The Bacon Payday and A Giveaway

Would you like to be paid with bacon?  No not that kind of bacon payday.

Recently, the Grilling.com editor, Clint, challenged us folks in the highly compensated* Grilling.com writing department to come up with some outrageous or best bacon recipes for the upcoming International Bacon Day.  I was standing at the dry erase board in our kitchen brainstorming ideas when Alexis said something brilliant.

"What about a Bacon Payday?" 

Her idea was to take candied bacon (aka "pig candy") and combine it with her version of a PayDay candy bar.  Game on!

The Bacon Payday

Ingredients

• 16 oz jar of dry roasted peanuts
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 1/2 of a 10 oz bag of peanut butter chips
• 1/2 can  condensed milk
• 1/2 16 oz bag miniature marshmallows
• 1 package bacon
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp bbq rub*
• 2 Tbsp agave nectar*

Instructions

1. Preheat a charcoal grill set up for indirect heat to 375f.
2. Mix the brown sugar and bbq rub together.  Toss with the bacon to coat.  Drizzle with the agave nectar and toss again.
3. Cook the bacon on the grill until brown and crisped, about 18-25 minutes.  Remove and cool.  Finely dice enough bacon to make 1/2 cup.  That will only take 2-3 slices and I told you to cook a WHOLE package?!?!  Yeah, you now have a lot of extra candied bacon.  I did that on purpose because your family will want to eat it all right on the spot.  You can thank me later ;)
4. Place the can of condensed milk in hot water for 5 minutes.
5. Preheat a medium sauce pan over medium heat and melt the butter and peanut butter chips together.  
6. Stir in the condensed milk, reduce heat and then stir in the marshmallows.  It will start out like a hot mess but keep stirring and it will blend.  Remove from heat.
7. Grease the bottom of an 8" by 8" baking pan*.  Pour one half of the peanuts on the bottom of the pan and then top with half of the diced bacon bits (1/4 cup).
8. Pour in the gooey nougat mixture and spread evenly.
9. Top with the remaining bacon bits (1/4 cup) and peanuts, pressing down with a spatula.
10. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.  
11. Use a metal spatula to free the edges from the pan and invert.  Slice into 1" x 4" bars with a sharp knife and enjoy.

Notes

*Source - The Payday portion adapted from a widely repeated clone recipe on the Internet but we can't find the original source.  So many places have a version of this recipe but none that we found can establish themselves as being the original source.

*Highly Compensated - just kidding....we're paid in bacon.

*BBQ Rub - I used Mike Davis' UnBULLevable rub but you could use your favorite.

*Agave nectar - I used a vanilla flavored agave nectar.  You could substitute honey.

*Pan size - This size makes an extra thick, nougaty (just made that an adjective) candy bar.  You can use the same recipe in a 9" x 13" pan for a thinner and more like the original candy bar.

Benton's bacon is widely recognized as one of the best in the nation and it is produced locally.

A grill pan helps keep the mess down.

I was out front grilling the bacon when a neighbor asked what I was making.  When I said "Candy bars" you can imagine the befuddled look that I received.  I didn't bother to explain :)

RELEASE THE NOUGAT !!

More bacon.

Ready for slicing.

They are so filling that I can only eat one at a time.  

With my first bite, I knew we had nailed it.  I had thought about adding more bacon when first making it but the 1/2 cup was perfect because the sweet, smoky bacon flavor really shines without being overbearing.  The bacon adds to this candy bar instead of just being thrown in for bacon's sake.

Check out Grilling.com for grilling recipes and inspiration.

National Pork Board Giveaway

This is actually two giveaways in one and is sponsored by the National Pork Board.  It is a follow up to the series I did regarding sustainable pork farming.  Teresa and the gang at the National Pork Board gave me two wooden cutting boards and two grilling tool sets to give away.  The tool set carry bag doubles as an apron, how cool is that?

FREE STUFF !!

I am awarding the first board and tool set to the first person who gives the correct answer to the question:  At what time do narwhals bacon?  (Yes, that is bacon as a verb.)

The second set is going to the winner selected as follows:

1. Leave a comment that includes whether or not you knew that hormones are not permitted for use in American pig farming.   
2. Contest period runs from the time this is posted until Sunday, August 26, 2012 11:59pm.  
3. If you use an anonymous option for commenting, be sure to leave a way for me to contact you (email, forum name, etc).
4. You have one week to respond to prize announcements.  After that I will pick another winner.
5. Winner will be selected by random draw.
6. National Pork Board is sponsoring prize.  I am running the giveaway and set the rules, so I have final say on any contest matters.
7. I'm paying for shipping so prize winners must be in the continental US unless you want to pony up for the extra shipping charges.

Winners Announcement:  The first to reply with the correct answer was Syscokid and the random comment winner was Sleepy Headed Mom.  I have sent you two emails.  Congrats!

Sustainable Pork Tour 2012 (Part II)

To be honest, when the National Pork Board invited me to tag along on their Sustainable Pork Tour, I didn't really know what to expect a "sustainable pork farm" to be.

