One of the cooler presents I got for Christmas was a six month subscription to the Bacon-Of-The-Month Club from my business partner, CC Chapman. It promises hand-picked artisanal bacon, delivered to my door monthly. And as YBNBY is all about the bacon, I thought I'd share my bacon experience with you all.
Today, the first package arrived - 12 oz of Vande Rose farms Applewood Smoked Bacon.
So this bacon is quite a thick cut, with 10 slices in a pack. The accompanying text says that it's hand rubbed with salt, brown sugar, black pepper and curing salts before being smoked over applewood. The pepper and sugar was plan to see along the edge of the slices, and the uncooked bacon had an amazing salt/sweet/smokey smell.
The bacon was nicely cut, though the crumbly nature of the fat meant that there was some separation as I pulled the slices apart. Here you can see I've put them back together and laid them on parchment on a baking tray.
One thing I'm going to attempt with each pack is to experiment with cooking techniques. So while I've been a lifelong frying-pan aficionado, I've read good things about the baking method. So the bacon went between two slices of parchment paper in the oven at 350˚ for 15 minutes, as directed on the packaging.
While waiting for the bacon to cook, I read over the enclosed literature. The club does a nice job of telling you about the product, and includes a sample recipe and wine pairing. I've never been a fan of wine with bacon - beer always seems to go down better - but the recipe was interesting. Which leads us to the other question - how best to eat bacon? And here's where I'm going to get some flack from the foodies.
As a Brit, there are for me only two ways to eat bacon - au naturel, and in a bacon sandwich. So each week, I'll be doing both. While I prefer my plain bacon crispy, I find that bacon for sandwiches benefits from leaving the fat a little more juicy, so here's the beginnings of a "Bacon Buttie". After this I returned the remaining bacon to the oven for another 5 mins to crisp up.
And here's the final slices. Crisp edges, but deliciously chewy meat, and juicy fat. Surprisingly, a fairly mild bacon taste, with equal measures salt and sweet, and a mild smokiness. You could clearly tell the superior quality of the meat compared to regular supermarket bacon - not as watery, thin, or salty. I suspect these would pair very well with crisp apple and some hard cider.
It's hard to give this a score, as it's the first pack I've received. If we score supermarket bacon at a 4 or 5 out of 10, I'd give this an initial score of 7.
One month down - five to go. Interested in receiving comments both on cooking methods to try, and other ways to eat, although it'll take a lot to make me give up the Buttie.
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sounds like it would one to make bacon wrapped shrimp with....
mmmmmm....
but it would be a waste to use for the cinnamon rolls....
(it would be one)
Put fried potatos on your "buttie". Boil the pos, then cut 'em thin (no thicker than a centimeter), then pan-fry the potatos in hot chili sesame oil and butter. Salt and pepper optional. It's good.
Sal: I make fried potatoes all the time, but have never tried using hot chili sesame oil. It sounds tasty ... thanks for the tip!
Sal, what you have retroactively invented there is the British "Chip Buttie" the roots of which closely parallel the "Bacon Buttie".
I meant to suggest a Bacon & Chip "buttie". And you are welcome Tim...yeeeeeeeHAW!
How do you pronounce "buttie"?
That bacon looks good.
Nothing beats a BLT on some good quality sourdough for me.
I like to add a few fresh leaves of basil with the tomato as it seems to bring all of the flavors together wonderfully.
I saw a recipe once for a mayonnaise made from bacon drippings. Simple really, just make an emulsion with the egg yolk as you would normally but instead of oil use the drippings at room temperature.
Recently I discovered the best way to cook bacon, in a cast iron skillet with 2-3 Tbs of peanut oil. The high smoking point of the oil allows for a nice even crisp throughout.
Chad, I have a skillet here, so will try that, although I can't help feeling the bacon should cook in its own fat, from a purity point of view.
I'm a puritan with most things in the kitchen but I find that peanut oil is almost flavorless and allows the bacon to cook at a very high temperature without burning the goods.
I like this method because the bacon retains much of its moisture whilst having an even crisp on the outside.
You could try using extra drippings instead of peanut oil but it wouldn't achieve the same heat which allows this great texture.
All I'm saying is you need mayo whatver you do.
Tim, I love to season my rice with hot chilli sesame oil... plus I throw some dried and ground chilli over it... It's a great sidekick for bacon and beer.
Oh, and a good spoon of mayo on the rice, please.
I'm with you Scara... I think that should be the first of the bacon's commandments:
#1. Thou shalt not fry your bacon using other than it's own delicious-scented-and-saporous fat.
And it's a nice bacon you've got, by the way. Made me hungry.
Here's a bacon sandwich that one really must try:
Two long slices of fresh peasant bread
Two slices of baby swiss cheese or monterey jack
3 - 5 slices of double thick, center cut bacon
3 slices of tomato
2 leaves of butter lettuce
Mayonaise
1 egg
Salt
Beer
Lightly toast (preferably in a toaster oven) both slices of bread.
Put cheese on one slice and re-toast it so that the cheese melts.
Put mayo on the other slice.
Fry bacon crisp (I agree with Scara that most bacon sandwiches generally need some fat, but this isn't one of them. The egg will make up for it.) This forms the first (and only) layer of bacon on the bottom of the sandwich stack (so put it on the mayo toast).
Layer lettuce, then tomato slices.
Fry the egg over-easy and center that on top of the sandwich.
Cut the sandwich and serve with a nice bready beer (I recommend Guinness if you are into that).
I think I saw the chef (Adam Sandler) make this sandwich in Spanglish. It is amazing.
Another good bacon sandwich is the bacon horseshoe, which was invented, I believe in central Illinois (at least that's what everyone told me when I was visiting there once).
It is an open faced bacon sandwich on sourdough toast or texas toast, with frenchfries, cheese and beef chili on top. Some people get it with a layer of chicken-fried chicken or, for the health conscious, a grilled chicken breast. There are other kinds of horseshoes, but this is the only one with bacon on it, I believe. You eat it with a fork.
mmmm....DSB the horseshoe sounds good...
now if we can only convince the Chief to give away one of those bacon of the month deals....
I got this one which would be my 10th for my year membership.
you can see the previous 9 here:
http://www.beerorkid.com/index.php?PHPSESSID=15feeb0090818f8edb7d835cb4aa1b40&s=bacon+of+the+month
Currently remodeling the kitchen right now so I will have to wait to enjoy the vand rose. Pretty bummed it was only 12 ounces. All other packages have been a pound.
Best so far was Scott Farms. It is the smokiest and saltiest I have ever had besides the stuff I made on my own.
Enjoy your membership. It is quite awesome.
it saddens me to think that you really only have two acceptable eating methods for bacon. don't you realize it is the perfect ingredient for most anything you make??