Honey Whiskey Bacon

 

 

  As promised, I am sharing with you the results of my latest bacon. This is definitely my favorite batch so far. I always enjoy a sweet bacon, but this one has several layers of complexity with a nice smokey whiskey bite.
  This recipe is very simple and only takes about a week to complete. I smoked mine at the end, but you can always finish it off in the oven instead. If you choose the oven route, after drying in the refrigerator, roast it for 2 1/2 to 3 hours at 200 degrees.
  If you do smoke (your bacon that is) you can use any number of woods. I used Bourbon barrel wood chips for a one-two whiskey punch in the face, but hickory, mesquite, or peach would be really nice too.
  Now, I should mention that this recipe includes curing salt a.k.a. pink salt a.k.a. sodium nitrite salt (which is not the same thing as Himalayan sea salt). You can certainly skip this step as well, but your bacon won't be quite as..well...bacon-y. It will have a brownish hue and more of a pork roast flavor, which certainly isn't a bad thing.
  You can find oodles of information out there that is either for or against nitrites, so I won't bother getting into that. I do favor the articles here and here if you care to investigate.
   And lastly, this will make you a 5 pound batch, which sounds like a lot until you start eating it. You can of course freeze half, or just half the recipe.


Honey Whiskey Bacon


Ingredients

5 lbs. fresh pork belly
5 T kosher salt
1 tsp curing pink salt (optional)
1/2 c strong dark honey like Buckwheat
4 T whiskey, the cheaper the better
1 garlic clove, roughly chopped
1 tsp cracked black pepper
2 bay leaves, torn into small pieces
1 tsp juniper berries, crushed
1/2 tsp fresh nutmeg, grated

Combine salts, honey, whiskey, garlic, and spices in a small bowl.
Rub thouroughly over belly and put into a large freezer bag (can cut in two if too large).
Pour any remaining curing "sauce" into bag.
Lay flat in refrigerator and flip every other day (liquid will gather in bag, this is a good thing, just keep in contact with belly).
After 7 days, remove belly and wash under cold water.
Place onto a cooling rack that is on top of a baking sheet, place in refrigerator uncovered for 24 hours.
Smoke at 200-210 degrees for 2 1/2 - 3 hours.
If belly still has rind intact, slice off while still warm, save for flavoring in beans, greens, or chili.
Slice as desired and fry.
Repeat...and repeat...and repeat....

Playing with bellies again...



mmm bacon.


  That there is a new batch of bacon I've got going on. Finally. I'm a little embarrassed to admit that I have been buying my bacon as of late. What started as a "just this once" exception for lack of time turned into a weekly thing. And while all bacon is pretty much awesome in my book, every single time I bit into an overly crisped and much too thin strip, I thought about how much better my own would be. Making bacon is so easy and so crazy good that it's hard not to feel guilty for skipping it.
  The greatest pleasure in making your own foods is of course the experimentation. I'm not bound by what bacon makers think should be in my bacon, I can use whatever the hell I want (Now that's meaty liberation). And while I usually go the sweet and simple route with maple syrup, I wanted to play with this batch a little. This go around I opted for a bold and molasses-esque buckwheat honey, a healthy dose of whiskey, and an aromatic blend of bay leaves, juniper berries, black pepper, garlic, and nutmeg. As of this moment the pork bellies have finished their week long cure and are forming a *pellicle in the refrigerator, after which they will get slow smoked over Bourbon barrel wood chips. Stay tuned, recipe and pictures of the final product to come!

  *Fun Meat Geek trivia fact of the day*: A pellicle is a thin covering of protein that forms on a meat that is exposed to circulating air. It is essential when smoking meat as its tacky surface traps and locks in smoke flavor. It also acts as a protective membrane of sorts by preventing the meat from drying out. Forming a pellicle on home cured meats is as easy as placing the meat on a cooling rack (for circulation) and leaving it in the refrigerator for 24 hours.

 

More bacon goodness

Smoked for 3 hours

CharcutePalooza: Glory be to Bacon




Oh Bacon!



   CharcutePalooza, you have been so good to me. I cannot stress enough how glorious homemade bacon is. Even foregoing the smoking step of the process, my bacon turned out salty, sweet, and heavenly. It fries up quickly in the pan without shrinking into nothingness, and has a delightful crispy chew. It therefore boggles my mind that more people don't try this easy cure at home.
   The beautiful thing about making your own is that you have complete control over what goes into it, how it's flavored, and also how it is cut. My biggest complaint about grocery store bacon (besides the price) is how terribly thin it is. I'm not looking to eat bacon flavored paper, I want something I can sink my teeth into. Speaking of price, to make a 3lb. slab of bacon, all of my ingredients cost me under $12 (local farm-raised pork included). Now that I know how easy it is to make, I will never buy bacon from the store again. And thank the stars, when the Zombie Apocalypse comes, I will not be without the good stuff.

