Recipe for the Day

[mcantar18c]

Pig Candy!

Ingredients:
-Bacon (IMO thick cut works best for this)
-Brown sugar
-Cayenne pepper
-Maple syrup

1. Preheat the oven to 375*. While it's heating up...
2. Put some tin foil on a baking sheet. Take some butter and put a nice coating on the tin foil. Cooking spray or oil would work too, and this IS bacon so you probably don't even need it, but the butter gives you the best artery-clogging flavor.
3. Lay the strips of bacon out over the buttered tray. However many you want.
4. Sprinkle some cayenne pepper on the strips. You don't need much to get good flavor.
5. Spread a generous coating of brown sugar over the strips.
6. Stick em in the oven for 10-15min.
7. Remove from oven, put the maple syrup on as a glaze, and put back in the oven for another 5 min or until level of crispiness is achieved.
8. Remove the tray from the oven and let it cool.

For crispier bacon you could use a rack of some sort. A grill will also work for this, but an oven tray is easier to clean. I'm eating some right now and holy crap it's awesome.

[GilpinGuy]

Here's my recipe for homemade smoked maple bacon (my fav). I copied this from a book I have. PM me if you want a copy of the original. My comments are after the *.

* If you've never done this before, you'll need "curing salt" which is colored pink. It's toxic and should not be eaten straight up. It's ONLY for curing meat. You can get that at any spice shop or online. You only need a little bit for 5 pounds of bacon so it goes a long way.

THE CURE
2 ounces kosher salt (about 1/4 cup)
2 teaspoons pink salt (curing salt)
1/4 cup maple sugar or packed dark brown sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup (use REAL maple syrup for best results. The "2% maple syrup" fake stuff just doesn't cut it)
One 5 pound slab pork belly, skin on.

1. Combine the salt, pink salt, and sugar in a bowl and mix so that the ingredients are evenly distributed. Add the syrup and stir to combine.

2. Rub the cure mixture over the entire surface of the belly. Place skin side down in a 2-gallon Ziploc bag or a nonreactive container just slightly bigger than the meat. (The pork will release water into the salt mixture, creating a brine; it's important that the meat keep in contact with this liquid throughout the curing process.)

* I use big garbage bag size plastic bags (kitchen size garbage bags work great) and just tie them closed. 2 gallon Ziplocks are like $1.50 each. F-that. I then put the bag(s) into a baking pan just in case a leak happens when curing in the fridge.

3. Refrigerate, turning the belly and redistributing the cure every other day, for 7 days, until the meat is firm to the touch.

* I turn the bellies over every day, just because I'm anal.

4. Remove the belly from the cure, rinse it thoroughly, and pat it dry. Place it on a rack set over a baking sheet tray and dry in the refrigerator, uncovered, for 12 to 24 hours.

* This allows the meat to dry out slightly, making it more receptive to smoking. It will just absorb more smoke, and be more tasty, if you do this.

5. Hot-smoke the pork belly to an internal temperature of 150 degrees F., about 3 hours. Let cool slightly, and when the belly is cool enough to handle but still warm, cut the skin off by sliding a sharp knife between the fat and the skin, leaving as much fat on the bacon as possible (* the skin should come off very easily). A slab of pork belly should have equal proportions of meat and fat.

* I smoke with Alder and Apple usually.

6. Let the bacon cool, then wrap in plastic and refrigerate or freeze it until ready to use.

Yield: 4 pounds smoked slab bacon

* As for a source of pork belly, you'll have to shop around. I looked for a while and had butchers want up to $6.00 a pound for pork belly which is just insane (good store bought bacon is cheaper!!). I get mine from a local butcher for $2.50 a pound, which is about right.

And in case it's not obvious, you need to cook the bacon after you smoke it, just like the store bought stuff. The smoking process is for flavor only.

Enjoy! Start doing this and you'll never buy bacon again. When I make another batch I'll take a few pictures during the process and post them.

Here's my last batch cut into approx. 1 lb. chunks:

[Ah Pook]

[GilpinGuy]

Next I'll be doing jalapeno bacon and black pepper bacon. I'll post results.

[GilpinGuy]

Next I'll be doing jalapeno bacon and black pepper bacon. I'll post results.

I have both of these curing in the fridge now. I'll let you know how they come out in a week or so.

[GilpinGuy]

I have both of these curing in the fridge now. I'll let you know how they come out in a week or so.

Both of these came out great (Jalapeno and Black Pepper Bacon). I've been experimenting with the recipes for a while and have friends/family buying it from me now. Pretty cool. The Maple Bacon is still my favorite though. Shoot me a PM if you're interested in getting your hands on some. Once you have homemade slab bacon you won't buy that crap in King Soopers again.

The Jalapeno is EXCELLENT. I'm very happy with this. It's not hot at all, but it has jalapeno flavor which is great.

For both, I use the exact recipe as above for the maple bacon, but I do not add any maple syrup.

For the Jalapeno Bacon:
Instead of the maple syrup, add a 12 ounce jar of sliced jalapenos (the peppers AND the juice) to the cure for a 5 pound slab. I evenly place the slices all over the slab on both sides. Otherwise, cure it and smoke it exactly like the maple bacon.

For the Black Pepper Bacon:
Instead of the maple syrup, add 4 tablespoons of black pepper to the cure for a 5 pound slab. After washing off the cure and drying the slab for a day, put a thick coat of black pepper on the meaty of the slab right before smoking it.

[Ah Pook]

Jalapeno Poppers

• Slice off top, remove seeds and placenta.
• Lightly salt the insides.
• Stuff with cream cheese. Don't leave an air pocket at the bottom of the pepper.
• Poke the head of the shrimp into the cream cheese.
• Wrap a 1/3 cut piece of bacon over the top of the pepper and secure with a toothpick.
• Bake on the grill, at 250˚, for about an hour.
• Remove the toothpick and eat with a cold beer.

Another version is to slice sideways, so they lay down on the grill or baking pan.