The word bacon brings happy thoughts and smiles to almost everyone I know. Who doesn’t love the smell of cooking bacon, that nice crisp salty meaty flavor that reminds us of Sunday morning brunch, where the iconic BLT is one of my favorite dishes. Spending much of my life on the coast I am lucky enough to have access to wonderful sweet succulent shrimp so I decided why not combine my two favorites, yet still keep bacon the star. Bacon and shrimp after all go together like meat and potatoes. Wanting to use bacon to its maximum potential I used bacon as lardoons in the shrimp salad, sliced and crispy on the sandwich and I even toasted the bread using garlic infused bacon fat. This decadent sandwich does have a cool crisp side with the sweet cherry tomatoes, savory bite of the scallions and fresh crisp parsley that all not only complement the bacon but marry it to the briny sweet shrimp. Sweet, salty and memorable this sandwich represents the foods I loved as a child but matured to flavors that I crave as an adult.
Bacon shrimp and Tomato salad on garlic bacon toast rounds
Ingredients:
12 ounces thick sliced apple wood smoked bacon
2 cloves garlic (peeled)
1/2 tablespoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
8 ounces shrimp (peeled, deveined and chopped in ½ inch pieces)
1/4 cup diced sweet yellow onion
3 scallions sliced on an angle
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
6 ounces cherry tomatoes (quartered)
Juice of one lime
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
1 avocado sliced into 12 slices
8 slices of white bread
Directions:
Dice half the bacon into ½ inch pieces. Place the diced bacon into a 10 inch saute pan and cook over medium high heat stirring occasionally until lightly crisp. Remove cooked bacon and place onto a paper towel to dry. Cut the remaining bacon in half and place the slices into the pan turning pieces over until well browned on both sides. Place cooked bacon on paper towel. Smash garlic cloves and add to bacon grease, saute over medium high heat until garlic starts to brown. Remove garlic and reserve bacon grease.
Place 1/2 teaspoon salt, black pepper, sugar and crushed red pepper flakes into a medium size bowl and stir to combine. Add shrimp and toss until shrimp are coated well with spices.
Place 1 tablespoon of reserved bacon grease in 10 inch skillet, add diced onions and shrimp. Cook over medium high heat until shrimp are just cooked and bright pink. Remove from heat, place cooked shrimp and onions into a shallow bowl and refrigerate to cool.
Place scallions, parsley, tomatoes, 1 tablespoon lime juice, mayonnaise, 1/2 teaspoon salt, bacon pieces and chilled shrimp into a medium size bowl and stir until well combined. Return to refrigerator.
Using a juice glass, cut circles out of the sliced bread by inverting the glass and pushing down and turning. (best to do this one slice at a time). Dip bread slices into reserved garlic bacon fat just enough to coat and place onto a large saute pan over medium high heat until bread is golden brown.
pour remaining tablespoon lime juice over avocado slices, sprinkle with remaining salt.
To assemble sandwich place a bread slice onto a plate toasted side down, add 3 slices of avocado, top with one and a half slices of crisped bacon, add a quarter of the bacon shrimp salad mixture and top with another slice of bread, toasted side up. Repeat three more times. Serve immediately
Prep time 10 minutes
Cook time 20 minutes
4 servings
See the link to cookmore for even more information about my recipe. https://cookmore.com/recipe/bacon-shrimp-and-tomato-salad-on-garlic-bacon-toast-rounds/
