Just a quick note about how I did one of the ingredients for my twice baked potatoes. I’ve done bacon bits before, but that was with prosciutto. I expected the bacon would have a lot more fat, but it turns out he bacon ends I used have no more fat than the prosciutto did. Bacon ends are a double win: leaner than regular bacon and cheaper, too.
You want to run the bacon through the grinder while it’s still frozen. That way you’ll chop the bacon into little pieces. Start with the bacon thawed and you’ll just extrude it. It might still cook up the same way, but cleaning the grinder will be a nightmare. (Don’t ask how I know this.)
Chop the frozen bacon cross-wise about a half-inch wide. This should be small enough to feed it into the grinder.
I’ve seen recipes that call for running meat through the grinder twice to make it exceptionally small. This works fine with a single pass.
Toss the whole pile into a hot, non-stick pan. If you’re using regular bacon instead of the ends, you’ll probably get enough fat to use an un-coated pan without sticking.
Stir occasionally over medium heat until the bits are browned but not crunchy. Unless you like crunchy bacon bits. (Eww.)
Yeah, I forgot to take a picture before I added it to the potatoes. Oh well. It was just a bowl of bacon bits anyway, I think you know what that would look like. If you’re an email subscriber, you should already see the finished potato recipe. Otherwise, stand by for that one shortly.
Want more like this? For more recipes like this, that you can hold right in your hands, and write on, take notes, tear pages out if you want (Gosh, you're tough on books, aren't you?) you might be interested in How To Cook Like Your Grandmother, 2nd edition, Illustrated. Or to learn your way around the kitchen, check out Starting From Scratch: The Owner's Manual for Your Kitchen.
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