BACON IN THE NEWS This week, my news feed served up a great set of recipes "Around the web: 5 satisfying, healthy(ish) bacon snacks." Check out the brussels sprouts with bacon and cheese!
Of course, the pig virus news is all over the web. I guess the supposed "waning" of the bacon "fad" has been completely overcome by this new (old), scary, "newsworthy" information. It is continually amazing to me how the media exaggerates virtually everything. Bacon prices may go up a few cents, but don't worry, eat bacon and be happy!
WE HAD BRUNCH at Kevin's Place in Deerfield, Illinois. A very cool retro-ish diner/restaurant, they offer some great dishes. My son Jack had the crunchy french toast, which he thought was better than mine (insert unhappy face here). Their secrets? Use thick bread (double thickness of a normal slice) and after soaking with egg whites, and coating with some cinnamon and sugar, they put a crunch coat of Honey Bunches of Oats crushed cereal. He absolutely loved it; I'll be using those ingredients too!
I ordered the bacon omelet (of course). It featured monterey jack cheese, guacamole, and bacon. The
omelet was excellent, but the bacon less so. I found out that the bacon (I also ordered a side separately) is from US Foods, a foodservice company. The bacon was disappointing. Not crispy, not flavorful. Hey Kevin, get better bacon! But the other menu items looked amazing (and my family corroborates this).
BACON DOG AT SCOOTERS! My son and I also had a late meal one day this week, after a trip to the gym. We stopped at Scooters - a great old-school fast-food place in Lake Bluff, IL. Of course, it's Lake Bluff's Favorite Restaurant since 1986! Naturally, I had a loaded hot dog with bacon. Pictures below. A good Chicago-style hot dog.
Notice the sign for sausages by "Coach" in the picture below:
ON TO THE BACON! This week, I didn't cook up a pound or two/three of bacon. Instead, I tested the BACON WAVE microwave bacon cooking tool. Admittedly, it was an impulse purchase at Walgreens, but it is something I've wanted to try for quite some time.
I had my doubts. Would it cook evenly? Would it splatter bacon fat all over the inside of my microwave? Would the house smell like bacon for the rest of the day? Would the microwave inject bacon smell into anything I cook in it later? These and many more questions will be answered.
The sheet tells you to insert the bacon in the slots (just like the picture on the box) and then skewer the bacon so that it doesn't sit on the base of the cooking surface. The edges of the bacon should be 1/4 inch or less beyond the racking.
To the left is a picture of the unit, the instruction sheet, and the bacon I used. The bacon was my "go-to" product - Oscar Mayer.
Inserting the bacon wasn't difficult, except for the fact that this slab of bacon wasn't evenly cut. One end was more fatty, and narrower than the other. This had an effect on the final outcome, but didn't deter my first test. (I'll be trying this again in the future.)
As you can see, the bacon crisped up pretty well. The irregular shape did result in a sub-optimal outcome, but the good news is that the bacon splatter didn't occur inside the microwave, nor did it smell up.
The bacon looked OK and tasted well, although I'm still more of a fan of pan fried bacon over any other method.
This device is great if you're in a hurry or too lazy to prepare bacon the right way. Bottom line: a keeper and good addition to the kitchen. Once I receive my Bacon Bowl (mentioned in previous posts) I'll try that as well!
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