Bacon

Garlic bread with bacon and cheese

Dear Reader,

I hope you’ve had a good week.

I have had a mixed week, but in terms of work, I’m like a pig in mud.

During the week, Lorraine from Not Quite Nigella wrote about her garlic bread with ham and cheese. It looked very fancy, and I’m sure it’s decadently delicious. Lorraine’s cooking always looks amazing and reads fantastically.

I thought I’d make a Yummy Lummy version. When I compare what Lorraine does and what I do, I reckon I’m on the bogan and coarse end of a scale that extends up to refinement and sophistication; my version is cheap and cheerful. Because I’m me, I’m using bacon rather than ham.

Recipe

Equipment

  • Toaster oven

Ingredients

  • Bread roll. The bread I’m using is a cheap sourdough roll from Coles. I buy three in a packet and freeze them. This one has been frozen for a few weeks, so it isn’t at its best.
  • Butter. I usually buy Lurpak® because I like it, so that’s what I’ve used.
  • Garlic. I had a tube of garlic purée in the refrigerator plus some garlic powder as Lorraine recommends. It’s within its use-by date. If you wanted to you could buy fresh garlic, peel it, and then mince it with a sharp knife.
  • Bacon. I bought a rasher of streaky bacon from the delicatessen section in Coles.
  • Chives. I bought a bunch from Coles.
  • Cheese. I like the Devondale three-cheese bag, which comes grated. I’m sure it has enough antifungal chemicals to treat a yeast infection. (That’s a joke, pre-grated cheese needs to be sold with antifungal chemicals, but the amount would hardly treat a good going yeast infection.)

Instructions

  1. Thaw the bread. I took the roll out of the freezer in the morning, put it into a Ziplock bag, and left it on a kitchen bench all day.
  2. Soften the butter. I cut off a hunk of butter and left it on a plate on the kitchen bench for about an hour.
  3. Mix the garlic and butter. When the butter is soft, mix in the garlic purée. Use as much as you like or can tolerate. I live alone, so there was quite a lot of garlic.
  4. Chop the chives and fold that into the garlic butter.
  5. Like Lorraine I melted the garlic butter. I used microwave radiation.
  6. Cut the bacon. Eyeball the width of the bread roll and cut the bacon to the same length.
  7. Cut the bread through to the crust on the bottom. Make the slices as thick or as thin as you like.
  8. Unlike Lorraine who used a brush I used a teaspoon to spoon the garlic butter into the cut surfaces of the bread.
  9. Insert the bacon between the cut surfaces of the bread.
  10. Place the bread on some aluminium foil and place a strip of baking paper over the top and close the foil around the bread. Bake for about 20 minutes at 200 °C.
  11. Pull the garlic bread out of the oven, open the foil, and remove the baking paper. Add the grated cheese over the bread roll and put some between the cut surfaces of the bread on either side of the bacon.
  12. Place the garlic bread into the oven (with an open surface) until the cheese has melted and turned golden brown.
  13. Remove the garlic bread and allow it to cool enough to pull apart with naked fingertips.
  14. Give thanks to the Lord.
  15. Consume
  16. I ate the garlic bread with lamb shanks.

Thoughts on the garlic bread

I liked it. It was buttery and cheesy and it had bacon. What more could you want? It probably also had enough cholesterol and other lipids to ensure a disgusting lipæmic layer if I collected a tube of blood and subjected it to centrifugal force in a centrifuge. I expect, Lorraine’s had better mouthfeel and flavour (take a look at how she made hers and you’ll see why).

I added a lot of garlic powder and garlic purée so tomorrow will be interesting at church. My pores will exude garlic.

Photographs

Endnotes

Pig in mud. Happy, joyful, and contented.

Bogan. Oxford Dictionary of English | bogan / ˈbəʊɡ(ə)n / noun Australian New Zealand informal, derogatory an uncouth or unsophisticated person regarded as being of low social status: some bogans yelled at us from their cars my family are culinary bogans. | ORIGIN 1980s: perhaps from the surname Bogan.

Antifungal microbial agents. I like the idea of using microorganisms which elaborate antifungal chemicals to preserve food.

