2925. BEER BEEF STEW with BACON and SHIMEJI MUSHROOMS

makes 4 servings


2 tablespoons butter, divided
2 lbs beef stew meat
3.5 oz bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 onion, chopped
1 large carrot, peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks
3 oz pearl onions, peeled
3.5 oz shimeji, trimmed and separated into small sections
1/2 tablespoon mustard
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 bay leaf
1/2 slice bread, torn into small pieces
1 to 2 cans beer
1 beef bouillon cube, dissolved in scant 1 cup hot water
salt
pepper

Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a large pan and cook beef over high heat. Be sure not to overcrowd the pan. Do this in batches, if needed. Quickly brown all sides and transfer to a large pot. Season with salt and pepper.

In the same pan, brown the bacon, then add to the pot with the beef.

Again, in the same pan, lower the heat to medium-low and add the chopped onions. Cook slowly, scraping the bits from the bottom of the pan. Cook until caramelized and golden brown. Add the brown sugar, mustard, and vinegar. Mix well. Add half a can of beer and bring to a boil. Then, pour the onions into the pot with the beef. If little brown bits remain in the pan, add more beer and scrape, then pour into the pot.

Add the remaining beer and bouillon to the pot and turn the heat to low. Add the garlic, a couple pinches salt, pepper, bay leaf, and bread. Cover and gently simmer for 1 hour.

When the hour is almost up, heat a new pan and melt 1/2 tablespoon butter. Add the carrots and cook until they turn bright orange. Add to the simmering pot and cook for 15 minutes.

Melt another 1/2 tablespoon butter over medium heat and cook the pearl onions. Add to the pot and simmer for 30 minutes.

Lastly add the shimeji to the pot and simmer for an additional 10 minutes.

Taste and add more salt, if needed. If stew becomes dry, add more beer.


bacon recipe courtesy of: Azusa, Humble Bean: A Contemporary Japanese Food Blog, March 27, 2013

2910. SALSA VERDE PIZZA with GOAT CHEESE and BACON

makes one large pizza, serving four?


2 cups (10 ounces) all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon instant or rapid-rise yeast
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup room-temperature water
1/3 cup beer
A few tablespoons good-quality olive oil
2/3 cup roasted tomatillo salsa
A couple of very thin slices of red onion
4 ounces goat cheese, coarsely crumbled into roughly 1/2-inch pieces
3 slices bacon, cooked until crisp and coarsely crumbled2 tablespoons grated Mexican queso anejo, Romano or Parmesan
A handful of cilantro leaves?
Make the dough: In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, yeast and salt. Measure in the water and? beer. Stir to combine everything into a rough-looking mass. Cover with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature for 8 to 18 hours.?

Form, bake and serve the pizza: Heat the oven to 500 degrees. Generously oil a 13 x 18 rimmed baking sheet (what’s called a “half sheet pan”). Use a rubber spatula to gently deflate the dough and scrape it out onto the baking sheet. Gently coax the dough into an even rectangle about 9 by 13 inches.

Spread on the sauce, leaving a 1-inch border around the outside. Scatter on the bacon, sliced onion and crumbled goat cheese. Bake in the middle of the oven until puffy and brown, about 25 minutes.

Sprinkle with queso anejo and cilantro leaves, cut in squares and carry to your lucky guests.


bacon recipe courtesy of: Rick Bayless, Mexico—One Plate at a Time, Season 8

Bacon Festivals 2013

2013-bacon-festivals Coming soon to a city near you: Baconfest 2013!

Bacon Festivals are gaining popularity not only in the US but around the world as well. In case you haven’t heard of this phenomenon, a Baconfest is a place where bacon fans can gather and try out a seemingly endless variety of bacon dishes and bacon cocktails, and participate in events that celebrate their love for the almighty bacon. The recent rise in bacon’s popularity can be seen by looking at past ticket sales to the Des Moines Blue Ribbon Baconfest, one of the most popular bacon festivals in the US. 200 tickets were sold in 2008, 1500 tickets were sold in 2011, and a whopping 8,000 tickets were sold in 2013. Tickets to the 2013 festival sold out in 3 minutes and 22 seconds!

What other kinds of activities go on at a bacon festival, besides lots of eating and drinking? “The Blue Ribbon Festival offers participants extensive bacon sampling, bacon lectures, bacon-inspired dishes, bacon competitions, an annual bacon queen, bacon awards, live entertainment and bacon camaraderie.” The types of dishes and cocktails served are highly imaginative and quite extensive. This list of dishes served at the Blue Ribbon Festival contains almost 60 unique items.

