Friday, February 18, 2011

Candied Bacon!

Most of you are saying..... Bacon is a diabetic food?  And to that, I say... not really but we can still eat it occasionally.
This recipe I've created doesn't stop at pork bacon.
It can also be used on Turkey Bacon, or Tofu Bacon.
It's fun, easy and makes you happy with a mouthful of flavors and well.... as you know Bacon of any kind just makes anyone happy.

If you are going to make this with pork bacon, I'm going to suggest you get thick sliced bacon. Depending on what you like, I get the thick sliced maple bacon. Some people like peppered bacon ( I however, am allergic to black pepper, so you won't really see it in any of my recipes).

Now all you need is a cookie sheet and some foil to start off this magical process of bacon filled goodness.

If you use regular fatty pork bacon you don't need to do anything but lay the bacon down side by side across the sheet . Most bacon will fit perfectly in a normal sized sheet. You may ask why tin foil? You will find out eventually.
If you are using turkey bacon or tofu bacon you will want to drizzle a small amount of olive oil on the foil and then lay it out with the same concept as the regular bacon.

This is where the yummy magic begins!
If you are diabetic, I suggest you invest in Splenda with brown sugar. If you don't have dietary needs involving sugar, use regular brown sugar.
Grab a handful (and no I don't use exact measurements. Most of my food is done with experimentation and what I'd think would be a good amount!) of the brown sugar, and do a sort of dry rub on the bacon, or gingerly sprinkle it up and down each piece.
Fun so far right? Now you get to decide what kind of taste you'd like.
My favorite is to add some really good Malaysian cinnamon (very strong smell and taste). I got a huge container of it at Costco a while back and it's still as strong as the day I opened it. Just sprinkle a little on top of the brown sugar.
You can stop there, or invest in some International Foods flavored coffee's.
I like to sprinkle a little mocha vanilla on top of the cinnamon.
What this does, is ensure a nice glaze on the bacon. Yum!
If you like sweet and spicy, go for the brown sugar, cinnamon and a sprinkling of cayenne.
My most favorite one of all, is brown sugar with a little wasabi powder.

Now that your bacon is staring you in the face, laying there covered in sweet and powdery goodness, it will begin to beg you to put it in the oven.
Make sure you have your oven set at 425 degree's.

Depending on how well you like your bacon, I usually have mine in about 10 - 15 min, but keep in mind, I don't like well done meat of any kind. I like my bacon with a little curl and crisp to the fat.

After the bacon is to your liking, you need to something and rather quickly.
Get that bacon off the foil and out of the fat that it's immersed in.
I like baking the bacon because of two reason. A lot of the fat melts off, and it glazes and crisps nicely for candying.
Lay out some paper towels and let the grease kind of get sucked off the bacon.
But don't leave it to cool on the paper towels or it WILL stick. And unless you want that extra fiber, get it off there and let it cool on a ceramic plate.

The thing about this recipe is, you either love it or hate it.
I've gotten several tofuties hooked on the tofu sort, and several non bacon eating people hooked on the turkey version.
But most of all, I've hooked a few men with the bacon version ;)

So give it a try if you dare :)
Eventually I'll post some pics of it, but to be honest, it never really stick's around long enough to take pics of it.

P.S. - if you were wondering about the foil. Let the bacon grease cool. Easy cleanup. Or you can save the bacon grease and make something else if you care nothing about your heart :P

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