Pepperoni is the New Bacon

I had an aha moment a while back when I was messing around with pepperoni. Being a long time fan of the ideas in food blog which often prominently features pepperoni, I shouldn't be surprised by the versatility of pepperoni.

In the last, I have rendered the fat to use in cooking vegetables, added the crisp pieces to burgers, and of course, pizza. Pepperoni adds a little snap to meat loaf, spaghetti sauce, casseroles and even vegetables.

Other cured meats will work in the same way. Smoked sausage, salami and of course, bacon's cousin, hams such as proscuitto. I believe that the ideas in food people also have a recipe for pepperoni oil to flavour a neutral oil with pepperoni spices.

Think about that for a while. It could be used in baking, making salad dressings, frying and so many other applications. A savoury cheese doughnut with a hint of pepperoni or popcorn seasoning. Anyways, I'll leave you with a notion for a recipe that hasn't quite worked out. Pepperoni with oven roasted vegetables. The problem is to get the pepperoni crisp. Maybe the pepperoni has to be rendered a little bit before the vegetables are placed in the oven or chose vegetables that take a longer time to cook. I first tried this with asparagus.

The leftovers were chopped and used in a frittata cause that is the way I roll.

Recipe: Pepperoni & Eggs

I've been wanting to do a "Pepperoni is the New Bacon Post" for a while but never seem to get it together enough to write one. Pepperoni is one of my son's favourite flavours. It may not seem it but I would argue that pepperoni is its own flavour. Anyways, when I finally write that post, I will argue for the versatility and utility but in the meantime, my kids made me a breakfast for Father's Day.

The pepperoni was fried first to render the fat off a little bit. In went a knob of butter and then an egg. My son is trying to figure out frying so we tried to do a sunny side egg. He plopped the egg in and I showed him how to spoon the hot fat over the egg to ensure the albumin got cooked.

The toast went into the toaster for a second time. Note the darker shade. All that was left was to plate and eat. The salt and fat from the pepperoni gave eggs the kick it needed. No need for seasoning. Pepperoni, in the breakfast egg context, could be used in omelets, quiche, like a meat side or as a crust for baked eggs.

Really pleased with my Father's Day treat of breakfast.

Recipe: Better Than Twinkies

What is better than Twinkies? This of course...

Made a quick sauce with butter, bananas, salt, and rum. First you melt the butter and add a pinch of salt. Put in cut bananas. Fry to brown (which I didn't do a great job) and add a little bit of rum. (151 proof cause I want the kinders to sleep well tonight). Added a splash of lime juice too to stop it from becoming too rich.

When the sauce comes together, remove Twinkies from package and put bananas over. Spoon sauce and then listen to your son say that he ate too much of the bananas and might be too full for the Twinkies. He goes on to finish it because, it is a Twinkie.

Just an easy way to schmancify a dry cake dessert.