I am working from home today with a sick boy and have a huge craving for bacon.  I thought I would kick start your weekend with some pork fat goodness.  You agree?

One of my top 25 foods of all time – BACON.  It came to me as I was eating the breakfast all last week at Normandy Farm.  Of course I scanned the whole buffet before I started to fill my plate, but I always gravitated towards the crispy bacon

Eating some breakfast and thinking about what to write, I thought that I would share with you 7 ways to cook with bacon that have been featured on zesty.

So here goes….

1. Bacon on Pizza

Whether it is traditional pizza using some leftovers or a kicked up portabella pizza – bacon is a great addition.

2. Chutney

I feature two chutney’s ( Apple Bacon Chutney and Pear Bacon Chutney ) so far and both were out of this world yummy.  I attribute that to the bacon and to the slow cooking.

3.  Bacon and Eggs with a Twist

One of my all time sunday morning favorites “Bacon and Eggs”.  Try these fun little twists on a classic – Bacon and Eggs in a Bowl or a 2 minute Bacon Broccoli Scrambled Egg.

4.  Bacon Wrapped Fruit

Once introduced to this lovely creation – I fell in love with Bacon wrapped Pineapple.  Such a simple yet crowd pleasing treat.

5.  Bacon in a Salad

I really do love adding bacon to many salads.  I think i like the salty flavor it adds as well as the crunch. The one listed here is not your traditional salad, but this was very tasty with both the crunch walnuts and the firmness of the asparagus.

6.  Bacon with Potatoes

Oh yeah – you cannot forget this incredible combination.  Try kicking it up a notch at your next gathering with sweet potato skins with Bacon.  These babies are amazing.

7.  Bacon Mac and Cheese

Well well well… this is a must try if you love mac and cheese.  The bacon really takes this over the roof and will make you very very happy.

So there you have it!  A fun look at bacon and all its glory.  Feel free to share this with your friends using the toolbar on the bottom.  Have yourself a great Fridayand I will see you back on October…. Can you believe that?

Take care

zesty

Download my Free Recipe Book: Simply Zesty

Happy Monday and welcome to a new week!  I was unsure what to share with you today because I have so much in the hopper and ready to go and there is so much going on in the coming weeks.  As you know from last week, September 1st marks the start of HELP THE STUDENTS event and I cannot wait.  It will be a one month series, featuring simple, quick meals that anyone can prepare with simple everyday ingredients.  They will also focus on being cost effective as well as packing lots o’ flavor.

Before we get into today’s recipe which I pretty much love – I want to share some feedback I have heard over the blog in the last few months both positive and negative.  The positive feedback just reassures me that I am doing something I love and will continue to do.  The negative feedback is what I really love.  Sound bizarre?  Not really.  I find the negative information drives me to deliver a better blog, add more value for you the reader and an enhanced experience for all to enjoy.

Positive Feedback

• Amazing Photography
• Tasty recipes that I can actually make
• Love the Zesty Tips
• Fun to read

Negative Feedback

• Not enough Vegetarian recipes
• Want more posts each week
• More pictures of zesty and his family
• Would love to see more E-books of recipes

On to the Food

Ever need an idea oh how to use up a fresh summer pineapple in a different way?  I know myself I have the hamsters moving in my head all the time to come up with innovative ideas to use fruit in the summer to impress both my palette and yours.

Most recently I had a gorgeous fresh pineapple from the farmers market and I knew I wanted to grill it.  By grilling fruit, the sugars inside caramelize so well and give you that sweet warm texture as you bite into them.  For this quick recipe all you need are a few ingredients and about 10 minutes to whip it up.  I have tried this twice now, so far and it has been a hit each time.

