It’s hard to believe the year is almost over! New Year’s Eve is upon us – and so are the parties and plans. We used to go to low key parties, but I’ve never been able to stay awake until midnight!! Now we watch the specials on TV and watch the ball drop in New York. Happy New Year and turn off the light.

But we do like to have something festive and special together. One of our favorite things is to toast with sparkling (non-alcoholic) cider and eat from a spread of appetizers. I make three and my husband makes three. It’s fun, delicious and perfect for us old geezers.

We love bacon wrapped anything – and I love oysters. So looking for something simple, I came up with this. And it really worked!

Making the Oysters 

These are so easy to make. I used medium oysters, but they were pretty big. I would suggest using small. And there are variations in this recipe. You can add herbs under the bacon, jalapeño slices, or even wrap a small lemon wedge inside. Use this recipe as a springboard to create your delicious flavors!

Precook the bacon first. Create circles and lay them on the tray of the airfryer. Cook at 350 degrees for 5 minutes.

While it’s cooking, toss the raw oysters with the spice and lemon juice.

When the bacon ^[1] is done (it will still be soft and only slightly rendered), remove it from the fryer and let it cool enough to handle. When you can touch it, wrap each oyster as tight as you can with the bacon and lay it on the airfryer tray.

Continue with all the oysters.

Cook at 400 degrees for 10 minutes. If the bacon is not crispy, go another 3 to 4 minutes.

Move to a serving plate.

Serving the dish 

Serve them on small plates with a wedge of lemon. You can also offer a dish of seafood cocktail to tip them in.

Another delicious way to eat them is to place a piece of the oyster and bacon on top of a cracker with brie cheese.

And enjoy!

© Copyright 2023 The Lazy Gastronome

Leave me a comment – I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Well, I finally got an air fryer. I actually picked up a Ninja Foodi at a yard sale for $10! It is multifunctioning – Air crisp (fried), Broil/Bake, Steam and Pressure cook. I have to order the rack that’s used for baking and broiling – but that’s no biggy. And I’m loving it!

I tried a loaf of bread using the bake function – it makes the crust very crispy and the loaf sort of flattens, but it tasted great. We’re using the bread for crostini.

The air fryer is my favorite function. I wanted to make a quick appetizer and put these air fried shrimps together. They are delicious and so easy!

Making the Shrimp –

Rinse the shrimp and drain it on paper towels for five or ten minutes.

Sprinkle it lightly with the old bay.

Cut the bacon ^[6] slices in half. Carefully wrap a half around a shrimp, anchoring one end while you wrap and securing the whole thing with a toothpick.

Place them in one layer on the crisper of the air fryer.

Fry at 375 degrees for six minutes. Remove the fried shrimp with tongs and repeat with the next batch.

Serve them with some barbecue sauce to dip – or just eat them as is (We liked as is best)!

© Copyright 2023 The Lazy Gastronome

Leave me a comment – I’d love to hear your thoughts!

It’s National Liver and Onions day. Although liver is not a terribly popular dish in the U.S., it’s quite popular in the U.K. and Germany. I’m not fond of liver in general, but I do like the creamy flavor of poultry livers. Here’s a delicious recipe that combines chicken livers ^[10] with bacon and onions and garlic – a delicious melding of sweet and savory. Served over a mound of butter noodles and it’s pure homestyle dinner!

Cooking the Liver:

Cook the bacon first. Cut it into 1 inch pieces and cook on medium-high heat.

When it starts to crisp up a little, add the butter, garlic and onions. Add the water to deglaze the pan and stir everything together.

Add the livers and

gently sauté until they are browned.

Stir in 1/2 cup of the milk add salt and pepper to taste.

Cover and simmer on low for about 15 to 20 minutes, stirring often.

Next add the sherry and gently simmer, uncovered until the liquid has reduced about by about 1/3 to 1/2 – about 20 to 25 minutes.

Mix the flour with the remaining milk (2 Tablespoons) and stir it into the gravy. Continue to simmer until the gravy has thickened.

