Bacon, Chipotle, Cilantro, and Lime are the key ingredients that make this dressing a winner. Great ingredients are at the start of every great recipe. While it is essential to shop for the best prices, you don’t want to compromise the quality of the product because of pricing. Your product can and likely will suffer; be wise when shopping. Apple-smoked crisp bacon, Smoked jalapeños in adobo sauce or smoked yourself, fresh lime juice, and cilantro freshly clipped are all the makings of this great recipe.
Bacon
Bacon is an ingredient that we adore here in the USA. Bacon producers across the nation and the globe, for that matter, race to keep up with the production of this tasty treat. Why do we like it so much?
Bacon appeals to our bodies’ taste buds. Our bodies crave the things we need to provide for them. We do need some salt and fat in our diets to some degree. However, don’t let it be said that overconsumption is in our health’s best interest. Moderate levels, accompanied by movement or exercise, make for the best recipe.
Bacon is flavored by curing it with a combination of salt and sugar, as well as flavorings such as smoke. Apple-smoked bacon is made with wood that is specifically apple wood. The combination of the cure, which consists of salt and sugar, along with the applewood smoke, provides a classic bacon flavor that is cherished.
Cooking bacon is often done in the home in a skillet or microwave. Commercially, it is usually done on sheet pans or what are commonly referred to as cookie sheets at home. The bacon is cooked in the oven, typically using convection, at 350°F for 12-15 minutes. This keeps the mess in the oven.
This method enables you to cook a large quantity of bacon simultaneously. In your home, you likely have a conventional oven. A traditional oven doesn’t have a fan blowing air around inside it. This fan speeds up the cooking times. Therefore, you will need to use a longer cooking time when preparing items in a conventional oven, such as bacon. Bacon may take 20 – 25 minutes in a traditional oven.
Chipotle
Chipotle peppers add a unique, rich, bold, smoky, yet spicy flavor to many things. The ring sounds cool, Chipotle. Chip -O-t-lay
The can pictured here is one brand of many that you will find in the southwest section of your grocery store. Chipotle peppers that are purchased this way are usually in adobo sauce. Adobo sauce is a flavorful sauce made with chilies, sugar, vinegar, and herbs and spices such as garlic and cumin.
We haven’t discussed what a Chipotle is, though. A chipotle pepper is a smoked jalapeño. That doesn’t sound nearly as exciting as saying ‘Chipotle.’ This is what a chipotle pepper is, though, just as many things that are enhanced by the flavoring of smoke. A chipotle pepper adds rich, bold, smoky, and spicy flavor to many things.
When making steak for fajitas, burritos, or tacos, try using chipotle to season your meat along with lime and cilantro. The combination makes for a rich, flavorful southwest party in your mouth.
Lime
Limes are a sour citrus fruit. The tart flavor is distinct, bold, and yet subtly different from lemon. As with apples or so many fruits and vegetables, there are other varieties. Each has similar yet distinct characteristics.
The key lime is used in an authentic key lime pie. Has a distinct yet smooth lime flavor. While Kaffir limes are wrinkly on the exterior, the leaves are sought for their flavor. Kaffir lime leaves are used to flavor dishes without the acidity.
I have used kaffir lime leaves in a natural ginger, kaffir lime tea with honey. This is an excellent drink, iced and all-natural, and yet a delicious iced beverage.
Lime and cilantro combine to make a classic combination. In contrast, they are both used independently of the other. They make a great addition to many of my southwestern-style recipes.
They work great for a marinade, especially when combined with chili powder or chipotle, as seen in this recipe.
Cilantro
Cilantro is a seasoning used in various recipe applications. Some of those applications feature both southwestern flavors and Asian cooking.
Southwestern foods often feature cilantro, combined with lime, as a complementary flavor in recipes. In asian recipes, cilantro is frequently used as a fresh herb within cold sauces, recipes, or marinades.
Cilantro has two profiles. One profile is the leaves used as a seasoning. This is pictured here to the right. The leaves are removed from the stems and either left whole or chopped as if you were chopping parsley to be used in a dish.
The other profile for cilantro is coriander. Coriander is the seed of the plant that is usually ground up and used in recipes. While they are from the same plant, I don’t see the flavors used in the same applications.
I don’t believe the flavors are the same. I use them differently. I don’t substitute one for the other. I do feel that coriander is a flowery essence of a spice that I like in certain types of foods, such as stews and other recipes.
Bacon Chipotle Lime Dressing
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp dijon mustard
- 2 tbsp honey
- 2 tbsp adobo sauce strained, chipotle peppers
- 7 oz chipotle pepper strain and reserve adobo sauce, deseed peppers and reserve
- 2 oz lime juice fresh squeezed
- 2 oz cider vinegar
- 8 oz oil 10% olive oil
- 1/2 cup bacon cooked chopped
- 2 tb cilantro
- 4 each garlic cloves roasted
Instructions
- chop cilantro
- chop cooked bacon
- roast peeled garlic cloves in oil in oven until tender at 350 degrees. 15 – 25 minutes
- In a bowl or 1 quart cylinder, combine honey, dijon, adobo sauce, chipotles, roasted garlic (if using a whisk you should puree these 2 ingredients first in a blender)
- whisk ingredients or use immersion blender to blend ingredients
- add cider vinegar, whisk or blend
Trickle in oil while you whisk or blend
- stir in chopped cilantro and bacon