Ingredients

• 1 Whole Pineapple ( sliced and cored)
• Vanilla Ice cream
• Pink Peppercorns (optional)
• 1 Tbsp. Butter
• 1 Tbsp. Brown sugar
• Orange zest

Method

1. In a bowl add butter and brown sugar and microwave for 30 seconds.
2. Preheat grill to medium heat
3. Coat the pineapple in the borwn sugar butter glaze and place on grill.  Stay close as it will cook quickly and you do not want it to burn
4. Once golden brown, remove from heat and top with Vanilla ice cream, a few pink peppercorns for a bite and some fresh orange zest.
5. ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: For a little crunch, try adding some toasted walnuts, peanuts or even pecans to elevate the flavor and texture combination even more.

I hope you enjoyed this quick spin on fresh fruit.  See you on Wednesday for the Help the Students event kick-off.

Take care
zesty

Download my Free Recipe Book: Simply Zesty

In honor of the weirdest sandwich post on Wednesday and reading the comments I was inspired to do something a little off the wall so to speak.  I had some fresh pineapple in the fridge and a loaf of homemade bread from the local bakery.  I thought what the heck let’s give it a grill.  It has been raining cats and dogs here as of late so I decided just to do the grilling on the George Foreman grill.

I was unsure of how the pineapple would hold up so I did a quick grill of that first and set it aside as I assembled the sandwich.

Ingredients

• 2 slices of thick whole wheat bread
• Sliced fresh pineapple
• Drizzle of honey
• Bunch of parsley
• Dash of hot sauce
• Mozzarella

Method

1. Preheat the grill to medium high heat and grill off the pineapple and set aside
2. Take the two slices of bread and drizzle honey on one side.
3. Place a thick slice of pineapple on top.
4. Add hot sauce, parsley and cheese
5. Set the second slice of bread on top and grill until golden brown and melted.
6. ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: Make it crunchy!  The pineapple has a lot of natural juice in the slice so grilling it before hand was a great idea.  Keep the cheese heavy as it will lock the juice in the pineapple and keep the bread crunchy.

The sandwich was actually quite tasty.  The one thing I did notice about it was the sweetness… duh right?  But I found the little shot of hot sauce definitely help balance all the sugars from both the pineapple and the honey.  I would try this again but I think over the open flame of the barbecue for more flavor.

Have a terrific Friday and wish me luck tomorrow as I put forth my handy man skills and donate some time to the habitat for humanity for the annual “Baby Barn Blitz”.  Hopefully it is sunny where you are.

Take care

zesty

Download my Free Recipe Book: Simply Zesty

I love salsa!  That is a given so when I thought about a menu items for Sunday to pair with the coconut crusted salmon – I knew it was a summer salsa.  There is something about summer flavors with crisp fruit and sharp vibrant colors makes everyone happy.  I chose to pair both pineapple and mango for the salsa and give it a little bit with cilantro and red onion.  No one in our family are really big onion lovers so I toned down the red onion to avoid any discomfort.  I find it is not really that sharp with the sweetness of the fruit.  To finish off the flavor matching, I chose to add a dash of hot sauce and cracked black pepper.

Ever try hot sauce with fruit?

Ingredients

• 2 Cups of fresh pineapple, cut into small chunks
• 2 Cups fresh Mango, diced
• A little bit red onion, diced
• 1 Cup of fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1/4 Cup of extra virgin olive oil
• Zest and juice of 1 lime
• Several dashes of your favorite hot sauce

Method

1. Put pineapple,mango, red onion and cilantro into a medium-sized bowl.
2. Add lime zest and juice, oil and hot sauce.
3. Toss well and let flavors mingle for at least one half hour before serving.
4. ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: This works very well with any form of meat or even as a vegetarian dish.  It would work great with a stir fry topping or even with cous cous.

Wednesday is here and the week is half over.  It is hard to believe that summer is on the way.  The weekend was super hot and guess what… I did survive a day of roofing.  I am pretty confident in saying that I will never be a roofer full time and I now have a lot of respect for those who do it as a trade.  Have a fantastic hump day and I will talk to you on Friday.

Take care

zesty

Download my Free Recipe Book: Simply Zesty

Hi All.  New Years eve is upon us.  Sorry I have not been cooking much over the past few weeks as I was getting the house ready, unpacked and livable.  I promise to deliver some more zesty recipes in 2010.

