Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing

Janis made this spinach salad, it's a pretty straightforward recipe she found on Food Network but with a twist - I've never seen this technique and had to share. Put your stainless steel salad bowl right on the gas stove flame, add the reserved bacon fat and heat until it ripples, then add the vinegar, sugar and mustard. Whisk continuously until creamy and emulsified. Turn off the heat; immediately add the spinach, onions and mushrooms, toss until well coated and the spinach is just a tiny bit wilted - you want to keep the spinach moving in the bowl as you toss so some of the spinach doesn't get overly wilted. Plate the spinach mixture, top with eggs and bacon. Click here for the original source, I'm posting the recipe below but it doesn't include how to do the bowl on the heat - that came from Alton Brown's video showing how to make this salad (not sure why the recipe and video are different...this way you'll have both if you don't want to directly heat the stainless steel bowl).

• 8 oz. young spinach
• 2 large eggs, hardboiled and peeled, sliced into 8 pieces each
• 8 pieces thick-sliced bacon, chopped
• 3 T. red wine vinegar
• 1 t. sugar
• 1/2 t. Dijon mustard
• kosher salt and ground black pepper
• 4 large white mushrooms, sliced
• 3 oz. red onion (1 small), very thinly sliced

Remove the stems from the spinach and wash, drain and pat dry thoroughly. Place into a large mixing bowl and set aside. 

Fry the bacon and remove to a paper towel to drain, reserving 3 T. of the rendered fat. Crumble the bacon and set aside.

Transfer the fat to a small saucepan set over low heat and whisk in the red wine, vinegar, sugar and Dijon. Season with a small pinch each of salt and pepper.

Add the mushroom and sliced onion to the spinach and toss. Add the dressing and bacon, toss to combine. Divide the spinach between 4 plates or bowls and evenly divide the egg among them. Season with pepper, as desired. Serve immediately. 

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