Bacon Candy

lsanderson has a lot to answer for. A little over 4 years ago, he sent me a LiveJournal invitation. (Remember LiveJournal invitations?) Several friends had previously offered me one, but I always begged off. No time, don'cha know? That's still true, but Larry's invitation turned out to be a Good Thing, and on September 7, 2003, I made my first post.

papersky, LJ may not be titled To Serve Man, but it's still a cookbook!

More recently, just this past Sunday, in fact, Larry posted about the recipe for Caramelized Bacon, including the link to that day's NYTimes article about the tasty concoction. Tonight, while I was out picking up copies of the newspaper, I bought the best bacon my rural Stop'n'Shop had to offer -- 8 ounces of standard-slice Boar's Head and a 20-ounce package of thick-sliced Plumrose. And a 2 pound bag of light brown sugar, 'cause I couldn't remember if I had any at home or not.

Oh. My. Ghod.

I wish I didn't still have 23.25 ounces of uncooked bacon here in the house. Or 3 pounds of light brown sugar. It's taking more willpower than I knew I had to avoid cooking a second batch of bacon candy right now!

debgeisler, I'm sure you're right -- this stuff will be "frickin' unbelievable" when made with cob-smoked bacon. I'm also going to experiment adding the spicy maple seasoning I have in the cabinet. 'Cause bacon candy is good!

Dangerously good. I still haven't decided whether I like the thick or thin slices better. More experimentation is clearly in order. As is more exercise, to counterbalance at least some of the health effects.

I disagree with Patricia Marx, the recipe's author. She said, "This is a dish that can't be ruined," but I think an oven that runs hot (even in spots) can do it in. So watch your temperature, and the cooking time, too. Otherwise, the recipe is dead simple. Pay attention to the fact that it calls for a rimmed cookie sheet -- the caramel containment facility offered by a nice, deep rim protected the interior of my oven, and it will protect yours, too. Being generous with your parchment paper will pay off in easy cleanup. The caramel bubbled over the edge of the paper my first time out, but a short soak soon put the cookie sheet to rights again.

Marx reports that the carmelized bacon will keep for 3 days if stored in an airtight container at room temperature. I'm afraid I can't yet offer any evidence in support of that -- mined didn't last 30 minutes. If I'm lucky, I'll manage to pack the container out of reach during upcoming drives to Boston where I hope to share bacon candy with people at Vericon and Boskone. (Worry not, sdn, you're the reason I'm making a batch -- or three -- for Vericon!)

Another template for aging

If I make it to 79, I hope I'm as up for learning new things as John Lowe was 9 years ago. Whether or not that leaves me starring in a ballet when I'm 88, like he is!

With thanks to brithistorian for the link.