Bacon Recipes

Chicken livers with bacon

2009-08-21T16:15:00.000-07:00

This I think sounds great, (from allrecipes.com) - then again, I did just make my first pate and am excited (but using chicken livers; they are incredibly cheap in Australia).

INGREDIENTS
says serves 2 but if you make it more as an appetizer instead of a meal, it should serve about 6.
1 pound fresh chicken livers
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
4 slices bacon

DIRECTIONS
1. Rinse livers, pat dry.

2. In a small bowl mix the flour, garlic powder, salt and pepper and add mixture to chicken livers.

3. Coat the chicken livers with the powder and set aside.

4. Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown, not too crispy as it will be cooked more later, but long enough so that you have quiet a bit of bacon grease.

5. Remove bacon, leaving bacon fat in skillet, and set aside.

6. Cook coated chicken livers in bacon fat covered over medium high heat until almost done, about 17 to 20 minutes.

7. Add bacon strips and cook together until chicken is cooked through and juices run clear.

Enjoy; I know I have,

Alexa and the Bacon Boys

p.s. There was one girl who suggested using this for sandwiches as well. That sounds amazing and I think I might have to do that. Another suggestion was to cook it with garlic and mushrooms... I think I'm starting to drool.

Bacon wrapped dates

2009-08-17T15:28:00.000-07:00

This sounds absolutely amazing. We've had bacon wrapped figs with goats cheese and last year the Bacon Boys had bacon wrapped dates with a gorgonzola dipping sauce, but I like this idea from all recipes.com

INGREDIENTS
serves around 32 so a good size for Bacon Day
1 pound sliced bacon, cut in half or fourths if it's longer bacon
1 pound pitted dates
4 ounces blue cheese (I think goats cheese or gorgonzola could easily be a great substitute, but not something like cheddar)
optional: roasted pine nuts or macadamia nuts (I'm sure other kinds would also work, but these are my favorites with dates)

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

2. Slice dates in half, and open them up or if you are better with a knife, only half of it so that one side is still attached This helps me keep it all together.

3. Pinch off pieces of the cheese, and place them into the center of the dates, along with the nuts if you are using them. Close the halves of the dates, and wrap the sliced bacon around the outside. If you only half way cut the date, try to wrap the bacon along the seem of the date to help keep all the cheesy goodness inside.

4. Secure each one with a toothpick and arrange in a baking dish or on a baking sheet with sides to catch any grease. Having cut the date only half way through, if you keep the open half up, this should help prevent any cheese from falling out.

5. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the bacon is crisp. Turn dates over after the first 20 minutes for even cooking.

Enjoy,

Alexa and the Bacon Boys

Bacon Rice krispies

2009-08-05T03:38:00.000-07:00

It seems like a natural progression, and an easy enough desert to make, so why not make Bacon Rice Krispies. I heard about this on a new site to me, Pork, Knife, and Spoon. For the Rice Krispy recipe, I use the original.

My recipe -

3 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 package (10 oz., about 40) regular marshmallows
- OR -
4 cups miniature marshmallows
6 cups Rice Krispies®
3 - 4 strips of crispy bacon

