I thought the bacon hype would die down, but I was very wrong. In the past couple weeks, there has been much bacon talk in my world.
Two weekends ago, I decided that the secret to a good sausage gravy is bacon grease, and a little bit of cooked bacon. Yep, heart attack in progress. I’m still refining the recipe a bit, and will share it when I’m happy with it.
Apparently in tune with bacon on the brain, the folks at Seattle’s Cook Local posted this picture on twitter: Chocolate chip cookies with candied bacon. Think what you will, but this sounds pretty good to me. They promised a recipe, but suggested using regular chocolate chip cookie dough and mixing in candied bacon. They offered me these instructions to candy bacon on Twitter: take two strips, and in a ziploc bag with brown sugar, shake, then bake at 350-degrees for 15 minutes. Cool and chop.
And adding to the bacon front, today I saw this upcoming event mentioned in Seattle Magazine: Baconopolis from 6-8 p.m. Feb. 25. Cost is $30 and includes boutique bacon tastings and bacon-enhanced dishes and desserts with Seattle celebrity chef Tom Douglas. To buy tickets contact Christie at 206.448.2001 or email her at: christinal@tomdouglas.com.
When I went to look up more information on the event, I also found a bacon bun recipe from Tom Douglas. Read it here.
I think all this means that Kitsap needs to have its own bacon festival, a Kitsap Bacconalia, if you will.
Cooking with bacon grease is soooo very bad, but sooo dang good.
My special dish that I sneak the bacon grease in is… my stuffing, before I put it in the turkey or chicken. Not too much just a few table spoons. Makes the stuffing taste better, adds moisture and it flavors the turkey/chicken meat from the inside out to a small degree. Give it a try next time. I have also used it when doing stuffed pork chops…doubles the pork flavor!