It has been a very long time since I made bacon bread. A very long time. But it was Dad’s birthday and I wanted to make him something that I knew he would like. So … bacon bread.

Bacon bread was inspired by the bacon buns grandmom use to make. She never wrote down the recipe so when I started to try to figure it out, the bread never turned out exactly right. But eventually I got it right. There is a slight sweetness to the bread which matches to the salty bacon. Add some onion and keep some of the fat from cooking the bacon and you get a moist bread that tastes delicious. I’ve thought about trying to make a vegetarian version, but I don’t think it would work nearly as well.

The nice thing about this dough is that there is enough for two loaves. I could have made one large one, but making them slightly smaller means less baking time. It is also easier to tell when the bread is done and the crust is pretty without getting overly dark.

Recipe:

• 3-4 cups flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 tablespoon yeast (or one packet)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 egg (optional) for brushing on top
• 12 oz. bacon
• 1/2 large sweet onion
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup (if using uncured bacon – skip if bacon is cured)

Heat milk, water and butter until warm (120 degrees). Add yeast and let sit for five minutes until foamy. Combine one cup of flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl and stir together. Slowly combine the yeast mixture, the mix (using a dough hook if using a mixer) until a very soft dough forms. Add the eggs and one additional cup of flour and mix well.  Beat on medium-high speed (if using a mixer) for two to three minutes. If mixing by hand, mix until soft dough forms and is smooth. Mix in about a half cup flour and mix well (about 8 minutes with mixer).

Flour a clean surface. Turn dough onto floured surface and add about 1/3-1/2 cup flour to the top. Mix and knead the dough by hand for about ten minutes. Add more flour as necessary to prevent sticking, but keep dough soft. Return to bowl, cover and let rest while you make the filling.

Rough chop the onion so the pieces are small enough to be in a filling, but large enough to be noticed. (No, this isn’t very precise, but that’s okay – the onions can be a variety of sizes and it still works). Chop the bacon into pieces, discarding some of the fat as you cut.

Heat a large frying pan over medium high heat and once heated, add bacon. Cook, stirring frequently, until bacon is cooked. Drain the fat. Reduce heat to medium and add the chopped onion. Cooke, stirring frequently, until onion is soft. Drain fat again. If your bacon is uncured, add maple syrup and stir well. Remove from heat.

Divide dough in half. On a lightly floured surface roll dough into large rectangle. Add half the filling and spread evenly over the dough. Tightly roll the dough starting from the long edge. (Fold dough over edge, pick up and roll onto itself until you reach the end.) Form rolled dough into a circle and place seam side down on a baking sheet. (I like using a Silpat as I find it keeps the bottom from burning for me.) Repeat with the other half of the dough. Cover and let rest/rise in a warm area for about an hour.

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Once pre-heated, beat remaining egg and brush onto the loaves the bake for about 35 minutes. If loses sound somewhat hollow when tapped, they are done.

Let rest and cool on wire rack.

In my quest to pack my lunch, and pack things that A) can be eaten in a car, B) do no require a microwave or refrigerator, and C) will fill me up I’ve started eating more beans than I ever had before. I’m still not crazy about the texture of beans, but I’m getting there.

This salad I found in the NY Times Cooking section and have to say, I kind of love it. It holds for a while and has both protein from the feta and beans and grains from the couscous to fill me up. Add in some heirloom tomatoes and basic from the garden and what is not to like. Admittedly I can’t eat this while driving, but it can be eaten in a parking lot and it holds up well with an ice pack in my lunch bag. We had this for dinner one day as is, then I added some celery and yellow pepper to the leftovers to stretch it for lunch for a few days. The only real change I made to the original salad was using cannellini beans instead of pinto and adding a little more garlic (I think 2 large cloves instead of one).

The ten year old in me sometimes (ok often) likes basic food and one classic kid-friendly food is pizza. You can justify it by saying it contains several food groups including vegetables (tomato sauce), dairy (cheese) and grains (the crust) but really, it isn’t the healthiest of foods. However, you really can’t beat a good pizza.

The best thing about a basic sauce and cheese pizza is that it is fast and takes almost no brainpower – perfect after a long day at work. I cheated on the crust on this and bought the dough at the grocery, and used leftover sauce and cheese. Add a few sun-dried tomatoes and basil from the garden and you have a near perfect pizza.