Tonight's Snack

It is very rare for me to make it too many hours past dinner these days without the desire for some kind of snack. Basically unless I am completely exhausted and wind up crashing shortly after my evening meal, my night owl nature will inevitably out pace my metabolism, and I'll find myself craving some kind of snack.

The problem of course is that by this time it's usually past midnight at least, and I'm in no mood for anything with the remotest level of complexity. I'm tired, hungry, and still feeling a bit of the after dinner laze.

It is these situations that lead to my recent addiction to garlic toast. Just pop a couple of slices in the toaster, butter them up, and sprinkle with my favorite garlic spread mix, and the latest development, a few shakes of paprika.

Tonight however I was craving something spicier. In this evening's episode of No Reservations, Anthony Bourdain had taken a visit to Indonesia, and this along with a lengthy discussion with a Lithuanian acquaintance about the wonders of Tom Yum soup, had instilled in me a craving for the wonderful flavor that is red chilies.

For this, I looked to one of my favorite ingredients: chili garlic paste. This ubiquitous variant of the sambal that serves so much of southeast Asian cuisine, combines the simple flavor of red chili with a little touch of garlic flavor, and makes an easy way to spice up any dish with a bit of a fresher chili flavor than the dried red pepper flake and cayenne found in so many kitchens.

Immediately I hit upon the idea of just making a simple topping for my usual toast, and the result was what amounts to a simple bruschetta-like dish with a very rich flavor.

You will need:

2 strips of bacon
1/2 of a small onion
1.5 teaspoons of chili garlic paste
2 slices of your favorite bread
Johnny's Garlic Spread mix*
Paprika
Butter

Chop the bacon into small strips, and add to a small fry pan over medium-high heat. While that cooks, chop the onion and add it to the pan, followed by the chili garlic paste. Toss to evenly distribute the chili paste, and allow this mixture to cook, tossing occasionally, until the bacon is cooked but not over done, and the onions are soft and have absorbed some of the reddish color of the chili paste.

As this is cooking, toast two pieces of your favorite bread, and very lightly butter, then season with a light sprinkling of the Johnny's and the paprika. Top each slice off with half of the bacon and onion mixture, and enjoy.

*If you're the sort who likes to do everything from scratch, like I am when I'm not feeling lazy, you could easily replace the Johnny's with fresh ingredients. Add some minced garlic to the topping mixture along with the onion, and then, towards the end of the cooking, add some finely chopped fresh or dry herbs, like some basil or Italian parsley to the party and toss to combine. Finish off the flavor combination by lightly sprinkling the toasted bread with Parmesan cheese, and then top with the bacon and onion as usual.