1. Make crispy bacon and dry off all grease (this will help keeping it all crispy and stick better).

2. In a sauce pan melt butter

3. Once the butter is melted add the marshmallows and stir until they are melted.

4. Add the Rice Krispies and stir well making sure that they are all coated.

5. Crumble the bacon into small pieces (bacon bit size) and add to the mixture stirring well.

6. Coat a 13 x 9 x 2 inch pan with cooking spray or line with wax paper.

7. Pour/ press the mixture into the pan, and let cool.

8. Cut into squares and serve.

Springfield Chili

2009-07-18T18:31:00.000-07:00

Springfield Chilli

Serves: 6
This recipe is from September's Cooking Light magazine. According to the magazine, "The Illinois version of chili is typically spelled with an extra "l" and features coarse-grind beef."
• Ingredients:
1 bacon slice, finely chopped
2¼ cups finely chopped onion, divided (2 medium)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 pound coarsely ground turkey breast
½ pound coarsely ground sirloin
1 (12-ounce) can beer (such as Budweiser)
3 tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
½ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon ground cumin
1 (14½-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 (8-ounce) can no-salt-added tomato sauce
1 (15-ounce) can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
½ cup (2 ounces) reduced-fat shredded cheddar cheese
Oyster crackers (optional)
• Instructions:
Cook bacon in a large Dutch oven over medium heat five minutes or until browned. Stir in 2 cups onion; cover and cook until onion is tender (about five minutes). Uncover and stir in garlic; cook for one minute.
Increase heat to medium-high; add turkey and sirloin to pan. Cook five minutes or until browned, stirring to crumble. Add beer; cook until liquid is reduced to ª cup (about seven minutes). Stir in chili powder and next five ingredients (through tomato sauce). Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 30 minutes or until mixture thickens. Stir in beans; cook 10 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Ladle 1 cup chili into each of six bowls. Top each serving with 4 teaspoons cheese and 2 teaspoons onion. Serve with crackers

Enjoy,

Alexa and the Bacon Boys

Bacon Popcorn: a use for left over bacon grease

2009-07-15T01:45:00.000-07:00

Part of Bacon Day is the viewing of an appropriate bacon movie, Tremors, Footloose, or maybe Frost/Nixon, or you could always go with Babe, piglets big adventure, or Charlotte's Web. In any case pop corn is always a good companion. So here is a recipe for bacon popcorn.

Serves 10
1/2 cup bacon grease
3/4 cup unpopped popcorn kernels
1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt, or to taste
3 tablespoons bacon bits (optional)
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese (optional)

Measure the bacon grease into a 6 quart pot and place over high heat. Add one or two popcorn kernels as testers. When the test kernels pop, add the rest of the popcorn and cover with a lid. As the popcorn starts to pop, shake the pan back and forth constantly to keep the unpopped kernels on the bottom where they can pop. When the popping slows down, remove the pan from the heat and let it finish popping.

Pour the popcorn into a large bowl or paper sack. Season with half of the seasoned salt and stir. Taste before adding more salt if desired. Toss with bacon bits and shredded Cheddar cheese for an extra special treat. Store leftovers in lunch sacks or sandwich bags.

This, I'm guessing, will be a new Bacon Day classic

enjoy,

Alexa and the Bacon Boys

Chicken livers with Red wine and bacon

2009-07-12T01:34:00.000-07:00

Chicken Livers with red wine and bacon

serves 6

8 slices bacon, chopped
1 sweet onion, finely chopped
1 pound chicken livers, rinsed and trimmed
1 1/2 cups Burgundy or other dry red wine
1/4 cup chopped mushrooms

Fry the bacon over medium heat until crisp (or how ever you like your bacon). Remove bacon from the pan and pat dry on paper towels . Drain off grease from the pan leaving enough to cook the livers, onions, and bacon in.

Using the same pan, add the onions and mushrooms; cook and stir over medium heat until tender. Stir in the chicken livers, quickly browning them on the outside. Pour in the red wine, adding more if needed to cover the chicken livers. Cover, and simmer for 20 minutes. Just before serving, stir in the bacon. (next time I want to try maybe adding some cream to make it a bit of a thicker sauce, and maybe a table spoon of mustard as well after the simmering).

Enjoy,

Alexa and the Bacon Boys

Bacon (white) Chocolate

2009-02-16T17:00:00.000-08:00

Please make sure to take all safety precautions when cooking, and cook everything thoroughly

ingredients
1 block of white cooking chocolate
1 package of bacon
Pepper and cayenne (optional)
1 apple (optional)

1. Prepare the bacon to be cooked (I used the oven since it creates less of a mess). Since I was using plain bacon I crushed up some black pepper and cayenne pepper and rubbed this mixture into the bacon. It would be interesting to try it with some other spices like rosemary or lavender

2. Cook the bacon in the oven at about 200 Celsius for around 15 - 20 min. Make sure that the bacon is crispy.

3. Drain the bacon grease, pat dry, and let cool.

4. melt the chocolate in a double boiler or if like me you don't have one do the following. Boil a pot of water, use a slightly smaller pot that you can have in the boiling water to melt the chocolate with, there are many great sites which can tell you how to melt chocolate.

5. Once the bacon has cooled off and no longer appears to have grease on it (not liquid grease anyway) either dip the bacon in the chocolate, or pour the chocolate over it.

