Bacon

We're back. I would like to tell you that we've turned our lives around and are now committed to a healthy lifestyle, but that would make the following post pretty boring. Instead of trying to do something that would help people, we turned to bacon.

Bacon is the Pabst Blue Ribbon of meat. It has become the ultimate hipster indulgence. Since no one is more in tune with the hipster life than we are, we gladly jumped on the meat bandwagon. Our goal was to create a meal that included bacon in every dish.

For the appetizers, jalapenos and oysters were wrapped in bacon and grilled. This photo does not show us laughing as Regan set them on fire a few minutes later, but they still tasted very good.

Regan also decided take the "bacon in every dish" idea to the next level by making dishes out of bacon. The bacon baskets were the perfect place to put the mashed potatoes. It's also environmentally friendly because you can eat the container. (See, bacon helps the environment.)

Dom was very serious about a bacon wrapped turkey, but opted for the more elegant turkey-with-bacon-under-the-skin. Yes, it was awesome.

Lastly, the bread. I decided to go with bacon and onion muffins. I want to point out that there is no butter in this recipe. It can practically be counted as a vegetable with all of the onions in it. Enjoy.


Bacon and Onion Muffins
1/2 pound bacon, diced
1/4 cup onion, chopped
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs, beaten
1/3 cup milk
1 cup sour cream

Fry diced bacon until crisp. Remove and drain. Saute chopped onion in bacon drippings until tender, but do not brown. Set aside.

Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl.

Combine beaten eggs, milk, and sour cream in a small bowl; blend well. Add at once to dry ingredients, stirring just enough to moisten. Stir in bacon and sauteed onion. Spoon batter into greased muffin tins, filling two-thirds full.

Bake in a 375*F oven for 18 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Remove from oven. Let completely cool.

Happy Thanksgiving and may all of your bacon dreams come true!

Award Winning

Fat Tuesday lived up to it's name yesterday at my workplace. Sixteen cooks entered into a chili/bean cook-off. The chili selections ranged from vegetarian to road kill (please tell me that wasn't really armadillo meat). I decided to make my chipotle baked beans and they did not disappoint. In fact, they won first prize in the bean division!

Before we get to the recipe I wanted to answer a question: what are chipotle chilies? It's nothing exotic, just smoked jalapenos. The way you normally see them is canned in adobo sauce. You can find them on the Mexican food isle, or, if you are in TX, next to the other canned peppers. They are an annoying favorite of Rachel Ray and they can give a little kick to almost anything. In this recipe you can adjust the number that you use depending on your audience. For this crowd I had to kick it up a notch, but you can make a much milder version, if you want. Don't skip them, though. They really make this dish stand out from other baked bean recipes that I have tried. Oh, and unlike some of the other recipes I have posted, this one does not have a healthy alternative section. Either just have a little bit or get a defibrillator.

Chipotle Baked Beans

• 6 bacon slices (or more)
  
• 1 1/2 cups chopped onion (or just one huge onion)
  
• 1 1/4 cups purchased barbecue sauce (I used Jack Daniels BBQ Sauce)
  
• 3/4 cup dark beer
  
• 1/4 cup mild-flavored (light) molasses
• 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 3 tablespoons (packed) dark brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 4 to 6 teaspoons minced canned chipotle chilies (I used 2 whole peppers, chopped for a kick. If you want a milder version, just use 1)
  
• 6 15- to 16-ounce cans Great Northern beans, drained

Preheat oven to 350°F. Cook bacon in large skillet over medium heat until crisp. Transfer to paper towels and drain. Saute the onions in the bacon drippings. Add onions, finely chopped bacon and next 7 ingredients to bowl and whisk to blend. Whisk in chipotle chilies, depending on spiciness desired. Stir in beans. Transfer bean mixture to 13 x 9 x 2-inch glass baking dish. Bake uncovered until liquid bubbles and thickens slightly, about 1 hour. Cool 10 minutes.