A small army of chefs prepared the 6,000 lbs. of bacon that these dishes required, which means that each attendee consumed almost a pound of bacon. This mouth-watering video shows how the bacon was prepared.

Last weekend, Chicago’s Baconfest took place in the windy city, and for this event, 5,700 pounds of bacon were prepared for 3,000 festival attendees. That translates to almost 2 lbs. of bacon consumed for each attendee! The list of dishes ranged from simple to complex, with items such as bacon musubi, bacon tartlets, bacon donuts, bacon churros, bacon pierogis, bacon waffles, bacon macn ‘n’ cheese, and many, many more. Here are pictures and descriptions of some of these amazing dishes. The only “complaint” from this attendee was that everything he owned smelled like bacon afterward!

So if you’re wondering when and if a Bacon Festival is coming to a city near you, check out this list with links to each festival’s website. If you’re lucky enough to live near one of these cities, plan on purchasing tickets as soon as they go on sale, as the popularity of these festivals means that tickets sell out almost immediately. If you don’t live near one of these cities, don’t despair. A Bacon Festival is the perfect excuse to take a mini-vacation, and sampling endless bacon dishes, beers and cocktails is the ideal way to spend a weekend.

BLT with braised pork belly from Chicago Baconfest Bacon Bloody Mary from Chicago Baconfest 2013_4_22_Baconfest3
The BLT with braised cherry smoked pork belly, a Bacon Bloody Mary and Bacon Cake from the Chicago 2013 Baconfest.

 Announced Festivals:

April 27th, 2013 – Fat Cat’s Beer and Bacon Fest 2013 – Chicago
April 27 – Rogue Ale Bacon Fest – Eugene, OR
May 4 – Boston Bacon and Beer Festival – Boston, MA
May 12-18 – Bacon Week at the Tropicana Casino – Atlantic City, NJ
May 18 – Arizona Bacon Fest – Tucson, Arizona
May 30-June 2 – Zingerman’s Camp Bacon – Ann Arbor, Michigan
June 1 – Baconfest Michigan – Royal Oak, Michigan
June 9 – Richmond Bacon Fest – Richmond, VA
June 16 – Big Bite Bacon Fest – San Diego
June 23 – Bacon Bash II – New York
June 22-23 – Blue Ribbon Bacon Tour: River Run – Keystone, Colorado
July 13-14 – New York Baconfest – Troy, NY
July19-21 – Bacon and Barrels – Los Olivos, California
August 24 – Kansas City BaconFest
August 31 – San Diego Bacon Fest
August 31 – Tri-Cities BaconFest – Bristol, TN

September 7 – Bacon Bash – Hoboken, NJ
October 11 – Baconfest San Francisco
October 12 – Ozarks Bacon Festival – Springfield, MO

To Be Announced:

Washington, DC Baconfest
Portland, OR Baconfest.
Rockford, IL Baconfest.

2898. BACON and BOURBON COLLARDS

makes 10 servings?


4 thick bacon slices?
3 tablespoons butter?
1 large sweet onion, diced?
1 (12-oz.) bottle ale beer?
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar?
1/2 cup bourbon?
1 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper?
6 pounds fresh collard greens, trimmed and chopped?
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar?
1 teaspoon salt?
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Cut bacon crosswise into 1/4-inch strips. Melt butter in a large Dutch oven over medium heat; add bacon, and cook, stirring often, 8 minutes or until crisp. Drain bacon on paper towels, reserving drippings in skillet. Sauté onion in hot drippings 3 minutes or until onion is tender. Stir in bacon, ale, and next 3 ingredients; cook 3 minutes or until mixture is reduced by one-fourth.

Add collards, in batches, and cook, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes or until wilted. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover and cook 1 hour or to desired degree of doneness. Stir in vinegar, salt, and pepper.


bacon recipe courtesy of: Tyler Brown, The Hermitage Hotel, 231 Sixth Avenue North, Nashville, Tennessee; Southern Living, October 2011

2879. LAGER-STEAMED CLAMS with APPLEWOOD-SMOKED BACON

serves four


3 pounds steamer clams
1 12-ounce can lager
4 strips applewood-smoked bacon, chopped in half-inch chunks
1 medium onion, diced medium
3 large garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons fresh thyme, minced
sea salt and cornmeal for cleaning

Several hours before cooking, place clams in a large bowl; add cold water to cover, plus a few tablespoons of sea salt and a fistful of cornmeal to dislodge the sand in the clams. Let the steamers soak while refrigerating, changing the water mixture once or twice. Before cooking, rinse steamers under cold water, scrubbing the shells lightly with a stiff brush.

