Bacon Confessions (Cheesy Warm Bacon Potato Salad)

I've been avoiding writing this blog.  For weeks.  All because I have a confession to make.  Sigh.  Try not to think less of me....I don't like steak-cut bacon.  There.  I said it.  Sure, it's awesome, a really fat piece of bacon.  For some reason though, I prefer a slice of bacon to a slab of bacon.  I think it comes down to texture.  Part of what I love about bacon is the fact that it's both crispy and chewy.  You get a nice combination of some crispy edges and then get to bite softly through the fat.  It's a balance that only bacon can master.  So thumbs down for me on steak cut bacon, especially in a BLT and not served on a plate with a fork and knife.

This week, my cousin sent me the following picture...

...and while I can get on board with this idea, the thought of greasy bacon trying to hang onto my beer can had me concerned.  I know how this is going to end....wouldn't you know a true bacon koozie exists...

A friend from work reccommended this bacon recipe.  Warm Potato Salad had me intrigued, especially since the recipe calls for a half pound of cheese and 8 slices of bacon.  I made the dish with Maple Bacon I wondered aloud if it would taste better with a different kind of bacon, and my husband piped in and said I better make it again to test it out.  I think that's his way of approval, other than the cleaned plate, that is.

Cheesy Warm Bacon Potato Salad
Ingredients:
5 pounds of red potatoes, diced
1/2 cup mayonaise
1/2 pound Velveeta cheese, diced
1 small onion, diced
6-8 slices of cooked bacon, crumbled
salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F degrees.  Place a cooling rack over a cookie sheet.  Place bacon on cooling rack.  Place in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until desired crispiness.  Remove from the oven and cool.  Once completely cooled, crumble the bacon and set aside. 

Combine potatoes, mayonaise, cheese, onion, bacon in a bowl until mix thouroughly.  In a baking dish spoon potato mixture in, and then sprinkle with a little salt and pepper.

Bake at 350°F degrees for an hour or until the potatoes are tender.
 

Bacon Week (Crescent Bacon Breakfast Casserole & Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies with Bacon)

Next to Halloween and Christmas, my favorite holiday just occurred.  It was the Annual Breast Cancer fundraiser in Williamsville, NY called the BeerBaconBoobs Fest.  The food was pretty good, although the food truck I loved last year failed to make it this year.  A fantasy to repeat that awesome bacon-stuffed cheeseburger I had goes unsatisfied.  The Bacon Toffee makes up for it though.  The beer was good, the samples aplenty and the friends and company were great.  I'm already looking forward to next year!

 

In celebration of Shark Week, I think Bacon should have it's own week as well. 

I had a big week of bacon.  I made 2 dishes with bacon in them.   Sometimes I get inspired.  What can I say?

Crescent Bacon Breakfast Casserole

Ingredients
1 (8 ounce) package refrigerated crescent roll dough
6-8 slices of bacon
8 eggs, beaten
2 cups shredded cheese
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
1 teaspoon dried oregano


Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F degrees.  Place a cooling rack over a cookie sheet.  Place bacon on cooling rack.  Place in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until desired crispiness.  Remove from the oven and cool.  Once completely cooled, chop the bacon and set aside. 

Lower oven to 325 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.

Line the bottom of the prepared baking dish with crescent roll dough, and sprinkle with crumbled bacon. In a large bowl, mix beaten eggs and cheese. Season the mixture with oregano, and pour over the bacon and crescent rolls.

Bake 25 to 30 minutes in the oven.

 

Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies with Bacon
Ingredients
6-8 slices of bacon
2 1/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup softened butter
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 package (4 oz. serving) instant chocolate pudding
2 eggs
1 package (12 oz.) chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F degrees.  Place a cooling rack over a cookie sheet.  Place bacon on cooling rack.  Place in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until desired crispiness.  Remove from the oven and cool.  Once completely cooled, chop the bacon and set aside. 

Combine butter, the sugars, vanilla and pudding mix in large bowl. Beat until creamy. Then beat in eggs. Gradually add flour, soda, chips and bacon. Batter will be stiff. Drop by teaspoonful, about 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. 

Bake at 375 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes.

