Today I want to talk to you about something I hold very near and dear to my heart: fat. No, not the fat on my chin or hips (though I'm sure it has helped all areas of my body grow in bad ways). I'm talking about the kind of fat you ask Santa to give you for Christmas. The kind of fat you'd be just as happy to get as a new diamond ring, maybe. The kind of fat that just makes EVERYthing better. I'm talking BACON fat people. I'm talking smokey, rich, buttery bacon fat.
Do you cook with bacon fat? You should, you really should. Just don't do it everyday, or even every week for that matter. It could kill you if you did that. But every now and then you really ought to try using bacon fat in your homemade bread, put it in your garlic black beans, use it to fry up an egg or two, or to grease the pan for your french toast, and if you want to make a man smile just try cooking his next steak in it. Ho-boy!
Now, you can get bacon grease anytime you cook up some bacon, but I've found that baking your bacon provides the cleanest and most stable bacon grease, not to mention the fact that baking your bacon is fast, less messy, and frees your stove top up for pots and pans of pancakes, eggs, and syrup.
To bake bacon lay bacon out flat (you can overlap the slices a little) on a rimmed baking sheet. Make sure it is rimmed so you can capture all that lovely fat (and so you don't start an oven fire with dripping grease) and bake on the middle shelf in a 400 degree oven for 10-15 minutes. Be very careful taking pan out of oven, remove bacon to a paper towel lined plate, then pour the fat through a fine mesh strainer into a clean, sterile canning jar. Voila! Store this in your refrigerator or freezer and use it anytime you need that "essence of bacon."
Isn't that a pretty sight? I love it!
The only thing better than bacon fat is BABY FAT!!! Good golly, is there anything cuter than a naked fat baby?
(That mirror that he has his pudgy little hand on is a mirror that has never gone a whole day without smears, fingerprints, and lick marks. So gross.)
15 comments:
The great thing about bacon fat is that a little bit goes a long way in flavor.
My son found another way to add the bacon flavour the other day, without the fat. Bacon salt! Trouble is we're in England and it would cost too much to get it shipped over here.
Oh my yummy goodness. That made me want to go "bake" up come yummy bacon! But you are right, that baby fat is the cutest!!!
I'm with you on the naked baby fat. Sometimes I give my baby an unneeded bath just to see the rolls. Although he's skinnier than my other kids, it still works. I love, love, love the naked hiney running to the tubby! Man alive, is there anything better? I think not!
mmmm..... bacon
Yumm...cornbread absolutely *must* be cooked in bacon fat!
I've been wanting to try cooking bacon in the oven. Maybe I'll actually do it after reading your post. :)
Most marvelous post...I could almost smell bacon reading your words. And that baby is scrumptious too!
Hermana Bance, you have always been one of the coolest chicks I've ever met, and now you have achieved "Goddess" status.You may remember that a while back I posted a pic of my love note to the DW that was etched in bacon grease, avowing my undieing artery cloggin' love.
And talk about love, you'll really love this. Take halibut steaks(1 to 1-1/" thick), coat them in bacon grease, then roll the fish into a bowl of finely crushed Ritz crackers, place on a cookie sheet or glass dish and bake @ 350 degrees for 15 minutes. remove from oven and nosh. That's also how I know God loves me and that I follow the true and correct religion. No loving Father would withhold the wonderful pig meat from his children.
I have been baking bacon for the last 4-5 years. WAY easier than frying it up in a pan. WAY less messier. And,I keep my bacon fat...and fry eggs, or make scrambled eggs. I keep mine in a jam jar, in the fridge. It does make everything better.
Mmmm, bacon. We bake our bacon, too, but put the strips on a cooling rack set on top of a cookie sheet. That way most of the fat drips off of the bacon. Yum. I think I will make some bacon for breakfast tomorrow...
Fabulous! Never thought of baking it before...Oh, and I am also in favor of chubby babies, particularly the legs, YUM!
What a cute little baby fat baby! He's growing up soooo fast!
How very interesting. We had bacon yesterday and I contemplated using it, but I chickened out. I've never tried baking bacon either.
Bacon Fat is the key ingrediant to my Bacon Pull Apart Bread. I coat all the dough pieces in the scrumptious golden glaze before tossing it into the ranch powder and mozerella shreds.
if only my chubby legs and rolls were as cute as cheeks'!
i love cooking bacon in the oven. it doesn't splatter all over my cooktop, doesn't make the house smell like bacon for 3 days (smelling like bacon before the meal is fine . . . ), and is so easy to clean up.
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