Heat a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add bacon and cook until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Remove all but 1 tablespoon of bacon fat from pot.

Add onion to pot, and sauté until soft and translucent, about 3 minutes. Add garlic and thyme, sautéing 1 minute more. Pour in beer, and bring to a boil. Add clams and cover tightly; raise heat to medium-high, and steam 6 to 8 minutes, or until clams just open.

Use a slotted spoon to transfer clams, bacon and onion to individual serving bowls. Discard any unopened clams. Pour broth through a fine sieve into a medium bowl to remove any lingering sand.

Pour broth over clams and serve with crusty bread.


bacon recipe courtesy of: Laraine Perri, DRAFT Magazine

Bacon Buffalo Wings and Bacon Wrapped Corn Dogs

bacon-buffalo-wings-bacon-wrapped-corn-dogs

The perfect way to enjoy football, the Super Bowl, or even just about anything on television is when you’re eating bacon. Scratch that. The best way to enjoy anything is by eating bacon.

Located in North Hollywood, California, there is a neighborhood bar called Bar One Beer and Wine Parlour. Next door, their eatery, Steampunk Coffeebar and Kitchen, serves up some tasty food. While bar patrons can order a specialty beer or sip on Bar One’s house sangria; they can also order from Steampunk’s menu and have their food brought to them at the bar.

Sounds like just your typical gastropub, right? Wrong. This combo “bar-coffeehouse-kitchen” (say that five times fast!) participates in specialty food nights. Why? Because food is awesome, of course. And on one special night (which happened to be the Super Bowl), they dedicated their menu to the savory gloriousness of bacon. Hooray for BACON!

Chef Nathan Norrgran was the mastermind behind the bacon creations. I had the opportunity to watch the Super Bowl while chowing down on that tasty meat candy. Here’s the play-by-play:

The Bacon Buffalo Wings in a Honey Sriracha sauce. Spicy, sweet, and the bacon pieces made it that much tastier. I had to make sure I had plenty of napkins with this one.

Bacon Chicken Wings

The next bacon dish had the kid in me jumping up and down. They were bite-sized hotdogs that had been bacon-wrapped and then deep fried. Now, you normally know them as corn-dog bites. But that bacon wrapped around that beefy dog in the middle of the fried batter? Wow… so good. And so much better than the traditional corn dog. I dipped these fried balls of goodness in my Buffalo Wings’ leftover Honey Sriracha sauce. DE-licious.

Bacon Wrapped Corn Dogs

The last one on my bacon menu was my personal favorite. Bacon Burger sliders! But these sliders weren’t your typical beef sliders. They were 50% ground bacon and 50% ground beef. (Wait, ground bacon? Yes! Ground bacon!) Bacony/beefy patties cooked in bacon grease, topped with melted cheese, onions, (and other things I forgot about because I was so fixated on the tastiness) and then sandwiched between a buttered bun. I definitely needed napkins after I took my first bite. As I bit into this little heavenly burger, the juice dripped down my hand and trailed down the length of my arm. It was bacon euphoria in my mouth. I stared wide-eyed at my friend as I drifted off into a little bacon-filled heaven. It was burger perfection. Needless to say, I was sad when it was gone.

Bacon Sliders

All of these awesome bacon dishes greeted my tummy as I got to watch the big game. Despite my full belly, I wanted more. In all fairness, you could say that it was a perfect Sunday. If you’re in the area, I definitely recommend checking them out! Get a pint and order up some food. And if you’re not in the area, take a cue from Nathan and baconize some of your favorite pub eats!

In the area? Did reading this make you hungry and want to check out Steampunk’s site? Good, click here.
Thirsty for an adult beverage and want to check out Bar One’s site? Of course you do! Click away!

2834. BEER and BACON PECAN BARS

For The Crust
1 stick plus 2 tablespoons (10 tablespoons) unsalted butter
2 cups flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons water

For the Filling
1 cup stout
1 stick butter
2 cups chopped pecan
2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 eggs
5 strips of bacon, cooked and chopped

Preheat oven to 350.

In a food processor add the flour, 1/4 cup brown sugar, and salt, pulse to combine. Cut the butter into cubes and add to the food processor. Process until butter is incorporated into the flour mixture. Add the water and process to combine. Add additional water, 1 tsp at a time if there is flour that still hasn't been dampened.

Line a 9 x 13 inch baking pan with parchment paper (this will make it easier to remove from the pan) and dump the shortbread into the pan. Press into the bottom of the baking pan in one even layer.

Bake at 350 for 12 minutes of until a light golden brown.

