Bacon Curls

Gemma just pointed out this intriguing post - bacon curls!

Apparently it began as a project to make a bacon straw, which sounds to me like the perfect vehicle for getting a bloody mary into your mouth. This, alas, proved too difficult, but in the process, bacon curls were discovered. I suppose they could be curled a bit more tightly and wrapped around a straw for a nice effect? Or just, you know, popped into your mouth.

Another great bacon blog

Bacon Unwrapped is a pretty awesome bacon blog. You should definitely check it out. This woman is committed to bacon. She's got some fantastic ideas that I might have to try out - especially bacon whiskey, which she wasn't that into, but oh man, I've gotta investigate.

Bacon and Cheese Strata

This is a great breakfast because most of the (ridiculously easy) prep work is done the night before - all you do in the morning is pop it in the oven for an hour, and bam, breakfast luxury.

6 slices bacon

A few slices of day-or-two old bread

6 eggs

1 1/2 cups whole milk

1/4 tsp salt

pepper, salt, hot sauce

1 cup grated cheddar (though mixin' it up and using a cheese combination could be quite exciting...)

1/2 bell pepper, cut into rings

Put the bacon in a 8x11 1/2 baking dish, bake at 400 degrees for approx 15 minutes, or until cooked. Take out the bacon and set aside, leaving the grease in the pan. Arrange the bread slices, slightly overlapping, in the baking dish. Crumble the bacon and scatter it over the top. 

In bowl, combine the eggs, milk, salt, pepper, half of the cheese and a dash of hot sauce. Sidenote - I actually didn't have milk when I last made this, so I used about 1/2 cup of cream and 1 cup water. It worked out just fine. Anyhow, whisk it all together and pour it over the bread and bacon. Sprinkle the remaining half of the cheese over the top and stick it in the refrigerator for a few hours or over night. 

In the morning, pull it out and let it get to room temperature. Place the bell pepper rings on the top in an ornamental fashion. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes. Let cool, then cut into big sloppy squares and serve.

When I made it, it looked like this:

Another bacon blog

It should not really come as a surprise that there are other bacon blogs out there. I just put "bacon" into google to see what would pop up, and lo and behold, the 4th hit is a fanblog. IHEARTBACON.COM hasn't been updated in over a year, but it's a damn good resource, if you're into bacon. 

Bacon Salt

Sent to me by my friend Dunx, who saw it on dailycandy. I haven't tried it, but I'm intrigued. It might be fantastic. I tend to be leery of dried ready-made bacon stuff - I've still never tried bacon bits - but I guess maybe I oughta. Anyhow, this product at least has the right idea - a touch of bacon can add that extra je sais exactement quois, c'est bacon! to any meal.

Bacon Wear

The "unsettlingly real-looking" bacon scarf is available from a seller on etsy.

I gotta admit, it's kind of awesome.

Bacon Arabiatta

Simple yet delicious, and a real breeze to make - a great dinner to throw together when you're feeling lazy - this is my take on Pasta Arabiatta. I always thought that Pasta Arabiatta was supposed to include bacon, but plenty of recipes for it online seem to leave it out, unfortunately. This recipe is sized for one, but could easily be expanded to feed more. And it smells so amazing as it cooks that people who happen to be hanging out in the kitchen will invariably develop an appetite.

3 strips bacon, chopped
1 tomato, chopped into chunks
oregano, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes
pasta (I like to use fettucini for this, but other varieties could work too)
cheese

Boil some water, salt it, and add the pasta. As it cooks, fry the chopped bacon over medium heat (no need to oil the pan - the bacon will provide its own luscious grease). Right as it starts to get crispy, add the tomatoes. Sprinkle with herbs to taste - the more pepper flakes you add, the spicier it'll be, and I think it's best when it's good and fiery. Cook until the bacon is fully crisped, stirring occasionally. Drain the pasta and toss it into the pan, letting it get fully coated with the various flavors and perhaps even slightly crisped. Grate some cheese over the top - parmesan works well, but mozzarella is nice too. Transfer to a bowl or plate and eat. Goes quite nicely with a nice red wine.

To Begin

I am kind of known for being a person who is "into" bacon. This is a self-perpetuating reputation, as it turns out, because once people decide that bacon is your thing, they start showering you with bacon paraphernelia, sending you links to bacon-related news items, and making a lot of jokes about your bacon lust. I've struggled with it for awhile, but as I was cooking dinner tonight, I realized that, you know, I DO like bacon. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em, right? Furthermore, I'm coming to realize that aside from being very tasty, and suitable for pretty much any meal of the day, bacon does have a tendency to inspire a curious kind of fanaticism. For starters, most bacon-related urls on blogspot are taken. Granted, mostly by what I would call crap , but nonetheless, it's somewhat notable. 

Thus, this blog, a repository for all the bacon-related wisdom I have accrued. Recipes, schwag, folklore, analysis, who knows. It may seem strange to devote an entire blog to the topic, but hey, what is the internet if not a repository for random, somewhat bizarre yet possibly useful and/or entertaining stuff? How much can a person really say about bacon? We shall see my friends, we shall see.