Cookin’ With Hoss: Hot Bacon Dressing

Springtime in Missouri. There’s probably not a better season to enjoy, although being able to experience all four seasons is certainly a benefit of living in our region. Just as you get really tired of the heat of summer or the cold gray of winter, a fresh season is just around the corner. But none of the seasons has the culinary bounty and promise of new beginnings that spring has. There’s a definite joie de vivre when the songbirds are chirping, the air is balmy, and the tom turkeys are gobbling in the morning. 

We’re blessed with morels, asparagus, peas, spinach, and a variety of greens that will enhance any meal you choose to grace your table. Morels require a bit of effort unless you know of a “honey hole” that is a perennial producer. Asparagus requires at least three years to establish a good bed with well-drained soil. But for peas and greens, this is a great time to grow your own produce, as long as you have space for a garden and can keep the deer out! 

If you’re not so agriculturally inclined, there’s a splendid alternative at the Columbia Farmers Market. If you haven’t been there, you should go at least once, after which you will probably be hooked. 

Whether you grow your own or buy it, fresh salad greens are the best way to start a meal. Now the only decision is which salad dressing to use. My opinion is that for the delicate baby salad greens, you should avoid heavy, mayo-based dressings, as they overwhelm the leaves. My recommendation is to use a light vinaigrette. There are many to choose from, but my favorite hearkens back to when I was young — and who doesn’t love bacon?!   

Ingredients

• 5-6 slices bacon cooked crispy, crumbled, reserve the grease 
• 1 ½ c. diced yellow onion 
• ¾ c. balsamic vinegar 
• ¼ c. water 
• 1 ½ c. brown sugar 
• 2 tsp Hoss’s steak seasoning 
• Corn starch slurry (2 tbsp. cornstarch, 4 tbsp. cold water whisked together) 

Instructions

• Caramelize the onion in the reserved bacon grease.
• Add the balsamic vinegar, water, sugar, and steak seasoning.
• Whisk in the slurry a little bit at a time, until the dressing coats a spoon. 

Jim “Hoss” Koetting is a retired restaurateur/chef who enjoys gardening, good food, good bourbon, and good friends.