Are you excited about the new year?  I am sure New Years Resolutions will be flying everywhere in the coming days.  I never seem to have much luck with my resolutions however this year I am going to make a solid effort to be more organized and time efficient between work, zesty and family.  With that being said I wanted to share with you a pretty yummy pizza if you run out of time for supper anytime or just do not feel like cooking.

The last couple of weeks we have been eating take out every now and again… which is bad but just part of life.  One day last week we brought in Domino’s Pizza…. Hawaiian style and it was quite delicious.

I have a busy day planned today – at the office for a little while, test driving another vehicle, shooting a campbell’s video and preparing for a huge New Year’s Eve food fest at the Zesty In-laws.  I am very excited.

Oh yeah I forgot to tell you – we sold the truck.  We need a 4X4 so we are on the hunt.  I will keep you posted if we get lucky.  Have a great New Years Eve and I will stop in tomorrow with some shots of tonight’s gala.

Take care

zesty

Download my Free Recipe Book: Simply Zesty

Lets just say that yesterday was a whirlwind of a day!  We found a vanity for the half bath in Halifax NS that we just had to have!  So I took yesterday off work and drive over 3.5 hours to pick up the vanity.  Along the way, we made a pit stop for a sandwich ( toasted Ham and Cheese- No sauce ) and drove 3.5 hours back.  We better like this “vanity”!

I forgot my cds in the truck and I left the ipod at home – so the music was just fair at best.  Does anyone else hate when they are driving and the radio never really works with the reception fading in and out?  Anyway, we survived and was fortunately home in time for supper.

Scalloped Potatoes… a true classic and it gets me every time.  I am such a potato pig.

It was a traditional meal with a nice pineapple ham roasted in the oven and some bubbly scalloped potatoes on the side.  A fresh batch of homemade biscuits thrown into the mix and some good old fashion H2O.

Ingredients

• 6 medium potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
• 3 Tbsp. butter
• 3 Tbsp. flour
• 1/2 Tsp. salt
• 1/4 Tsp. pepper
• 2 1/2 Cups milk
• 1 Small onion, finely sliced

Method

1. Preheat oven to 325ºF.
2. Heat 2 tablespoons of butter in a saucepan over low heat until melted. Blend in flour, salt and pepper.
3. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is smooth and bubbly.
4. Gradually stir in milk, 1/2 cup at a time.
5. Heat to boiling. Boil and stir 1 minute.
6. Arrange potatoes in greased casserole roasting pan in 3 layers, topping each layer with part of the chopped onions and 1/3 of the sauce.
7. Dot the top with the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter, broken into little pieces.
8. Cover and bake until potatoes are tender, about 60-70 minutes.
9. Let stand 5 to 10 minute before serving.

Zesty Tip: I think a key tip with scalloped potatoes is to let them sit out on the stove once you remove them from the heat.  This will allow them to thicken and prevent you from burning your tongue.

How often do you burn your tongue? It seems that I do it far too frequently and I think it’s why I’m not a big fan of hot drinks.  I actually took some pictures of the scallop potatoes on my fancy shmancy plate but something happened and they were quite yellow.  I had them under a different light and I think it gimped something up.  I could not even fix it in Photoshop.

Sorry for the short post but I am on my way out of the house tonight (9:00 pm) to go do some clean up at the house.  There is drywall pieces everywhere that has to get cleaned up before the seam fillers.  Have yourself a great day and keep smiling.

Take care

zesty

Download my Free Recipe Book: Simply Zesty

Happy Labor Day!  How was your holiday weekend?  Mine was great where I thankfully got a lot accomplished.  My to do list is still as long as my leg but that can be expected.  I spent quite a bit of time working on a project that I will announce later in the week.  I also was at the house on Saturday doing a little clean up and taking a garbage load to the dump.

I didn’t spend a lot of time in the kitchen but I did have time to make my Mom’s crowd pleasing potato salad.  The appearance of this potato salad may not tickle your fancy, however the texture and flavor is where it’s at.

