After frying bacon and draining off most of the bacon fat, I allow the pan to cool then place it in the fridge until an evening when I'm sautéing green vegetables.
For my birthday breakfast last week, we had some bacon with fresh fruit. I saved the bacon grease in a small dish, leaving just a little fat still in the pan, maybe a table spoon. I kept this pan, unwashed for about 2 days in the fridge, until I wanted to sauté some broccoli. I used the bacon-crusted pan to do the broccoli. It was delicious, and made use of some flavoring that might have been washed down the drain.
Our favorite vegetables for cooking in bacon-crusted pans include fresh green beans, cabbage, broccoli, spinach, and frozen corn. After the initial quick sauté of about 30 seconds, I put a lid on the pan and allow to continue cooking, softening up the bacon crust as the vegetables finish cooking. The liquid naturally in the vegetables provides the moisture needed to create steam, preventing drying out. (Green beans tend to have a lower water content and tougher fibers. Adding 3 to 4 tablespoons of water to the frying pan just before putting the lid on the pan will provide all the moisture needed to create a good steam and reduce fibrousness.) The vegetables tenderize and complete cooking quickly. A sprinkling of salt and the veggies are ready for the table.
Not only does this use every last bit from frying bacon, but the steaming of veggies makes the pan easier to clean afterward. A double win!
What are your favorite no-waste cooking tips?
Just about everything is better with bacon, especially veggies. The only drawback I see to your method is having enough room in the fridge to store the skillet until you want it. Sometimes that would work here and sometimes it wouldn't. :)
ReplyDeleteHi Live and Learn,
DeleteI often wind up stacking the skillet on top of other containers in the fridge. Where there's a will, there's a way.
That is a good idea but wouldn't work for us since my refrigerator needs room for other things and can't take up the space for a pan even for a day. We cook bacon in the oven and pour the bacon fat in a jar which is refrigerated. I rarely have baked on fond because I use parchment paper that gets the bacon crispy and give me a lot of rendered fat. I scrape as much of the fat as possible and will often use the same baking sheet with the parchement paper and make oven fries. Timing is everything when we cook bacon. Rarely is it made in the morning for breakfast but often in the evening for dinner and just reheat a slice of bacon in the morning. Might do that today now that you mention it. bacon sounds good and I happen to have some in the freezer and potatoes for fries.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like a great process you have for cooking bacon, Alice. And you get the delicious bacon fat to use in cooking later!
DeleteI cook/bake my bacon the same way, and find the bacon grease that collects in the pan to be much cleaner i.e.not as many bacon particles in it. I save all my bacon grease and find this result to be nicer when using the grease for sauteeing later.
DeleteWe only cook bacon in the summer when we have BLTs, but this is a good idea for those who do cook with bacon frequently. I would never be able to guarantee having enough refrigerator room to store the pan, but our fridge is definitely on the smaller side.
ReplyDeleteHi Kris,
DeleteSo, our fridge insides would never win any prizes for looking tidy. As I said to Live and Learn, I mostly stack the skillet on top of other jars, and will need to rearrange jars and containers to make an even layer for the skillet to balance on. Fortunately, most fridges come with adjustable shelves.
Yum, BLTs sound like a tasty summer supper, especially with garden fresh lettuce and tomatoes!
Interesting, I used to have a garlic press but it was heavy plastic and eventually the handle broke. I mostly crush garlic now with a large chef's knife and store in olive oil. I am almost out of home grown this year and look forward to garlic scape pesto.
ReplyDelete