Showcasing Bacon

[Chris Amirault]

Over in the Charcuterie thread, many of us have been makin' bacon. I've been sticking mainly with the standards -- bacon and eggs; frissee salad with lardons -- and I'm wantin' to branch out.

What's your favorite recipe or dish for showcasing really good bacon?

[Darcie B]

Spaghetti carbonara.

[Megan Blocker]

Spaghetti carbonara.

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Yup. Hells yeah.

BLT's. Scallops wrapped in bacon and grilled or seared. Spinach salad with warm bacon dressing. Bacon dipped in maple syrup.

[snowangel]

How about a fried egg sandwich with bacon? And, there's nothing wrong with just plain bacon. Especially my home-smoked bacon.

Yes, a second to carbonara. And pasta amatriciana. Oh, and those ends I don't trim before I smoke the stuff are just perfect for baked beans. Frittata.

And, in addition to the BLT, at times when tomatoes aren't worthy of anything except doorstops, there's the BLH (bacon, lettuce and hummus).

[jefferyc]

This jumped in my mind first too.

Also Rumaki's: Water chestnuts or chicken livers wrapped in bacon, glazed with tariaki and broiled.

Yum

Spaghetti carbonara.

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[Megan Blocker]

And, in addition to the BLT, at times when tomatoes aren't worthy of anything except doorstops, there's the BLH (bacon, lettuce and hummus).

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Or, bacon, peanut butter and mayonnaise.

Seriously, it's really good.

[Chud62120798]

This is a recipe I saw on TV awhile ago and always wanted to try with a slab of good bacon:

Cured Pork Belly Salad En “Sous Vide” With Apples And Walnut Oil

http://www.foodtv.ca/recipes/recipedetails.aspx?dishid=2887

I'd ditch the brining the pork belly part, but would poach the slab bacon, maybe with a little lemon peel, and proceed with the rest of the recipe ... adjusting according to whim etc...

[joiei]

And, in addition to the BLT, at times when tomatoes aren't worthy of anything except doorstops, there's the BLH (bacon, lettuce and hummus).

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Or, bacon, peanut butter and mayonnaise.

Seriously, it's really good.

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one of my favorites is Bacon, Avocado and spinach on lightly toasted whole grain wheat with mayo

[Jason Perlow]

BLTs. There is no better showcase.

I second the carbonara as well. But done the real way, using raw eggs as the sauce, not the cream-based kind you see at second or third rate Italian places.

Here is an interesting variation -- deep fried poached egg, over pasta with a carbonara-like sauce, with thick cut pancetta. From Herbsaint in New Orleans.

Edited May 23, 2006 by Jason Perlow (log)

[maggiethecat]

A grilled Swiss and bacon sandwich, heavy on the bacon.

[Megan Blocker]

I second the carbonara as well. But done the real way, using raw eggs as the sauce, not  the cream-based kind you see at second or third rate Italian places.

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But of course!!!!

[Jason Perlow]

Bacon wrapped grilled shrimp are awesome too. The smokiness of the bacon combined with really good seafood, excellent.

[Gifted Gourmet]

and who among us could ever forget that divine candied bacon??

recipe for Praline Bacon

"Pig Candy" recipe with pictures

[The Hersch]

Lunch yesterday was a corned beef and bacon sandwich, with dijon mustard, vidalia onion, pretty decent hothouse tomato, and Trader Joe's mayonnaise on rye.

[Jason Perlow]

and who among us could ever forget that divine candied bacon?? 

recipe for Praline Bacon

"Pig Candy" recipe with pictures

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Ah yes...

The praline bacon at Elizabeth's in New Orleans's Bywater section (Off The Broiler) is a good example of that as well.

Edited May 22, 2006 by Jason Perlow (log)

[Torrilin]

Use good quality bacon as a garnish on risotto. It's *really* yummy with a pea risotto. It's also good with a plain cheese risotto. Or a garlicky one...

Lentil soup often wants a bacon garnish. Same with pea soup.

Fried potatoes want bacon to go with. In fact, if they don't have beef fat to cook in, they want bacon grease.