Click on this and read the replies from Lorraine.

Chicken and bacon congee

Dear Reader, 

How are you travelling with work and life at the moment?

Tomorrow, I’m presenting at a national scientific conference. My paper is on two Acts that occupy a good portion of my work time. I’m grateful to my workmates, who drafted the presentation for me.

This conference will be the first I will have attended for more than two years.

The conference is virtual because it is in Sydney, and Sydney currently has a significant outbreak of COVID-19. The NSW Government has implemented restrictions. 

I don’t mind the idea of virtual conferences. I know I will be safer, and I like the idea that I can participate and sleep in my bed and cook my food each day. It also means I can exercise the way I want. I like living without disruption. I like the routines I have developed. Pandemic life is my life.

Apart from work, I’ve been reading good books, listening to podcasts, and watching YouTube videos.

Over the last few weeks, I’ve read Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis, The Cross and the Switchblade by David Wilkerson, and David Wilkerson by Gary Wilkerson. I’ve also started the Westminster Confession of Faith.

My current favourite podcast is Gospel in Life, which drops a “show” thrice-weekly and features Timothy Keller, a reformed Presbyterian pastor and communicator from New York City.

I’ve been devouring YouTube videos from The Gospel CoalitionCrossway, and Desiring God. I’ve enjoyed the presentations by Kevin DeYoung, Sinclair Ferguson, John Piper, Jen Wilkin, Melissa Kruger, Rosaria Champagne Butterfield, R.C. Sproul, Sam Alberry, Joni Eareckson Tada, and Rebecca McLaughlin.

I’ve also been walking daily. I’m getting about 40 minutes each morning. I begin anywhere between 4 and 5 am, depending on when I feel like getting out of bed. On weekends, I also try to do the 6 km circuit of Lake Ginninderra each day. All up, I’m doing nearly 40 km each week. This gentle exercise has helped me feel better with less joint pain compared with this time last year.

Ingredients

  • Chicken thighs (2)
  • Diced bacon (100 g)
  • Italian arborio rice (1 cup)
  • Tri-colour quinoa (1 cup)
  • Chicken stock (4 cups)

Instructions

  1. Wash the rice and quinoa with cold water until the water is clear and not cloudy.
  2. Put the rice and quinoa into the vessel of a slow cooker.
  3. Add in the stock.
  4. Add in the chicken pieces and the bacon.
  5. Cook on low heat for 6 hours.
  6. Remove the cooking vessel and pull out the chicken thighs. Pick the skin and flesh from the chicken thigh bones and add the meat and skin back to the cooking vessel. Unless you leave the chicken thighs out for a few minutes, you’ll find the process of removing the skin and flesh unpleasant as the tips of your fingers burn from the retained heat in the meat. I recommend waiting or trying to ameliorate the problem by wearing a couple of latex gloves on each hand to dampen the transfer of heat from the meat to your nerve ending enriched fingertips.
  7. With a wooden spoon (or a metal spoon if you don’t care about scratching your cookware), break up the chicken flesh and mix it through the congee (also known as jook).
  8. Remove the congee from the cooking vessel and aliquot into containers.
  9. Serve a bowl of congee with some soy sauce.
  10. Given thanks to the Lord and eat with a spoon.

Final thoughts

  • Apart from work, how have you been spending your time?
  • What books have you been reading?
  • What podcasts have you been enjoying this last week?
  • What YouTube videos have you enjoyed lately?
  • Do you get much exercise?
  • Do you attend many professional conferences? How do you feel about virtual meetings?

Notes

  • I used Italian Arborio rice because I like using ingredients that aren’t typical. Mixing some Italian with my Chinese makes sense to me. It may not make sense to anyone else, but it works for me.
  • What is congee? Congee or jook is rice gruel. My Mum’s chicken jook is my favourite food.
  • Sinclair Ferguson is Scottish and has the most mellifluous speaking voice. 
  • In the 1980s, The Cross and the Switchblade was popular reading. Friends told me to read it then. I’m slow when it comes to recommended reading.

