Greenling Quickfire Round 11-13

I know... I know...  I was supposed to be doing this every week and keep up with each episode and make a corresponding dinner using my weekly Surprise Me ingredient from Greenling. and then the holidays happened and then vacations...


So what's my excuse this time? Trust me it's a good one. I was out of the country on a cruise with the band Weezer!


But this week I'm finally getting caught up and what better way to celebrate than with a yummy treat?


This week's Surprise Me ingredient was turnip greens!

 My favorite family recipe for any type of greens is "bacon and butter".


So that's just what I did! The secret I use is to boil the bacon first - this allows you to easily remove the fatty pieces and leaves you with a delicious pile of smoked pork.


I only boil the bacon for a few minutes, just long enough to cook off some of the white. Then I let it cool off in the liquid and let the fat separate and float up to the top.  Once cooled it easily pulls apart and from there I just chop it up.

Throw the bacon meat in the pan with a heavy helping of butter and some chopped onion.


Stir until the onion is caramelized and the bacon starts to crisps up.


This will also make your house smell like heaven.


Just as the bacon starts to crisp throw in your greens, remove from heat and stir until they are wilted. For turnip greens I also threw in a pinch of sugar and a dash of Maldon seat salt for good measure 

 For this meal I also chopped up one of my tomatoes from my Greenling box and an avocado.


tossed them in a bowl with some fresh lime juice, sea salt and fresh cracked black peppercorn for a quick and refreshing avocado salad.


And not that it really goes with turnip greens, but I had a flank steak marinating in the fridge in orange juice, orange zest, habanero pepper and honey so I pan grilled it up medium rare.




The finished meal? A mismatched habanero orange honey steak, avocado salad and southern style turnip greens.


I was a little off in the pairing of these 3 - but each on its own was pretty damn fantastic.


I could have eaten an entire plate of just bacon and butter turnip greens, but I had a dinner guest and had to share :D


And Paul Qui is rocking the Top Chef competition! Life is good!

And just in case you didn't believe my excuse - Here's a pic of me and Weezer!

Best Vacation Ever!!!