   What have I been doing with all of this tasty meat? Well, I admit I haven't been too creative in the bacon cooking department. I do realize that there is a vast array of different applications for such a lovely and versatile food. I could be flavoring stews and beans, or wrapping all sorts of cuts of meat, maybe even candying it for a Bloody Mary perhaps (Ok, that is totally on the list). But really, I've just been eating it with eggs for breakfast. I love all ways in which bacon can be prepared, but now that my hens are churning out small mountains of eggs each day, how could I possibly resist home cured bacon with freshly laid eggs straight from the backyard?
   I did, however, try a slightly new variation on the eggs and bacon dish this morning. After an exceptionally crappy week (yes, I am sick, again), I thought maybe something warming and hearty would help heal my tired germy soul. And it is so easy to throw together that excuses such as sickness, hangovers, or sleepy Sunday mornings don't apply here.



Baked Eggs with Bacon


Ingredients

1 thick slice of rustic bread
2 slices bacon
1 slice sharp cheddar cheese (Try Seaside, Cabot Black wax, or Tillamook)
2 eggs
salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Fry bacon over medium heat in skillet, drain on paper towels.
Brush a small amount of bacon grease onto bottom of a small ramekin or baking dish.
Add bread slice, top with cheese, layer on bacon, and crack eggs on top (It is ok if eggs slide off, the parts that touch the sides of the dish get extra crispy and delicious).
Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.
Bake anywhere from 12-16 minutes, depending on how you like your eggs (If you like your eggs cooked hard, you can break the yolks before you bake them).


This recipe is as equally easy to make for a crowd as it is for one person. You can layer all of your ingredients into a large casserole dish if you are making this for several people.

CharcutePalooza: The Salt Cure



A gorgeous local farm-raised pork belly



   At last! My pink salt has arrived! Now I can move onto more pressing matters, like curing! And blogging! The CharcutePalooza challenge for the month of February is salt curing. While sodium in general has gotten quite a bad rap in the health world, salt is an incredibly valuable mineral our bodies cannot do without. I realize that many of you are concerned about nitrites and pink salt. Nitrites, however, naturally occur in many fresh vegetables (hence why celery juice is used in "uncured" lunch meats). I personally do not consume large amounts of nitrite cured meats anyway, and do not worry myself over it, but that's just me. You should do your own research.
   I feel it is truly a crying shame that more people do not cure their own bacon. If I had known how easy the process was, I would have done it ages ago. My hopes are that I can possibly persuade you to try it for yourself. All it involves is some really nice pork belly, some salt, pink salt (although you can do without it), and whatever flavorings you so choose. Bacon is traditionally smoked, but you can skip this step as well.
   I prefer sweet bacon, so after acquiring a beautiful pork belly, I slathered it in a mixture of salts, maple syrup, maple sugar, and black pepper.

Basking in all its' maple glory

   From there, it was into a Ziploc bag to be stored in the refrigerator to cure for about 7 days. It will need to be turned over every other day. Finally, it will be smoked. I am really looking forward to a good excuse to fire up our smoker in the middle of winter. Next up was Pancetta. Made much in the same way bacon is, pancetta is its' Italian cousin, just as tasty, only it fore goes the smoking and adds a little dry curing time.
   I trimmed another pork belly until it was nice and square. For its' rub I used salt, brown sugar, pepper, bay leaves, nutmeg, mustard seed, thyme, and fresh garlic. It was hard not to start gnawing on it right then and there, it smelled that good.

   Like the bacon, it will also spend 7 or so days in a bag in the refrigerator. But instead of meeting a smoker/oven, it will be rolled, tied, and hung to dry in the same coat closet that the duck prosciutto hung out in. Yay, more creepy meat in the closet! It will take a few weeks to finish, but will be oh so worth it.
   After trimming the second belly, I was left with a small heap of meat and fat leftovers. According to Mr. Ruhlman, an excellent way to put those scraps to use (waste nothing!) is to make Salt Pork out of them. I have actually never used salt pork (which is exactly what is sounds like), but it can be used to flavor any number of dishes. Chili, stews, beans, tomato sauces, soups, and risottos can all benefit from a small hunk of salt pork. And it can be kept in the freezer for seemingly forever, so why not?!

Salty & Porky


   Since finally getting my hands on Charcuterie, I have been reading over all of the chapters and getting a good sense of what Michael Ruhlman is all about, at least when it comes to meat. I find it very exciting that someone is so passionate about supporting the art of meat curing. With so much negative hype about salt and fat, most people won't even look at a slice of salami, let alone put it in their mouths. What most people fail to realize is that the real concerns are the quality of the foods we eat, and the hidden evils that lurk in them. Preservatives, additives, flavoring agents...those words you can't pronounce on the label, those are what you should be worried about. Salt and fat have been around as long as we have, and always will be. So here is to salt and fat!

Long live charcuterie!