Tag Archives: homemade bacon

blue cheese bacon dip

24 Tuesday Jan 2012

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I woke up this morning at 2am. I do that every night actually. I wake up thinking about a tv show, a book, a recipe, or any random crap my brain deems I need to be reminded of. This morning I woke up thinking I bought walnuts for a recipe but never used them. Which recipe did I forget to add walnuts to?

I had friends over for cocktails and made a few yummy finger foods.  I really wanted to pair my freshly made bacon with blue cheese.  I found this blue cheese bacon dip recipe at Baked Bree.

Of course I made a few changes, some I’ve already admitted, unwittingly.

7 bacon slices, cooked and minced (I use my thick-cut applewood smoked bacon)
a sprinkling of powdered garlic
1 package cream cheese, softened
1/3(ish) cup half and half
1/2(ish) cup blue cheese crumbles
1/3 cup toasted chopped walnuts (accidently omitted, will add next time)

With a hand mixer (because I don’t have a kitchenaid), I mixed cream cheese and half and half until smooth. add blue cheese and bacon mixing or stirring until well combined.

Instead of serving this as a dip, I made baked wonton cups that I filled with my blue cheese bacon yumminess.  Place a wonton wrappers in a mini muffin tin and bake at 350* for 7-9 minutes or until lightly golden.  These aren’t a tasty as a phyllo cup, but crazy easy!

Dig in and enjoy!

bacon wrapped…

17 Tuesday Jan 2012

Posted by in bacon, charcuterie, recipes

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Bacon wrapped around anything is pure heaven. But sitting around giggling with the girls over cocktails you can only imagine how the conversation could take a turn. I cannot put in print all the giggly bacon brashness that was bandied about.

What I can share with you is my latest foray into Bacon Nirvana…

This time I started with 2 (yes, 2) pork bellies from Tails and Trotters.  I used a touch less cure (that wasn’t entirely intentional) and added a lovely herb blend that I modified from one I found at Adventures With the Pig.  While my first bacon was incredibly delectable, I found it a bit too salty.  Friends raved, but I was aiming for something a bit more savory.

I sprinkled 1 tablespoon pre-mixed cure per side of pork belly.
Then I mixed my herb blend:
3 teaspoons celery seed
2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
4 grams fresh thyme leaves
2 teaspoon oregano
1 1/2 teaspoons white pepper
1 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
3 small bay leaves crumbled
I mixed all this up and divided it between my 2 pork bellies.

I discussed what I was aiming for with Aaron from T&T and he gave me a few suggestions to get me closer to my perfect bacon.  I shortened the cure time by a couple of days and I think that made a big difference.  This time I let the cure sit for a total of 5 days instead of my previous 8.  He had also suggested a dry cure after the salt cure, but I just didn’t have room in the fridge this time.

I set the Weber up for smoking (indirect heat) and I smoked for about 2 hours  at 250 (or until it reaches an internal temperature of 150).  I used applewood chips from Home Depot.

This bacon made it’s way into several recipes which I will be sharing shortly. (gotta save something for another post!)  But I will say, this bacon was nothing short of divine.

drunk on love

18 Tuesday Oct 2011

Posted by in bacon, charcuterie, homemade bacon

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I have a few addictions…  obsessions.  call it what you want.  I love shoes.  That love is only rivaled by my love of bacon.  I had a shoe closet built (a shrine really).  Only a select few have been invited into the inner sanctum and seen the shoeshrine.  It holds several mortgage payments worth of pretty little things.

My love of bacon has reached a new height today.  Refer a few days back, where I started curing a pork belly.  I let the pork belly cure in the fridge for 8 days.  After that I rinsed the cure off, dried the pork belly and stuck it back in the fridge until I could throw it on the weber in the afternoon.

Enter Weber.  I threw about 12(ish) briquettes in the chimney and about 30 (again -ish.  I didn’t count) on one side of the grill.  When the briquettes in the chimney were white hot, I poured them on the pile of unlit briquettes and added a generous handful of applewood to smoke.

I kept the grill at 230-250 for the better part of 2 hours.  At 1 1/2 hours I checked the temperature and gave it another half hour.

Right at the 2 hour mark the internal temperature was 150* and it came off the grill.

The really dark layer on the top is skin.  I cut that off and threw it back on the grill to dry out.  Coe will get this yummy skin later as a treat.  She doesn’t get anything this decadent very often.

This cut like butter and just melted in my mouth!  Nice smoky flavor.  A little salty.  It was at this point, that I sent a picture to several friends.  The most apt response I got was “are you drunk on bacon?”  I guess I was drunk bacon texting 😉

This fried up beautifully.  (I could insert a sound bite here of said bacon frying. left over from drunk bacon texting)  It has taken a considerable amount of effort to stop and not eat an entire pound of bacon!  Gotta save some for tomorrow 😉

Breakfast and BACON

10 Monday Oct 2011

Posted by in bacon, charcuterie, recipes

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This morning I was  awoken by Coe scratching and falling off the bed!  She was so shaken up and I was trying so hard not to laugh!  She’s such a sensitive flower.

It was already destined to be an early morning since I was picking Christa up at the airport.  From there we headed to North Mississippi for breakfast at Gravy before a quick stop at The Meadow for some pink curing salt.  Breakfast was yummers! I got the corned beef hash that tasted like corned beef!  Their portions are huge- really enough to feed you for 3 meals.  This was my second visit here and both times the service has been good and the food outstanding.  The bloody mary was one of the best I’ve had.  My only beef was there was no local vodka.  I’ll live.

After dropping Christa off, I got home to the pork belly I had picked up from Tails and Trotters.  I’m making BACON! I’m such a good bacon loving Jew ;).

Let me back up a hair and tell you the first part of this endeavor.  I went to T&T knowing exactly what I wanted.  Upon walking into KitchenCru community kitchen and being enveloped by the heavenly aroma of cinnamon and sugar I met Mark.  What can I get for you, he asks.  I can’t form a coherent thought.  I’ve been thinking for a week about buying a pork belly and lard from T&T.  Now that the time is here and I’m at the cusp, a little cinnamon and sugar and I’ve lost all control of my cerebral cortex. Um, um, um… Shake it off.  Pork belly.  oh, right, pork belly.

I mentioned earlier I’m reading Charcuterie by Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn.  I’m starting with their Basic Dry Rub on page 39.
1 pound Morton’s kosher salt
8 ounces sugar (I didn’t start with the dextrose version)
2 ounces pink salt

I took 2 ounces of the dry rub mix and put it in a heavy duty zip-top bag along with 3 large crushed garlic cloves and 1 crumbled bay leaf.  Rubbed all about (and did the hokey-pokey) and put in the fridge.  As per the instructions, I’ll turn it daily for one week before smoking.  I’ll keep you apprised of my progress..

After my gluttonous breakfast and a good workout at pilates, I had a good dinner of steamed broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage with a homemade peanut sauce.  Dessert was a perfect pomegranate.  Pomegranates are my favorite thing about fall.