Bacon E-Book

• Herausgeber: CompanionHouse Books
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2014

Seitenzahl: 116

Beschreibung

This book celebrates the sizzle and sensation that is bacon. Once a side dish to an ordinary breakfast, bacon has risen to the status of its own food group! For dinner, for dessert, for cocktails, bacon is the most delectable and versatile of foods, the "meat candy" of the culinary world, capable of improving everything it meets. While bacon may be the "it" ingredient of today's foodies, it is by no means a new creation, and the book opens with a short fun chapter titled "The Tasty History of Bacon." In this colorful volume, professional chefs and butchers offer tips about today's various forms of artisanal and heritage varieties. Bacon presents more than 45 recipes, from the perfect BLT and bacon mac and cheese to wild spins on everyone's favorite pork, such as bacon-studded biscuit cinnamon rolls, bacon blondies, bacon and kale savory bread pudding, and bacon Snickers milkshake. The mouthwatering recipes in this book offer homecooks hundreds of ideas for all three meals of the day as well as inspiration for jazzing up cocktails, late-night snacks, desserts, salads, side dishes, soups and stews. The book also offers tips for choosing the best sources for bacon and making bacon from pork belly, curing with salt, and smoking with various types of wood, as well as the best ways to prepare bacon.INSIDE BACON:From pork belly to sizzling joy: easy steps to making bacon from scratchUnderstanding traditional methods of dry curing and wet curing porkA look at artisanal and heritage varieties of bacon, such as applewood smoked, southern dry cured, peppered, maple bourbon-flavored, apple-cider-cured, and traditional smokedMore than 45 irresistible recipes using various types of bacon, from store-bought to your own homemade slabsExploring the best ways to cook bacon: pan-fried, broiled, roasted, or microwaved

Leseprobe

Bacon

Hobby Farms® Presents • Volume 11K • 2014

Editor in ChiefAmy K. Hooper

Senior Associate EditorAnnika Geiger

Associate Art DirectorKari Keegan

Cover DesignVeronique Bos

Production CoordinatorLeah Rosalez

Contributing PhotographersKevin Fogle, Fiona Green, Amy Grisak,Paulette Johnson, Kristen Lee-Charlson,Patricia Lehnhardt, Sheila Nielsen

Editorial, Production and Corporate Office3 BurroughsIrvine, CA 92618-2804949-855-8822fax: [phone]

Sales Offices500 N. Brand Blvd., Ste. 600Glendale, CA 91203213-385-2222fax: [phone]

477 Butterfield, Ste. 200Lombard, IL60148 630-515-9493fax: [phone]

BACON is published by I-5 Publishing, 3 Burroughs, Irvine, CA 92618-2804. Corporate headquarters is located at 3 Burroughs, Irvine, CA 92618-2804.

Print ISBN: 978-1-6200-8134-1eISBN 978-1-6200-8173-0

MARK HARRIS, Chief Executive Officer; NICOLE FABIAN, Chief Financial Officer; JEFF SCHARF, Chief Sales Officer; JUNE KIKUCHI, Chief Content Officer; BETH FREEMAN REYNOLDS, Vice President, Consumer Marketing; JENNIFER BLACK, Vice President, Digital; MELISSA KAUFFMAN, Digital General Manager; LISA MACDONALD, Marketing Director; LAURIE PANAGGIO, Multimedia Production Director; CHRISTOPHER REGGIO, Book Division General Manager; CHARLES LEE, IT Director; CHERRI BUCHANAN, Human Resources Director

Reasonable care in handling photographs and written submissions will be taken, but BACON assumes no responsibility for lost or damaged material. © 2014 by I-5 Publishing LLC. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction of any material from this title in whole or in part is strictly prohibited.

Registration No.: R126851765Part of the Hobby Farms® Presents SeriesPrinted in the USA

editor’s note

Open YourMINDand Your Mouth

By Amy K. Hooper

the word “adventurous” struck a colleague as an odd choice when applied to bacon. He’s the perfect candidate to look through this issue — because there is So Much More to cured and smoked pork than the typical breakfast serving or a BLT sandwich.

Count me among the aficionados who love to talk about “meat candy.” One of my first destinations at the county fair is the vendor with the deep-fried chocolate-covered bacon. Oh, my goodness. My fondness for this food isn’t limited to the dressed-up version, though. I will try just about anything decorated with bacon.

Have you seen comedian Jim Gaffigan’s declarations about bacon as “the most beautiful thing on Earth”? When he calls bacon bits “the fairy dust of the food community” that improve everything and turn a salad intro an entree, I have to nod my head. Don’t you?

We hope that you’ll nod your head often — as in, “Yes! THAT is going to happen” — while perusing these recipes. We’ve got you covered from morning to night, including desserts and cocktails.

You’ll also find detailed instructions for making your very own bacon. You read that right: home made bacon. Turns out just about anyone can create it. Turn to page right now. What are you waiting for?

Bacon

The Tasty History of Bacon

More than a recent trend, this meat transcends time and continents.

