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Did Somebody Say Bacon?

January 24th, 2015

I finally got all the bacon in the freezer this week. It certainly is a lot of work to cure and smoke so much bacon. I figured we ended up with around 40 pounds of bacon per pig. I smoked it in two batches using clippings from our apple tree out front. I used the recipe from The River Cottage Meat Book because it was our favorite last year.
bacon
This year our pigs were a different breed. Mary breeds for specific characteristics in the meat and you can really tell. She did a great job. Our bacon was much meatier than it was last year. Looks like we won’t be running out of bacon any time soon! One of my favorite ways to enjoy bacon is on a salad, with avocados and eggs – mmmm.

What’s your favorite thing to enjoy with bacon: eggs, pancakes, french toast, burgers?

11 Comments to “Did Somebody Say Bacon?”
  1. kristin @ going country on January 24, 2015 at 7:37 am

    An egg sandwich on freshly baked sourdough bread with bacon is pretty hard to beat. I also very much love grits with lots of butter and cheese and crumbled-up bacon stirred in. But I never make grits anymore unless I’m at my parents’ house, so that’s a rare occurrence.

    Reply to kristin @ going country's comment

  2. Nebraska Dave on January 24, 2015 at 9:44 am

    Susy, I haven’t met a guy yet that doesn’t love bacon on just about anything. Bacon makes almost everything taste better in my opinion. I don’t have access to the bacon without the chemicals in it so my consumption is limited. There’s really only one thing that I’ve found for me that I don’t like bacon in and that’s ice cream. I’ve tried it a couple times but it just doesn’t enhance the flavor at all.

    Have a great natural bacon consumption day.

    Reply to Nebraska Dave's comment

  3. Bettina on January 24, 2015 at 11:31 am

    Hmm…bacon is great with a lot of things, but I love it instead of pancetta in Pasta Amatriciana. It is basically a tomato sauce with sauteed onions and bacon. And best used over maccaroni, not spaghetti.

    I also love it in a green bean dish.

    Dice a medium size onion, about 150g bacon, and sweat in sunflower oil. Use either home canned or canned french green beans. Discard 2/3rds of the canning liquid. Then add beans and liquid to the onions and bacon. Add about 2 tbs of tomato paste, season with a pinch of salt, pepper, cayenne and paprika. Make a little roux from a teaspoon of flour and a little cream. Add the rest of the cream (start with 100ml) to the beans, wait until it is bubbling and then thicken with the roux.

    Serve with boiled potatoes and it makes a lovely and filling meal on a cold winter evening.

    Reply to Bettina's comment

  4. Colleen on January 24, 2015 at 11:34 am

    Looks delicious!
    Bacon, lettuce or avacado and tomato sandwich or a BLT salad. Brussel sprouts sauted with bacon. Bacon wrapoed dates.

    Reply to Colleen's comment

  5. bonnie knox on January 24, 2015 at 1:25 pm

    I’m impressed that one hog makes that much bacon. Your bacon does look good.
    My favorite way to eat bacon is with a scrambled egg.

    Reply to bonnie knox's comment

  6. Kate/Massachusetts on January 24, 2015 at 8:51 pm

    I mix equal parts bacon and salt pork in a food processor, and then pulse-grind it into a small mince. I measure this mince out into half-cup portions that I individually wrap and freeze. I use it as a base in chowders and various soups in which bacon would add a great flavor. To use it, I thaw out one of the portions, place it in the soup pot and break it apart. Cover the pot and cook it slowly to release the fat for about 10-15 minutes – you don’t want to brown it. Just cook it until it has release its fat. Sometimes I add finely diced onion at the same time. It makes a wonderful flavoring agent. I have never used it in tomato sauce but I bet it would be great! This mince is my “secret weapon”! :-)

    Reply to Kate/Massachusetts's comment

    • whit on January 29, 2015 at 9:13 am

      This sounds like bacon jam, which is all the rage in Seattle now, thanks to the restaurant Skillet. They make seasonal flavours with chipotle, pumpkin, etc.

      Reply to whit's comment

  7. Caroline on January 24, 2015 at 11:57 pm

    Up until about a week ago, I absolutely HATED bacon! I’d only ever had the crap stuff from the frozen section of the grocery store. It was always cooked to a crisp and even the smell was awful.

    But about a week ago I had the pleasure of trying REAL bacon, from a local butcher. It was thick and delicious when drizzled with real maple syrup. I can’t wait to try it again. I wish we were friends and neighbors so I could come poach some of your bacon!

    Reply to Caroline's comment

  8. Charlie@Seattle Trekker on January 25, 2015 at 3:37 am

    Apple wood smoked bacon…That sound so amazing. You are certainly living the good life.

    Reply to Charlie@Seattle Trekker's comment

  9. whit on January 29, 2015 at 9:10 am

    My favourite thing to enjoy with bacon is more bacon. :)

    We use it frequently in onion galettes, strata, and BELT sammies.

    Reply to whit's comment

  10. Todd on July 12, 2017 at 5:51 pm

    That is an awesome amount of bacon! I love bacon straight up or with pretty much anything. I saw your post from ’13. Love your smoker. Still using the same little smokehouse? I’ve not cold smoked, but want to. One of these days.

    Reply to Todd's comment

About

This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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