The Great Bacon Workout (Bacon and Tomato Cups)

I told my husband that I was going to go work out.  I changed into my yoga attire and here I sit.  Procrastinating.  I really do need to add a little cardio in today, to offset the Bacon, Egg and Cheese Breakfast Sandwich (...I devoured only like 2 hours ago, and still could totally eat another one...) I had.  Eating the bacon and talking about the bacon are always more fun than working off the bacon.

You may have heard that Bacon is great at fueling the body for a high intensity workout, but did you know that it was not so good for you after a workout?  Mens Fitness did a article on what to not eat after a workout, and our porky protein was regarded as a no-no.  Check out the full article here.

 Want to hear the nerd view on all that is bacon?  Check out the The Definitive Guide to Bacon

I whipped this week's recipe up after work, on my way to dinner at a friend's house.  They were super easy and for the most part, everyone loved them.  I'll be making them again in the future!

Bacon and Tomato Cups
Ingredients
(Recipe makes 30 mini muffins)
8 slices bacon
1 tomato, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
3 ounces shredded Swiss cheese
1/5 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup cream cheese, room temperature
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 (16 ounce) can refrigerated buttermilk biscuit dough


Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly grease a mini muffin pan.

In a skillet over medium heat, cook bacon until evenly brown. Drain on paper towels. Crumble bacon into a medium mixing bowl; add chopped tomato, onion, Swiss cheese, mayonnaise, cream cheese and basil.
  
Separate biscuits into halves horizontally, and then half again, so you have 4 per biscuit.  Roll each piece into a ball, and then flatten into a small circle. Place each circle into prepared mini muffin pan. Fill each biscuit tin with the bacon mixture.

Bake in preheated oven until golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Cool slightly and enjoy.

Bacon Flip Flops (Bacon and Cream Chees Stiffed Mushrooms)

Coming off of Vacation mode is hard.  I'm thankful for the time I had off (mainly doing things around the house) and for all the extra time I got to spend with bacon, uh, I mean my family!  I spent the time off experimenting.  Delicious experiments!

While perusing the webs today I found not one,not two, not five, but over a dozen different bacon-themed flip flops.  Why shouldn't your little piggies be sporting piggies themselves?  Here's my top five favorites:

 

 With epic snack making abilities, comes epic responsibilities.  Like always making sure you have awesomely fresh ingredients on hand.  This recipe is simple and quick.  And delicious!  And it used 3 ingredients.  Seriously, can this get any easier?

Bacon and Cream Cheese Suffed Mushrooms
Ingredients
1/2 lb bacon
15-20 large mushrooms (I used button mushrooms)
8 oz cream cheese

Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Cook bacon in a pan or in the oven and remove to a paper towel-lined plate.  Cool and crumble.

Remove stems from mushrooms and mince.

Mix bacon, mushroom stems, and cream cheese.

Place mushrooms caps on baking pan covered with aluminum foil and fill with cream cheese mixture. Bake for 25-35 minutes.

Beer Bacon Boob Festival (Mississippi Sin Dip)

 Looking for a bacon gift? Here's 9 new products you might not know about...check it out.

Looking for something to do on August 2, 2014?  Are you in the Buffalo/Rochester area?  This is what I'll be up to this year...The Third Annual Beer Bacon Boobs Festival.  Tasting of local microbreweries, and food truck upon food truck offering bacon delicacies!

I really love this time of year.   With the exception of the heat and humidity, the long summer days are the best.  And the food...anything grilled is preferred.  What isn't preferred is a cold.  In the middle of summer.  It's just wrong.  On every level.  After a week of being under the weather I can finally get on and post about this awesomely devoured dip I made for a fourth of July party I had.  It's call Mississippi Sin Dip, and even cold, it was being eaten.  There weren't any leftovers...now that's a recipe!

Mississippi Sin Dip
Ingredients
16oz sour cream

8oz cream cheese, softened

2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

1/2 cup chopped cooked bacon

1 green onion, chopped

1/4 tsp hot sauce

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

salt

pepper

 

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F degrees.  Place a cooling rack over a cookie sheet.  Place bacon on cooling rack.  Place in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until desired crispiness.  Remove from the oven and cool.  Once completely cooled, chop the bacon and set aside.  

 

In a mixing bowl, combine all ingredients, stirring until well blended.  Spoon mixture into a pie pan or small casserole dish, cover in foil.

Bake dip at 350° degrees for 1 hour. Serve with bread cubes, crackers, or chips.

