October 18, 2015: The Most Amazing Bloody Mary (with Bacon, of course)

MY LIFE WITH BACON continues this week with a look at what seems to be an uber-artisinal bloody mary cocktail with terrific bacon, some submissions from friends, a review of an old standby without the microwave, and a teaser for next week.

Some may complain, that with all the trouble in the world, that I should write about more substantial things. Good observation. I like to think of my blog as a necessary diversion from all of our real-world troubles. Kind of like the toy aisle in the department store. Fun to think about other things and enjoy the simple pleasure of life. And what is bacon, if not life? Read on....

BACON IN THE NEWS - well, the 116-year old lady who eats bacon every day continues to make bacon headlines. What a story, about which I wrote last week. But we must move on.

This week, a bacon infused cocktail that involves all the cooking methods I like is featured in eater.com - a menu/food consolidation news site. The cocktail is featured at the Belcampo Meat Co of L.A. and was reviewed at 'Cocktail Week 2015', and the report on it 'de-constructs' how this labor-intensive cocktail is made. This "cocktail week" event varies by city across the U.S. Quote from eater.com:

California's ever-expanding Belcampo Meat Co. is known in Los Angeles for humanely raised meats, expert butchery and, at the Santa Monica location, a very buzzy brunch. Bar expert Josh Goldman of Soigné Group was tasked with designing a cocktail menu for the restaurant, and when it came to brunch he knew the menu "had to have a good quality Bloody Mary." He continues, "The hallmarks of any of our cocktail programs is that they all have to feel genuine, and have a place of belonging. We have to mimic what Belcampo is doing with their food program ... this is a meat company."

Here are a few shots from the report.

Goldman using sous vide cooking to prep the bacon

The bacon before water bath and after baking

Celery reduced to a masticated pulp ice block for the cocktail

...and the finished product looks de-lish. I will be ordering some bacon from their site. What a concept: a butcher-restaurant!

GOOD FRIEND Joel Schneider stopped at Moo's BBQ in Iowa and took a picture of this. So true. The areas of the pig that are 'pawned off' as bacon really aren't, as the graphic clearly states. Thanks, Joel!

Moo's, a family owned place, appears to have a great menu! When driving along I-90 in Iowa be sure to stop in and have some great BBQ!

Nestled in the West side On The Square in Newton, Moo’s BBQ serves the finest smoked meats that Jasper County has to offer. Come in and see what everyone is MOOing about!

ANOTHER BUDDY, Kent Knebelcamp, sent me this photo from the road. The Indiana State Lottery (whose scratch 'n snif tickets I reviewed previously) is still at their 'bacon for 20 years' promotion. I wonder how it's going? Thanks, Kent!

SPEAKING OF ROAD TRIPS, son Jack and I visited Auroro, IL on Saturday for an all-day lacrosse tournament. The team did well, and a highlight of the day was a brunch (during a break between games) at Mother's Pancake House and Restaurant, which features 'the best breakfast in the Fox valley'. I had the Denver omelette with bacon, of course. Excellent! Here's their facebook page.

THIS WEEK'S BACON IS OSCAR MAYER. Instead of cooking it again in the 'bacon wave', which I think is an awful idea, I cooked it in the traditional, skillet way. The results were, well, excellent:

I also cooked up the final batch of my home-made bacon, started from scratch with a pork belly, home made cure and cooked up nice & slow in the skillet. Full review next week but here's a sneak peek at probably the most perfect piece of bacon you'll ever see: