BUT FIRST, IN HONOR OF VETERAN'S DAY tomorrow, above is a picture of a panel in which I had the honor of participating yesterday, helping Congressman Brad Schneider (IL-10, at far right) select candidates for our nation's Military Academies. I'm in the front row, bracketed by my two female colleagues (if you don't know me) and the gentleman on the far left of the picture is Captain Jim Lovell (USN, Retired). Yes, that Captain Lovell. One of the candidates we interviewed (numbering about 16 for a full day) had the guts to ask hm "are you the Captain Lovell". Rest assured that our nation will be in good hands with the outstanding young men and women we interviewed yesterday.
BACON IN THE NEWS - a couple of interesting stories.
BACON DEODORANT - A STEP TOO FAR. Hey, like many of you, I like bacon 'stuff'. But this is a little too much. There are a few stories out there about a "quirky little company" based in Seattle, that continues to roll out strange products. This week's oddity is a bacon-scented deodorant. Are you kidding? While there are lots of stories out there, probably the best is entitled "How to Stay Single Forever: Wear This New Bacon Deodorant". Probably a better analysis has never been so succinctly articulated. Chicks generally like to eat bacon (even those brainwashed by the low-fat hysteria). But they will only put up with the scent for a little while. Even my wonderful wife, who puts up with my bacon mania, quickly opens doors and puts on the Lampe Berge to eliminate the odor. The article says (emphasis mine):
FREE BACON FOR EVERYONE!Bring it on. Before you go ordering in bulk, however, be mindful of this caveat emptor. Maker J&D’s Foods warns buyers that using the deodorant, which does not actually contain any meat, will draw others to you, “like the most powerful magnet on Earth.” It will attract “dogs, bears, swamp alligators, lions and even pigs,” but probably not a significant other.
As reported by ESPN, Kansas State offered FREE BACON for all student attendees to the women's home basketball opener on Thursday. At a previous event, K State announced that they were giving away free hot dogs, and they RAN OUT! To ensure that they didn't make the same mistake, they cooked up 300 pounds of bacon. Give away free bacon = great turnout. Great turnout = lots of cheering fans. Lots of cheering fans = win. K State won 85-53. A good plan well executed. No word on whether any was left over. Probably not.
CHICAGO IS KNOWN FOR DEEP DISH PIZZA, as everyone knows. But with our family from the NYC to Hartford corridor, we prefer thin-crust, high quality, wood-fired oven pizza, like Grimaldi's in the shadow of the Brooklyn Bridge, or Pepe's in Hartford. We didn't think we could find that here, until someone turned us on to Piece Pizza. It touts itself as "Hartford Style" and we just had to try it out.The place is busy! Just like Pepe's and Grimaldi's, we were told we'd have to wait at least 45 minutes. However, the number of tables at Piece is probably triple that of Pepe's and probably 10x Grimaldi's. Not sure if that is a sign of a good pie, but we were pretty excited.
Why do I mention this in a Bacon Blog? Well, I obviously ordered a pie with bacon on it! The wait staff couldn't tell me from whence the bacon came, but it was great on the pizza. The pie itself had all the hallmarks of an excellent feast - think crust, nicely cooked, completely fresh ingredients. We ordered three pies: a basic white pie, one with fresh garlic, basil, mushrooms and bacon, and a red pie.
I have to say that it is a fair facsimile of my eastern favorites and
highly recommended for any Chicagoan who wants real pizza, instead of a "pizza pot pie," which is what we normally see here. Just take a look at the pictures. Great stuff. We'll be back!
ON TO THE BACON.
This week I tested two different bacons as my son and I watched NFL pregame shows-
DUTCH FARMS SUPER PREMIUM HICKORY SMOKED and
SMITHFIELD ALL NATURAL
First up: Dutch Farms Super Premium Sliced Bacon (as if they would sell it unsliced)
The label says it's a "family tradition of quality" but as I opened the package, lots of liquid poured out. Not a good initial sign. The package indicated 16 ounces, and it weighed in at a soggy 16.2 ounces. Post-cooking, it was 5.1 ounces with 125 ml of rendered fat produced.
The scent was almost non-existent. A very faint scent of bacon, and no smoke smell at all. Oddly, these were the widest slices I've seen in a while - about 2 inches! Once heat was applied, rapid shrinkage occurred (as opposed to the cold pool water in Senifeld). Very rapid shrinkage. The bacon nearly fell apart upon cooking, and didn't hold its shape. Very visually unappealing. Flavor was not really there (2.5). The consistency was mostly chewy with a little succulence (2/5); hardly any crispiness (2/5) at all. This bacon did not earn its moniker "Super Premium". Caveat Emptor. Will go on sandwiches this week. Not recommended for bacon & eggs breakfasts.
Next up: Smithfield All Natural Uncured... Natural Hickory Smoked.
Of course, I didn't have high hopes for this one. My previous Smithfield reviews were all poor. The label says "nothing artificial" (of course, arsenic is quite natural, so this doesn't tell me anything), "made with sea salt" (so what), and "minimally processed" (as opposed to maximally processed). The labeling doesn't impress. The bacon weighed in at a true 12 ounces, per its label. Post cooking it came in at 3.4 ounces with 80 ml of rendered fat.
Once cooked, it had a consistency of a soggy potato chip, and about as little flavor. It didn't even have the redeeming value of being salty.
These were the fastest cooking slices I've ever seen. And the Quality Control was poor - some slices were extremely thin, others thick. Don't by Smithfield products. We'll give them another try in a few months.
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