6. Place apple slices on the chocolate (I really liked it), let cool and enjoy.

Baconhenge

2009-02-11T17:48:00.000-08:00

This is not one of the most healthy bacon recipes that we've covered, but it just looks so cool, like the stonehenge in Spinal Tap.
This recipe comes from the Bryant Park Project at NPR

All you need is some french toast sticks, bacon, potato, onion, mushrooms and eggs. It's bacon wrapped french toast sticks on top of a frittata. All you need for a great breakfast.

Enjoy,

Alexa and the Bacon Boys

Bacon Wrapped figs

2008-09-16T22:31:00.000-07:00

Here is a suggestion as to how to make this wonderful dish from NJ.com

Cooks' Suggestions: Pair figs with pungent cheeses and gamey poultry. Make an x at the bottom of a fresh fig and stuff it with a bit of mascarpone, suggests Socrates Kyritsis. Then wrap it in prosciutto or bacon, secure with a toothpick, and bake for about 15 to 20 minutes.

Enjoy
Alexa and the Bacon Boys

Bacon Brie

2008-08-21T23:25:00.000-07:00

We had some amazing baked brie a while back, and all I could think was, this would be even more awesome with bacon. Now I've never made this, but this is how I plan to for this bacon day...

1 block of brie
crumbled bacon (a few slices should do the trick)
brown sugar
crumbled walnuts
Puff Pastry

Cut the brie through the middle and cover the bottom half with the brown sugar, crumbled walnuts, and crumbled bacon. Wrap the brie with the puff pastry and place in the oven at 375 until the puff pastry is golden brown. Serve with crackers and bread.

A twist on Bacon and Eggs.

2008-08-20T22:28:00.000-07:00

1 slice of bacon
1 egg
1/2 diced tomato (or to taste)
a drizzle of hot sauce (to taste)
other stuff to taste

This is one of my favorites from last years bacon day, it's the photo at the top of this page, and it's as delicious as it looks, even better. Line the sides of a muffin tin with bacon. Add diced tomatoes, hot sauce, and any spices you might want. crack an egg into the muffin tin (I like to add cheese in here as well, but not all agree). Bake in the oven at about 350 until the egg is cooked through about 20 min if I remember correctly. If you are worried about either overcooking the bacon before the egg is done or you want crispy bacon, half cook it before putting it in the muffin tin.

Apple, Blue Cheese, and Bacon Cheese cake

2008-07-26T01:29:00.001-07:00

Okay Before I give the link. I have not tried this and I have mixed feelings about how it might turn out. This is from the Washington post, so it's got to be good right? Well either way here it is the Apple, Blue Cheese, and Bacon Cheesecake.

IF anyone has tried this and has a review, please let us know about it.

Enjoy
Alexa and the Bacon Boys

Bacon Ice Cream

2008-07-16T05:08:00.000-07:00

2008-03-06T09:35:00.000-08:00

For the last hour I've been trying to come up with a funny anecdote about needing to convert between a bacon slice and crumbled bacon. I've no such story, but it is interesting question if not an extremely useful one. Practically Edible has computed these such conversions in a very useful table.

1 slice of Bacon = 1 tbsp crumbled, cooked Bacon

1 pound of bacon = 450g = 3 cups crumbled, cooked Bacon

1 pound of bacon = 10 -15 thick slices

26 - 24 average slices

25 - 30 thin slices

But what if you want to make your own bacon bits? How much bacon will you need? This question was answered by some brave guys at cockeyed.com. They took a bag of Oscar Mayer Real Bacon (okay so it's not bacon bits, but close) where the bag claims to contain 85g of Bacon or, according to the conversion table above, about 5-6 thin slices of bacon. The guys at cockeyed.com set out to test this theory and came up with twelve slices of bacon for their answer.

My conclusion is that the conversion of pound of bacon to bacon slices in the table is for uncooked bacon, thus we are missing the link of number of slices in 1 pound of uncooked bacon to number of slices in l pound of cooked bacon

Let us know if you find this or other bacon conversions,

Alexa and the Bacon Boys

Bacon Fondu

2008-03-05T14:52:00.001-08:00

Bacon Fondu, I'm not sure this is how I would prepare it, but it has given me a great idea. I think a Gouda white wine with crushed or chopped bacon sounds wonderful, but I'd pair it with roasted potatoes, chicken sausage, bread, and of course bacon strips. Let us know what you think, or how you think it should be prepared.

