How do you celebrate the peak of succulent, vibrant fruit and vegetable season here in New England or elsewhere? With big salads, ripe fruit straight from the bowl, quick, heat-minimizing simple preparations? How about eating a peach at work, and it’s so juicy, you realize it’s obscene and you may get fired for lewd behavior?
Well, I rejoice in all the aforementioned rituals, but what better way to honor the summer cornucopia than with…
BACON!
And really, the idea of turning on a heat source to cook salty meat may not be the most appealing concept in the middle of Boston August, but bacon just pairs so well with the clean and fresh flavors of summer. I know bacon is very trendy right now (I would argue it’s on its way out, but that’s another story for The Fashion Club of Food), but the combination of pig products and fruit is a classic. A typical lunch I enjoyed last summer (yes, in the South of France, which I will continue to reference/brag about) was a salad with melon and ham. It’s refreshing, light and delicious, but filling: you can still look good in your topless swimsuit but have the energy to frolic about in the Mediterranean after eating this dish.
To get the full effect, you can use whatever greens or vegetables you have on hand as long as you incorporate melon and bacon, ham, or another cured/smoked pork ingredient. I was thrilled to see a recipe for Cool Melon Salad with Hot Bacon on TheKitchn this past week, and I was inspired to pick up a slab of bacon from Stillman’s when we discovered a melon in our CSA box (also from Stillman’s!).
I thought: “What better way to honor the First Melon than with a crown of cured pig innards?”
The recipe is as follows, adapted from TheKitchn:
Melones* and Bacon
4 or 5 strips of smoked bacon, cut into 3″ pieces
1 small cantaloupe
a small handful of arugula or watercress
for the dressing:
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon honey
3 tablespoons lemon juice
freshly ground pepper
Cube the melon
Top the cubed melon with the greens and stick in the fridge while you prepare the rest of the ingredients:
- Whisk the olive oil, honey, and lemon juice (I love making salad dressing in a Pyrex with a baby whisk!)
- Cook and drain the bacon
Toss the melon and arugula/cress with some of the dressing, to taste. Add the bacon, toss again, and grind some pepper on top.
*I like to pronounce Melons “Melones”, like Gunter does in his “TuttiFruttiSummerLove” song.
With some bread and cheese or for lunch this would be quite enough for 2-4 people, but I didn’t have any bread on hand, and it was feeding trough time, AKA dinner time. I decided to cook up all of the bacon from the slab and make a big batch of Spaghetti alla Carbonara, because I’m a fat kid at heart and a light melon salad really just wasn’t going to cut it, despite my desire to look svelte. The following, from Cook’s Illustrated, is by far my favorite recipe that I’ve found for this delight.
It really, really helps to use fresh eggs in the Carbonara. Please do yourself a favor and buy the freshest, free-range eggs from a local farmer’s market and use them for this dish, for poached eggs, and for hollandaise. They really do make a difference.
I cooked up a whole pound of this stuff, and we enjoyed a serving with the salad and had plenty of leftovers, so it’s a great way to maximize your time spent in a sweltering kitchen: just do it all at once, and you’ll get 3 meals from the effort.
The recipe: (for 1 lb. of pasta)
1/4 cup unsullied olive oil
1/2 lb bacon
1/2 cup dry wine (drink the rest with dinner!)
3 large eggs (FRESH FROM HEN!!!)
3/4 cup Parm (use the good stuff if you can) grated
1/4 cup Romano grated
3 garlic cloves minced into a paste
Salt & Pepper
I’ve simplified the instructions from Cook’s Illustrated, because we all know how persnickety (but good!) they can be.
I think it’s a good idea to assemble all of the ingredients (do your mis-en-place or whatever!) and get the pot of water for the pasta going at the same time. Start the bacon, and by the time you are adding the white whine (heh), you should be able to add the pasta to the pot and have everything timed right.
- Cook the lb. of Spaghetti however your grandmother, college roommate, or the internet taught you (it’s not rocket science), but err on the side of doing it last because it’s got to be hot hot hot to cook the eggs. When you drain it, you want to toss it immediately with the sauce but reserve some of the cooking liquid just in case.
- Cook the bacon until crispy in the olive oil over medium heat, about 10 min.
- Add the wine to the bacon
- At this point, you should start the pasta in the boiling water
- Cook the wine down for about 8 min.
- At this point, whisk together the eggs, cheese, and garlic
- Drain the pasta and put into a warm bowl. I put the colander in a large heatproof bowl and drain into that to warm it up. Careful!
- Toss the pasta, IMMEDIATELY, with the egg mixture.
- At this point, Cook’s wants you to season with flaked sea salt, which I did, but it is not necessary
- Add the bacon mixture and toss
- Grind pepper on top
- Devour
- Buy a one-piece.
This is the approach my brother takes and works well if your kitchen is equipped with a gas stove. Turn the burner on medium heat and place the pepper directly on the grate above the flames. Rotate with tongs until all sides of the pepper are equally charred, then place in a bowl and cover for anywhere from 10-20 minutes. By that time the peppers should be cool enough to handle- the skin should peel off easy. Its alright if some of the black bits stay on, it just adds more yummy flavor. De-seed and slice according to recipe.
Mo brought over a delicious green salad with a homemade balsamic and grainy mustard vinaigrette and before I knew it we had an impromptu dinner party on our hands!