Texas Eggfest - we had a great time

Ok guys, here's the recipe I used for the cookies:

Candied Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies

10 Strips thick cut bacon
Brown Sugar for sprinkling (about 7 TBS)

2 1/4 Cups AP Flour
1 TSP Baking Soda
1 TSP Salt
1 Cup Butter, left out at room temp for about 30 mins
3/4 Cup White Sugar
3/4 Cup Brown Sugar
1 TSP Vanilla Essence
2 Large Eggs
12 oz Good Quality Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

Candied Bacon
I used the following oven method but I know some people make this on their egg.

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. If you have convection, use that setting
2. Lay bacon on a parchment covered baking sheet so they are not overlapping. Sprinkle about 2 TSP of the brown sugar evenly on each strip of bacon - no need to obsess about even coating - we'll flip them later.
3. Bake for 12 minutes and remove from oven
4. Flip bacon and drag it through the syrupy liquid that’s collected on the baking sheet - do that three times so the bottom side ends up on the top and both sides were dragged through the sugary bacon fat(!). 5. Put the bacon back in the oven for another 15-20 minutes, until it is fully cooked and quite dark (mahogany).
6. Remove the strips from the sheet and cool on a wire rack. Once cool, chop by hand or pulse in a food processor until finely chopped.

Cookies
1. Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl.
2. Beat butter, both sugars and vanilla in a large bowl - I use a Kitchenaid stand mixer.
3. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well.
4. Gradually beat in flour mixture until it forms a proper cookie dough
5. Turn the mixer to slowest setting and stir in chocolate chips and bacon pieces.
6. Spoon dough (about a TBS per cookie) onto an ungreased baking sheet and bake at 375 F for 9-11 minutes until the edges are brown. They will overcook quickly so watch them carefully. Obviously if you're doing this on the egg you'll need to set up for indirect - I used an adjustable rig with a pizza stone on the bottom and I cooked them on the top of the rig at 375 - 400. I found I needed to rotate the cookie sheet about half way through. For quick turnaround at the Fest I used parchment paper on a pizza pan and I cooled the pan between batches with water (and I dried it before reusing of course)

For the Eggfest I made the dough on Thursday and froze it solid. I kept it in a cooler on the way there and it was just defrosting when we needed to use it.

I received advice from a Doctor at the Eggfest that these "probably aren't very heart healthy" so make sure you only have one rack of ribs before eating these!

UKMatt

Village Idiot wrote:

How's about coughing up the recipe for that avocado cream. Those were really tasty and would be a great appetizer. Thanks again.

Ok - I might as well do the whole thing:

Tostito Scoops
Buy the plain ones from the store

"Refried" Beans
- Quick Soak a bunch of Pinto beans (1 pound or so) by bringing them to rolling boil for 3 minutes and then covering, shutting off the heat for at least 1 hour. Drain.
- In a Dutch Oven on the egg (I put the oven right on the coals) fry one yellow onion and 2 carrots all grated on a box grater along with 1/4 pound of diced sausage or other pork product (bacon, pulled pork, whatever)
- When the veggies are soft, add 5 cloves crushed garlic, 1 TBS each of cumin, corriander and red chilli flakes and fry for one minute.
- Remove the Dutch Oven and set the Egg up for indirect cooking with a single good sized chunk of pecan wood at about 300 or so. Don't overdo the smoke wood as they will be exposed for a while and if you cover them you won't evaporate enough liquid.
- Add the beans along with hot low sodium chicken stock to cover
- Cook until tender, stirring every hour, probably 2 to 2 and a half hours.
- Add 2 cans of original Rotel (or crushed tomatoes if you don't live in the civilized part of the US )
- Cook another hour until it gets happy and the liquid thickens a bit through reduction
- Mash with potato masher until the consistency of refried beans

Skirt Steak
Marinade 2 lbs steak in juice of one lime, 2 cloves crushed garlic, plenty of ground black pepper, 2 TBS Soy Sauce and 1 TBS Worcestershire Sauce for at least 30 minutes and no more than an hour

Grill direct over hot fire until done to your liking.

Rest 20 minutes in foil.

Slice thinly across the grain and then into chunks

Avocado Cream

Put the following in a blender:
- 2 small avocados
- Juice of one lime
- Half a bunch of cilantro, leaves and small stems only
- 2 Jalapenos, seeded
- 1 large container (about a pint) of sour cream (we use the Light version)

Blend until smooth, season to taste with salt and pepper

Final Product

To assemble, put a spoonful of beans in the bottom of each tostito, top with a few chunks of steak and some grated Pepper Jack. Bake at 400 on the egg until cheese is bubbly and whole thing is hot.

Take off egg, top with a blob of Avocado Cream and a slice of pickled jalapeno.

Enjoy!

Beli wrote:

Absolutely fabulous meeting you if I may say so... :laugh:

Likewise Beli - it was a pleasure!

UKMatt