A few months back I researched and wrote a post about the fascination with bacon in the blogosphere. Ever since then, it seems like everywhere I turn, the bacon phenom is running amok. Is it just me or is everyone – blogger or not-- suddenly coming out of the pantry and professing their love for fatty fried pork?
Recently I read a review for a new book entitled: Bacon – A Love Story. Don’t run out to buy it though. Below is an excerpt from the review.
“…Probably like many of you, I am fortunate to know some really fantastic writers; I find it disheartening that it’s so difficult for them to get published and find a wide audience. After reading Heather Lauer’s ode to bacon, I am intellectually offended that my friends remain in obscurity while this drivel is given a major platform. Do no contribute to the dumbing down of America; do not read this book.”
- Dennis Lowery, Sauce Magazine
The two bacon fusion foods that I see a lot are Chocolate Bacon and Bacon liquor. So I did a little more research and am happy to present these recipes to satisfy the porky palate.
Chocolate Bacon Bark
Ingredients:
• 12 ounces good-quality semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 7 large strips of bacon, fried until crispy
Preparation:
1. Prepare a baking sheet by lining it with aluminum foil and set aside for now.
2. Place the chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave in one-minute increments until melted, stirring after every minute to prevent overheating.
3. While the chocolate is melting, chop the bacon strips into small bits. Set aside approximately one-third of the bacon to be used to top the bark.
4. Once the chocolate is melted and smooth, stir in the remaining two-thirds of the chopped bacon, and stir until the bacon bits are well-incorporated.
5. Pour the chocolate onto the prepared baking sheet, and with an offset spatula or a knife, spread it into a thin layer about 1/4” high. While the chocolate is still wet, sprinkle the top evenly with the reserved chopped bacon and press down gently to adhere it to the surface.
6. Refrigerate the bacon bark to set the chocolate, about 30 minutes. Once set, break it into small uneven pieces by hand, and serve immediately. Chocolate Bacon Bark can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.
Bacon Bourbon
750 ml bottle of good bourbon
3-4 strips of bacon
Cook bacon and keep a fluid ounce or so of the rendered fat, letting it cool but not solidify. (Eat the bacon.) Pour the fat and bourbon into a glass jar and let it sit for a few hours.
Put greasy jar of bourbon in the freezer overnight. The next day, skim the congealed fat off the top. If you’d like, you can also pour through a coffee filter.
If the food gods are with you, the bourbon will now taste and smell distinctively like bacon.
Drink it neat, or make an Old Fashioned with this recipe.
Bacony Good Old Fashioned
2 oz bacon bourbon
1/4 oz maple syrup
2 dashes Angostura bitters
Stir with ice and pour into an ice-filled rocks glass. Garnish with a twist of orange. Enjoy.
Please, if anyone tries any of these (or has already tried them), let me know the results. I merely pulled them from the Web and cannot attest to their worthiness for satisfying pork lovers.
If you want to see where my journey began, you can find it under Will blog for bacon.
Photo credit for Chocolate Bacon Bark: E. LaBau
13 comments:
There seems to be an epidemic of garbage in print these days - not really sure who would even think an entire book about bacon would be a good idea. Jesus, it makes my Minimal Effort Dance Troupe look more than legitimate; compared to an entire book devoted to bacon and bacon recipes, we look downright graceful, and that's saying something.
PS - I am inordinately fond of bacon and assorted pork products, excluding pork ears, rinds, chitlins, and Rocky Mount Oysters (shudder - pig testicles), of course, but I fear I am a purist, preferring not even maple flavor to mar the simple beauty of a perfectly cooked slice of bacon (as opposed to the hard, dry, and overcooked ones we had for Mother's Day - shh, don't my husband I complained, he never makes breakfast).
I think the thing with bacon is the smell. I doubt that's a very novel observation though...
When I read the title I thought you'd be talking about either the early modern scientist, or the modern artist!
the smell of cooking bacon makes me gag... :/
Strangely enough I was 100% vegetarian practically my whole life till this past year when I started eating bacon. It's still the only meat product I do eat. No chicken, fish or other meat. I only have bacon occasionally but man, it's good. Sorry piggies!
Me, I'm down with trying the bacon bourbon. Although I'll bet it would go well with an aged smoky single malt scotch also - maybe even better.
A book about bacon? And it's selling? Good lord, I'm in the wrong genre.
The excerpt from the review made me laugh, I feel like the cheated writer who can't get published...
And now I want to eat bacon at midnight, thanks Pat.
:)
B.A.R.F.! i like bacon and all, but i don't need chocolate bacon!
i co-worker brought me a glazed maple donut with bacon bits on top. it was REVOLTING. and i am a friend of bacon, but BARF!
As much as I love chocolate, I would never in a million years try chocolate with bacon in it. Good Lord. Sacrilege.
And that's not just because I am a vegetarian. (I really like the vegetarian fake bacon, though.) :^) ;^0 ;^) (I wouldn't try that in chocolate, either, though.)
:^)
C
Mmmmm. I suddenly have a yen for bacon. Applewood cured bacon to be precise.
A bacon Old Fashioned?
(urp)
I think I threw up a little.
I think of you everytime I see the Vosges bacon chocolate bar --- Also I came across this link: www.chocolateobsession.com/2007/06/review_vosges_bacon_bar.htm
I guess that's proof, chocolate goes with everything.
Hi...
I'm not a big fan of bacon anymore. Once upon a time I thought Iloved it, but we've been apart for a long time and I'm happy for that.
I never liked to share my bacon with another... such as chocolate or anything for that matter.
Bacon rarely visits our home.
best wishes
Ribbon
I am a bacon connoisseur extraordinaire, but I'm not really thinking the chocolate bacon is a good idea.
On the other hand, that bacon old fashioned might not be bad...has anyone tried it yet?
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