BY SAMANTHA JOHNSON

Diggin’ into Bacon

How much do you know about the common styles of this pork product?

BY JENNIFER MACKENZIE

Hogs at the Trough

Choosing the source of your bacon is just as important as choosing the cut or flavoring.

BY LISA MUNNIKSMA

Cover image by Brent Hofacker/Shutterstock

Tips for Cooking the Perfect Strips

You have options beyond the frying pan.

BY CHERYL MORRISON

Bacon Makin’

Here’s what you need to know to make your own home-cured and smoked bacon.

BY RYAN AND WENDY WILSON

Learn from a Pro

Workshops teach traditional butchery and curing methods.

BY AMY GRISAK

Breakfast Recipes

Recipes for cheery bacon breakfast pizza; crumbled bacon, egg and cheese casserole; and apple-maple-bacon muffins

BY SAMANTHA JOHNSON AND PAULETTE JOHNSON

Quick Bread Recipes

Recipes for marmalade bacon loaf, chive & bacon cornbread, bacon-studded biscuit cinnamon rolls, and bacon & sweet pepper cheese muffins

BY JENNIFER MACKENZIE

Lunch Recipes

Recipes for bacon mac and cheese; beef and bacon burgers or meatball subs; BLTs; Cheddar, bacon and apple panini; and chicken salad with bacon

BY PATRICIA LEHNHARDT

Appetizer Recipes

Recipes for mini bacon, olive and jalapeño cheese balls; bacon and mango spring rolls with peanut sauce; crustless quiches with bacon and sun-dried tomatoes; bacon and brie phyllo parcels; and candied bacon with cardamom

BY FIONA GREEN

Main Dish Recipes

Recipes for bacon and kale savory bread pudding, bacon-and-spinach-stuffed pork tenderloin, Bolognese with a hint of bacon, bacon-wrapped salmon pinwheels with parsley sauce, and bacon-wrapped turkey roast

BY PATRICIA LEHNHARDT

Soup and Stew Recipes

Recipes for beef, beer and bacon stew; cream of bacon soup; and bacon & black bean soup

BY SEPTEMBER MORN

Fast Recipes

Recipes for bacon and tomato pasta, chicken breasts with bacon and mushrooms, and bacon and veggie frittata

BY AMY GRISAK

Side Dish Recipes

Recipes for buttermilk cornbread with caramelized onions and bacon, Asian succotash, bacon-y braised Brussels sprouts, and bacon-fat seared cabbage with caraway and lemon

BY NICHOLAS YOUNGINER AND KEVIN FOGLE

Salad Recipes

Recipes for spinach salad with bacon, strawberries, feta and honeyed pecans; mixed green salad with bacon, walnuts, pears and blue cheese; bacon and grilled peach salad; and bacon and shrimp kale salad

BY FIONA GREEN

Dessert Recipes

Recipes for spiced apple & candied maple bacon galette; bacon blondies; bacon, cranberry and pecan chocolate bark; and dried cherry and bacon bread pudding

BY ASHLEY ENGLISH

Beverage Recipes

Recipes for bacon, bacon, bacon bloody Mary; bacon hot chocolate with bacon marshmallows; bacon caramel milkshake; and orange bacon bourbon cocktail

BY PATRICIA LEHNHARDT

Amazing Grease

Check out some surprising uses for bacon drippings!

BY JENNIFER DODD

More than a recent trend, this meat transcends time and continents.

BY SAMANTHA JOHNSON

once upon a time, bacon wasn’t an integral part of international cuisine. During those barren days many centuries ago, the irresistible delight of bacon didn’t exist as we know it today and that perfect pair “bacon ’n eggs” consisted of nothing but... eggs!

But from whence did the glorious idea of bacon originate? In what burst of brilliance did the concept of a cured pork product occur? Let’s explore the history of our favorite meat product.

The Early Days of Bacon

According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the word “bacon” dates to the 14th century and can be defined as “meat from the back and sides of a pig.” It is said to be an Old French word derived from the Proto-Germanic “bakkon” meaning “back meat.” The related word “flitch” refers to a “side of bacon” and is said to date from 13th century Middle English, which indicates that the consumption of bacon in Europe predates the 13th century.

But long before the word “bacon” existed, the Chinese were curing and preserving pork as early as 1500 B.C., while another precursor to bacon — a dish called petaso — was regularly eaten in the Roman Empire. “Thousands of years ago, bacon came about as a food simply as a survival tactic,” says Heather Lauer, author of “Bacon: A Love Story” (William Morrow). “People needed the ability to preserve meat and out of that was born the best meat ever.”

Bacon drips with history and has been eaten by different cultures through many centuries.

According to Alan Davidson’s “Oxford Companion to Food” (Oxford University Press), the word “bacon” was originally a generic term for any type of pork. By the 17th century, the word was reserved for its current (and more specific) definition.

