So, I’m not going to sugar coat it – I’ve been lazy. I’m sure that’s no surprise to any of you who have been looking for the past 6 months or so for something new in this blog and noticed that I’ve not posted for a long, long time. Without anyone looking over my shoulder or holding me to a deadline it’s oh so easy to go for days, then weeks and then months without writing anything at all. But no more – I’m back (at least until another fit of laziness attacks me).
I will be the first to admit that I have a timid palate. I’m not one of those people who will eat anything, no matter how strange, just to say I’ve eaten it. I’m certainly no Andrew Zimmerman or Anthony Bourdain (although I do confess a secret strange attraction to Bourdain, not sure why though). If you put something in front of me that looks like pigs testicles yet tell me it tastes like chicken, I’m sorry, but those testicles are going to sit on my plate until they grow mold. I’m just not that adventurous when it comes to food. That’s why when I read about bacon brittle, I was extremely skeptical and just a little bit repulsed. You may have noticed but all of sudden people seem to have become obsessed with bacon. Witness the Denny’s Restaurant ad that features all kinds of odd bacon items, right down to a bacon sundae. While in Las Vegas last year, I even saw a fancy candy shop that featured bacon ice cream and chocolate covered bacon, but I didn’t feel the slightest urge to give either of those a taste.
I have to thank Chef Fabio Viviani though, for opening my eyes (and mouth) to bacon brittle. I love Chef Fabio. I saw him for the first time on Bravo’s Top Chef season 5 and Top Chef All-Stars and absolutely fell in love with his bigger than life chef’s ego, and his interesting take on the English language. And how could you not love an Italian man named Fabio? I follow Fabio on his Facebook page and on Twitter (and trust me, he writes just like he talks) and last Sunday he Tweeted that he was eating bacon brittle for breakfast. At that time I’d never even heard of bacon brittle so I immediately Googled it and found about 20 different recipes for the stuff. It wasn’t complicated at all – just add crispy bacon bits to a simple toffee recipe and there you have it – bacon brittle. Since I love the combination of salty and sweet in the same mouthful (think potato chips and ice cream) I decided to give it a try.
Armed with my candy thermometer (a must for ensuring your brittle is at the correct temperature) I cooked up some bacon, made my toffee and added the crispy bacon and some pecans and spread it on a greased cookie sheet to harden. I have to tell you, the toffee mixture looked like something one of my dogs had spit up on the carpet not too long ago so I was a bit skeptical about what the bacon brittle would actually taste like. Fortunately as it hardened it lost that “vomit” look and ended up resembling my favorite peanut brittle. And the taste? I hate to admit it – but it was fantastic. The combination of salty, sweet and crunchy all in one bite had me wishing I’d discovered this recipe a long time ago. I didn’t even try to kid myself with thinking there was anything healthy at all about this recipe. I just enjoyed it….
This recipe came from the Chicago Sun-Times newspaper’s food section in 2006. As I wrote before, a candy thermometer is essential.
Ingredients
1 c sugar
1/2 c light corn syrup
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 c (about 2 oz) chopped pecans
1/3 to 1/2 c cooked bacon bits (about 8 oz uncooked bacon)
Grease or butter a large nonstick baking sheet.
In a medium heavy saucepan, combine the sugar, corn syrup and water over medium heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves and the syrup comes to a boil. Attach a candy thermometer to the pan, increase the heat to high, and cook, without stirring, until the mixture reaches 290 degrees. Immediately remove from the heat.
Stir in the butter, vanilla, baking soda, pecans and bacon bits. Watch out, the mixture will foam. When the foam subsides, pour the hot mixture onto the prepared baking sheet as thinly as possible. Do not use a spatula.
Cool at least 10 minutes before breaking into pieces. Store in a covered container.
Nutrition facts per serving: 233 calories, 7 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 7 mg cholesterol, 41 g carbohydrates, 2 g protein, 327 mg sodium, 0 g fiber
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