As we lead up to Thanksgiving next Thursday, I thought I’d work on featuring a recipe each day through Wednesday that you could incorporate into your family meal.  We are callin’ it “Thankin’ for Bacon!” (It’s a rough rhyme, I know, just go with it…)

I thought we’d start with dessert.

As a kid (and still today) I didn’t dig on pumpkin pie so my Grandma would always make an apple pie just for me.  I think she’s approve of this modification to the classic…

Get the entire recipe and more great photos over at Tasty Trails.

Appetizer tomorrow.

Awwwwwwwww Yeah!

If it was my call as to what Better Half took to the holiday cookie exchange, this’d be it!

Sorry, too relaxed to write anymore,,,had me a 90 minute massage tonight!  So let’s just get right to the recipe…

Caramel Bacon Peanut Pecan Bark

Ingredients:

• 12 ounces maple or brown sugar bacon
• Two 12-ounce packages milk chocolate bits
• 1 1/2 cups chopped peanuts (salted or not) pecans
• 10-ounce bag soft candy caramels
• Large flake sea salt

Directions:

1. Line a baking sheet with waxed paper. Heat a large saute pan over medium-high. Working in batches, add the bacon and cook until very crisp, about 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer to paper towels to drain, then repeat with remaining bacon. Set aside to cool completely. Once cooled, crumble the bacon into small pieces.
2. Place the chocolate bits in a medium microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring every 20 seconds, or until melted and smooth. Pour the chocolate onto the prepared baking sheet, then tap it on the counter to settle the chocolate into an even, smooth puddle.
3. Immediately sprinkle the peanuts pecans and bacon evenly over the chocolate. Allow the chocolate to fully harden, about 15 to 20 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, place the caramels in a medium microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring every 20 seconds, or until melted and smooth. Drizzle the caramel over the bark, then sprinkle lightly with the sea salt. Allow to cool and harden, then break into pieces.

Servings: 24

via theday.com

Yup, it’s fall.   I can tell you that with the utmost certainty given the sheer amount of leaves on my front lawn.

As it gets “crisper” outside, your insides start craving some warm, hearty goodness.  Maybe something like…

Maple Bacon Butternut Squash Soup

Ingredients:

• 2lbs butternut squash, peeled seeded and chopped into 2 inch cubes
• 6 slices of thick bacon
• 4 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 shallot, minced
• 1 sweet onion, diced
• 1/2 cup small dice carrot
• 1/2 cup small dice celery
• ½-teaspoon caraway seeds
• 2 thyme sprigs, chopped
• 1 teaspoon chopped sage
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
• 1 1/2 quarts chicken stock
• Kosher salt
• Black pepper
• Olive oil
• Maple syrup (for garnish)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Place bacon slices on a rack and bake in the over until crisp, 15-20 minutes. Set aside on a paper towel to cool. Turn the oven up to 425 degrees.
3. Spread the chopped squash on a foil lined sheet pan, drizzle with olive oil evenly, and lightly coat with kosher salt and black pepper. Roast the squash in the oven for 30 minutes, or until the squash begins to brown and is fork tender. Remove from the oven and set aside.
4. Coat the bottom of a stockpot with olive oil over medium high heat. Add the diced onions, carrots, and celery and sweat for 5-7 minutes, stirring regularly. Add the garlic and shallots, and stir for 1-2 minutes. Add the chicken stock and vinegar to the pot and immediately add the squash, sage, thyme, caraway seeds, and bay leaves. Bring the pot to a boil and then reduce to a simmer.
5. Cook the soup for at least 30-45 minutes. If your stockpot is high enough, you can use an immersion blender to puree until smooth. If not, you can do this in a blender or food processor in batches. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
6. Chop the bacon and serve in the center of each bowl. Drizzle maple syrup over the bacon and enjoy.

Recipe via Jon Watson, accessAtlanta’s Food & More blog, photo via finecooking.com

Bubble bread???  I can honestly tell you, I have never heard of “bubble bread” in all my 40 years. After finding this recipe, I believe it will now become a staple at casa de bacon.

