What's your favorite way to eat bacon or what do you eat it with?, page 8

I like to make a grilled cheese sandwich by putting crisp fried bacon slices between two slices of cheese in the bread and then fry it up well browned in bacon drippings.

Another way I use bacon is to put some in the bottom of the cups in my poaching pan, then add the raw eggs on top and cook until the eggs are starting to get done from the bottom before I put the lid on to finish them off to the final firmness I like.

Then I have my "Yogi's Famous Potato Salad" (recipe to follow) that uses a whole 1-1/2 pounds of bacon and a ham steak fried in the bacon drippings and cubed. BTW - Yogi is another name I am known by online.

FYI - In my area the local WalMart carries an off brand of bacon ends and pieces in a three pound package for $6.00 and change. It isn't pretty but it is perfect for cooking with bacon like in black eyed peas.

======================================================

Yogi's famous potato salad

INGREDIENTS

5 lbs clean medium to large red potatoes boiled in skins, cooled, peeled, and cubed - Optional, if you select potatoes with really clean skins you can leave them on when you dice the potatoes. This gives the salad more color and more vitamins. (Note 1)

1 medium to large yellow onion diced medium fine. You could substitute a red salad onion for color and flavor. (Note 2)

1-1/2 lbs (1 pkg.) West Virginia brand thick sliced bacon cut into 1" pieces and fried until medium crisp and drained. If you cannot find West Virginia brand bacon select another high quality thick sliced bacon. (Note 3)

1 thick ham steak browned in skillet in bacon drippings and shredded into approximately 1/2" chunks.

1 medium jar Vlasik Zesty bread and butter pickle chips drained and diced to approximately 3/8" square. (Note 4)

4 to 6 spears celery washed and diced. (Note 5)

1 to 1-1/2 dozen eggs hard boiled and cut into quarters or eighths.

DRESSING

1 qt jar Miracle Whip – The low fat Miracle Whip is barely OK but stay away from the fat free version. It does not work for the dressing.

1 to 2 tbsp yellow mustard (Note 6)

1 to 2 cups whole milk depending on the consistency you like your dressing.

Put Miracle Whip in a bowl large enough to whisk in the mustard and milk. Add one cup of milk and whisk until smooth. Then add some or all the second cup and keep whisking until you reach the right consistency. Remember, the potatoes are going to absorb some of the liquid so make it a little thinner than you want the final consistency to be.

GARNISH (optional)

Red, green, and/or yellow sweet peppers cut into rings and/or strips

Green onion trees (trimmed and slit lengthwise at green end)

Hard boiled egg slices

Paprika

Celery sticks

Lemon, lime, and/or orange zest strips

Colored salt (made the same way as colored sugar)

Use any or all or add something of your own to dress it up.

DIRECTIONS

How coarse you chop, dice, and cube the ingredients is a matter of personal taste. However, I have found that most people like this potato salad better if the ingredients are kept to the slightly large side. Especially the potatoes, they should be at least 3/4" to 1" cubes.

Reserve some of the dressing to remoisten the salad later as the potatoes will tend to absorb it if leftovers are kept for a day or more.

Use a really large mixing bowl and layer the ingredients in the following order. Put the potatoes on the bottom. Then add all the dry diced ingredients except the eggs. Then put the bacon and ham on top. Finally add the pickles and pour on half the dressing mix and add the eggs.

Start mixing with a large wooden spoon by going down the edge of the bowl under the ingredients and lifting. As soon as the first half of the dressing and the finer ingredients disappear under the potatoes add the rest of the dressing and continue mixing by going under and lifting until properly mixed. Do not stir in the normal way as you will break up the eggs and potatoes.

The final step is to put the salad in a serving bowl and garnish if you wish.

Well, the actual final step is to eat and enjoy.

YOGI

NOTES:

1 - The better the potatoes the better the salad. New red potatos with a waxy consistency are best. I tried this recipe one time with Idaho potatoes and did not like them.

2 - The onion is one ingredient you want to dice fairly fine even if you love coarse chunks of other ingredients. Onion tends to overpower the flavor if left in too big of pieces.

3 - The bacon will have a better texture and flavor if it is cooked a little on the crisper side as it will soften in the dressing.

4 - The Vlasik Zesty chips are the best as they have a slight bite to them that keeps them from being lost in the rest of the flavors. The original recipe used garlic dill chips but I found that the Vlasik Zesty chips tasted better to me. Any strong flavored chip will work if you like it. Just cut them coarser if they are not as strong as the zesty ones.

5 - Watch how much celery you use and watch the color. Celery that is very light green has the best flavor and crunch. Celery that is darker in color tends to be bitterer and stronger in flavor as well as stringy. If dark green celery is all you can get dice it finer and use less.

6 - In spite of the addition of yellow mustard this is not a mustard dressing. The small amount used only adds some zest to the flavor of the dressing.

I got this recipe from Smettan's Family Restaurant in South Elgin Illinois. It is slightly modified from the original but still retains the great taste and texture of the original. The restaurant went out of business a few years back, actually more like 7 0r 8 years ago. The daughters apparently could not keep it afloat after their father passed away.

This is one of those recipes that people shake their heads over until they taste it then they want more.

YOGI