The Christmas meal has come and gone. But you still have turkey, ham, prime rib and various and sundry sides in your fridge.

How long can we keep nibbling on them?

As you can imagine, there are many schools of thought on this. But I like Madam Trainer’s explanation here.  She makes some good arguments and I, personally, like to err on the side of caution with this one.

Check out her sage advice here and let me know what YOU think!

Who doesn’t love bacon? And if it’s mixed with beef? Fuhgeddaboutit!!!

This amazing recipe is for a decadent, bacony sauce you can serve with so many different dishes — roasts, steaks, beef tips . . . you name it!

Be creative and you just might create your new favorite meal! And choose from these different bacon flavors to give it your own twist!

Bacon Hollandaise Sauce

Ingredients

• Egg yolks – 3
• Lemon juice – 1 ½ oz
• Reserved bacon fat (from hickory smoked bacon) – 7 oz
• Salt and pepper – to taste

Method

1. Melt bacon fat so that it is a liquid, but not hot.
2. Place egg yolks and lemon juice in a stainless steel bowl and whisk until frothy. Place metal bowl over a pot of simmering water and whisk constantly until it’s ribbony and has tripled in volume. It should have a light but firm consistency.
3. Remove from heat and very gradually add bacon fat until it is all incorporated.
4. Taste and adjust seasoning with lemon juice, salt and pepper.
5. It can be heated back up over a double boiler a little if needed, but don’t let it get any hotter than 140 degrees or it will break.

What, you say? Grape?

Yes. Grape. It’s something I’ve never thought of before.

Good thing there are chefs out there who are always thinking!

Here, Chef Evan Branning goes over this recipe detail by detail, tip by tip for us. Thank goodness, because I need specific directions.

He even tells us exactly how to season before the marinade to get the most flavorful steaks possible. So go here now for the full recipe and instructions.

Happy cooking!

Photo courtesy of ChefALaPorte.com.