 

Burning Down the House with Bacon! (Bacon Shortcake with Strawberries)

And this week in weird bacon news....A woman uses bacon in an arson attempt.  Yup.  Seriously, I can't make this stuff up.  Check out the news here.

Welcome to Summer, where it's 85 degrees with 95% humidity.  No one wants to be stuck in a hot kitchen.  Least of all, Me.  I melt.  Seriously.  There's no un-godly reason it should be this hot.  This is an east and relatively quick dessert.  Pick up your favorite fruit, like Strawberries and go to town with this Bacon Shortcake!

Bacon Shortcake with Strawberries

6 slices of bacon

1 pint strawberry, washed and sliced
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup Bisquick
2 tablespoons sugar 

1/3 cup milk
whipped cream

Preheat oven to 350°F degrees.  Place a cooling rack over a cookie sheet.  Place bacon on cooling rack.  Place in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until desired crispiness.  Remove from the oven and cool.  Once completely cooled, chop the bacon and set aside.  Change oven temp to 425°F.

Slice strawberries and mix with 1/4 cup sugar. Set aside.

Mix the Bisquick, 2 tablespoons sugar, milk and chopped bacon together in a bowl with a fork.  Do not over mix.

Drop onto a cookies sheet in four equal-sized cakes.

Bake at 425°F for 10-12 minutes, until lightly brown.

Split each cake in half, and spoon strawberry slices into the middle. Top with a few more strawberries and a drizzle of the strawberry and juices, followed by whipped cream.

Change is Good. Bacon is Better. (Bad Boy Billy's Bacon Pulled-Pork Potatoes)

I swear to god my cat Mojo looks just like this when begging for bacon in my house...looks like all I'll need now is a Bacon Rug...

I love it when I get posts on facebook regarding new bacon products...this week's winner is Ass Kickin Bacon Ketchup.  Giddy up! (Thanks Matt).

As an ultimate bacon consumer I think it's my mission to find these products and share them with you.  Mahatma Ghandi once said, "You must be the change you wish to see in the world."  I've had that as my personal email tagline for years actually, and thinking about it, I'd wish to see the world happy.  One of the things that makes me happiest is Bacon.  So, I'll change the world to happy, one piece of bacon at a time.

Once again, I make it to Saturday, with no idea what I'll be making for this week's blog.  A good friend Billy, stopped by yesterday morning, and was telling me all about these loaded salt potatoes that he threw on the grill with bacon and cheese and ranch and even pulled pork.  They sounded fantastic, and we were headed to the local public market to get some fresh produce, so this recipe was born.  It's a take on Billy's potatoes, and they were fantastic!

Bad Boy Billy's Bacon Pulled-Pork Potatoes
1 lb salt potatoes
3/4 cup salt
6 slices of bacon
1/2 - 1 cup shredded cheese
1/4 stick of butter, chopped
5-6 lb. pork shoulder/pork butt
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1 bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce

For Pulled Pork:
You'll want to start your Pork about 6-8 hours (on low) or 4-6 hours (on high) prior to your potatoes.  I prefer the crock pot method.  Place onion on the bottom of your slow cooker. Place pork shoulder, trimmed of any obvious excess fat, into slow cooker on top of onions.   Pour half of the sauce over the pork and cover.  Set remaining sauce aside.

Cook over low heat for about 8 hours (on low) or 4-5 hours (on high).  Remove pork to a large bowl and shred with two forks. Transfer meat back into slow cooker and cook for a few more minutes, until meat has soaked up the sauce. Pulled pork can be held on the “warm” setting in the slow cooker for serving.

For Bacon:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Place a cooling rack over a cookie sheet.  Place bacon on cooling rack.  Place in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until desired crispiness.  Remove from the oven and cool.  Once completely cooled, chop the bacon and set aside.

For Potatoes:
Wash the potatoes and set aside. Fill a large pot with water; stir in salt until it no longer dissolves and settles on the bottom. Place potatoes in the pot and bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are tender but firm, about 15 minutes. Drain. Cool slightly.

To assemble this bad boy, you'll take the potatoes and spread them out on a foil-lined cookie sheet.  With a potato masher, smash the potatoes.  Top with butter.  Sprinkle most of the shredded cheese on top and then top with bacon.  Place in a warm oven for 5 minutes, or until cheese has melted.

Serve the pulled pork on top of the potatoes and top with remaining shredded cheese.