Succotash

Best when made with fresh local corn on the cob, but I think frozen corn fills in pretty well when it just isn't corn season.

Succotash

Ingredients:

• 6 Slices Bacon
• 1 Smallish Onion
• 2-4 Cloves Garlic (I use 4 but I love garlic)
• 1 Green Bell Pepper
• Corn from 2-3 shucked/cleaned cobs (About 2 cups frozen kernels)
• 2 Jalapeno Peppers
• 1 Cup Edamame, shelled/frozen (Or lima beans)
• 1 Cup/1 pint Cherry Tomatoes
• 2 Tablespoons Cider Vinegar
• 1/4 Cup fresh chopped Basil leaves
• Salt and Pepper

Instructions:

1. In a large skillet over medium heat cook the bacon slices until nice and crispy. Transfer cooked bacon to a plate lined with kitchen paper to drain.
2. Finely dice the onion and garlic cloves while the bacon cooks.
3. Now you can be naughty and leave all the delightful bacon fat in the pan, or drain away most of it leaving about 3 tablespoons. I wont tell if you go the naughty route, promise. 
4. Leave the skillet on a medium heat setting.
5. Add the onion the skillet with the bacon fat. Season with salt and pepper. Cook the onions until they are soft and translucent, about 10 minutes.
6. While the onion cooks, shuck/clean the cobs (measure out frozen kernels), finely mince the jalapeno peppers*, slice the cherry tomatoes in half, dice the green bell pepper and measure out the frozen edamame.
7. Add the minced garlic to the skillet. Stir fry cook an additional 2 minutes.
8. Add the vegetables we just prepared to the skillet. Season well with salt and pepper, stir to mix evenly. Cook for about 10 minutes, until vegetables are soft, stirring occasionally.
9. Chop the bacon and basil leaves. Add to the skillet. Pour the cider vinegar over top, stir well to mix evenly.
10. Cook for an additional 5-10 minutes. Or if you want to get some blackened edges to some of the vegetable you can cheat by lining a large baking sheet with parchment paper and turning oven to broil. Spread the succotash over the pan in a thin even layer and broil for 3-5 minutes. Watching carefully to prevent everything from burning.
11. Serve hot as a side, goes great with Fried Chicken.

Enjoy!

*I suggest wearing cooking-safe gloves or a ziplock bag like a glove while chopping the jalapeno peppers. The insides are a strong irritant and it's really not something you want on your hands. Since once its on your hands it will for sure end up in your eye ball. Also if you are a wimp with spice you can use only 1 pepper, or none at all. Also the seeds and pale interior edges of the pepper are the strongest in heat.

Notes:

Sometimes I like to pretend like I know everything, so I might have been making my own knock off succotash for about a year now. Except I got most of it wrong except what is obvious in pictures like corn and tomatoes. This recipe is revised from an allrecipes collection of succotash recipes and the pretend succotash I used to make.

This recipe is much nicer than all my previous attempts, especially since I had never noticed succotash has bacon in it! Any side with bacon is automatically better. Plus the cider vinegar and basil seasoning really makes all the vegetables taste enhanced but not covered up.

Also the original/true succotash might be supposed to have okra in it, but decent okra is impossible to get on my small island home. Plus I am pretty sure I wouldn't be able to cook it right, so I used a bell pepper instead to get some extra green in the succotash. Cheating I know, but I like what I like and wont apologize for it. (Same reason why I used edamame instead of lima beans like most traditional recipes call for, beans are a no go in this house)

Other Places:

Something for dessert:

Chocolate Cake