Bacon cole slaw with Wisconsin blue cheese. Photo courtesy EatWisconsinCheese.com.

We presented a variation of this “red, white and blue” cole slaw recipe for Independence Day, but we didn’t add the bacon.

Yesterday we found ourselves with a package of Niman Ranch bacon and this recipe from EatWisconsinCheese.com. We made it and declared it a hit.

BACON COLE SLAW

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. DRESSING. Combine all ingredients in a jar; cap and shake well. Refrigerate for an hour or longer to let the flavors blend.

2. COMBINE. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl; mix well.

3. CHILL. Refrigerate for at least an hour to let the flavors blend.

Variations

Niman Ranch bacon costs more, but its money well spent. All Niman Ranch meats support small, family-run, sustainably-managed American farms. The meats have much better flavor and texture than factory-farmed meat. (If you haven’t seen The Meatrix, it will open your eyes).

The other difference is the cure—a topic filled with misinformation and controversy about nitrates and nitrites. The issues are presented below.

Niman Ranch bacon has a noticeably lower moisture content than supermarket brands, and thus shrinks a bit less, with less curling, as it cooks.

Another observation: The bacon is thicker and browns more slowly, so you can make it well done without over-crisping.

Conventional bacon gets a “quick cure”: The pork belly is injected with brine plus the chemical form of sodium nitrate (which converts to sodium nitrite in the processing). Sodium nitrite extends the shelf life of the meat, prevents bacterial growth and provides the familiar pink or red color.

Uncured bacon typically uses a nitrate/nitrite-free cure with celery juice, salt and a lactic acid starter culture.

Then why is it called “uncured?”

Under federal labeling laws, if a meat product is not cured using the chemical form of sodium nitrate, it must be labeled uncured, whether or not it is preserved by another preservation technique.

Add this to the mountains of confusing government legislation. It’s easy for most consumers to think that uncured meat is less preserved, and thus more dangerous (the danger is the potential growth of the bacterium Clostridium botulinum, which can cause botulism).

But there’s more:

Celery is a natural source of sodium nitrate, so nitrites go into the meat anyway. But by adding nitrite-rich celery juice to the meat instead of actual chemicals, manufacturers legally to claim “no added nitrates.”

SODIUM NITRITE DOESN’T CAUSE CANCER

Here’s the lowdown on this issue:

Several decades ago, an animal study that got significant media attention concluded that sodium nitrite was a carcinogen. Large amounts of the chemical were fed to the animals.

But follow-up studies—which did not get hyped by the media—did not show the correlation. According to MeatSafety.org:

Numerous scientific panels have evaluated sodium nitrite safety and the conclusions have essentially been the same: sodium nitrite is not only safe, it’s an essential public health tool because it has a proven track record of preventing botulism. The National Toxicology Program, an agency within the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, conducted a multi-year study to evaluate sodium nitrite’s safety. The study found that sodium nitrite was safe at the levels used.

According to the FDA, sodium nitrite does not become toxic or increase risk of cancer in doses up to 10 mg of sodium nitrite per pound of body weight. This translates to an intake of 19 pounds of cured meat for a 150-pound individual.

So: Buy Niman Ranch bacon because it’s sustainable and tastes better—not because of “no added nitrates or nitrites.”

Yesterday we offered dessert recipe ideas for watermelon, including watermelon “cupcakes” and watermelon “pizza.”

Today, we present savory watermelon recipes, so celebrate: August 3rd is National Watermelon Day (July is National Watermelon Month).
 
 
SOPHISTICATED WATERMELON RECIPES

FUN WATERMELON RECIPES

 
These and many other delicious recipes are available at Watermelon.org.
 
Tomorrow: savory watermelon recipes.

TAKE A FEW MORE BITES
 
The History Of Watermelon
 

Watermelon Nutrition
 
Watermelon Tips: Buying & Storing
 
Watermelon Martini & Other Watermelon Cocktails
 
More Watermelon Recipes

Cucumber and dill give a subtle, delightful
flavor to a carafe of water. Photo © Maxim
Shebeko | Dreamstime.

It’s not easy to find Ayala’s where we live, but we do the next best thing: We add herbs and spices to pitchers of water. We don’t get the same flavor extraction that Ayala’s does, but we do get a subtle note of flavor that turns plain water into something special.

Turn that pitcher of ordinary water into something special with herbs and spices. You may already add lemon or lime slices, berries or cucumber your water pitcher. But try some new flavorings with sweet herbs or spices—in addition to the fruits or by themselves.

Herbs For Flavoring

Before adding herbs to the water, crush them slightly in your hand to release the aromatic oils. Let the flavor infuse for 15 minutes or more. The longer you infuse, the more flavor is extracted.

Spices For Flavoring

You can also start with spices, such as:

 
Then, try combinations such as ginger-cardamom and mint-clove—and whatever sounds good to you. One of our favorite combinations is cucumber-dill.

FOOD TRIVIA: LAVENDER

Lavender derives from the Latin word lavare, to wash. The Romans used it to scent their bathwater.

The Roman Legion brought the plant to Britain, where it later became popular in homeopathy: to ease stiff joints, battle infections, provide a calming influence and other remedies. Lavender was used for repelling insects, masking odors (potpourri) and was carried in nosegays to try to ward off the plague and pestilence.

Today, we know that a far better purpose is in baking, condiments, ice cream, iced tea and other recipes—like flavored water.

It’s personal taste, but try it. The Food Holiday Gods won’t be upset that we switched crusts (here’s the scoop on conventional pie crusts.

The only baking in this recipe is of the pie shell or tart crust. The pie is served chilled—mighty refreshing on a hot day.

You can substitute any berry. We also enjoy a strawberry cream pie, blueberry cream pie, or mixed berries. You can get very artistic arranging the colors and textures.

> Check out the different types of pies in our Pie & Pastry Glossary.
 
 
RECIPE RASPBERRY CREAM PIE OR TART

This recipe is for a tart crust. For a pie, use your favorite crust recipe or a store-bought crust.

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. COMBINE. In the top of a double boiler, mix sugar, flour and salt. Stir in milk. Cook 15 minutes over hot water, stirring constantly until thick. Add egg yolks, stir and cook 3 minutes.

2. ADD. Add butter and allow mixture to cool. Stir in vanilla. Add to pie shell and let set in the fridge for a half hour or more.

3. VARIATION. You can also add raspberries to the cream filling, for a double raspberry cream pie. Add the raspberry purée along with the vanilla to the cooled cream mixture.

3. GARNISH. Cover the top of the pie with the raspberries. It’s best to begin at the edges and work your way in. In this way, if you run out of berries, the ungarnished center will look “normal,” not a mistake.
 
 
CREAM PIE VS. CREAM PIE

What’s the difference between cream and creme? Just the spelling.

Creme is an Americanization of the French word for cream, crème? (pronounced KREHM), most likely adapted to make the dish sound more special. But why mispronounce another language’s word for cream?

Unless it’s a French recipe, such as Coeur à la Crème, stick to cream.

[2] Prefer a creamy raspberry pie? Here’s the recipe from Driscoll’s (photo © Driscoll’s).

[3] Even creamier: a raspberry mousse pie (photo © Dole).

We made a raspberry cream tart instead of a pie. What’s the difference between a pie and a tart?

It’s interesting enough that we created an article about it. Check it out!