Going on a Diet: Post-Bacon Explosion

So a few weeks ago, my friend, whom I will call Messiah (anyone who knows him knows exactly why), shared the bacon explosion with me. While I understand this has been floating around since Christmas time, he was the first to look at it and think of me.

I really do enjoy meat, as you can probably tell from some of the more recent posts, but I wasn't sure I could handle this kind of meat. Oh, the insanity. The bacon explosion is the type of thing that would make you wake up the next day 10 lbs heavier...and that is just from taking a bite. But I found some free time this morning while I was in the middle of prepping some orders and decided to take the plunge. Just so you know, I'm going on a diet...starting tomorrow. Ha!

Bacon Explosion (from NYT)

2 lbs thick-cut sliced bacon
1 1/2 lbs Italian sausage, casings removed
3 tbsp barbecue rub
3/4 c barbecue sauce.

1. Using 10 slices of bacon, weave a square lattice like that on top of a pie: first, place 5 bacon slices side by side on a large sheet of aluminum foil, parallel to one another, sides touching. Place another strip of bacon on one end, perpendicular to the other strips. Fold first, third and fifth bacon strips back over this new strip, then place another strip next to it, parallel to it. Unfold first, third and fifth strips; fold back second and fourth strips. Repeat with remaining bacon until all 10 strips are tightly woven.

2. Preheat oven to 225 degrees or light a fire in an outdoor smoker. Place remaining bacon in a frying pan and cook until crisp. As it cooks, sprinkle bacon weave with 1 tablespoon barbecue rub. Evenly spread sausage on top of bacon lattice, pressing to outer edges.

3. Crumble fried bacon into bite-size pieces. Sprinkle on top of sausage. Drizzle with 1/2 cup barbecue sauce and sprinkle with another tablespoon barbecue rub.

4. Very carefully separate front edge of sausage layer from bacon weave and begin rolling sausage away from you. Bacon weave should stay where it was, flat. Press sausage roll to remove any air pockets and pinch together seams and ends.

5. Roll sausage toward you, this time with bacon weave, until it is completely wrapped. Turn it so seam faces down. Roll should be about 2 to 3 inches thick. Sprinkle with remaining barbecue rub.

6. Place roll on a baking sheet in oven or in smoker. Cook until internal temperature reaches 165 degrees on a meat thermometer, about 1 hour for each inch of thickness. When done, glaze roll with more sauce. To serve, slice into 1/4-

to- 1/2-inch rounds.

Yield: 10 or more servings.

Notes: I made this in the oven b/c I don't have a smoker and it was still really good, but you don't want it sitting in its own grease for the whole time! So put it on a rack on top of a baking sheet so the fat drips off.

I also used only 1.5 lbs of bacon, and 1 lb of sausage. I think the bbq rub/sauce measurements up there are more of a guideline. Just feel free to sprinkle down as much as you want/need.

And unless you plan on expiring at an early age, you really shouldn't eat more than a thin slice at a time. I had a small piece and I can feel it being heavy at the bottom of my stomach.

Soy Sauce Ribs

I've been pretty absent lately. I've been swamped all weekend and I started my first class in a 12 week amateur baking series on Sunday. So far, I've learned a billion things about...yeast. I've been reassured that by the end of the 12 weeks, I'll be awesome. Yay!

Rather than sharing a recipe on the bread, here's one of my favorites from my mom's collection. Soy Sauce Ribs! If you like soy sauce and garlic (my two faves), then it's delicious. When my mom first made this, she used a lot of oil, which I think made it taste better. She noticed that we kept dipping our finger into the pot and licking it and so the recipe was adjusted to be a little healthier and to prevent the finger dipping. Sigh.

P.S. Sorry for the less than pretty picture. I was given less than a minute to steal the dish and snap a quick one b/c everyone was starving!

Ingredients
Pork Ribs
2 tbsp minced garlic
3/4 c rice cooking wine
1 tsp black pepper
Corn starch as needed (~1/2-1 c)
Soy Sauce
Brown Sugar
Cooking Wine
Honey
Sesame Oil

(Ratio of Soy Sauce:Cooking Wine:Honey:Sesame Oil - 3:1:1:1:1)

1) Wash ribs
2) Marinate with garlic (2 spoons), rice cooking wine (2 handfuls) and black pepper for 20-30 min
3) Dust with corn starch and fry in a pan until lightly browned
4) Simmer soy sauce, brown sugar, cooking wine, honey and sesame oil in a pot large enough to hold ribs. Taste and adjust if necessary.
5) Add ribs, cover, and stir every 10 minutes for 30 min.

Note: Steps 1-3 can be done in advance. Just put the ribs in an airtight container and freeze away until needed. Thaw out meat and continue with steps 4 and 5.

xoxo,

lemonie