I live on Bacon Place. I feel that calls out for some recognition. How lucky am I to be on the tastiest of streets? It must be acknowledged! How? With a signature dish of course.
Over the years I've taken a couple runs at deliberately trying to master a dish that could be a hallmark of my culinary repetoire. The learn to bake a pie project was the most notable of these. That said, I have not baked a pie in probably a year. Somewhat more successful was the creation of a my own rib rub. Still use it and love it and get requests for it. Mostly because it always turns out and is easy to make and use.
Bacon seems like a great ingredient to feature. EVERYONE likes bacon, including many vegetarians I've met. So I'm thinking something to serve with drinks. I did consider the new wave towards bacon flavored cocktails, but I think the novelty of that will wear out its welcome pretty quick. I ran across a few recipes for Candied Bacon which sounds fabulous.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5hqoFnGgiM
Anyone ever eat this? Other ideas full of bacon-y goodness?
Absolutely! The best version I've ever had is called "praline bacon" (also known as "pork candy"!) at Elizabeth's Restaurant (http://www.elizabeths-restaurant.com/home.html) in New Orleans 9th Ward. I haven't been to Elizabeth's since circa 2002, but I still think about that praline bacon.
ReplyDeleteNPR story on it: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5493402
Hey Greg- thanks for the info. Listened to the podcast and noticed that they parboil the bacon before putting the sugar on. Different from the recipe I used. One question. Was it crispy with a harder coating? Could it be picked up as finger food without getting all sticky?
ReplyDeleteWell, it's been a long time, but in my memory the bacon was fairly crispy with a crumbly candy/nut coating. Google "elizabeth's praline bacon" -- plenty of images.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely eaten as finger food, but I don't recall the stickiness...and really, who cares? It's bacon, brown sugar, and pecans! I'm tempted to *roll* in it, never mind worrying about sticky fingers! :-)