Recipe: Deeper n' Ever (pictures)
Feb. 21st, 2009 04:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ellyssianThis recipe has been posted before, and to celebrate the inclusion of pictures, there's been a slight variation added in for the occasion.
Pre-heat oven to 450 F.
Wash the potatoes:
Set each potato on a piece of aluminum foil and stab the potato with a fork. This prevents the potatoes from becoming potato bombs in your oven:
Lightly spray the potatoes with olive oil - we use a pump action spritzer that gets the same coverage that a canned aerosol product has without using any propellents (aside from compressed air) and works with whatever oil we pour into it:
Wrap the potato up in the foil, sealing it tightly:
Pop the wrapped potatoes in the oven and bake at 450 for 45 minutes to an hour. The higher heat and longer cooking time brings out more flavor from the skins, and adds to the tastes of the meal.
While the potatoes are cooking, get ready to pan-fry the bacon. I use a cast iron pan for the frying, and set two plates to my right. The first holds a rack, the second a sheet of paper towel:
I follow a strict procedure for dealing with the bacon, mostly because I follow a strict procedure for dealing with the bacon! Heat is on medium. First slice goes in the middle, like so:
After that, everything is assembly-line style. Flip the slice in the middle over, and it goes back a little further away from center. As more go in, I flip them alternately above or below that slice, so that the new slice still lands in the middle (where the pan is widest, so there's some logic to it ~ not much, but some!). The slice closest to me has been cooking the longest; furthest away, the next longest. When a slice is done, it goes out onto the rack, then I relocate the remaining slices appropriately, flipping them (which achieves the "constant flip" the manufacturers like to recommend), and finally dropping a new slice in that vacated center spot. Then I get the next uncooked piece ready to go:
The next step is to flip that piece on the rack over to drain the other side, and, if there are two pieces there, to shift the first off to the second plate:
Speaking of advanced technology, which we weren't, in order to avoid mussing up your other burners ~ particularly electric burners ~ a tea cup saucer, inverted, does the job of keeping grease off the heating element:
When I get four slices on that second plate, I had another layer of paper towel and move on. This helps remove as much oil as possible, and also helps me keep track of the count ~ the latter point is meaningless here, but is critical when you're handing out slices for individual portions as a side dish or for BLTs or other such times when everyone wants the Proper amount of bacon:
Don't overcook the bacon ~ for this dish, it actually adds more by being slightly less cooked; although some crumbly bits are welcome for texture and so on. I often try to get a range of doneness in there.
Next up, cut the roots off the bottoms of the scallions:
Peel back the outermost layer ~ in this case, we lucked out, as these scallions had some prep done to them by the market and only a little bit of that layer was left; in other cases, you're removing a whole branching stem:
We usually behead the scallions, taking the tops off, but, again, the market took care of that for us, so all that was left to do was chop them into slices:
Most of the scallions ~ about one and a half bunches ~ were sliced and set aside for the assembly stage. Half a bunch, however, was added to the Béarnaise reduction that we used this time, in place of nearly identical ingredients added in the assembly stage. The wine, vinegar, tarragon, chervil, and white peppercorns were also added in to a small cast iron saucepan:
This mix was heated until it was reduced to half of the volume ~ I found the small whisk was great for scraping the herbs off the sides and getting them back into the solution:
The Béarnaise reduction is then strained, the solids discarded and the remainder set aside for the assembly:
The cheeses should be cut up into thin strips first:
...and then roughly shredded by cutting into smaller bits:
We're mostly done here, and![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
aequitaslevitas is starting in on the cheddar ~ the last bit of prep:
The cheddar is cut the same way as the jack cheese was:
I prefer the results when the cheeses are not mixed together, rather layered, so we keep the two separate:
Now, all the prep work is done, and it's time for the assembly!
Unroll the potatoes from the foil one by one into a large baking dish:
As you drop each potato in, break it up into chunks:
And then lightly mash it up ~ this should in no way approach mashed potato texture, it's just slightly smashed:
Add butter ~ two or three thin slices for each potato:
Add some ground pepper before moving on to the next potato:
Once they're all done, it should look something like this ~ we added the last of the butter to some of the drier spots:
Once the potatoes are all out of the oven, drop the temperature to 300 degrees.
The scallions go on next ~ just pour 'em on into a nice layer. Accuracy, so long as they make it into the baking dish, doesn't count:
The bacon goes next. Be sure to break it into small pieces:
... and then it should look like this:
Pour on the Béarnaise reduction:
Add the monterey jack:
It should form an incomplete layer:
The cheddar completes it:
Break up the bits and pieces of cheese that get stuck together ~ they'll melt much better:
Bake uncovered at 300 degrees for a half hour, or until cheese melts thoroughly.
Enjoy!
- 1 lb. bacon (Hatfield Applewood Smoked, in this instance)
- 6 medium-largish baking potatoes (adjust to more or less based on size; 7 were used here)
- olive oil in spray bottle
- 16 oz. extra sharp Wisconsin yellow cheddar
- 8 oz. Monterrey Jack
- 2 bunches scallions
- fresh ground black pepper
- 1 tbsp. tarragon
- 1 tbsp. chervil
- 2 tbsp. tarragon vinegar
- 1/4 cup dry white wine
- 2 crushed white peppercorns
- unsalted butter
Pre-heat oven to 450 F.
