Kicked Up Bacon

[shel]

Some time ago I saw a cooking show in rhich slices of bacon were dressed with spices and baked. One spice was cumin. I believe the bacon idea came from Tyler Florence. I've been trying to find his recipe with no luck.

1) Does anybody recall the show and provide a pointer to it?

2) Anybody have some ideas for kicked up bacon. I've been playing with cumin, honey, paprika, and some other ingredients but have notyetfound theperfect recipe.

scb

[Mapiva]

In a recent episode of Top Chef one of the contestants made a miso-glazed bacon that sounded interesting to me. She ended up being the winner of that challenge due to that bacon.

Ahh bacon... never thought of kicking it up. I always thought of bacon being the "kicking up" agent in other dishes, it makes everything better!

[KYHeirloomer]

On an Iron Chef episode Cat Cora sprinkled bacon with coffee before cooking it in the oven.

I'm beginning to think kicked-up bacon is the latest fad. But I agree with Mapiva; bacon should be the kickor, rather than the kickee.

[boar_d_laze]

Shel,

Start with a good, smoked (apple, maple, hickory) bacon. Then season with a sweet rub or paste. You can get a mild effect by rubbing (or pasting) the top of an unsliced slab, then slicing and leaving the slice faces unseasoned -- or a much stronger effect by seasoning the faces. If you do season the faces, you probably want to roast or broil the bacon, rather than frying it.

When you construct a rub or paste, the idea is to compliment the meat and balance the spices. Smoked bacon wants sweet with a touch of savory. Shel demands interest.

Here's a rub you'll like for bacon or for pulled pork:

1 cup ground piloncillo (or brown sugar)
6 tbs (3/8 cup) kosher salt
1/4 cup toasted fennel seeds (ground)
3 tbs sweet Spanish or Hungarian paprika
3 tbs tasted coriander seeds (ground)
1 tbs white pepper
1 tbs granulated onion
2 tsp granulated garlic

BDL

[teamfat]

Well, I do recall seeing something about a small diner in Texas, or maybe Louisiana, that served chicken fried bacon with cream gravy. I like bacon, but maybe that's a bit too much!

mjb.