Charcuteroulette

Via my friend Ben: Charcuteroulette. So sexy.

Bacon maple milkshake

I stumbled across this post about a bacon maple vanilla milkshake today and oh wow, I really want to try it. Because you are probably as lazy about internet things as I am ("seriously, I have to click a link? give it to me already!"), here's the recipe itself:

• 2 slices bacon (about 2 ounces/57 grams), cut into thin strips
• 6 tablespoons cold whole or lowfat milk (about 3 ounces/90 milliliters)
• 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup, preferably grade B (about 1 ounce/30 milliliters)
• Pinch of salt
• 8 medium scoops French vanilla ice cream (about 1 quart/24 ounces/680 grams), softened until just melty at the edges

(yes I know the formatting went screwy on that copy/paste job, but I think it looks kind of neat. also it would take a modicum of effort to fix. EDIT: wait, so now it's gone back to normal? ARGH!)

1. 1

   Fry the bacon in a small skillet set over medium heat, stirring frequently, until rendered and crisp, about 5 minutes. With a slotted spoon, remove the cooked bacon to paper towels to drain, and nibble on it or reserve it for garnishing the shake. Off the heat, briefly cool the fat in the skillet.

2. 2

   Place the milk, maple syrup, 1 tablespoon of cooled bacon fat (if there is any more, you can discard it), salt, and ice cream in a blender and pulse several times to begin breaking up the ice cream. With the blender motor off, use a flexible spatula to mash the mixture down onto the blender blades. Continue pulsing, stopping, and mashing until the mixture is well blended, thick, and moves easily in the blender jar, roughly 30 to 90 seconds. Pour into a chilled glass or glasses, and serve at once, garnishing with rendered bacon if desired.

   
   
   

Huh, now it's gone screwy on the instructions too. I kind of like the mystery of it, but ok, here's what it comes down to: basically, fry the bacon, set it aside for garnish and use the fat only. Throw it in a blender with the rest of the ingredients. Blend.


Incidentally, I saw this after clicking through some links connected to this post, which is about ways to make your ramen more exciting. Some of them look so good that I actually want to get some ramen. Check it out. There's even some bacon-related stuff in there.

Burger's Smokehouse Bacon Steak Cuts

Awhile back I received an email from Tara from Woodruff Sweitzer on behalf of Burger's Smokehouse. Burger's Smokehouse (smokehouse.com) sells meats - especially bacon - on the internetz. Tara asked me if I'd be interested in a free sample of their new Bacon Steak Cuts. Obviously, I said yes (aduh), and a few days later this arrived:

And inside it were a few of these:

This was, of course, tremendously exciting. As Tara explained in her email, this is dry-cured, with no water added. It's not just bacon, it's bacon STEAK. I tried to take a few different pictures to show off its girth better, but this is the best I could get.

Which doesn't really do it justice. It's fat. And meaty. You think you've had thick-cut bacon, and then you get a strip of this in your hand and you're like damn.

So, you're wondering, is it good? Listen, this has nothing to do with the fact that I got it for the free - the shit is delicious. It's incredible. It takes a long time to cook, and if you cut a strip in half to make it fit in the pan better, it'll roll up like one of those plastic fortune telling fish, so pan-frying it is indeed somewhat tricky, but omg, it's so good. Because it's so thick, you get more of that pork belly type feel, where it's crispy on the outside and chewy warm fat on the inside. Boyfriend was unimpressed ("it tastes like bacon, what's the big deal"), but to me it was like manna from heaven. I think grilling it would be neat.

I was trying to decide what to cook with it, but aside from using two strips for a pot of kale (crap, I guess I never provided an updated version of my kale recipe! the secret is red wine vinegar) - which it worked brilliantly for, by the way, the thick cut lends itself perfectly to this type of thing - I actually ended up eating all that I got in basic fried fashion. And loving it.

Much, much recommended. It's seriously off the chain.