How to make gluten-free quinoa cheese pot pie | Yummy Lummy

Quinoa cheese pot pie rather than a traditional mac and cheese sounds way too hipster for Yummy Lummy but what the hey. I do like quinoa and I do like cheese. I used rice flour so unlike mac and cheese, this is gluten-free for people with Cœliac disease.

Jump to Recipe

This is a photograph if my Gluten-free quinoa cheese bacon pot pie made by Gary Lum
Gluten-free quinoa cheese bacon pot pie

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Quinoa cheese pot pie that's gluten-free | Yummy Lummy
Prep Time
10 mins
Cook Time
40 mins
Total Time
50 mins
 
A warming comfort food for cold days and nights, suitable for people with Cœliac disease.
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Australian
Servings: 2
Calories: 1000 kcal
Author: Gary Lum
Ingredients
  • 1/2 cup Quinoa (microwave)
  • 2 tablespoons Butter (room temperature)
  • 2 tablespoons Rice flour
  • 1 cup Milk (full cream or skim)
  • 2 rashers Streaky bacon (cut into thin strips across the grain)
  • 1/2 cup Frozen vegetables (I used peas and corn for an Australiana look)
  • 1/2 teaspoon Chilli flakes
  • 1/2 teaspoon Garlic powder (you could use freshly crushed garlic)
  • 1 cup Coon cheese (grated)
  • 2 teaspoons Sunflower seeds
  • 1/2 teaspoon Nutmeg (ground)
Instructions
  1. Cut the rashers of streaky bacon into thin strips cutting across the grain of the bacon. Put the bacon onto a baking tray lined with baking paper. Put the bacon into a preheated oven at 200 °C (400 °F) for 15 minutes and remove when finished.
  2. Cook the microwave quinoa as per the packet instructions and put the cooked quinoa into a mixing bowl.
  3. Make a roux with the butter, rice flour and milk. Start by heating the butter in a saucepan until it foams and then add the flour and whisk until it is smooth and starts to change colour. Pour in the milk and whisk until it begins to thicken.
  4. Take the sauce off the heat and then add most of the grated Coon cheese leaving some to the end to top the pie.
  5. Stir in the cheese, nutmeg, chilli flakes, and garlic powder (or freshly crushed garlic).
  6. Add the sunflower seeds and the frozen vegetables to the quinoa and mix, then pour over the sauce and mix thoroughly.
  7. Pour this mixture into a Pyrex bowl or something similar. Top with the remaining cheese and a light sprinkling of nutmeg.
  8. Place the bowl into a hot oven 200 °C (400 °F) for 20 minutes when hopefully the cheese has melted and changed to a golden brown.
  9. Remove from the oven and allow the quinoa cheese pot pie to rest for 5 minutes.
  10. Garnish with a sprig of parsley or anything else you may have.
  11. Shoot a photograph and then eat from the bowl with a spoon or fork while sitting in front of the TV watching Netflix with your Ugg boots on.
  12. Wash the dishes and write a blog post and hope your social media buddies share the recipe to all and sundry.
Recipe Notes

This is a gluten-free variation on mac and cheese with the nuttiness of quinoa. It can be enjoyed as a dinner or lunch time meal. Another serving idea is to not include the vegetables in the pie but to serve them separately. I think having the bacon is integral to the dish and adds a depth of flavour. I got the idea for the basis of this dish from Erica von Trapp at Bubble Child.

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Frequently asked questions

So, what do you think of this quinoa cheese pot pie?

I thought it was pretty awesome. While I don’t have Cœliac disease, I like to explore food that other people can eat because of a medical condition.

Can I make this quinoa cheese pot pie vegetarian?

Sure, don’t add the bacon. You could add some mushroom, not as a bacon substitute but as another ingredient to give it some extra texture.

Would it help to add a crust or Panko to the top for crunch?

Well then depending on how you make the pastry top, it may not be gluten-free. If you don’t have Cœliac disease and you like pastry and bread, then a puff pie pastry or some panko breadcrumbs would add some crunchy texture.

Could I add this quinoa cheese to a burger?

Yep, I reckon it would be nice on a burger or on a hot dog.

Can I eat this quinoa cheese pot pie cold the next day?

