"baconsalt" news and stories

It's undeniable that there's something about bacon. Some foodies even refer to it as "meat candy," and cooks agree it's a surefire way to improve almost any recipe.

Over the last five years, bacon has become smoking hot at restaurants and stores and has found its crispy way into all kinds of surprising dishes. Chef Heston Blumenthal of England's Fat Duck -- regularly cited as one of the world's most interesting restaurants -- often produces bacon and egg ice cream for his tasting menu. Bacon cupcakes surfaced at bakeries across America. More, in Chicago, has a BLT recipe with cornmeal, tomato and plenty of rashers. In some locations of Texas gourmet grocery chainlet Central Market, there's an extensive 15-strong bacon menu, featuring regional specials (Wisconsin, Iowa) or flavor twists (cherry-wood smoked, apple-cinnamon). The new restaurant Permanent Brunch in New York's East Village serves exactly what it says: comfort brunch for lunch and dinner all week long. With that territory comes a menu highlighting an Artisanal Bacon Bar, serving Meacham Ham's Country Bacon from Kentucky and Missouri's sugar-cured Burger's Smokehouse.

When I first heard that the guys at Bacon Salt were turning their love of the smoky breakfast meat into a bacon-y spread (Baconnaise!), I wondered about the possibility of making homemade bacon mayonnaise. Sitting around with some friends, we speculated that if you were able to render off enough bacon fat, that it would be absolutely possible to use that in place of part of the oil in a batch of mayonnaise.

I never took the plan from theory into practice. However, Ryan Farr, of the blog Best By Farr has done what I could only postulate. He rendered out a couple of cups of fat from a batch of homemade bacon and, once it was strained and cool, whisked it together with two egg yolks, lemon juice, oil and water. From his pictures, it seems to have set up nicely and I can only imagine the amazing applications. I'm particularly interested in how it would taste as a dipping sauce for some homemade French fries.

[via Grocery Eats]

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Several months back, I had the unique pleasure of introducing Bacon Salt and Baconnaise to some vegetarian friends at a potluck. They were floored by the bacon-y flavor of the two products and couldn't stop raving about the fact that they could now satisfy their bacon cravings without resorting to the horror that is soy bacon. By the end of the evening, Kate was on my computer ordering her own jar of Baconnaise. I sent her home with an extra shaker of the the Original Bacon Salt, to tide her over until her own supply arrived. She has not been without Bacon Salt since. Yes, it's just that good.

One Virginia couple has apparently taken their love of Bacon Salt to a new level, by getting matching tattoos announcing their devotion. I say apparently, because I don't have any links to back this up, the picture and story were sent to me by the folks at Bacon Salt (so this could turn out to be a publicity campaign).

However, having experienced Bacon Salt and Baconnaise frenzy firsthand, there remains a (hopeful) part of me that imagines that this ink just could be authentic.

When life hands you Bacon Salt, make pasta. Our wonderful friends over at Bacon Salt sent us samples of several products, including Peppered Bacon Salt. Reading through their blog Tuesday afternoon, I stumbled upon this recipe and thought to myself, "bacon salt and pasta for dinner. Yeah, I could deal with that."

I found myself along with my sidekick engulfed in delicious aromas the minute the Peppered Bacon Salt hit the warm olive oil. Poured over fresh linguine, this dish satisfied my craving for bacon, without even having to cook up any (although I'm sure the dish would be fantastic with crumbled bits in it). Even better, this dish was on my dining room table in under 25 minutes.

Check out the Bacon Salt Blog for more inspiring, bacon-licious recipes (the Baconnaise Burger Sauce is on my list next).

Earlier in the week, we mentioned that the makers of BaconSalt will be releasing their new product, the very BLT-friendly Baconnaise, this Thursday night with a blowout launch party at Seattle's Heaven's Nightclub. They'll have drink specials, Baconnaise giveaways and a smackdown wrestling event between Bacon and Mayonnaise.

For the first time ever, you can get a peek behind of the scene of the Bacon and Mayo rivalry. The folks have made a short video that offers some Bacon and Mayo character development, as well as shows Bacon laying down the challenge. Who's your money on?

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