You hear "sustainable" bounced around in terms of agriculture but what does it really mean?  I wasn't sure. I kind of pictured pigs running around with rainbows and unicorns.  

Reading various definitions can be even more confusing but this is what I take away from it:  "Agricultural farming that is economically viable and maintains stewardship of natural and human resources."  [Legal definition here]

Our tour started at the Inn of Versailles located in the Village of Versailles, OH (pronounced Ver-sales unlike its French namesake).  The hotel was built after a fire devastated the downtown in 1901 and has a charming bed and breakfast feel.  Despite retaining the older feel of the building, the individually furnished rooms have all of the modern day conveniences.

Lobby (photo from their website)

We were treated to a behind (and under) the scenes tour of the kitchens at Michael Anthony's Euro-American Bistro.

It always amazes me how commercial kitchens can do so much in a relatively small space.

Click click click

The whole Delligatta family works in the operation, she said it makes it fun to work there.

I saw a large drum of split wood in the kitchen, my favorite ingredient!

Chef Delligatta explains a little about the sustainable practices that they use, including their own gardens.

Wood embers burning on the grill, now THAT'S what I'm talking about!  I wanted to grill right then.

When we went down into the basement, I couldn't help but say, "It puts the lotion on its skin..."

What happens when a bunch of food bloggers see an underground micro-green garden?  More clicks.

They are pretty though, right?

We went back upstairs to test out the coal fired pizza oven.

A horse designed by a committee is a camel - a pizza designed by a committee is a....HUGE pizza with everything on it.

Then we met with the Wuebker's for dinner back upstairs.  Chef Delligatta and his staff served us several delightful courses of pork. 

Niles was kind of creepy, I never saw him blink ;)

The dining room is decorated with murals reminiscent of a European street.

In addition to being a trained chef for the past 15 years, Delligatta also was a certified Honda motorcycle mechanic.

 The antipasti course included the pizza we all created, bacon wrapped figs with oregonzola bleu cheese, San Daniele prosciutto with fresh melon, and fried squash blossoms.  The squash blossom and oregonzola bleu cheese were two of many firsts for me during this tour.

The salad course was a roasted beet and goat cheese salad.  The pasta course was probably my favorite of the night, braised sausage and beef ravioli with kale, peppers, and shaved parmigiano-reggiano cheese.

The main entree was a wood fired pork chop with fig and cranberry chutney with a grilled summer vegetable spiedini.

Another first, I had not had capers like the two laying against the chop. They were spectacular when cut into little bites with the pork.

If you follow this blog, you know I do NOT care for dessert.  I don't like sweets much.  I even have a post tag of "holy crap I posted a dessert".

The dessert course was a salty caramel and bacon gelato.  I thought I would take one bite to be polite.  This was one of the best desserts I have ever eaten in my life.   I ate every single bite.  Yeah...me. 

After dinner, we sat around and Jeff Wuebker gave us a preview of what we might expect the next day.   He described their farm as an "ob/maternity ward for pigs".  Instead of being a "birth to market" farm that raises pigs from birth to slaughter, Wuebker Farms is under contract as a farrowing farm.  

In 1986, they only had 60 sows and have grown to 1,800 sows today.  Last year they produced enough pigs to supply 1 million pork chops.  But the focus was on how they won the Environmental Stewardship award with their sustainable practices.  He talked about how they use automation, policies, and practices to minimize consumption and keep waste streams onsite.  

More about that in the next post but it was clear the modern pig farmer is part businessman, part biologist, part nutritionist, part veterinarian, and 100% dedicated.

Funniest moment of the dinner: During dinner one end of the table exploded in laughter.  I debated about putting the reason behind it here since it is a little risque.  For a compromise, I will put it as the first comment.  View it at your own risk.

Jeff also mentioned that tomorrow we would have the opportunity to hold a freshly born piece of bacon pig and even participate in the artificial insemination of sows.  WHAT WHAT WHAT? Yeah, you'll have to wait for Part III about the farm tour for that part!  :)

Marsh Madness: Fakin' Bacon and Eggs

Nibble Me This is a blog about my serious study of errr...misadventures in all things related to live fire cooking, such as; barbecue, grilling, cold smoking, "stir firing", and stuff like that, right?

So how in the world did I get involved in Marsh Madness - a contest in which 16 influential food bloggers (well, 15 and then there's me) from all over the country compete in regional brackets to create the most original marshmallow based on Shauna Sever's outrageous new book Marshmallow Madness?   

I guess I just have a hard time turning down a challenge!   Just the same, this was a fun departure from my usual stuff.  

I won't lie, I was intimidated by the thought of making marshmallows.   But Shauna's book is very easy to follow and lays out an easy game plan for making your own.  In fact, it was so easy, we made a second batch just for fun.  These aren't boring, white, Sta-Puft marshmallows.  These are wild colored, interestingly flavored, and creatively shaped bundles of sweet.  I couldn't believe how many ideas she packed into one book about marshmallows.  Who knew you could do all of that?  Marshmallows could be the "cupcake of 2012". 

So the challenge - most original marshmallow and how do I fit that into the theme of my blog.  