I reckon it would be disgusting cold, but that’s just my opinion.

Social media

Please follow me on my food-based social media on TwitterFacebook, and Instagram. What I’d love you to do is share this post on Twitter and Facebook and anywhere else you’d like, even Google+

Gary Lum QR Code

Bacon and chicken spicy congee with quinoa

Bacon and chicken spicy congee with quinoa! Have you heard of such a dish? This recipe uses a pressure cooker and is quick and easy.

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Chicken and bacon spicy congee with quinoa Gary Lum
Chicken and bacon spicy congee with quinoa

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The ultimate comfort food

I think of congee as the ultimate comfort food. It’s also relatively cheap if you use a few cheap cuts of meat and it’s filling.

Recipe

Bacon and chicken spicy congee with quinoa
Prep Time
5 mins
Cook Time
30 mins
Total Time
35 mins
 

I broke a tooth last night gnawing some meat off a beef short rib. I need soft food. This congee is a perfect soft food. It's also a perfect comfort food. 

Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Australian
Servings: 3
Calories: 800 kcal
Author: Gary Lum
Ingredients
  • 1 cup Arborio rice
  • 1 cup White quinoa
  • 200 grams Chicken thigh fillets
  • 2 rashers Streaky bacon broken up
  • 1 litre Tap water
  • 1 packet French onion soup mix Sodium reduced
  • 1/2 head Cabbage sliced
  • 1 piece Star anise
  • 1 splash Soy sauce
Instructions
  1. In the vessel of a pressure cooker add the rice, quinoa and water and then stir

  2. Add the chicken and bacon and stir through

  3. Add the packet of French onion soup and stir through

  4. Add the cabbage and stir through

  5. Add the star anise on top

  6. Close the pressure cooker chamber and set to cook for 30 minutes

  7. Release the pressure once cooked and remove the lid

  8. Stir the congee and break up the chicken meat while stirring

  9. Aliquot into containers for lunch at work

  10. Serve the remainder into a shallow bowl, add the soy sauce and garnish with parsley

  11. Shoot a photograph

  12. Eat the meal

  13. Clean the dishes

  14. Start to feel quite full after the huge size of the bowl of congee eaten and feel a bit thirsty too

  15. Hope that readers like this recipe and share it on social media

Recipe Notes

If you like congee, I think you'll like this recipe. It's easy to put together and cooking in a pressure cooker makes it dead easy 

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Frequently Asked Questions

How long should you cook congee in a pressure cooker?

I’ve been asked this a few times. I don’t have a mathematical formula. What I know is that for a full chicken, Mum used to cook it for anywhere between 45 and 60 minutes. I figured for 200 grams of chicken thigh meat and some bacon, 30 minutes would be fine. In fact, I think next time I will try 20 minutes to see if there is any difference.

Do you have to use a pressure cooker?

No, not at all. In fact, I like making congee in a slow cooker too. It’s basically the same recipe except you put it in a slow cooker for 6 hours.

What other meat can you use?

Almost any meat you like although I’m not sure how fish would go. Vegetarians can use tofu if they like.

Do you have a slow cooker variation?

Yes, I do. Slow cooker pork quinoa congee.

Social media

Please follow me on my food-based social media on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. What I’d love you to do is share this post on Twitter and Facebook and anywhere else you’d like, even Google+

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Gary Lum QR Code

Bacon macaroni and cheese

Bacon macaroni and cheese is surely a thing just like smoked trout or smoked salmon mac and cheese must be a thing.

