Bacon...Enough Said

I am by no means a lover of bacon, but recently I have been a little obsessed about it, and I am not sure why. I normally don’t have bacon in the house, don’t like the grease spatter when you cook it, or the clean up after it’s done, but love the taste and love the smell even more.

 The last time I went crazy with bacon, it didn’t last too long, and my boys were quite upset…they love bacon! But they did get to try our bacon brownies, and have been asking me to make them ever since. There is nothing like the salty taste of bacon and the sweet chocolaty awesomeness of a brownie.

OK so on to my new quest of what else I can do with bacon, and can I challenge myself to have something with bacon for every course, like the television show Iron Chef….Lets see.....

So far the dessert is covered, now on to the appetizer.

For an appetizer I chose bacon wrapped water chestnuts, I would have preferred scallops, but where everyone is trying to save money, I went with the water chestnuts, my version of poor man’s bacon wrapped scallops.

Then I found this great idea for a salad…where else but the Internet and made bacon cups that I promptly filled with lettuce and cherry tomatoes and topped with a ranch dressing…like a BLT’s without the bread.

Onto the main course. I decided to make something that is a hit with my boys, spinach and bacon carbonara.

Cannot forget a drink hmmmmm…..the kids will be having a maple bacon frappe (or milkshake as the call it almost everywhere but New England, or a cabinet if you live in Rhode Island) and the adults will be having a chocolate bacon martini

***all recipes are just a scroll away***

Bacon Brownies

The recipe is easy…box of your favorite brownie mix, some cooked and crumbled bacon, mix the brownie mix according to directions, pour half of the mix in pan top with crumbled bacon, and then remaining brownie mix and bake according to package directions. YUMMY!

Bacon Wrapped Water Chestnuts

1 lb sliced bacon

2- 8oz cans whole water chestnuts, drained

½ c brown sugar

½ c mayonnaise

¼ c chili sauce

Cut bacon strips in half. Cook bacon until almost crisp. Wrap each bacon piece around a water chestnut and secure with a toothpick. Place in an un-greased 13X9 baking dish.

Combine the brown sugar, mayonnaise, and chili sauce: pour over water chestnuts. Bake uncovered @ 350^ for 30 min.

Bacon Cups

Flip a large muffin tin over and cover with aluminum foil, the larger the muffin tin the better ( I used a popover pan). 

Wrap the bacon around the muffin tin in a basket weave and use at least 2 pieces for the sides and 2 pieces for the top.

Set the muffin tin on top of another pan (to catch the drippings, unless you want the smoke detector to go off) and bake at ^400 for approximately 30 min or until bacon is crisp, but not burnt.

Let cool and then carefully remove bacon cups from foil.

Fill with lettuce ( I used arugula) and cherry or grape tomatoes sliced in half.

Top with dressing of your choice just before serving ( I used a ranch dressing)

Spinach Carbonara

1/2 lb bacon, cut into ½ in chunks

1 lb spinach fettuccine or regular fettuccine

1 whole egg, plus 2 egg yolks, at room temp

1 c grated Parmesan

2 t black pepper

2 c baby spinach leaves

Bring a large pot of water to a boil over med heat, and salt generously.

Cook bacon until crisp

Cook pasta according to package directions.

Meanwhile, whisk the egg and the yolks, 1 c cheese and pepper together in a small bowl.

When pasta is ready, return the skillet with bacon to med heat. Using a ladle, slowly whisk ½ c pasta cooking water into the egg and cheese mixture until loosened. Reserve some additional cooking water. Drain the pasta and add to skillet.

While tossing, slowly drizzle egg mixture over pasta until completely coated. Add more cooking water if pasta seems dry. Add the spinach leaves to the pan and toss until combined.

Chocolate Bacon Martini

Bacon infused vodka

Godiva chocolate liquor

Splash of cream

Amounts are up to your tastes!

Maple Bacon Frappe

Vanilla Ice cream

2 T Maple syrup (the real stuff)

Cooked crumbled bacon

Milk

Put ice cream, milk, maple syrup, (1 T of the bacon fat if desired) and some crumbled bacon into blender, blend until smooth, adding milk as desired. I never measure the amounts of milk or ice cream; I just eyeball it to my liking. Serve with crumbled bacon on top.

I know this...In My Life..."Life expectancy would grow by leaps and bounds if green vegetables smelled as good as bacon"~ Doug Larson