When sautéing something like diced bacon, when it’s cooked just right it’s important to remove it from the pan quickly to avoid over-cooking. But it’s difficult to remove everything in one or two passes with a slotted spoon. It helps to tilt the skillet to a steep-ish angle, forcing the fat to pool at the bottom. At the same time, push, pull, and scrape the bacon, diced peppers, chorizo (or whatever) toward the high side. Keeping the skillet at a tilt for another moment continues to drain away the hot fat. Then, with the food at the top in a heap and out of danger, spoon it out in several smaller portions.  

First published February 2017