Plan A: was to make a layered sweet/savory marshmallow colored like a barbecued rib and topped with a caramel bbq glaze.  Problem: my colors were a bit off.  Instead of a dark outer crust and a smoke ring, we ended up with something that was light brown and pink.  *$(#)%!  

Plan B:  Hmmmm, it's made of mostly sugar, I could use a torch to caramelize the top like a creme brulee to give it a barbecued looking crust.  Problem:  It worked PERFECTLY and I got a nice crust, looked like a rib and smelled like a toasted marshmallow....for about 10 seconds until the carry over heat from the torching melted the sublayer and it oozed out with the colors mixing together to form a purple color that looked like someone made a smoothie out of Barney The Dinosaur.  Well *$(#(@!

Plan C:  As I sat there looking at the half slab of layered marshmallow sitting there, I said, "That doesn't look like ribs, it looks more like a slab of..."

"BACON!" Alexis chimed in.

So we made some fakin' bacon and eggs.  But the trick up my sleeve was hickory smoking the "bacon"

Everything on this plate is marshmallows.  Breakfast of champions.

Fakin' Bacon Marshmallows

Source:  Adapted from Marshmallow Madness

Ingredients

For the bloom

• 4 1/2 teaspoons unflavored powdered gelatin
• 1/2 cup cold water

 For the syrup

• 2/3 cup pure cane sugar
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 tsp salt

For the mallowing

• 1/4 tsp BBQ rub*
• 1/4 cup finely chopped candied bacon
• 1/2 cup classic coating*

Instructions

1. Whisk together the gelatin and cold water in a small bowl for at least 5 minutes.
2. Stir the sugar, syrups, water and salt in a medium sauce pan.  Bring it to a boil over medium heat, stirring frequently.  You are wanting to cook it to 240f.
3. In the mean time, microwave the gelatin until complete melted about 30 seconds.  Pour into a stand mixer with a whisk attachment and start on low, leaving it running.
4. When the sugar mixture hits 240f, carefully and slowly pour it into the mixing bowl.  Increase the mixer speed to medium for 5 minutes.  Increase to medium high and beat 3 more minutes.  Add the BBQ rub in the last minute
5. Pour half the mixture into a second bowl.  Add pink gel coloring and chopped bacon to one bowl, folding in well.  Add brown gel coloring to the other bowl and mix.
6. Pour 1/2 of the brown marshmallow into a greased 8 x 8 pan and spread evenly with a spatula.  Pour all of the pink marshmallow into the pan and spread out even with a spatula.  Pour the rest of the brown mixture into the pan and...yeah, spread out even.
7. Sift some of the "classic coating" onto the top and allow to cure in a cool, dry place for 6 hours.  
8. Use a metal spatula and free the sides from the pan.  Top the pan with plate, invert and allow the marshmallow to drop onto the plate.
9. Use a pizza cutter rubbed with some of the classic coating and slice the marshmallow loaf into 1/4" slices.  
10. Dust the slices with more of the classic coating.  
11. Optional:  For an extra touch, do a quick hickory cold smoke of 20 minutes using a home made smoke generator or a Smoking Gun.

Notes

Since it didn't turn out to be ribs and was bacon instead, we made up a batch of the Classic Vanilla Marshmallow from the book to make "fried eggs" to go with the bacon.  For each egg, I took 1/4 cup of the marshmallow mix and poured it onto a greased surface so it could spread out in it's own shape like an egg would.  For each "yolk" I took about 2 Tbsp of the mix and added yellow gel coloring and put into a 1/4 cup silicone cup.  We let that cure for 4 hours and it was ready.  I inverted the "yolk" onto the "fried egg" and then shaved some sweet chocolate over it as the "pepper".  

Any recipe that has pig candy as an ingredient has got to be good!

I was worried when it first started off as a sugary liquid but it thickened up exactly as the book said it would.

Since bacon is often hickory smoked, I put strips of the "bacon" on a plate under a large container and then used a Smoking Gun.

Where'd the bacon go?  I can't see it in the smoke!

Sometimes, failures turn out to produce some awesome results.

DivaQ's Chocolate Pig Candy Pretzels

This is as close to a "cookie post" that you will ever see on Nibble Me This.   I made DivaQ's Chocolate Pig Candy Pretzels (click for full recipe).  It's made of pretzels, chocolate and crumbled candied bacon.  Yeah, I know....right? 

Sweet, salty, and a bit smoky too.

Danielle Dimovski aka DivaQ has been one of my top favorite BBQ bloggers since I started my blog.  She's got a hilarious sense of humor, has great content & tips, and is one heck of a BBQ competition cook, as proven by her top finish in pork shoulder at the 2011 Jack Daniels.  If you don't already follow her, check out www.divaq.ca .  

Made my pig candy on my Green Egg. 

Improvised double broiler.

Dipped in chocolate, sprinkled with crumbled pig candy, chilled in fridge, dusted with powdered sugar.

We packaged these in foil cups and red straw inside of a clear plastic goody bag to give as gifts to co-workers, neighbors, etc.

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