Everyone loves bacon especially this Home-cured Maple Bourbon Bacon. When you thought bacon couldn’t be any better; add some maple and bourbon to it!
Bacon! Bacon! Bacon! You know that commercial where the dog is going crazy for some artificial bacon strips? Well, I found myself saying those three words with the same level of excitement recently. Last weekend I planned to do two things. Make something with the Home-cured Maple Bourbon Bacon that I had cured the week before as a part of the #Charcutepalooza crew (it’s a Twitter thing!) and watch some of the 3 day photography seminar that Penny de los Santos was doing online.
Little did I know how perfectly these two events would mesh together on one day.
The bacon was so simple (as was the corned beef I did recently) that I’m now considering moving further than I ever imagined into doing more and more Charcuterie. Our Bible is the book of the same name by Michael Ruhlman and while I am not participating in the contest challenge…I’m OK with that. I have the advantage of seeing what others have done which lets me both pick and choose favorites and get some great inspiration.
Back to the bacon. Curing bacon is beyond simple. The most difficult part of the entire process is finding sources for the main ingredients. Most grocery stores simply do not carry pork belly and though I’ve heard that Walmart might occasionally have the pink salt required for curing; that was not the case at the one closest to me. I eventually found pink curing salt at a local Savory Spice Shop where it is also available online.
I also had to do some work to find pork belly. I finally located some in Loveland, CO and was ‘this’ close to making that hour drive when I thought to call one last place and I’m so glad I did. I discovered that Tony’s Market in Denver typically has a good supply of frozen pork belly on hand and it was perfect. Even better though; years after I first posted, my local Costco now carries some beautiful pork belly…10 pound packaging means there will be some lucky neighbors once I finish prepping and smoking my latest bundle.
Why maple? Well, a couple of months ago a wonderful friend I’ve met on Twitter, Paula (@vanillabeanbake) asked if I would like some Canadian Maple Syrup. Um…YEAH! I admit; I’ve been hoarding it and wanted to use it for something really special…and this was it. After combining the Kosher salt, pink salt and brown sugar and making sure the entire belly was covered, I put the meat into a large Ziploc bag then added the syrup and made sure it was distributed. Easy enough right?
Why Bourbon? I say why not Bourbon?!!
The hard part is waiting a week; turning it each day to make sure that the brine covers all of the meat. You smoke it or bake it at a low heat for a couple of hours and after that it’s ready for real cooking. I think I’ll be buying an electric knife knowing I’ll be doing this again to make slicing it thin easier…I found my bread slicing knife did the best job this go around.
So…maybe you’re wondering how #PennyPalooza comes into play with this finished dish. I had registered weeks ago to see Penny de los Santos online conference produced by Creative Live. Penny is a renown magazine photographer and Senior Contributing Photographer at Saveur Magazine so be able to see her in action was exciting and a great learning experience. I did spend $99 to have a copy of the event to peruse when I had time as I knew I wasn’t going to be able to devote 3 entire days to the presentation.
While my plan on Saturday was to make a bacon-centric dish, I had not decided exactly what it would be. I had thought about quiche which I love but wasn’t totally enthused since I really wanted something that would visually highlight this amazing bacon.
And what should Penny decide to photograph shortly after I cooked those bacon slices? Grits and bacon with a fried egg on top. It seemed prophetic since I had just found Bob’s Red Mill Organic Corn Grits at Sunflower Market, I love fried eggs and well, as we know…I had the bacon. Even as Penny searched for the perfect dish to use…I already knew what I wanted mine to be in so it was ON!
I started cooking while Penny showed us how she got her shot. Should I share how she almost killed me? Because I’m an idiot? Penny was running up and down on a ladder to get an overhead picture and everyone on Twitter was joking about needing a ladder. I have a ladder. I have three ladders actually! But the leg I broke last year is still not quite strong enough for me to stand on it by itself so I decided to be wise and safe and just start with the little step stool.
Just one step and then a platform at the top. You know how sometimes you’re in a situation when a wave of fear courses through your body. I do. I heard Penny urging us to push through our fears and for me that was pretty literal! So this was it and all things considered, I’m OK with it. If I had a chance to do it again…the only thing I wish I had done was break the yolk but remember; I’m on a ladder with one leg and a wave of fear. This was good enough and I’m still alive!
To say this was satisfying is the epitome of understatement. Home cured Maple Bourbon Bacon with some Parmesan corn grits and one perfect fried egg? This is Heaven!
6/5/19 – Note I’m preparing the grits recipe to be published separately…soon!
PIN ‘Home-Cured Maple Bacon Bourbon’
Nothing quite like grits with an egg and home cured bacon. I had the best intentions of using my smoker with some some bourbon soaked chips. But the weather was beyond nasty and I just didn't want to be going in and out in that mess all day. So, I put it in a 200 degree oven on a rack sitting on a cookie sheet. Not as much smoke flavor but still amazing. The nutritional information is computer-generated and only an estimate.Maple Bourbon Bacon Home Cured
Ingredients
Bacon Ingredients:
Instructions
To Prepare the Bacon:
To Cook the Bacon:
Notes
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
50
Serving Size:
1
Amount Per Serving:
Calories: 152Total Fat: 10gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 38mgSodium: 529mgCarbohydrates: 3gFiber: 0gSugar: 3gProtein: 10g
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