Wash the potatoes:
Set each potato on a piece of aluminum foil and stab the potato with a fork. This prevents the potatoes from becoming potato bombs in your oven:
Lightly spray the potatoes with olive oil - we use a pump action spritzer that gets the same coverage that a canned aerosol product has without using any propellents (aside from compressed air) and works with whatever oil we pour into it:
Wrap the potato up in the foil, sealing it tightly:
Pop the wrapped potatoes in the oven and bake at 450 for 45 minutes to an hour. The higher heat and longer cooking time brings out more flavor from the skins, and adds to the tastes of the meal.
While the potatoes are cooking, get ready to pan-fry the bacon. I use a cast iron pan for the frying, and set two plates to my right. The first holds a rack, the second a sheet of paper towel:
I follow a strict procedure for dealing with the bacon, mostly because I follow a strict procedure for dealing with the bacon! Heat is on medium. First slice goes in the middle, like so:
After that, everything is assembly-line style. Flip the slice in the middle over, and it goes back a little further away from center. As more go in, I flip them alternately above or below that slice, so that the new slice still lands in the middle (where the pan is widest, so there's some logic to it ~ not much, but some!). The slice closest to me has been cooking the longest; furthest away, the next longest. When a slice is done, it goes out onto the rack, then I relocate the remaining slices appropriately, flipping them (which achieves the "constant flip" the manufacturers like to recommend), and finally dropping a new slice in that vacated center spot. Then I get the next uncooked piece ready to go:
The next step is to flip that piece on the rack over to drain the other side, and, if there are two pieces there, to shift the first off to the second plate:
Speaking of advanced technology, which we weren't, in order to avoid mussing up your other burners ~ particularly electric burners ~ a tea cup saucer, inverted, does the job of keeping grease off the heating element:
When I get four slices on that second plate, I had another layer of paper towel and move on. This helps remove as much oil as possible, and also helps me keep track of the count ~ the latter point is meaningless here, but is critical when you're handing out slices for individual portions as a side dish or for BLTs or other such times when everyone wants the Proper amount of bacon:
Don't overcook the bacon ~ for this dish, it actually adds more by being slightly less cooked; although some crumbly bits are welcome for texture and so on. I often try to get a range of doneness in there.
Next up, cut the roots off the bottoms of the scallions:
Peel back the outermost layer ~ in this case, we lucked out, as these scallions had some prep done to them by the market and only a little bit of that layer was left; in other cases, you're removing a whole branching stem:
We usually behead the scallions, taking the tops off, but, again, the market took care of that for us, so all that was left to do was chop them into slices:
Most of the scallions ~ about one and a half bunches ~ were sliced and set aside for the assembly stage. Half a bunch, however, was added to the Béarnaise reduction that we used this time, in place of nearly identical ingredients added in the assembly stage. The wine, vinegar, tarragon, chervil, and white peppercorns were also added in to a small cast iron saucepan:
This mix was heated until it was reduced to half of the volume ~ I found the small whisk was great for scraping the herbs off the sides and getting them back into the solution:
The Béarnaise reduction is then strained, the solids discarded and the remainder set aside for the assembly:
The cheeses should be cut up into thin strips first:
...and then roughly shredded by cutting into smaller bits:
We're mostly done here, and
aequitaslevitas is starting in on the cheddar ~ the last bit of prep:The cheddar is cut the same way as the jack cheese was:
I prefer the results when the cheeses are not mixed together, rather layered, so we keep the two separate:
Now, all the prep work is done, and it's time for the assembly!
Unroll the potatoes from the foil one by one into a large baking dish:
As you drop each potato in, break it up into chunks:
And then lightly mash it up ~ this should in no way approach mashed potato texture, it's just slightly smashed:
Add butter ~ two or three thin slices for each potato:
Add some ground pepper before moving on to the next potato:
Once they're all done, it should look something like this ~ we added the last of the butter to some of the drier spots:
Once the potatoes are all out of the oven, drop the temperature to 300 degrees.
The scallions go on next ~ just pour 'em on into a nice layer. Accuracy, so long as they make it into the baking dish, doesn't count:
The bacon goes next. Be sure to break it into small pieces:
... and then it should look like this:
Pour on the Béarnaise reduction:
Add the monterey jack:
It should form an incomplete layer:
The cheddar completes it:
Break up the bits and pieces of cheese that get stuck together ~ they'll melt much better:
Bake uncovered at 300 degrees for a half hour, or until cheese melts thoroughly.
Enjoy!
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2009-02-22 12:07 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-02-22 03:13 am (UTC)There will probably be a short break from them ~ very busy next week! ~ but hopefully not anywhere near as long a break as there was before the past few weeks! =)
(no subject)
Date: 2009-02-22 12:26 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-02-22 03:14 am (UTC)Out of all the things I make, this is definitely my favorite.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-02-22 04:50 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-02-22 05:58 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-02-22 09:35 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-02-23 06:33 am (UTC)It's infinite. =)
(no subject)
Date: 2009-02-23 10:02 pm (UTC)One question- why wrap the potatoes in foil to bake them? I usually bake potatoes naked. Just curious if that's important to the recipe...
(no subject)
Date: 2009-02-23 11:00 pm (UTC)For this, since you could go either way, although since the skins are mixed in with the rest, you may want to go easier on them and pamper them in a bit of foil. =)
(no subject)
Date: 2009-02-23 11:57 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-02-24 02:19 am (UTC)I'm willing to bet the only real problem would be they'd take more than a fork to break them up ~ and you'd want to break them up a bit.
Between the butter and the melting cheese, they'd probably soften up a good deal, anywho.
Oh, quick note on resizing: I'd fill whatever size baking dish you end up using, so if you have a small square pyrex dish like we do, that would be fine. If you have to go large, it reheats incredibly well (unless the potatoes were less done to begin with ~ then it doesn't seem to work as well).