Slab Bacon Tacos With Burned Scallion Crema Recipes

This is a hopped-up, smoky version of a traditional Mexican crema, thinner than sour cream, with more tang, and a slightly salty bite. I like it matched with slab-bacon tacos and it is marvelous drizzled over roasted cabbage or sweet potatoes. I've plopped it into black bean soup. It's a nice addition to a quesadilla, and I enjoy it on a burger enrobed with jack cheese and topped with pickled jalapenos. It's a versatile condiment. Try it with nachos in place of the traditional sour cream.

Provided by Sam Sifton

Categories     condiments, side dish

Time 20m

Yield About 1 1/2 cups

Number Of Ingredients 6

• Ingredients

Nutrition Facts : @context http, Calories 221, UnsaturatedFat 15 grams, Carbohydrate 5 grams, Fat 22 grams, Fiber 1 gram, Protein 1 gram, SaturatedFat 7 grams, Sodium 235 milligrams, Sugar 2 grams

This is candied bacon, essentially, on corn tortillas with a creamy, smoke-flecked sauce that tastes of scallion and lime. I like it with pineapple salsa as well, and a salad of cilantro, mint and soft lettuce. You could make it with your standard sliced bacon from the market, but it's far superior with the thick-cut variety or, best of all, with a chunk of uncut bacon that you can slice as thick as you like.

Provided by Sam Sifton

Categories     tacos, main course

Time 45m

Yield 6 to 8 servings

Number Of Ingredients 14

• Ingredients

Here we have a re-education - or an education, if you're a first-timer - in the virtues of an old-fashioned cream gravy. A few tablespoons of this elixir can uplift plainly cooked meat like a lamb chop or steak, layering on the richness of cream but also the freshness of scallion and black pepper. Use plenty of each.These days, home cooks are not likely to keep meat drippings around in the kitchen to make a fat-and-flour roux, but there's nothing wrong with hacking a substitute from a lump of butter and a slab of bacon. Then cook them together with flour to make a golden, toasty-smelling roux. After adding the broth and cream, the sauce will seem thin, but stay the course: don't even think of adding more flour. It takes a few minutes for the flour's starch to absorb the liquid. Take the gravy off the heat when it still seems a little too thin: it will thicken further at the table.

Provided by Julia Moskin

Categories     quick, condiments, dips and spreads, sauces and gravies

Time 25m

Yield About 1 1/2 cups

Number Of Ingredients 8

• Ingredients

Nutrition Facts : @context http, Calories 425, UnsaturatedFat 14 grams, Carbohydrate 13 grams, Fat 39 grams, Fiber 1 gram, Protein 7 grams, SaturatedFat 23 grams, Sodium 496 milligrams, Sugar 4 grams, TransFat 0 grams