In a pot over medium high heat, add the stout, cook until reduced by half. Add the butter and stir until melted, remove from heat. Add the sugar, pecans, cream, corn syrup and stir until melted. Once the mixture has cooled to room temperature, add the eggs and stir until combined.

Pour the filling over the crust, sprinkle with cooked bacon and bake at 350 until the filling no longer jiggles when you gently shake the pan, about 25-30 minutes.


bacon recipe courtesy of: Jackie Dodd, The Beeroness, September 6, 2012

Better with Bacon – Potato, Bacon and Ale Soup

After snowmagadon (let’s try spelling that again) Snowmageddon last night in SE Michigan, there couldn’t be a better time for a warm, hearty soup (with bacon)…

Thank goodness for this recipe from chef Christopher Deraiche, chef/part owner of Ottawa’s Wellington Gastropub.  That’s up there in Can-na-da where they know something about the stick to your ribs goodness of a hearty broth!

Now doesn’t that just look good?!

Ingredients are in metric so consider yourself forewarned.

Recipe after the jump…

Potato, Bacon and Ale Soup

Ingredients:

1 cup Double-smoked bacon, diced 250 mL 1/2 Medium onion, peeled and medium diced 1/2 1/2 Leek, white part only, washed and sliced 1/2 1/2 Bulb of garlic, peeled and chopped 1/2 4 Potatoes, peeled and diced large 4 4 cups Chicken or vegetable stock 1 L 2 cups Ale 500 mL 2 tbsp Fresh thyme leaves 25 mL Pinch, grated nutmeg Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

In a large soup pot over medium heat, render bacon about 5 minutes. Add onion, leek and garlic, and sweat them 3 to 4 minutes. Add potatoes, stock, ale, thyme and nutmeg. There should be enough liquid to cover vegetables by about 2 inches (5 cm). If not, add more stock. Bring to a simmer and cook, uncovered, about 20 minutes. Working in batches, puree soup in a blender and pass through a sieve.

- Note: For thinner soup, add more stock or beer. Serves 6.

recipe and photo via edmontonjournal.com

Originally posted 2010-02-10 19:44:52.

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Better with Bacon – Beer & Bacon Deep Fried Doritos…

And we’re back…and on this first day back in civilization (and first day I’ve even bothered to get on the internets) I was blessed with this…

God bless you Dude Foods!

I would totally make these in an instant but unfortunately Better Half is (and has been) pretty adamant about us not having a deep fryer in the house. I’ll just have to admire from afar until I can convince someone else to make these for me. But please, don’t let that stop you from heading over and getting the recipe for this wonderful new marriage of bacon and goodness.

Make it so.

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2732. CHOCOLATE BEER BATTER CUPCAKES with MAPLE BACON FROSTING

makes approximately 24 cupcakes

Cupcakes1 cup Guinness1 stick butter1/2 cup cocoa powder1 cup chocolate chips2 cups flour1-1/2 cups sugar1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda1 teaspoon salt2 eggs2/3 cup plain Greek yogurt1 teaspoon vanilla extract?

Maple-Glazed Bacon?
3 strips bacon
1/3 cup maple syrup?
Frosting?8 oz. block cream cheese, softened1 stick butter, softened1 cup powdered sugar1 tablespoons maple syrup1 teaspoon candied bacon drippings
Preheat oven to 350. Line two muffin tins with cupcake liners and set aside. In a pot or large sauce pan, simmer the beer and butter on medium until butter is completely melted. Add cocoa powder and chocolate chips and stir until your mixture smooth. Take off heat and set aside to cool. In a large bowl, stir eggs and yogurt together until smooth. Slowly add chocolate mixture and vanilla. Add dry ingredients and stir until well combined. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Turn oven up to 375, and line a large baking sheet with aluminum foil. Lay your bacon strips across a baking rack and place the rack on the foil-lined baking sheet. Using a pastry brush, brush each strip of bacon with a layer of maple syrup. Bake for 10 minutes, basting strips again about half way into that time. Flip your strips over, baste, and bake for another 10 minutes. Baste your bacon one last time, and stick them back in the oven for another 5 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool. While your cupcakes and bacon strips are cooling, start making your frosting. In a large bowl, beat together butter and cream cheese until smooth and well-incorporated. Add powdered sugar, maple syrup and bacon grease. Mix until smooth. Spoon frosting ?into a piping bag, and frost each cupcake. Slice one piece of bacon into 1-inch strips and press one piece into each frosted cupcake. Crumble the rest of the candied bacon and sprinkle them on top of the cupcakes. Enjoy immediately, with a big glass of milk.


bacon recipe courtesy of: Tina, Just Putzing Around the Kitchen, June 11, 2012