Recently, we had a dinner party and I served a grilled caesar salad as one of the courses. Of course, you MUST have REAL bacon so JT cooked the bacon up on the BBQ (none of that maple crap) and I asked him to save the drippings for the roast potatoes but by the time I got around to tossing the tators in the bacon drippings, I had second thoughts so I used only about a tablespoon and tossed the rest with olive oil. I had about a 65 mL (1/4 cup) bacon drippings sitting in the refrigerator, crying for something creative so I came up with this easy recipe. The drippings have such an amazing flavour, and the bits of bacon add just the right amount of crunch. I think I may have to cook up another batch of bacon just for the drippings so I can bake another batch of these tasty morsels.
Bacon and Parmesan Cheese Puffs
A KitchenInspirations Original Recipe
Makes 42 small puffs
Ingredients:
- 250 mL (1 cup) water
- 65 mL (1/4 cup) bacon drippings
- 5 mL 1/2 tsp salt
- 145 g (1 cup) all-purpose flour
- 3 eggs
- 120 g (1 cup) grated Parmesan Cheese
- 1 1/2 slices bacon, cooked until crispy and crumbled to small pieces
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 200° C (400° F).
- Place water, bacon drippings and salt in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat.
- Remove from heat and add flour, and stir until combined.
- Return to heat and stir cooking the flour mixture until it comes away from the sides of the pan and is a shiny ball.
- Place in a food processor with plastic blades and process for 15 seconds (give or take).
- Add eggs, one at a time and process for 40 seconds (err on the longer side of give or take).
- Add the cheese and process for another 5-10 seconds until smooth. Stir in the crumbled bacon.
- Dip a spoon or small ice cream scoop into 1 cup cold water with 5 mL (1 tsp) plain vegetable oil, place walnut-sized spoonfuls on a parchment lined cookie sheet about 3 cm (1 1/2 inches) apart.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown.
- Serve warm or room temperature.
Notes:
- You may also prepare this recipe with a good quality handheld mixer or stand mixer but I would suggest an immersion blender with the whisk attachment is not strong enough for this pastry.
- These delightful balls puff up about 12 minutes into baking and are ideal for stuffing with a piping funnel (I bought a really cheap one from a dollar store and it works very well). Stuff with goats cheese, or your own recipe.
- Unstuffed, they freeze very well, just pop them into a zip lock bag. To use, you need not defrost them, simply put them into a preheated 150° C (300° F) oven for 10-12 minutes, until defrosted and heated through.
The bacon drippings give this treat great flavour and the bacon bits some nice texture.
Kitcheninspirations 