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Special to AOL Food by Joanna Pruess
People have always loved bacon. Its smell carries us back to comforting times. For me, I'm a child again in a warm kitchen laughing with my siblings and my mother, who served a pound-and-a-half of it every morning for breakfast. Always very crisp, always thinly sliced.
Whether it's eggs or maple syrup-drenched waffles with crispy slices of bacon to begin the day, a grilled cheese and bacon sandwich or juicy bacon cheeseburger deluxe for lunch, or a hearty stew perfumed with cubes of bacon or fish simply wrapped in it and grilled, the juxtaposition of salty, sweet, smoky and ever-so-slightly bitter tastes tantalize our taste buds.
Its aroma is powerful enough to lure me out of bed in the morning or draw me into eateries both humble or haute. The moment I hear that sizzle in the pan or even read about bacon on a menu, my senses are aroused. There is also that enticing play of the firmer, meatier streaks against the softer, juicer parts in each strip. The effects linger long after the last slice is eaten. And I'm not alone.
Virtually no other food in the American diet is so beloved and occupies as unique a position as bacon. Its salty-smoky flavor, often perfumed with molasses or brown sugar is essential to numerous regional dishes, from Southern grits and greens to Boston's clam chowder and baked beans. And the famous Cobb salad, created at the Brown Derby in Hollywood, Calif.? It just wouldn't be the same without bacon.
Bacon is far more than a food. It is a happy state of mind. It excites people to the point where some aficionados liken it to illicit pleasures. Can it be religion? Devoted subscribers to the Bacon of the Month Club might say "yes." Even vegetarians and people who don't eat bacon for religious regions think lusty thoughts about it. Ounce for ounce, slice per slice, no other quintessential American ingredient has the seductive powers of bacon.
Joanna Pruess is the author of 'Seduced by Bacon' and 11 other cookbooks. She lives with her husband Bob, who is also a bacon aficionado and restaurant critic, and their three children in Cleveland, Ohio.
Pecan-Brown Sugar & Bacon Ice Cream (from 'Seduced by Bacon')
Ingredients
3 cups heavy cream
1 cup milk
1 1/4 cups firmly packed brown sugar
4 egg yolks
1 cup chopped pecans
1 pound bacon, cooked until very crisp, blotted on paper towels and finely chopped (about 1/2 cup)
Cooking Instructions
Combine the cream, milk and sugar in a heavy saucepan and cook over medium-high heat until hot and sugar is completely dissolved, stirring occasionally. In a small bowl, beat the egg yolks until smooth. Slowly whisk in 1 cup of the hot cream-milk mixture. Return the yolk mixture to the saucepan, beating constantly. Cook over medium heat, stirring continuously, until the mixture coats the back of a wooden spoon, 6-8 minutes. Do not let it boil. Strain the mixture into a clean bowl and let it cool completely. Stir in pecans and bacon and freeze in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer's directions. To showcase the ice cream's flavor, before serving, remove from freezer and let it soften slightly.
More Bacon Recipes:
Fried Corn With Bacon
Bacon-Wrapped Barbeque Shrimp
Black Beans With Bacon
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT BACON? GIVE US YOUR COMMENTS!
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6-17-2007 @4:23PM Bob said... if the road to hell is paved with bacon, I'm going to be eating my way there!
