Winter Vegetables Roasted in Bacon Grease

Yesterday was Groundhog Day and the reports are that Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow and we're in for 6 more weeks of winter, although our local groundhog in Stone Mountain Georgia did not see his shadow so here in the Southeast we might be heading for an early Spring.  Whatever the weather, the markets and CSA boxes right now are boasting a bounty of earthy, bulbous roots:  humble, starchy, a bit odd in name and appearance (rutabagas and parsnips), but worth exploring in satisfying hearty main dishes and savory sides, such as this dish, Winter Vegetables Roasted in Bacon Grease.

Bacon has an important role in my kitchen.  Although I rarely eat a whole piece of bacon on its own, I use bacon for accents in many dishes, such as my favorite salad, and my favorite sauteed greens, and my favorite chicken curry.  When I cook bacon, in full slices or cut into lardons, I save the grease in a container in the fridge or freezer.  This comes in handy when it's time for greasing the pan for cooking eggs, or greens, and, as it turns out, roasting vegetables in the oven.

n.o.e.'s notes:

-  The recipe for these roast vegetables came from the kitchn, and you can find it here.

-  For the roots, I used red and golden beets and turnip, and instead of cauliflower, I used broccoli.  I've made this other times and varied the roots, but I always keep the broccoli.

-  [edited to add: These vegetables would also be delicious roasted with olive oil, salt and pepper]

the verdict:

As they roasted, the root vegetables got good and caramelized, and tender and a bit smoky in flavor from the bacon.  The broccoli got a bit crispy, which was a fantastic contribution to taste of the root veggies.  This dish is simple to put together and delivers a big flavor dividend; it's become a standby of my cool-weather cooking.

Thick Hot Chocolate

Some of you will undoubtedly chuckle as you read this, but the big news around here is that we got 6 inches of snow last night; today everything is closed up tight and we are all snowbound.

Snow is not exactly unheard of in Atlanta, but it is always a cause for excitement. If we get more than an inch or so, we end up with a communal snow day, since the city has no plows, sanding or salting equipment. The snow sits on the streets until it melts, helped along by the inevitable rising temperatures and the cars of those intrepid souls who will brave the conditions and the other - bad - drivers on the roads. But generally, schools and businesses close, the mail does not get delivered, and folks stay home with their newly-acquired hoards of bread and milk and wait for the eventual thaw.

With every winter storm that comes our way the biggest question is whether the electricity will go out; this time we were thrilled to have our warm cozy house and full use of our kitchen, with the backdrop of winter wonderland outside the windows. Time for hot chocolate!

When I was growing up in the foothills of western Massachusetts, we would play hard, or shovel hard, in the snow, then go to the basement and in front of the furnace we'd peel off our wet snow suits, mittens and socks (two layers of each if it was really cold). Then it was time for hot chocolate, always made with milk, which we heated on top of the stove, stirring in Hershey's chocolate syrup. We drank it straight up, eschewing marshmallows big and small, and it warmed us to the tips of our frozen fingers and toes.

Today I thought I'd try a hot chocolate recipe that I bookmarked last winter, one that sounded decidedly grown up, the Thick Hot Chocolate recipe from Renee Shettler, who writes, beautifully, for Leite's Culinaria.

n.o.e.'s notes:

- The recipe for Thick Hot Chocolate is here, along with a recipe for Thin Hot Chocolate, in case you are the type who likes to taste the milk through the chocolate.

- I made 1/4 recipe, which was just enough for two full mugs of steaming hot chocolate. It's rich enough that splitting it 3 ways - if I had to - would have been fine.

- The article includes a recipe for homemade marshmallows, but since I've never liked marshmallows in hot chocolate, so it was just fine that want to take the time to make any today (although they have been on my cooking "bucket list" for a while).

- I've made hot chocolate with chocolate syrup and with cocoa poweder (and with the powdered mixes, but we won't talk about those) but never with solid chocolate. This recipe specifies finely chopped chocolate, with around 64% chocolate solids. For half of the chocolate I used a Dagoba mocha chocolate bar, and I filled in with other random bits of bittersweet chocolate that were hanging around the corners of my chocolate drawer. (The little flecks in my hot chocolate in the picture above are bits of coffee beans from the mocha chocolate that I used.)

- I forgot the fleur de sel, which is pretty funny because as I was making the hot chocolate, my husband was setting up the two salt grinders that he recently ordered after hearing about them at a party on Christmas Eve.

the verdict:

One sip of this hot chocolate and I was spoiled forever. Two sips and I realized that I needed to snap a picture quick so that you could be spoiled also!