As early interest in bacon grew, so did the focus on raising pigs with the characteristics to produce the best bacon. In Joseph Harris’ 1883 book “Harris on the Pig” (reprinted by Lyons Press in 1999), he notes that the cross of the Berkshire pig with the Tamworth pig produces “the most profitable bacon pigs in the kingdom, [with] the Berkshire blood giving an extraordinary tendency to feed, and securing the early maturity in which alone the Tamworth breed is deficient.” (Elsewhere in his book, Harris adds that “A wellcooked cheek of bacon, with roast chicken, is a dish for an epicure.”)

Lauer notes that as other methods for preserving food became available in modern times, the relevance of bacon became driven more by flavor. “It just tastes good and it binds us together as a culture in a lot of ways,” she says, “whether simply as a breakfast food or more unusually through the various ways in which it has become a ‘trend’ in recent years. It’s unlikely that the people who originally figured out how to cure bacon could have imagined someone would one day dip it in chocolate!”

TRUE OR FALSE: It’s recorded that people have I been raising pigs in China as a food source since 7000 B.C.

ANSWER: True. The oldest known recipe for pork, suckling pig stuffed with dates, comes from 500 B.C. China.

Bringin’ Home the Bacon

For centuries, the relative ease of pig-keeping meant that farmers had the opportunity to use bacon as an inexpensive way to feed their families, and in the United States during the 1800s and early 1900s, pork (including bacon) outranked beef as the most commonly eaten meat. Raising, processing and preserving one’s own bacon was as economical as it was nourishing.

The first commercial bacon-processing facility was established by John Harris in 18th century England, and commercially produced bacon began to take off in the United States during the early 20th century. Advertisements from the era indicate a movement that encouraged housewives to cook with commercially produced bacon. “An easy economy — a side of Premium bacon,” boasts one 1922 ad from Swift’s Premium Hams and Bacon, while a 1930 ad references the “evenly proportioned” balance of “fat and lean” along with the “sanitary wrappings” in which the bacon was sold.

Despite its worldwide popularity and its long and impressive history, the appearance, flavor and style of modern-day bacon varies by geographic location. “The bacon that we know in the United States is actually quite different from the bacon you find in England and other parts of the world,” Lauer says. “American bacon comes from the belly, but in other countries it’s usually from the loin or sometimes also the shoulder. Loin bacon is much leaner, but it’s still that tasty combination of sweet and salty flavors that happens in the curing process that makes it delicious. And I think it’s complementary to a lot of different cuisines — there aren’t many foods that can’t be improved with bacon.”

When you cure and smoke pork at home, you join a centuries-old tradition.

Once you’ve perfected the standard uses for bacon, try it in less traditional ways — such as covered in chocolate!

Bacon Today

Today, bacon is more popular than ever, as evidenced by the “bacon mania” that has taken hold of America over the past several years. According to a report on bacon trends released by National Pork Board in Des Moines, Iowa, “Over half of all households (53%) report that they always have bacon on hand in the kitchen (2005),” and “overall bacon consumption has remained stable over time. It is consumed an average of 18 times per person per year.” Nowadays, consumers are most likely to enjoy bacon as part of a breakfast meal, and 75 percent consume bacon “as-is” rather than as an ingredient in a dish.

“I think you could argue bacon is at its peak popularity these days, although I would never call it a ‘trend’ — something that has been around for thousands of years isn’t a trend,” Lauer says. “The difference now is the Internet.

“Before the Internet, love of bacon was discussed in private and occasionally on television,” she adds. “Now it’s so easy for us to share our love of bacon with friends and strangers alike through blogs and social media… Due to the nature of social media, that has led to a contest of sorts to see who can do the craziest thing with bacon and get attention for it.”

Lauer adds that the increased number of restaurants that offer “bacon-centric” promotional activities stem from marketing teams that saw the rising interest in all things bacon. “And as a result, bacon has become a ‘trend’ that won’t die,” she adds. “It’s just too good for us to let that happen.”

Samantha Johnson is the author of several books, including “The Beginner’s Guide to Beekeeping” (Voyageur Press). She lives on a former dairy farm in northern Wisconsin with a Pembroke Welsh Corgi named Peaches, and she writes frequently about pets, gardening and food: http://samanthajohnson.contently.com

diggin’ intoBACON?

How much do you know about the common styles of this pork product?

BY JENNIFER MACKENZIE

it’s difficult just to call all cured pork belly “bacon.” Many elements — from the cut to the processing, curing, flavoring and smoking (or lack thereof) — create different characteristics, making different styles. Let’s explore some of the most common styles of pork bacon.

O-S-C-A-R: Bavarian immigrant Oscar Mayer first sold pre-sliced, packaged bacon in 1924.

Traditionally a slab of pork belly is cured with dry rub.

A dry rub or dry cure preserves the meat by removing moisture.

Side bacon (also called regular, standard or American bacon; streaky bacon in Britain): Traditionally a slab of pork belly is cured with a dry rub, which generally consists of salt, nitrites (may or may not be used), sugar and/or honey or maple syrup, and spices for several days to draw moisture out of the meat, helping to preserve it. This also infuses the meat with flavor. The slab is then hung, or set out on racks to dry, followed by smoking at a moderately low temperature, which enhances the flavor, adds the characteristic smoky taste and has a preserving effect.