Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Nut Free, Egg Free... Chock Full of Bacon Fat

Let's be real the lipid hypothesis is bunk. That's right, people. I've turned from a fat-vocate into a fat-vanegelist. Fat is actually good for you. Our grandmothers knew it, their grandmothers knew it and my parents (wisely) never bought into the whole low-fat/non-fat business and neither me nor any of my five siblings is obese. It doesn't really take a scientist to figure out why heart disease has skyrocketed AFTER our society adapted the low-fat diet. That is why I have no qualms telling you that for these two recipes you will need either a whole stick of butter (making it not dairy free anymore) or the proceeds from a full pound of bacon. :) Cheers. I made these as part of a brunch which was absolutely delicious and consisted of roasted cauliflower, sweet potato hash browns, bacon and a spring mix salad with warm bacon vinaigrette because YUM.


Simple Roasted Cauliflower

• 1 head cauliflower cut into florets
• 4 tbsp butter or bacon grease, melted
• kosher salt and pepper to taste

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. On a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, drizzle the sweet, fatty goodness all over the cauliflower and then generously nay, liberally salt and pepper it. When the oven is pre-heated roast the cauliflower for about 35-45 minutes or until the underside of it is starting to turn a dark brown color. Serve immediately.


Sweet 'Tater Hash Browns

• 1 large sweet potato
• 1 medium onion
• 1 clove garlic
• 4 tbsp butter or bacon grease
• salt and pepper to taste

One of the prettiest things in the world to me is the color of sweet potatoes. So, I want you to peel your sweet potato and grate it on the large holes in your box grater. I grated mine right into a mixing bowl. Careful, though. Since being trained to have knife skillz (aw man!) I have never cut myself ... except on a box grater. Grating the sweet potato takes a bit of force so don't say you weren't warned! Once that's done, cut up the onion into a small dice. Press your garlic and add both to the bowl of shredded sweet potato. Fire up a griddle or large saute pan to medium/medium high. Melt your fat onto there*. Once it is sizzly hot throw in the mixture and season with the salt and pepper. Now the trick to this is to try and leave it alone. Obviously, you don't want it to burn but what you do want is for it to get caramelized. Oh boy. So, so good. Flip the hash browns from time to time with a large spatula. You'll know they are done when they are all darkened in color to a dull orange and there are large patches of brown throughout. 

Anyway, guys. I hope you enjoy this. We certainly did. Two days in a row in fact. :)

Much love, Tirienne

*Note! If your griddle is like mine and has this little hole in it for grease to drip through, partway through cooking you may have to pull out the tray and dump the fat back into the mixture.