You can make an incredibly non traditional but yummy stir fried noodle dish with bacon, rice sticks, eggs, spring onions, ginger, garlic, fish sauce, hot peppers etc.

Make a stew of red peppers, onions, bacon and garlic. Just slowly cook the ingredients in a dry frying pan. The bacon fat becomes the grease the peppers and onions cook in. This works as the base for a lot of dishes, since depending on the seasonings it can make good tacos, a good topping for rice, a good add in for a salad...

Crumble fried bacon on top of white rice that's been cooked with about 3-5 smashed cloves of garlic per serving. Add in a bunch of grated cheese and stir together. This is one of our default breakfast dishes, since it doesn't take much in the way of brains to cook.

Egg custard based quiches often like to have bacon to go on the side.

Take leftover mashed potatoes, reheat, mix in freshly fried crumbled bacon and a lot of cheese and turn into breakfast tacos or burritos.

Emily

Edited May 22, 2006 by Torrilin (log)

[christine007]

We do these things.. lightly toasted english muffins, ham, bacon cooked but not too brown, tomato slices piled on top. Put in the oven at 375 until the tomato melts a little, bring them out, top with your favorite cheese, put back in the oven a few minutes to melt the cheese. Insanely good, trust me. Like a breakfast sandwich on steroids.

[sadistick]

How about a split pea soup with a lot of double smoked bacon in the process of making, then some really nice fried bacon as 'croutons'

[Richard Kilgore]

Good timing. Last night I dropped into a Vietnamese restaurant I had not tried before. It turned out that this is the kind of place you really need 6 - 8 people in order to sample a number of things and not OD on something like the "Pork slices in hotpot sauce". It was called something like that, but it turned out to be the equivalent of a huge bowl of thickly sliced bacon (not lean by any means) in a sauce. I am not sure what was in the sauce, but I would guess some fish sauce at least. You could play around with Vietnamese/SE Asian flavorings.

Now this may sound like a bit much, and while I could not eat the whole thing, I ate more than I thought I would. It was delicious. The server offered hot sauce to go with it, and that was good as well as the pork in sauce straight. All with white rice. However, I would not suggest serving or eating this alone. It needs complementary dishes to lighten it.

[emsny]

And bacon need not be sliced before cooking: simmer it and serve it with lentils; cook it as part of a choucroute; braise it with sweet wine and (at this time of year) add some turnps a few minutes before serving.

[Mayhaw Man]

Here is an interesting variation -- deef fried poached egg, over pasta with a carbonara-like sauce, with thick cut pancetta. From Herbsaint in New Orleans.

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that was a really good dish. I mean, what's not to like? Bacon, eggs, deep fried, more eggs, pasta? Hell, what more do you need?

Ketchup! That's it! I'll call Donald Link immediately!

[judiu]

A pot of beautifully fresh shredded cabbage, with a bunch of chopped bacon nuggets, rendered mostly crisp for the fat, seasoned simply with salt and pepper. Let the cabbage wilt into the bacon fat stirring to coat the cabbage. Serve with potatoes that have also been cooked in bacon fat, along witha good big quantity of onion and a bit of garlic. Pig out!

[Lan4Dawg]

Lunch yesterday was a corned beef and bacon sandwich, with dijon mustard, vidalia onion, pretty decent hothouse tomato, and Trader Joe's mayonnaise on rye.

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I mentioned this to Fuss as two of her favorite foods in the whole wide world are corned beef and bacon. At first her eyes glazed over and her mouth started to water and then she thought about it a moment and proclaimed that on second thought she did not like the combination. "Corned beef and bacon at the same time? It does not work as you have to separate your sins."

[petite tête de chou]

My favorite use of bacon would have to be a blt- with avocado, too.

But I also love oysters casino and smoked or teriyaki oysters wrapped in bacon and broiled. Then again, creamy clam chowder with a healthy dose of bacon is always welcome. Seafood and bacon are an awfully nice pair.

[raxelita]

Bibb lettuce, buttermilk dressing, avocado, bacon!