“Kosher Bacon?” my friend texted me after I asked her a technical question about how to prepare a sleeve of kosher bacon. “R u an Oxy-moron?”
I was a blank slate when it came to bacon. As I faced the empty skillet, I wondered: should I use oil to fry it? How will I know when it’s done? “Crispy” and “bacon” seemed to go together in my mind, but how crispy is crispy? Should it be toasty around the edges but still retain its chewy meatiness, or is it preferable to char it to a crunchy crisp?
Crisp bacon in a large oven-proof pan over medium-high heat, remove from pan and allow to drain on paper towels.
Place flour in a shallow pan. Season chicken legs with salt and pepper. Dredge chicken legs in flour, shaking off excess flour before cooking chicken skin side down in the hot bacon grease, until golden brown (12-15 minutes). Flip chicken and cook the other side for 10 minutes. Transfer to a platter.
Cook chopped onions and garlic in the pan for 2-3 minutes or until softened. Pour in white wine and scrape up the browned bits on the bottom of the pan, mixing together until the liquid is mostly evaporated (1 minute).
Add sliced mushrooms and stir into onion mixture until shiny and slightly browned (1-2 minutes). Pour in the chicken stock, return the chicken to the pan, scatter sprigs of thyme on top. Heat oven to 300 F.
Allow to simmer uncovered on the stove top until oven reaches the desired temperature. Cover pan and place in oven and cook for 1 ½ hours.
To serve: Prepare gnocchi according to package directions. Place chicken with mushroom sauce on top of a platter or bowl of prepared gnocchi. Garnish with the reserved crisped bacon. Yum!
If the bacon is sufficiently marbled with fat you do not need to supplement with cooking oil to crisp; it will sizzle in its own fat. However I have discovered turkey bacon could sometimes use a jump-start with a drop or two of oil.