Bake that Bacon!

I'm sure everyone on earth knew this, and I had heard it several times but finally had opportunity to try making bacon in the oven as opposed to fried on the stove.  It is wonderfully easy, less messy, and much less smoky to bake it.  Turns out flat and perfect.  Use thicker bacon, the thin just doesn't stand up as well to any type of cooking, really.

Fit a cookie rack on a jelly roll pan.  Place bacon on the rack so it is sitting above the base of the pan, so air can get to the top and bottom of the bacon.  Try not to stretch it out.  Do NOT preheat your oven, I repeat:  NO PREHEATING.  Place the bacon in the baking sheets on the oven rack (I use two sheets fitted with racks for one pound of bacon),  If you are using two baking sheets, place one on each oven rack.  Close the oven door and turn oven on to 400 degrees.  Bake bacon for 16-20 minutes, watching it close after about 15 minutes to make sure it doesn't burn.  My top rack cooks the bacon faster so it should have come out at about the 16 minute mark, it got a tad crispy, and then the bottom rack took a bit longer, I had to extend that slightly over the 20 minute mark, I just checked it each minute.

Remove when the bacon edges are starting to get golden, keep in mind it will still continue to cook as it cools so don't overbake it.  Also, remove the bacon immediately to plates lined with paper towels, don't let it sit on the rack in the pan because the grease in the pan will have enough heat to continue actively cooking and the strips will burn.  Then, of course, scrape the fat drippings into a jar so you can make soft ginger cookies with it later.  Mmm.  Bacon. 

Catering: Mini Cream Cheese and Cheddar Biscuits with Spicy Sausage Gravy

Mini Cream Cheese and Cheddar Biscuits and Spicy Sausage Gravy

(adapted from iamafoodblog.com)

Makes between 24 and 30 mini biscuits or 10-12 regular biscuits

2 cups flour

1 Tbsp Baking Powder

1 tsp soda

½ tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

4 Tbsp sliced green onion

4 Tbsp cold butter, cut into pieces

8 Tbsp cold cream cheese, cut into pieces

Slightly more than ½ cup shredded cheddar cheese

12 Tbsp Milk

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Mix flour, baking powder, soda, salt, pepper and green onion.  Cut in the butter with pastry blender until there are a few pea-sized pieces.  Cut in the cream cheese the same way.  Add cheddar.  Add the milk and stir until just combined.  Turn out onto a floured surface and work the dough until just able to cut biscuits.  Cut with a 1” biscuit cutter.

Place on a parchment lined cookie sheet, bake 8-10 minutes.

For full sized biscuits:  Oven temp 425, bake for 15-17 minutes.

Spicy Sausage Gravy

Fry a one pound chub of Jimmy Dean Hot Sausage into crumbles.  Add at least ½ cup flour and 2 Tbsp butter to the pan and cook until the raw flour smell is out.  Add about 4-6 cups milk, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer to desire thickness, salt and pepper to taste.

Notes: Used the Pampered Chef 1" flower shape cutter, worked well. The biscuits can be made ahead and warmed.  The gravy is easy enough to make on site and keep in a sauce server or crock pot, stands up well with frequent stirring.

Breakfast Casserole (Make Ahead Christmas Morning Casserole)

1 lb breakfast link sausage (you can use more if you like)

6 cups cubed bread slices  (I use texas toast style, probably about ½ a loaf))

10 eggs

3 cups milk

¼ cup butter, melted

2 tsp dry mustard

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1 package shredded cheese, 8 oz.  (Cheddar or Colby jack)

Grease a 9x13 pan with butter or shortening.

Brown 1 package of breakfast link sausage, between 1 -2 pounds.  Slice sausage into slices, not too thin, you want about ¾” slices. 

Cut crust off of bread and cut into 1” cubes, you need 6 cups total.

Mix eggs, milk, melted butter (cooled off), dry mustard, salt and pepper together and beat well.  In the greased 9x13 pan, layer half of the bread cubes, then half of the sausage, then half of the cheese, then the remaining bread again, then the remaining sausage then cheese.

Pour egg mixture over the whole casserole, it should fill it.  If you have extra egg mixture, wait until the bread absorbs it and add the rest.  Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.

Remove from refrigerator 15 minutes prior to baking in the morning.  Preheat oven to 350.  Bake 45 minutes to 1 hour, until it’s set.

Pull Apart Sticky Buns (Aunt Shirley Asper's)

My kids die for these! Make the night before you want to bake them for breakfast.

18 frozen rhodes rolls (don't try and do more, this is experience talking here...)

One 3 oz. butterscotch pudding mix (the COOKED kind, NOT INSTANT)
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup margarine or butter
1/4 tsp cinnamon
Any kind of nuts if desired (we aren't fans of nuts, so we don't)

Before you go to bed, spray a bundt pan with Pam. Layer the rolls and nuts in the bundt pan. Sprinkle them with the butterscotch pudding mix packet, set aside. In a small saucepan, melt the margarine and brown sugar together, add the cinnamon and combine. Drizzle this mixture on the rolls. Cover very loosely with plastic wrap. Let set overnight. Rolls will raise and will fill the pan. Bake in the morning 350 degrees for 30 mins. Cover the top with foil if they start to brown too much or you can turn it down to 325 after 15 mins and keep watching them.