The BLT is free

    Sunday night dinner was a situation where appetites had been ruined, but not satisfied, thanks to tapas portions of ziti chez Britopia. Lots of greens in the fridge from the CSA. A green salad seemed like not enough, and much more seemed like too much. What ensued was involved, but I heartily commend it as an approach to salad-as-meal. I knew I wanted more than a straight green salad, and LaD's recent lardons reset had me thinking that shaving some peels off of the bay pancetta I cured and crisping them up would be a good start. Cooking thin pancetta is different than cooking bacon, because the mass of the fatty pork being cooked is less, so it is less prone to provide sufficient fat on its own to prevent sticking and burning. As I saw initial slivers of pancetta begin to dessicate, I rescued them, and introduced some unlean cubes of the same pancetta and a little water into the same pan. I cooked up some more pancetta in what was rendered from the cubes but it seemed  a shame to let all that seasoned fat go to waste, so I diced up some potatoes no one was excited about, and browned them in the pancetta fat.

    I washed some mixed CSA salad greens, and sliced some tomatoes as thin as poss, and used some of the seedy pulp to start my dressing. I added some of the initial abortive pancetta bits, a splash of sherry vinegar, a splash of tomato vinegar (Thanks, S.!) and some decent olive oil. I may have finished the dressing with a drip or two ofthe pancetta pan remnants, but I won't confirm that. I tossed the tomatoes and cooked pancetta with the dressing and the greens, and topped with the browned potatoes. In essence: BLT -bread +lettuce and + potatoes. I have often worked harder, planned more, and eaten worse than I did with this salad.

Boogie Down Productions: "Remix_for The_P_is_Free" (Instrumental) Criminal Minded, 1987/2001

Comments

[max]

Funny, I was just frying pancetta and potatoes the other day. With eggs, I gotta say that bacon is better.

[la_depressionada]

that sly rose's lime and his jonathan richman allusion.

i almost feel about pancetta (and most partic. owing to fatboy battali -- guanciale) the way i started to feel about molten choc. cake. ENOUGH ALREADY! but you need the stuff for carbonara for without carbonara the world would be a much sadder place indeed.

[Fesser]

Out here in the provinces, fancy restaurants still serve food on square plates with squiggles of sauce, so we're a few years away from a pancetta glut. Also, for what it's worth, this is what restaurants would call "house cured."