Ever have a potato salad that is sopping wet with mayonnaise?  Ever have one that is covered with onions and you cannot taste the potato?  Ever have one that is mashed to an oblivion and you cannot feel any texture?  I am guessing you said “yes” to at least one of those questions.  With this potato salad, you get a nice combination of texture, very little sauce and no over powering onion flavor.

Before starting the salad, I knew I would pair this with some leftover pineapple glazed ham which is really tough to beat.  Below I’ve explained how I created this salad.  I really suggest you give this one a try in your kitchen.

Ingredients

• 6-8 Medium Size Potatoes
• 5 Eggs
• 2 Tbsp. mayonnaise
• Pepper
• Onion Powder
• Salt ( at the table)

Method

1. Boil Potatoes until fork tender and let cool slightly.
2. While still warm, peel and cut potato into small/medium dice
3. Add the potatoes into a bowl
4. Boil eggs for 9 minutes until hard.
5. Cover with ice cold water and let rest for a minute.
6. Peel and chop the egg and add to the potatoes
7. Add Pepper and onion powder.
8. Stir mayonnaise in gently; sample for flavor
9. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours
10. ENJOY!!

Zesty Tip: When making potato salad, it is crucial you add the seasoning and sauce to the potatoes while they are warm.  This will allow the potatoes to absorb all the flavor and make it more enjoyable.

Upcoming on Zesty

• Zesty makes a new Purchase
• Zesty goes on the road
• Zesty hits newsstands
• Zesty house update

I will fill you in on everything new and exciting throughout this week.   I hope you have a great Holiday Monday and I look forward to reading your comments about this killer potato salad.  Keep me posted on anything that is new with you and I will be back tomorrow.

Take care

zesty

Download my Free Recipe Book: Simply Zesty

Happy Monday and thanks you so much for your support on both the shirt slogan and the idea.  I greatly appreciate it!  I hope you had an awesome weekend as I know I did.  The weather was great and we were able to get some things done outside (Christmas lights taken down, some of the flower beds weeded).  I also got a little bit of shopping in, did some visiting and attended the annual home show.  In addition to this, I did some weekly planning for zestycook.com both post and food wise for the week.

Now take a look at this – bacon wrapped pineapple topped with a homemade barbecue sauce. Talk about a killer appetizer.  When I made this dish the last couple of times, the pieces of pineapple literally flew out of the baking dish.  This really is a crowd favorite.

I am just guessing but I think the bacon has something to do with that.

Ingredients

• 1 Cup ketchup
• 1/4 Cup  brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 1 Tbsp. soy sauce
• 1/8 Tsp. hot sauce
• Salt and pepper
• 1 (15 1/2 oz.) Can pineapple chunks, drained
• 1 Lb. bacon, cut in half crosswise

Method

1. Preheat oven to 400°.
2. Combine first 5 ingredients in saucepan, stirring well. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, 10 minutes, stirring frequently.



3. Remove from heat, set sauce aside.



4. Wrap each pineapple chunk with a piece of bacon, securing with a wooden pick.



5. Place on rack in shallow roasting pan. (Notice how I forgot the rack in this picture.  I actually took out all the pieces and added the rack.  However, leave it to me to forget to take another picture)



6. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes then baste with sauce, return to oven.
7. Bake an additional 15 minutes until bacon is cooked.
8. Serve with sauce.



9. ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: When cooking this dish, it is essential you place the pineapple/bacon on a rack for the grease to fall through below.  If not the bacon will disintegrate off the pineapple and you will be left with just pineapple.

Zesty Clothing Update

Well it looks like “Get Zesty” is the winner of the new slogan for the clothing line.  I am going to be working on setting up the store and having all the selections ready to go shortly.  I will let you know when everything is finalized and purchases can be made.  Once everything is complete, I will kick off the clothing with a fun little giveaway of some free stuff for you.  I can’t wait to get started.

Question of the day: Have you ever tried bacon wrapped fruit before?

Have an excellent Monday and I will talk to you bright and early Tuesday morning.

