Stay-at-Home Dad Survival Guide Bacon Grease - Part 3
Bacon Grease - Part 3
Sunday, 07 February 2010 00:50
You can fry onion and garlic in bacon grease - add just about anything - and make something awesome (and usually it's edible). Sometimes I’ll just start frying without any clear idea what I’m gonna do, and just roll with it.
Yesterday, I had a plan. For damn near a week, a pan of bacon grease had been beggin’ for my Jammin’ Clam and Salmon Ciapino.This is it:
Fry two chopped onions and too much garlic in congealed pig fat, transfer to a cauldron (muggles use any big pot), deglaze frying pan with dry white wine, or sweet white wine, or red wine, oh, hell you can deglaze with just about anything, but yesterday I found a cheap jug of white wine and it worked fine. Indeed that wine has many skills.
Add two cans chopped tomatoes, one can tomato sauce, two cans chopped clams (with juice), two cans of salmon (deboned or boned, oddly enough debone and bone mean the same thing, well, sometimes). Drink some white wine.
Pour the frying pan wine/bacon juices into the cauldron. Stir. Drink white wine.
Season to taste. I added pepper, salt, chili powder, crushed red pepper, Italian seasonings…I think that was just about it. Then I had some white wine.
Let simmer for 5 or 6 hours, stirring occasionally; drinking, more or less constantly. Serve with rice or corn bread.
It’s simple yet upgradeable. You can use fresh crab or salmon or shrimp and season with organic basil and fancy stuff like that, but for sheer frugality, making a bunch of food for little money, the above is hard to beat.
Just remember to refrigerate the leftovers. Otherwise you’re gonna have to throw out a big batch of stinky fish stew the next day because you got stupid-loaded, passed out, and forgot to put it away.