Ranch BLT Bites on Herbal Fry Biscuits

A scrumptious, crispy herbal bread makes the perfect foundation for a ranch-infused BLT crumble. Serve them as an appetizer at your next dinner party, bring them to pot lucks or just enjoy them as a fabulous finger food for lunch.

Filling Ingredients:

1 poundpackage of bacon

1 or 2 tomatoes

½ cup shredded lettuce

2 tbsp chopped chives

1/3 cup of Ranch dressing

Salt and Pepper to taste

Fry Biscuit Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose white flour

2 tbsp baking powder

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon garlic powder

¾ teaspoon salt

¼ cup shortening

½ cup fresh diced parsley or basil

¾ cups milk

Oil and reserved bacon grease for frying

Extra flour for dusting

1) Fry the bacon and set it aside to cool to room temperature. Reserve the bacon grease. Dice bacon into a fine crumble using a knife or by giving it a few pulses in a food processor. Add it to a mixing bowl.

2) Seed and dice tomatoes into ¼ inch cubes. One tomato will suffice, but use two if you’re fond of the flavor. Add the tomatoes to the mixing bowl.

3) Finely chop the chives. Add the chives, shredded lettuce and ranch dressing to the mixing bowl. Mix and add salt and pepper to taste. When you’re satisfied with the flavor, refrigerate the mixture.

1) In a separate mixing bowl, add the flour, baking powder, ¾ tsp. salt and sugar. Whisk the dry ingredients together.

2) Add ¼ cup shortening and cut it into the mixture with a fork or pastry cutter until the ingredients are a course, crumbly texture.

3) Finely chop the parsley or basil and toss it in. Add the milk and stir until incorporated into a dough.Turn your dough out on a floured surface and flour your hands to prevent sticking. Lightly knead the dough until it comes together and is smooth.

4) Put the bacon grease and vegetable oil into a pot or frying pan so it is about 1 inch deep. Put the heat on to medium.

5) Cut the dough into four sections. Set aside three sections. Put some flour on your surface and a rolling pin. Roll out one section into a square or rectangular shape until it’s under 1/8 inch thick.

6) Cut off the uneven edges to square out the dough and put them with the other reserved dough. Cut the dough into approximately 2 inch squares. Cut each square diagonally, once, from upper corner to lower corner so you have triangles.

7) Add the triangles to the frying oil. Don’t crowd them or let them overlap; just put about a half dozen in at a time and let them float.

8) Flip the fry biscuits after about 2 minutes, when they are golden brown on one side. Allow them to cook another 2 to 3 minutes until they are slightly puffy and crisp.

9) Remove the batch of fry biscuits with a strainer and set them on a tray lined with newspaper to absorb the oil. Add more and repeat the process. As you finish the first section of dough, roll out another section and cut them the same shapes and sizes as the first batches.

When the fry bread is all cooked, set it aside to cool. Place a few pieces on a plate or a platter. Top each piece with a spoonful of the BLT mixture. Garnish with chopped parsley or basil.

• Pre-heat a grill or heavy pan to medium heat. Cast iron is ideal.
• Lay bacon strips flat on the pan, spacing them about ½ inch apart. Cook it in batches. Don’t overlap or overcrowd the bacon. If the bacon strips are too long for your pan, cut them in half.
• Turn the bacon in about 2 minutes, laying them flat on the opposite side. Turn them again in 1 to 2 minutes and continue the process until they’re cooked thoroughly and crispy.
• Transfer the bacon strips to a tray lined with newspaper to absorb the grease.
• Lower heat if the bacon grease in the pan is smoking. Between batches, pour excess grease out into a metal container.

Alternative Ideas:

• Use herbal fry biscuits for other toppings, such as chicken and tuna salad, hummus or a nice tapenade.
• Use BLT filling in mini pita bread, on crackers or mix it in with devilled egg filling.

Time Saver:

• Buy pre-cooked bacon. You’ll save not only cooking time, but clean-up time.