Bacon grease.
Not the healthiest of topics - especially during the time of year when many are focusing on resolutions of health and wellness. I apologize.
I grew up with grandmothers who always saved the grease after frying up bacon. It was like, liquid gold to them. They used it to flavor green beans later in the week or as the base for country gravy. My Kentucky-raised granny would buy bacon sometimes just for the purpose of using the leftover drippings that week for a specific dish.
My husband is a bacon fanatic. Whenever he grocery shops with me, I know it's inevitable that he'll wind up browsing the bacon section and throwing some in the cart. We have bacon with our weekend breakfasts - thanks to him - a couple of times a month. I always save the leftover grease. (Blame it on my upbringing.)
So, when I was working recently on a scalloped potatoes and ham recipe using leftover Christmas ham, I had this insanely crazy idea to toss in a few dollops of our solidified bacon grease. The idea wasn't so crazy to me at the time - I always top my scalloped potatoes with some pats of real butter. Butter is fat. Bacon grease is fat. But, bacon grease equals tons of flavor. It all made perfect sense.
The result was the tastiest scalloped potatoes I've ever had. I've tested the recipe twice since then and I have simply come to adore it. The bacon grease not only imparts flavor, but it creates almost a velvety texture when it comes to the "mouth-feel" of the sauce.
Obviously, this isn't "diet food." Besides testing for the blog's sake, this isn't something I'd make repeatedly in a short period of time. But, the next time you're craving classic scalloped potatoes and ham or needing something to take to a potluck, I urge you to give this recipe a whirl.
This makes enough to feed an army. If you're not serving an army, that's okay. In my household of five, we make sure we have leftovers of this. The leftovers may even be better actually. Just spoon some into a large coffee mug or ceramic bowl the next day, splash in a little milk and heat until bubbly in the microwave. There is nothing better. I pinky swear!
