter. The expansion of the economy between 1760 and 1815 saw the potato make inroads in the diet of the people and become a staple food all the year round for the cottier and small farm class.”

Potatoes have long been a staple of the Irish diet.

St. Patrick’s Day is a and a celebration of the Irish that is in all of us, here are three recipes featuring the mighty spud that are perfect for the holiday and year-round. We also include a Green Goddess dressing with its festive green color as a way of making your salad even more fitting for the day.

Beannachtam na Feile Padraig! (ban/ocked/tee nah fail/eh pawd/rig) That’s Happy St. Patrick’s Day to all.

Potato Onion Soup, Irish Style

Potato and Mint Salad

Bacon-Potato Salad

Green Goddess Dressing

Potato Onion Soup, Irish Style

“During the great potato famine of 1845, many Irish immigrants came to this country with the hope that they could continue to make this wonderful soup,” writes Jeff Smith in “The Frugal Gourmet on Our Immigrant Ancestors.”

Potato Onion Soup, Irish Style

4 tablespoons butter
2 medium yellow onions, peeled and sliced
2 pounds potatoes, peeled and sliced
3 cups milk
5 1/2 cups chicken stock
1/4 cup chopped fresh chives
1/2 teaspoon celery seeds
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme, whole
1 cup half-and-half
Salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Roux:
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour

Garnishes:
1/2 cup chopped fresh chives
6 slices lean bacon, crisply fried and chopped

Heat a 6- to 8-quart stockpot, add the butter and onion, and cook gently. Do not let the onion brown. Add the peeled and sliced potatoes, milk and stock. Add the herbs. Cover and cook gently for about an hour. Prepare a roux: Melt the butter in a small saucepan and whisk in the flour. Let the flour and butter mixture (roux) bubble for 2 minutes on medium-low heat, stirring constantly. Thicken the soup with the roux, whisking carefully to avoid lumps. Cook for 5 to 10 minutes and then purée the soup in a food processor or blender, if desired. (You could also purée half of the mixture, so you have a variety of textures in the soup.) Add the half-and-half and gently reheat, but do not boil. Season with the salt and pepper. Serve with chopped fresh chives and the crisply fried bacon as garnishes.

This soup can be made with the chopped white part of 5 or 6 large leeks instead of onions. Additional garnishes you can use instead of bacon are chopped prawns or  a small dice of lobster.

To make a vegetarian version, use vegetable stock and leave out the bacon.

Makes 8-10 servings.

Adapted from “The Frugal Gourmet on Our Immigrant Ancestors” by Jeff Smith

Das Lolli lollipops

Looking for a candy that’s corn syrup-free yet full of flavor?

Keep an eye our for Das Lolli lollipops, which come in several unique flavors, such as Maple Bacon, Naughty Ginger, Fab-O-Pom and Caramel Me Happy. The flavors mean these treats are more likely to appeal to adults, than youngsters.

Naughty Ginger proved to be quick favorite, if only because the ginger had a strong, cleansing burn that was well-matched with the sweet-tart of added lemon flavor. It’s made with sugar, rice syrup, citric acid, crystallized ginger pieces, citric acid, lemon oil and natural ginger extract, according to Das Food’s website.

Caramel Me Happy promised to be a salty caramel, but it was more sweet than salty, though the caramel flavor was exceedingly rich. Fab-O-Pom is a combination of orange and pomegranate, and it made the mouth pucker in delight. If the Maple Bacon was the least of the four treasures, it was because the flavor was more maple and smoke than anything remotely porky, even though the ingredient list includes both bacon bits and natural bacon flavor.(That’s right, this is not a vegetarian lollipop.)

The lollipops sell for about 50 cents apiece at Central Market.

Sweetriot chocolates

Sweetriot is a chocolate pick-me-up that packs more flavor than you could imagine in each tiny “peace” (the owners are hippies, the company’s website says, so they can spell however they choose). This is, after all, “all-natural, anti-oxidant-rich, dairy-free, kosher, gluten-free cacao with a mission.”

That mission is to give your mouth great flavor while giving your body better health, all in a recyclable container filled with equitably sourced chocolate from Latin America.

That’s all well and good, but how does it taste? Super. I bought the 100 percent dark cacao nibs dunked in 70 percent dark chocolate with espresso, and one or two candy kernels explode in the mouth with a burst of intense chocolate flavor. And the lingering aftertaste means you won’t have to keep popping more in your mouth every few seconds.

No corn syrup here, either. At least I don’t think so. The label says they are made from “cacao mass, sugar, cacao beans, cacao butter, soy lecithin, natural vanilla, natural coffee flavor, glaze and lovin’.” I’ve never seen a harvest of “lovin’” before, so I’m not quite sure how much is needed per tin, and I’ll have to trust them on the glaze.

The candies come in tiny tins that won’t take up much room in pocket or purse. The price is $3.99 a tin at Central Market.

A worker passes out Chico's World's Famous Barbecue Shrimp.

These shrimp are guaranteed to please. OleTVShow.com served these to great acclaim at the World’s Championship Shrimp Cook-Off in Port Isabel this fall.

The dipping sauce will be a hit in its own right. Serve the sauce with pork tenderloin, grilled chicken breast, fresh fish, even beef. The flavor combination will surprise you, as it did many who gobbled up the treats in Port Isabel.

Chico’s World Famous Barbecue Shrimp

1 pound jumbo shrimp (18-20 count)
4 large nopal pads, cut in strips
1 can sliced pineapple
1 pound thinly sliced bacon, strips cut in half

Dipping sauce:
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, at room temperature
1 large avocado
1 1/2 chopped fresh jalapeño
1 1/2 chopped fresh serrano
1/2 cup milk

This recipe uses shrimp with bacon, pineapple and nopal.

Peal and butterfly shrimp. Place inside shrimp 1 thin slice nopal, 1/3 slice of canned pineapple ring. Wrap entire shrimp with 1/2 bacon strip. Secure each with wooden skewer. Grill over hot coals for 5 to 8 minutes each side, until bacon crisps.

For dipping sauce: Combine cream cheese, avocado, jalapeño and serrano in a blender or food processor, slowly adding milk. Blend until smooth.

Makes about 20 appetizer servings.

From OleTVShow.com

Shred your own cabbage or buy some already shredded.

For many, eating something green on New Year’s Day is a sign of wealth and prosperity for the coming year. Plenty of wonderful foods come in green, including cabbage. The following recipe calls for a package of already-shredded cabbage, but you can certain shred your own.

Wilted Cabbage and Bacon

3 slices bacon, fully cooked
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
1 package (about 16 ounces) shredded cabbage
1 cup shredded carrots
3 tablespoons cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt

Chop the bacon and place in a large nonstick skillet with onion. Cook over medium heat about 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in cabbage, carrots, cider vinegar and salt. Cook until tender-crisp.

Makes 6 side-dish servings.

From “The Good Housekeeping Cookbook”