Scrumptious Spinach with Crispy Bacon

Well, it's a quick one today.

Because today I said good-bye to my nicely blackened, shame-on-you-if-you-don't-have-one, pizza stone. It cracked. Into 8 pieces. I took a photo of my dear friend's last moment, but I am too upset to share it. I do think of myself as quite the multi tasker, but today, that's just not the way it went.

Brick Chicken was prepped and on the BBQ. Somewhere in between making broth with the discarded chicken backbone, baking a cheesecake and turning out a super scrumptious spinach side dish, I left the BBQ heat on high, for a really long time. Long enough to crack the stone. Yes, with the chicken smoking away underneath.

Thank goodness they are only $9.99. (Shame on you if you don't have one yet, at that price!)

But hey, did ya know that even if you char (um, burn) a whole chicken, it's most likely just the skin? Chickens have some serious skin going on, as we still enjoyed moist and tenderly falling off the bone meat for dinner, although peeling off burnt skin is not much fun.

OK, so maybe the yummy chicken made losing the stone a little more bearable. However to really make me feel better, will you try this spinach? It's irresistible!


Crispy Bacon Sauteed Spinach

1 lb fresh spinach, washed and torn or shredded
1 lb bacon, sliced
2 pieces of thick, white bread, crusts removed and cut into 3/4 inch cubes
2 tbsp olive oil

In a large saute pan, on high heat, cook the bacon until crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon, and rest on paper towel.
Drain all but 2 - 3 tbsp of the bacon fat, then, still on high heat, crisp the cubed bread until golden, to make croutons. Remove.
Add 2 tbsp olive oil to the saute pan, and toss spinach to wilt, about 2 - 3 minutes.
Place spinach in a serving dish, sprinkle with bacon and croutons.