Alexa and the Bacon Boys

P.S. I wonder if you could make a meat fondu with bacon grease instead of oil? Might be too flammable, maybe too much bacon if there is such a thing

Bacon Cups

2008-02-28T13:09:00.000-08:00

I'm always on the look out for new bacon recipes and ways to prepare bacon. I thought I had been doing a good, not great job when I received an e-mail this morning from my friend. All the e-mail contained was one line

http://www.notmartha.org/

I'm not sure how my countless searches missed such a gem, but don't worry Eli, if I have any say these will be present at Bacon Day this year, maybe filled with something else, but they will be there.

I hope you enjoy this,

Alexa and the Bacon Boys

Bacon Sushi

2008-02-27T12:48:00.001-08:00

Bacon and Sushi. We have experimented with this in the past with replacing the seaweed with bacon and it has always been wonderful, but here is another take on the shrimp roll from sushiday.com, the Bacon Crunchy shrimp roll.

Enjoy

Alexa and the Bacon Boys

2008-02-16T22:03:00.000-08:00

In our first recipe post we discussed the different methods of making bacon. I finally found a site which compares each method. I should have guessed that engineers would have already done this experiment, in fact they made it a two parter. Part I can be found here and part II here. I'd try each way in advance for bacon day.

Alexa and the Bacon Boys

Bacon and Eggs

2008-02-14T13:11:00.000-08:00

The minimalist's baked eggs. This recipe is similar but different to our bacon and eggs, but it looks so good, comes from the minimalist Mark Bittman, and has a great video to go with it. He also has my favorite quote "smells like pig" in the "Pernil, a Puero Rican Pork Roast" video. Enjoy this wonderful breakfast item.

Alexa and the Bacon boys

Bacon Grilled Cheese

2008-02-01T09:32:00.001-08:00

This is one that I have never tried, but was submitted to me (by my dad so I'm not biased at all) and sounded easy, tasty and perfect as a winter meal paired with some tomato soup. Bacon Grilled Cheese Sandwich. Cook some crispy bacon. Place the crispy bacon and the cheese of your choice, I suggest a nice aged cheddar or swiss, between two pieces of bread. Buttering the outside of the bread will help brown the sandwich, but is not needed. Cook in a pan on low to medium low heat for about 2 min. on each side or until brown and cheese is melted.

Enjoy and let us know what you think of the recipe.

Alexa and the Bacon Boys

Making Bacon

2008-01-24T21:37:00.000-08:00

It seems only fitting that the first recipe on our blog should be that of the first bacon day dish... Bacon Slices. Now I'm sure that your interest in Bacon means that you have cooked it at least once, but we're going to give some tips for cooking bacon on Bacon day. Last year at least 20 lbs of bacon were cooked (we lost track part way through the day) and there were some things we learned the hard way about cooking this much bacon.

1. If you are throwing a Bacon Day party it is a good idea to cook the bacon outside. The amount of grease created is quiet impressive. The Bacon Boys and I have found that it is best to cook the bacon on the grill using a cast iron skillet.

2. One of the most loved utensils this past year was the silicon oven mitt. The cast iron skillet (and thus the bacon grease) reached very high temperatures. The silicon oven mitt did not melt, insulated wonderfully, and even when some bacon grease poured over it, the hand inside stayed burn free. At some point during the day, some one left it right next to the grill and it did get extremely hot, but it never melted. This is a must have item when cooking!

3. Grease fires are a concern, so be very careful, do not cook near anything flammable, i.e. low hanging branches and such, and keep a fire extinguisher close by. Do to the large volume of bacon being cooked, it is not a bad idea to keep some empty jars handy to pour the bacon grease into from time to time.

4. Another useful method of cooking is the microwave. This is particularly useful for cooking the bacon only part way through for many of the bacon wrapped recipes, or when the bacon isn't coming off the grill fast enough for the hungry bacon day party goers.

5. At the first bacon day some bacon recipes called for deep frying. This did work in the sense that the bacon was cooked and it was battered which at the time sounded like a great combination. It was concluded by most that this was just too much grease.

6. The final method of cooking we'll briefly touch on here is baking bacon. There have been only a few recipes used on bacon day using this method. This is nice if you want to slow cook the other ingredients and not over cook the bacon. You can also bake the bacon strips on a cookie sheet lined with tin foil.

Enjoy Bacon and let us know what you thought about these tips!

Alexa and the Bacon Boys

2008-01-20T16:58:00.001-08:00

Soon to come ...