Candied Bacon

My mother-in-law Rita made this amazing candied bacon for Easter that was instantly devoured. It’s Lance’s grandmother’s recipe and it truly is candy (it’s probably more brown sugar than it is bacon). 

My dad loved it so much that I’ve made some in preparation for Father’s Day brunch tomorrow. It’s really easy but takes some time since it needs 2 hours in the oven. 

I slightly revised the recipe based on the candied bacon our friend Spencer made for a potluck last month – his recipe included fennel seeds which adds a hint of a licorice taste. If you don’t like that spice, you can omit it, but I like the extra layer of flavor it adds. 

You could half this recipe and just make one pound, but it gets eaten so quickly I went ahead and made two pounds this time. You could probably use a bit less brown sugar since I had some extra, even though I really coated the bacon. 

Candied Bacon  

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds thick-cut bacon
•  1-1/2 cups brown sugar
• Heaping teaspoon dry mustard
• Heaping teaspoon smoked paprika
• Pepper to taste (can use peppered bacon if you’d like)
• Fennel seeds as garnish

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

2. You’ll need a broiler pan with a bottom tray. Put a layer of water in the lower half of the pan and bacon on the top layer touching.

3. Mix together the brown sugar, mustard, paprika, and pepper in a bowl. Spread generously on top of the bacon. Sprinkle with fennel seeds.

4. Bake for two hours. Make sure it is fully cooked (may take longer depending on the thickness of the bacon).

5. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack. Cut into desired sized pieces & try not to eat a whole pound yourself.  

Breakfast for Dinner Potluck

Last night we had a bunch of friends over for a Breakfast for Dinner potluck.  I love throwing themed parties (check out my posts about the Tropical Luau party and 4^th of July party), and this one turned out amazing because everyone brought a different breakfast food! 

We had egg casserole, monkey bread, bacon, various waffle flavors (including cookies & cream!), donuts, fruit, hash browns, gluten-free french toast, pumpkin bread, mini quiches, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, and mimosas (I may even be missing some things on the list…there was that much food). 

My contribution to the potluck was a Bloody Mary bar.  When I was at the UF Homecoming game last year, a family friend had really elaborate Bloody Marys at his tailgate (see below).  I saw an article recently about insane Bloody Mary recipes (most of them were way too ridiculous for me to try...with garnishes like whole cheeseburgers and pizzas).  I also read about a pub in Milwaukee that serves theirs with a whole fried chicken.

Mine wasn’t anything that crazy, but I did make beer-candied bacon as a garnish.  Here’s the recipe:

Beer Candied Bacon (adapted from Tide and Thyme)

Ingredients:

·        1 pound quality bacon

·        ½ cup brown sugar

·        ¼ cup + 2 tbsp beer (I used Sam Adam’s Octoberfest)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil and place a wire cooling rack on top of it. 

3. Place pieces of bacon on top – it’s best if they don’t overlap much.

    

4. Cook bacon in the oven for 10 minutes. 

5. While bacon is cooking, whisk together the brown sugar and beer in a small bowl to make a syrup.  When the bacon has cooked 10 minutes, remove from oven and brush with the syrup.  Flip and coat the other side as well.  You can enjoy the remaining beer while your bacon cooks!

6.  Cook 10 more minutes and repeat process until the glaze is used up.  It may take several rounds for the bacon to get crispy (mine took about 35 minutes). 

7. Cool on a wire rack before serving. 

Bloody Mary Bar

Ingredients:

·        1 T basil

·        1 T celery salt

·        ½ tsp sea salt

·        ½ tsp garlic powder

·        ½ tsp smoked paprika

·        Dash of salt and pepper

·        Olives

·        Pepperjack cheese, cubed

·        Pepperoni, sliced

·        Lemons and limes, sliced

·        Celery (leafy)

·        Various hot sauces

·        Worcestershire sauce

·        Beer candied bacon (see above recipe)

·        Zing-Zang brand Bloody Mary mix

·        Mr. & Mrs. T’s Bold & Spicy Bloody Mary Mix

·        Vodka

·        Wooden skewers

Directions:

1. Combine the first 6 ingredients (spices) on a plate to rim the glasses.  Dip your glasses in water (or rub the rim with lime juice) then dip in the spice mixture.

2. Mix your Bloody Mary in a pitcher – combine 2 parts Zing Zang mix, 2 Parts Mr. & Mrs. T’s mix, and 1 part vodka.  Stir well. (You can use just one of the mixes and do 4 parts mix to 1 part vodka if you'd like, but this combination was recommended by the guy who does them at tailgates).

3.  Line your various garnishes up so people can create their own!