Serve hot over buttered noodles.

© Copyright 2023 The Lazy Gastronome

 

The Kentucky Derby! First held at Churchill Downs, Kentucky, in 1875. Since then it’s become a celebrated event that happens every year – with just two cancellations. The first time, in 1945 when the horses were being reserved for military use during WWII – And the second time was 2020 due to the pandemic.

This event is celebrated with red roses, mint juleps ^[15] and delicious foods! A Kentucky derby menu could include many of the southern favorites, like pimento cheese ^[16] and fried okra ^[17]. And this one – the Hot Brown Sandwich!

What is a Hot Brown?

Invented at the Brown Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1926, the Kentucky Hot Brown is an open-faced sandwich, made with Texas toast topped with slices of turkey (sometimes ham too) and tomato, then covered in a cheesy mornay sauce. And it’s finished with two crispy slices of bacon.

You’ll need a fork with this one!

Making a Kentucky Hot Brown:

Make the sauce first. Mornay sauce is a basically a béchamel sauce with cheese.

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan. Stir in the flour and cook until it’s just a very light brown.

Gradually stir in the cream and milk until the sauce starts to thicken.

Grate in some nutmeg.

Add the cheese and stir well. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Cook the bacon into crispy strips.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Cut the crusts off of the Texas toast and cut it in half in triangles. Place them in an individual casserole dishes –

Top each one with turkey and tomato.

Pour the sauce over each sandwich and

bake for about 10 to 15 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbly.

Add a little more cheese, some parsley, paprika and

two slices of bacon to the top of each sandwich. Serve hot!

© Copyright 2023 The Lazy Gastronome

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!! Everyone is busy making corned beef and cabbage, but it’s not a traditional Irish dish! Irish Americans used corned beef as a substitute for bacon in their Bacon and Cabbage dish. But coddle – now that’s a truly Irish dish!

A working class meal, coddle (from the French word caudle – to boil gently) is traditionally made of left-overs and served with bread to soak it all up. Made with potatoes, rashers (bacon), sausage and onion (no carrots in traditional coddle).

Soda bread or brown bread is typically served with it – a bread made without yeast, but rather baking soda. And both are so easy!!

Making the Coddle

Start with the coddle. Cut the bacon into large pieces

and slowly render the fat out in a large dutch oven. European bacon is not the same as American bacon. There is far less fat on it. If you are using Irish or European bacon, add just a little fat to the bottom of the pan.

Cut the sausage into 1 to 2 inch pieces and add them to the bacon. Cook on low until the sausage are cooked through.

When they are browned, remove them from the pan and set aside.

Add 1/8 cup of water to the pan and deglaze the bottom. Add the onions, sliced really thin. I use a mandolin for this –

and just a pinch of kosher salt and simmer gently until the onions are softening and the bottom of the pan is fully deglazed.

Layer the potatoes, parsley and meat into the pan, then add enough water to cover. Add some salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste.

Cover the pan and bake at 300 degrees for about 1-1/2 hours. Remove it from the oven and add the stout.

Return to the oven, uncovered for about another 30 to 45 minutes. Take it out of the oven and put the cover on to keep it warm.

While the coddle is cooking, get the Irish ^[22] bread ready.

Baking the Brown Bread

Mix all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.

Make a well in the center and pour in the buttermilk.

Work it all together until a soft dough forms. If it’s too sticky, add a little more flour.

Turn it out onto a flour board and gently knead 5 or 6 times, then shape it into a large ball, about 6 inches around.

Score an X in the top and place it on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet to rest.

When you remove the coddle from the oven, turn the heat up to 400 degrees. Bake the bread for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 and cook for another 15 to 20 minutes. The bread should be browned and sound hollow when tapped. (My husband tore a corner off, so it’s got a strange shape. Grrr)

Remove it from the oven, rub the top with butter and let it cool about 5 minutes before cutting.

Serve the coddle in a bowl with some warm bread on the side.

© Copyright 2023 The Lazy Gastronome

Leave me a comment – I’d love to hear your thoughts.