Wild Mushroom Salad with Bacon Vinaigrette
What are your two
favorite things?
Mine are hands down
bacon and garlic.
Wes and my family and
friends are pretty cool too.
But mine are
definitely bacon and garlic.
So any time bacon and
garlic go hand in hand I become as giddy as a school girl when she gets a note
from the boy she likes. You know, the one that says will you hold my hand? Yes?
No? Maybe?
Circle one.
I circle bacon and
garlic.
And this salad has
both of them.
In our house, we
measure everything by whether or not something is restaurant worthy.
And this is definitely
going on the menu at my hypothetical future restaurant.
You will need…
½ cup olive oil
½ cup vegetable oil
1 head of garlic,
pealed and crushed
1 pound mixed wild
mushrooms, stems removed and thickly sliced (oyster, enoki, shiitake)
¾ cup pecans
5 pieces of thick cut
bacon, cooked crispy and roughly chopped and the grease reserved
2 leeks, white and
tender green parts, thinly sliced
½ cup cider vinegar
1 teaspoon molasses
1 teaspoon lime juice
6 ounces arugula
1 cup cherry tomatoes,
halved
¼ cup goat cheese
crumbles
Salt and pepper to
taste
Start by preheating
the oven to 425 degrees F.
Then, in a small
saucepan, bring the oils to a simmer with the garlic. Simmer the oil over low
heat for about 15 minutes.
Strain the oil and get
rid of the garlic. Don’t try and eat it. I did and it was gross.
Then, in a large bowl,
toss the mushrooms with ½ cup of the garlic oil and season it with salt and
pepper.
Spread the mushrooms
on a baking sheet and roast them in the oven for about 35 minutes. Stir them
every 15 minutes.
The mushrooms should
be crispy and golden. Almost like croutons.
Remove the mushrooms
and let them cool.
Add the pecans to the
baking sheet and toast them for about 5 minutes.
Remove them and let
them cool.
Then, in the pan that
you cooked your bacon in, add in half of the reserved bacon fat.
Heat it over medium
heat and add in the leeks.
Cook the leeks until
just soft about 4 minutes.
When the leeks have
softened, add in the vinegar and simmer until it reduces by half. About 5
minutes.
Remove it from the
heat and whisk in the molasses, lemon juice and remaining bacon fat.
In a large bowl,
combine the arugula, pecans, goat cheese, mushrooms and bacon.
Drizzle the salad with
the bacon vinaigrette.
Toss and serve.
Love and Beer Floats
Angela
½ cup olive oil
½ cup vegetable oil
1 head of garlic, pealed and crushed
1 pound mixed wild mushrooms, stems removed and thickly sliced (oyster, enoki, shiitake)
¾ cup pecans
5 pieces of thick cut bacon, cooked crispy and roughly chopped and the grease reserved
2 leeks, white and tender green parts, thinly sliced
½ cup cider vinegar
1 teaspoon molasses
1 teaspoon lime juice
6 ounces arugula
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
¼ cup goat cheese crumbles
Salt and pepper to taste
Start by preheating the oven to 425 degrees F.
Then, in a small saucepan, bring the oils to a simmer with the garlic. Simmer the oil over low heat for about 15 minutes.
Strain the oil and get rid of the garlic. Don’t try and eat it. I did and it was gross.
Then, in a large bowl, toss the mushrooms with ½ cup of the garlic oil and season it with salt and pepper.
Spread the mushrooms on a baking sheet and roast them in the oven for about 35 minutes. Stir them every 15 minutes.
The mushrooms should be crispy and golden. Almost like croutons.
Remove the mushrooms and let them cool.
Add the pecans to the baking sheet and toast them for about 5 minutes.
Remove them and let them cool.
Then, in the pan that you cooked your bacon in, add in half of the reserved bacon fat.
Heat it over medium heat and add in the leeks.
Cook the leeks until just soft about 4 minutes.
When the leeks have softened, add in the vinegar and simmer until it reduces by half. About 5 minutes.
Remove it from the heat and whisk in the molasses, lemon juice and remaining bacon fat.
In a large bowl, combine the arugula, pecans, goat cheese, mushrooms and bacon.
Drizzle the salad with the bacon vinaigrette.
Toss and serve.