That is the finished product after it’s fetched from the oven.  To get a better sense of all the goodness that goes into than bowl, head over to Tasty Kitchen.  Full recipe with terrific photos (including the one featured) for your enjoyment.

This recipe comes across my desk just in time as all of our tomato plants (and that one basil plant) have blown up!

Simple, easy, fresh and tasty!  It’s Bacon & Tomato Pasta.

Bacon and Tomato Pasta [Read more →]

Look at our sweet ol’ grandma! Her name is Norma Pemberton and from what they report in Australia’s “Central Coast Express Advocate” she’s got quite a knack for cookin’ up cheese and bacon snacks.

Being the wonderful lady that she is, she’s shared the recipe with the paper and now, through the, I share it with you.

Recipe after the jump… [Read more →]

It’s because of these beauties…

via Craft

Yesterday we had a great breakfast/brunch recipe for bacon wrapped eggs. Today we share with you a gourmet hot dog recipe from my morning Detroit Free Press called the 3 a.m. Dog.

Created by Chef Aaron Cozadd of the Union Woodshop just north of me in Clarkston (also winner of the Free Press “Restaurant of the Year” Honor for 2011) comes this dog with egg and a bacon jam!

Recipe after the jump: [Read more →]

because you never know what you are going to find.

Like today for example…

I get my daily alerts from the Google Machine and notice an article from Marcus Samuelsson’s blog where he explains the different cuts of bacon.  It’s a good read as he talks through side, pancetta, slab, back, nitrate free…then I see something that makes me stop in my tracks:

Cooking with bacon can be a great way to add a little bit of flavor to a dish. You can chop some side bacon or pancetta and use it to enhance your favorite pasta, or in a banana bread or leave the strips whole and wrap them around fruits for a great appetizer like tapas or “Devils on horseback” or wrapped around oysters to make “Angels on horseback.”

Wait…back up…banana bread? Are…….you……kidding me?

*CLICK*

[Read more →]

We are away on vacation until July 12th.  Until then, please enjoy these selected “Best Of” posts.  This was originally published on 8/18/2009 and for close to a year and a half was the highest viewed post on the site.

With the recent “heat-wave” in Michigan, I thought a nice cool treat would help us all get through August.

Presenting…The Maple Bacon Milkshake (no photo available – writer’s artistic rendition)

Ingredients:

• 2 slices bacon (about 2 ounces), cut into thin strips
• 6 tablespoons cold whole or low-fat milk (about 3 ounces)
• 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup, preferably grade B (about 1 ounce)
• Pinch of salt
• 8 medium scoops French vanilla ice cream (about 1 quart), softened until just melty at the edges.

I have ALL these ingredients in my fridge right now…I think a TEST KITCHEN is in order!

Directions:

1. Fry the bacon in a small skillet set over medium heat, stirring frequently, until rendered and crisp, about 5 minutes. With a slotted spoon, remove the cooked bacon to paper towels to drain, and nibble on it or reserve it for another use. Off the heat, briefly cool the fat in the skillet.
2. Place the milk, maple syrup, 1 tablespoon of cooled bacon fat (if there is any more, you can discard it), salt and ice cream in a blender and pulse several times to begin breaking up the ice cream.
3. With the blender motor off, use a flexible spatula to mash the mixture down onto the blender blades. Continue pulsing, stopping and mashing until the mixture is well blended, thick and moves easily in the blender jar, roughly 30 to 90 seconds. Pour into a chilled glass or glasses, and serve at once.

Makes about 3 1/2 cups

Nutritional analysis per 1/2 -cup serving: 219 calories, 13 grams fat, 22 grams carbohydrates, 6 grams protein, 41 milligrams cholesterol, 216 milligrams sodium, no dietary fiber, 50 percent of calories from fat.

–From “Thoroughly Modern Milkshakes” by Adam Ried (W.W. Norton, $24.95)