Bacon for the Holidays

To interrupt your regular bakin’ schedule . . .

Cookies with bacon is so wrong, and yet so right – Slashfood

Really, you have to go look. The picture says it all.

Bring Home the Bacon

Note: Originally published on June 10, 2005. You can also bake the bacon at 350 degrees, if you’re willing to wait a bit longer. Also, I highly recommend grinding some black pepper on the bacon before it goes in the oven. For a breakfast treat, sprinkle brown sugar as well as black pepper on the raw bacon.

 

I’ve tacked on a recipe for a wrap sandwich I enjoy. You can have it as a straight BLT, but it’s better with the egg and cheese — sort of like a breakfast wrap.

 

The typical image of cooking bacon involves a spitting skillet on a hot cooktop. The bacon curls into little pinwheels as it contracts on itself. Some parts burn while the rest still looks raw. You splash hot fat on yourself when you try to turn it.

 

Oh, but you cook your bacon in the microwave? Sure, that’s quick, neat and easy, but I’ve always found the flavor leaves something to be desired. The bacon often turns brittle and dry, a shadow of its former greasy, meaty glory.

 

The trick to great bacon is to get your oven in on the act. How does that make this an easy upgrade, then?

 

Bacon prepared this way not only requires little effort (in both baby-sitting and clean-up), it tastes ridiculously good. You get the neatness of the microwave combined with the browning of the skillet.

 

To get even more mileage out of this upgrade, make as much bacon as you can fit on your sheet. Store the leftovers in a zip-top bag in the refrigerator for use in sandwiches and salads. It sure beats the anemic, expensive precooked bacon from the grocery store — now that’s a nice little upgrade.

 

 

1. Cover a baking sheet in foil. It’s best to use a small one you can cover entirely with one sheet so that the grease doesn’t leak onto the pan.
2. Lay out your bacon flat on the foil.
3. Shove the sheet in the oven.
   
4. Turn the oven on to 400 degrees. That’s right, no preheating required.
5. Let the bacon roast for 10 to 15 minutes, depending on how well done you like it. I usually take it out when each slice has turned a nice overall brown. While it’s in the oven, you can check on it, but don’t touch it. You don’t need to! And if you leave it alone, it will keep its nice, flat shape.
6. Remove the bacon from the baking sheet. Lift off the foil, allowing the grease to pool in the middle, and crumple it up. Throw the mess away and put your clean sheet back into storage.

 

 

BLT Wrap Sandwich
Source: Colleen Fischer
Yield: 1 sandwich

 

• 1 tortilla
• Mayonnaise (or ranch dressing)
• Lettuce
• Tomatoes
• Crispy pepper bacon
• Optional: hard-boiled egg, cheese

 

Spread the mayonnaise on the tortilla. Place the bacon on the mayonnaise, then pile other fillings on top. Wrap like a burrito and serve.

 

 

Download BLT Wrap Sandwich into MacGourmet.