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6-17-2007 @2:44PM grammir girl said... ahhhhhhhh BACON! IT'S GOTTA BE CRISPY. NOT FLAT AND LIMP! I DO NOT LIKE ANYTHING LIMP! HMMM. NOTHING BETTER THAN A WELL MADE BLT AND AVACADO, CRISPY LETTUCE ADD A HINT OF MUSTARD, FRESH HOME TOMATOES LIKE MY UNCLE JACK USE TO GROW, AND A GOOD OLD FASHION PEPSI! GET IT NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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6-17-2007 @3:13PM grammie girl said... i love bacon! again. nothing better that a good BLT. NOTHING.!!!!! MY UNCLE JACK USE TO GROW THESE TOMATOES, IN CULVER CITY. WE WOULD FRY UP SOME BACON, CRISPY LETTUCE ,HIS TOMATOES, AND ADD SOME AVACADO, AND A TOUCH OF GOOD MUSTARD! AND TOP IT WITH A GOOD COLD PEPSI FROM THE CORNER MARKET.MY HOW I MISS BACON AND UNCLE JACK! STEPH55
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6-17-2007 @3:11PM Shirley said... My favorite was always a special sandwich of lettuce, mayo, peanut butter . . . and bacon. Back in the 1960's I asked for it in Hawaii by explaining that I wanted to order and pay for both a BLT, but hold the tomato, PLUS a PB&J, but hold the jelly! The short-order cook fixed one for me, then I saw the whole staff eating them in the kitchen! It is a delightful sandwich. The bacon and mayo keep the PB from sticking to the roof of your mouth!
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6-27-2007 @10:18AM Joseph David said... Here is a great way to prepare bacon. Place bacon in frying pan and add salt, pepper, a sprinkle of Italian seasoning and some tabasco sauce. Watch out, you may sneeze a little. Fry up the bacon. Enjoy the flavor these ingredients bring to the bacon with just a little kick from the tabasco to make it a true culinary experience. I have given this recipe to many of my friends and they all said that they loved it. Try it...you'll like it.
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6-27-2007 @10:29AM Trish said... I love Bacon...but feel so guilty eating it. When I ask my kids what they
want for breakfast on special days like birthdays it ALWAYS Bacon and
lots of it.
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8-19-2007 @12:17PM Judy Johnson said... Peanut butter, fried egg,bacon, ketchup on white bread. Sounds bad but tastes gooood.
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9-02-2007 @10:37AM --=(XAITIAX)=-- said... Bacon has always disgusted me.
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9-02-2007 @11:52AM CArmen said... AHHHHH BACON.. THE SMELL, THE TASTE, IN SOUPS, IN BEANS, WITH EGGS, BLT'S, ON HAMBURGERS.
I RECENTLY HAD SURGERY AND HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO EAT LIKED I USED TO BUT THE ONE MEATT HAT TEMPTS ME ALL THE TIME IS BACON. IT ENTERS MY NOSE AND TAPS ME ON THE SHOULDER LIKE WHEN YOU COMING BACK LOL. I HAVE TO ADMIT I HAVE TASTED IT BUT CAN'T BUT CAN'T ENJOY IT JUST YET. AND BESIDES I WON'T BE ABLE TO EAT AS MUCH AS BEFORE. BUT I CAN ASSURE YOU THAT ONCE IN AWHILE THE BACON WILL FIND MY MOUTH LOL
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9-02-2007 @1:41PM Glenn Young said... 'WHERE'S THE BEEF' ?
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9-05-2007 @5:11PM Eileen said... I agree with Patty (1). Bacon has GOT TO BE CRISP!!! I never buy bacon for home, because I would be eating it all the time. So I enjoy it on the occasions that my husband and I have breakfast out, and I make a point of telling the waiter/waitress: CRISP!!! I can't stand any bacon that's chewy. Besides, anyone who has cooked bacon knows that the longer it is fried, the more grease comes out of it. So crispy bacon is good for you!!!
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12-01-2007 @2:27AM jack said... peanut butter and bacon sandwich
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12-01-2007 @2:38AM jack said... peanut butter and bacon on toast
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12-13-2007 @5:26PM Matt said... BACON, what do i have to say about BACON, well, it's PROBABLY the best breakfast food ever. Alone it fights with the sausage but paired with eggs, toast or any other good food it beats EVERYTHING!!11!!!1 It also is so compatible. It is in so many foods now a day, and the two most popular (Breakfast and BLT) are in different food-time groups!!! WHAT AN ACCOMPLISHMENT, BACON!BACONBACONBACONBACONBACONBACONBACONBACONBACONBACONBACONBACON!!!11!!1!!11!1!!111!111!!!!1111!!1!!1!!1!
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