Jump to Recipe

Super hot and spicy home smoked and cured bacon macaroni and cheese Gary Lum
Super hot and spicy home smoked and cured bacon macaroni cheese

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Bacon macaroni and cheese
Prep Time
10 mins
Cook Time
20 mins
Total Time
30 mins
 
Bacon macaroni and cheese is surely a thing just like smoked trout or smoked salmon mac and cheese must be a thing.
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Australian
Servings: 1
Calories: 1000 kcal
Author: Gary Lum
Ingredients
  • 200 grams Macaroni (cheap supermarket stuff)
  • 200 grams Bacon (diced and cooked in a bench top oven to release flavour)
  • ½ cup Coon cheese (grated)
  • ½ cup Parmesan (grated)
  • 3 tablespoons Flour (plain)
  • 2 tablespoons Butter (salted)
  • 1 dessert spoon Chilli flakes
  • 1 piece Red chilli (diced)
  • ¼ cup Parsley
  • ¼ cup Panko breadcrumbs
  • 1 tablespoon Pumpkin seeds
  • 1 tablespoon sunflower seeds
  • ¼ piece White onion (small and diced)
  • 1 cup Full cream milk
Instructions
  1. Remove the home smoked and cured piece of gift bacon from the vacuum packaging
  2. Dice the bacon into large cubes
  3. Cook the bacon on an oven tray at 200 °C/400 °F for 12 minutes in a small bench top oven
  4. While the bacon is cooking cook the macaroni 1 to 2 minutes short of the recommended time on the packaging, the macaroni will continue to cook when it’s coated in cheesy goodness
  5. Allow the bacon to rest in its rendered fat so the flavours are retained
  6. Drain the macaroni and mix with the cooked bacon and the rendered bacon fat so the macaroni absorbs bacon flavours
  7. In a saucepan melt the butter and add the onion until the butter foams
  8. Whisk in the flour and make a roux
  9. Add the milk to make a sauce
  10. Remove the saucepan from the heat source
  11. Fold in half the cheeses with the pumpkin and sunflower seeds
  12. Add the macaroni and bacon and stir through slowly
  13. Mix in the chilli flakes and red chilli
  14. Pour into a Pyrex dish
  15. Mix the panko breadcrumbs with the rest of the grated cheeses
  16. Top with the rest of the cheeses and panko breadcrumbs
  17. Place into a hot oven (200 °C/400 °F) for 15 to 20 minutes being careful not to burn the top
  18. Serve in a shallow bowl
  19. Garnish with a sprig of parsley
    Super hot and spicy home smoked and cured bacon macaroni and cheese Gary Lum
  20. If you want to give the pretence that you have a healthy lifestyle feel free to add vegetables like kale and spinach or silverbeet but if you do you need to realise you’re lying to yourself and really you’re a comfort food whore.
  21. Unlike me, if you can digest and metabolise alcohol you could have a large glass or two of wine or a pot of beer with this.
  22. Don’t forget when you’re finished don’t pass out on the couch, the sooner you get the saucepan and bowl in some water the easier it will be to clean off the cheesy goodness.
  23. While you’re cleaning off that cheesy goodness, just imagine how it all looks churning in your stomach, being mechanically processed and chemically digested as it passes through your duodenum, having bile added like dishwashing detergent.
  24. I could go on but you get the picture. Hopefully after a morning coffee, what’s left will start its extracorporeal journey to a waste treatment facility near you.
  25. If you’ve liked the way I’ve finished this recipe, I’d love it if you commented and please share this via social media especially Facebook and Twitter. I’m really wanting this sort of recipe to take off so that more people can appreciate my talent for combining food with some basic anatomy and physiology.
  26. Please follow me on my food-based social media on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Recipe Notes

On a final note, I’d really like to thank my work friend Mark for giving me this piece of bacon.

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Super hot and spicy home smoked and cured bacon macaroni and cheese Gary Lum
Super hot and spicy home smoked and cured bacon macaroni cheese

If you’ve liked the way I’ve finished this recipe, I’d love it if you commented and please share this via social media especially Facebook and Twitter (there are handy sharing icons in this post). I’m really wanting this sort of recipe to take off so that more people can appreciate my talent for combining food with some basic anatomy and physiology.

On a final note, I’d really like to thank my work friend Mark for giving me this piece of bacon.

If you want to see more examples of workplace generosity please head over to another blog where I have shared three consecutive days of amazing workplace generosity.

This isn’t the first mac and cheese on Yummy Lummy, I put it in a Taco one Saturday.

Please follow me on my food-based social media on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. What I’d love you to do is share this post on Twitter and Facebook and anywhere else you’d like, even Google+

For vegan friends, here’s a vegan version from the Noob Chef.