Take care

zesty

Download my Free Recipe Book: Simply Zesty

Happy Tuesday! Wow what a fun filled Monday in zestyland.  Work is crazy busy and I have been spending a lot of time on a new e-book for zestycook.com that will be released soon.  In addition, I am working on a whole new design for the blog.  I am moving to a new layout to allow you to visually see more recipes and posts in an easier format.  Stay tuned for all that excitement.

Back to the dish at hand – Super Simple Meatballs!  This is a great dish that is hearty, filling and can really be done with any meat or even non-meat product.  Whether it be turkey, pork, beef, you name it… a meatball can be made.

This dish is really quick and easy.  I take a two step approach to the meatballs.  First, I cook them under the broiler since it is so fast, prepare the sauce and then add the meatballs to the sauce in a casserole dish.  I served it over some dirty rice with soy sauce and mushrooms.

Too easy…. here are the more detailed instructions

I really enjoy the sweet and sour flavor on a variety of foods (pineapple and nutmeg just go together well especially with vinegar and sugar).

Ingredients

MEATBALLS

• 1 1/2 lbs ground beef
• 2/3 cup cracker crumb
• 1 egg
• 1 Tsp. nutmeg
• 1 Tsp. grated fresh ginger
• 2 Garlic cloves ( minced)
• 1 Tsp. seasoning salt (Lawry’s recommended)

SWEET AND SOUR SAUCE

• 1 (13 1/2 ounce) can pineapple chunks
• 5 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/2 cup vinegar
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1/2 cup brown sugar

Method

1. Preheat oven on broil.
2. Combine the first seven ingredients, mix well, but lightly.
3. Shape into meatballs.
4. Place meatballs in roasting pan and broil in the oven until cooked through (turning a few times).
5. Drain pineapple (set aside)- reserve juice.
6. Add water to the juice to make 1 cup liquid.
7. In a pot over medium heat, blend cornstarch in the juice, then add vinegar, lemon juice, brown sugar, and soy sauce, cook until clear.
8. Add the pineapple and pour over the meatballs and bake at 350°F for 30 minutes.
9. ENJOY!

ZestyTip: To enhance the flavor of meatballs, I always like to add a hint of ginger and nutmeg as well as really focus on browning the outside of the meatballs to lock in the flavor.  The brolier works great for this.

I hope you have a great Tuesday.

Take care

zesty

Download my Free Recipe Book: Simply Zesty

Happy Monday!  I was relaxing on Saturday coming up with new and exciting recipes to create and share with everyone  – that is something I love to do!  I think I have come up with a few really gems that I fell may be of interest.  This one I am about to share with you is a new spin on pizza that cuts down on the carbohydrates but still fills you up.

When it comes to pizza there really are no rules.  You just make the pizza the way you like it.  Different from traditional pizza – this recipe using portabella mushrooms as the basis for the sauce and toppings as opposed to a crust.  Talk about simple – ready in less than 15 minutes, these are great as an appetizer or make enough of them and have a meal.

Ingredients

• Portabella Mushrooms
• Pizza Sauce
• Cooked Bacon ( Small Pieces)
• Jalapeno Peppers
• Pineapple Pieces
• Fresh Basil
• Tomatoes
• Shredded Mozzarella and Cheddar Cheese

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350 Degrees
2. Remove the stem and clean the mushrooms
3. Spoon sauce on inside base of the mushroom



4. Add chopped fresh basil, cooked bacon, pineapple, jalapeno peppers



5. Top with cheese



6. Bake until cheese is golden brown ( about 10-12 minutes )



7. ENJOY!

So what did you think?  Pretty easy and actually for my first time making these – they were very tasty.  Let me know what toppings you would like on your portabella pizza.

Zesty Tip: When preparing mushrooms, wipe them with a damp cloth and pat dry with a paper-towel.  Do not scrub or peel the mushrooms or soak them in water.  This will take away flavor, texture and valuable nutrients.  Sprinkle the mushrooms with lemon juice to help retain color.

Have a great Monday and I look forward to hearing from you.

Take care

zesty

Download my Free Recipe Book: Simply Zesty