Bacon tortilla chips + bacon pico de gallo. Yep.
I'm going to keep it short. These are bacon tortilla chips:
And this is bacon pico de gallo, served with said chips:
Sweet, end-of-season heirloom tomatoes with salty, crunchy bacon, plus bright cilantro and piquant shallot. And crispy, bacon-y chips. oh my god.
It's cool, you're busy, la la la weekend, bacon is the best, li-loo-la, here's the recipe. Go on, enjoy.
yours,
aa
Bacon Tortilla Chips + Bacon Pico de Gallo
Prep time: 10 minutes for the chips, 5 minutes for the pico
Cook time: ~25 minutes
Serves 2 to 4
Recommended pairing: Friends! Also lager and spicy margaritas.
What you’ll need
For the chips:
8 oz. uncured bacon, preferably applewood-smoked, with some hearty fat
4 6" flour tortillas
Salt
For the pico de gallo:
3 slices cooked, room-temperature bacon, chopped
1 c. heirloom cherry tomatoes, quartered (or sixth-ed, depending on how big they are)
¼ c. shallot, diced
1 heaping tbsp cilantro, chopped
Juice from ½ small lime (about 1 ½ tsp)
¼ tsp chipotle powder
1 small dragon cayenne pepper, diced (totally, completely optional)
Salt & pepper to taste
Extra lime wedges for table-time squeeze-overs
How to make it
To make the chips, line a baking sheet with foil. Lay out your bacon in a single layer on the sheet (all 8 oz. should fit if you snuggle the slices). Then pull an Alton Brown: put the sheet into a cold oven. Then AND ONLY THEN set it to 400 degrees. If you want, you can set a timer for 16 minutes, but you don't have to. You'll know when it's done because your kitchen will smell like dreams.
While the bacon is doing its thing, prep your chips. Stack your flour tortillas, then slice them into wedges. (You should get 8 wedges per 6" tortilla.) So easy.
Once your bacon is cooked (~16 minutes), remove it from the oven. Re-set the oven temp to 350 degrees. On a large platter lined with paper towels, drain your bacon and set aside to cool to room temperature.
Depending on how fatty your bacon is, you should have anywhere between ¼ and ⅓ c. of melted fat (liquid gold) on your baking sheet. Pour it into a heatproof bowl, and set your baking sheet nearby.
Using tongs (or your heat-hardened chef fingers, which I don't have at all), dredge your tortilla wedges in the warm fat, then nestle them in rows on the foil-lined baking sheet. Once you've filled your sheet, sprinkle your soon-to-be chips with salt. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes, or until chips are golden. Remove sheet from the oven. Put chips in a bowl and salt again lightly. LIGHTLY!
To make the pico de gallo, complete the knifework as directed in the ingredients section. Toss together everything but the salt & pepper and lime wedges in a small bowl. Then, season with s&p. Serve with chips and extra lime wedges.
