December 27, 2015: Jalapeno Homemade Bacon, and a Christmas Gift of Nueske's

MY LIFE WITH BACON continues this week with a cook of my own bacon for use in son Sam's famous scramble, and receipt of a great gift of Nuesek's bacon, used at a popular Chicago restaurant.

BACON IN THE NEWS

This is MUST WATCH INTERWEBS. Baby's first taste of bacon, ever, is captured on video, and it is priceless. Link here or click the image:

MY OWN BACON cooked up great in the oven this week, and it was used in Sam's Famous Scramble.

JAKE GAVE ME NUESKE'S which he procured from his restaurant, Wood, here in Chicago. Nueske's is used in all the great restaurants nationwide. Wood looks like a great place! And Nueske's is the best - about which I have written many times.

December 20, 2015: Sean Hofherr's Bacon in Awesome Appetizer

MY LIFE WITH BACON continues this week with a great appetizer for a dinner party featuring Hofherr's bacon, and some bacon in the news.

BACON IN THE NEWS

BACON BETTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT? According to a study by Carnegie Mellon University, lettuce is actually worse for the environment than bacon. Here's a quote from an article by treehugger, which isn't exactly pro-meat. Full study here. One rebuttal of the article, which are legion, is here.

"What is best for the body may not be what’s best for the planet. According to a new study published by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University, eating a vegetarian or vegetable-centric diet can actually increase one’s environmental impact in terms of energy use, water footprint, and greenhouse gas emissions. In fact, the researchers state that lettuce is “three times worse than bacon” when it comes to emissions.

The study examined the environmental impact by shifting the average American diet to three dietary scenarios. In the first scenario, researchers reduced the number of calories consumed but maintained the proportion of meat and vegetables consumed, which cut emissions, water and energy use by 9 percent."

HOFHERR'S BACON IS THE BEST. We had a dinner party on Sunday, and as usual, my go-to place for all things meat is Sean Hofherr's Meat Co. Picked up eight veal shanks for our best winter recipe, and our guests really enjoyed it.  The recipe we use is here: Veal Shanks with Carmelized Onions and Sage. This photo is from the recipe:

As usual, I grabbed a pound of the awesome bacon. The talented and friendly Emily sliced and packaged it to perfection, and reminded me that the bacon is smoked on-site. They actually offer BBQ products but only through their catering business, which is booming!

I used the bacon in a terrific recipe - bacon wrapped dates stuffed with blue cheese. Couldn't be simpler.  Baking on a rack on the convection setting really brings out the crispness of these bites.

A few of these is a meal by itself! Happy Holidays!

December 13, 2015: BEAT NAVY BACON

MY LIFE WITH BACON continues by documenting my visit to Philadelphia for the annual Army Navy Football matchup.

Although the Naval Academy won the game, it was a close one, 21-17. Army was a 23 point underdog. They should have won.

Army always wins the march-on, where the entire student body (the Corps of Cadets at West Point, and the Brigade of Midshipmen at Annapolis) marches onto the field before the game. Here's a representative sample of why Army always wins the march-on, with the West Pointers on the left, and the Navy on the right.

And here's a shot of all the cadets in formation on the field.

On to the bacon. I'll call this "beat navy" bacon; consumed at the Renaissance Hotel near the Philadelphia airport. The bacon doesn't look so good, but sure tasted great.

Finally, a shout out to the West Point Society of Chicago Parents Club co-President, Kim Vander Yacht, who sent me this photo. Fitting since the new Start Wars movie is coming out now.

December 6, 2015: Chipotle Bacon from Mariano's

MY LIFE WITH BACON continues this week with a purchase of Mariano's bacon cured with chipotle peppers.

HERE'S THE BACON IN THE CASE - pretty good looking stuff

GOT LAZY THIS WEEK and cooked it in the oven. I crimp the tinfoil to keep the bacon out of the grease when baking.

THE FINISHED PRODUCT looked and tasted great. The bacon is cooked a little too thick for my liking, maybe 1/8 inch. But the flavor was excellent!