Recently while I was at the Limelight Marketplace in downtown NYC, I realized that if you like bacon desserts, Limelight may be your new hangout.

I was enjoying my French Toast Cupcake with Bacon from CupcakeStop when a lady at the table next to me said, “Did you see the bacon brownie?” I turned instantly and squeaked excitedly “No, WHERE?!” She looked at me, eyebrows raised and obviously a bit confused by my outburst. You see, she was talking to her husband, not to me, a complete stranger stiting next to her who is bonkers for bacon.

I quickly explained, “I’m sorry! I’m eating a really good bacon cupcake and I write for Bacon Today so when you mentioned bacon, I lost my mind.” She laughed with me (not at me, I’m sure) and then gave me the scoop on where to find the bacon brownie.

She directed me to a dessert counter in the Limelight Marketplace’s Sweet Room called Mari’s New York. Mari’s specializes in tiny “artisanal” brownies, made from scratch, that you can eat in two bites. I thanked my new friend and rushed over to Mari’s counter and blurted out, “I hear you have bacon brownies!” The clerk said, “You heard right,” and handed me a bacon brownie. Squeeee(al)!

I in turn handed her $3 (which breaks down to $1.50 a bite) and took my treasure home. I ate it in 4 bites (I had to make it last) and realized that I would have paid more than $3 for it. DELICIOUS barely covers how this brownie tasted.

The choclate is delightfully rich and the bacon tastes fresh off the frying pan. The moistness of the brownie is a great contrast to the chewyness of the bacon. Sweet and salty, this brownie is terribly satisfying.

If you’ve been reading my articles, you know this is the point where I say, “Obviously I needed to know nore about this porky dish of delish!” So here is my interview with Mari’s New York:

ME: The Bacon Brownie is wonderful! Please explain what the ingredients are that make it so delicious.

MARI’S NY: The bacon brownie has homemade Niman Ranch bacon jam swirled in the batter and a sprinkling of candied bacon on top.

ME: JAM! I never would have guessed that in a million years. How did you come up with the bacon brownie?

MARI’S NY: I started with pureed cooked bacon mixed in but that wasn’t enough to sate my bacon needs – it needed actual pieces of bacon that you’d discover as you chewed. The candied bits on top gild the bacon lily, so to speak.

ME: I’ll second that statement. How often is this bacon brownie for sale at your shop in Limelight? Are they only available here?

MARI’S NY: We try and have enough for sale every day but we have been known to sell out. They are also offered at GRAB Specialty Foods in Park Slope, Brooklyn.

ME: What made you think, “I need to make a brownie with bacon in it”? Are you a bacon enthusiast?

MARI’S NY: I Love Bacon. Who doesn’t?

ME: For real. Who indeed?

MARI’S NY: Bacon goes with just about everything else, so I thought why not brownies? Ever since perfecting my bacon jam, I’ve been adding it to anything and everything at home.

ME: You are my kind of people. So my appetite needs to know if you have any brownies in the future that might contain bacon?

MARI’S NY: Maybe. One thing’s for sure, there will be other bacon offerings at Mari’s New York.

ME: YAY!

– Jennifer Eolin

Consider the “Bacon Love!” mini day-to-day calendar from Andrews McMeel publishing. Although the publisher missed out on what would be a sales-boosting slogan for their company (“Without bacon, it’s not a McMeel!”), this stationery commodity delivers a great gift to bacon aficionados everywhere: namely that, with a recipe, quotation, trivia, or celebration on every one of 2011′s 365 days, never again will we let a day pass by without pausing to give thanks for bacon’s crisp and plentiful blessings.

Thinking about the year-long quantification of bacon’s virtues limned in the McMeel codex triggered in me a flashback (which is like fatback, but more nostalgic and less salty) to my high school days, when I was obsessed with the Broadway musical Rent. Yes, unlike the raw materials that constitute bacon, I have long been an incurable ham. What would Jonathan Larson’s Bohemian proto-hipsters have thought about this calendar? Well, it’s probably not their cup of herbal, fair trade, shade-grown tea, based on their predilection for pasta with meatless balls. What I meant to ask was, in the spirit of Rent‘s signature uplifting anthem “Seasons of Love”: how do you measure, measure a year? In rashers, in sizzle, in protein, in B3 (Niacin)…

Okay, on second thought, Rent is probably fine just the way it is (except for a few songs in the second act: I’m looking at you, “Your Eyes”) and the calendar is fine just the way McMeel created it. I don’t think I would want to eat five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred slices of bacon in one year at the rate of one per minute, but thinking about it makes me happy and optimistic about the opportunities for bacon love in the coming calendar year. Do you think they have rush delivery?

Click here to purchase

Here is a very simple recipe for a delightfully delicious and temptingly tasty substitute for that “a little too regular, increasingly boring, every-day vegetable soup that literally every loves but is simply getting a bit tired of / bored with after too many appearances on the kitchen table this year.

There certainly will be no “suffering with THIS succotash, as this flavorful break away from the ordinary is sure to put smiles on everyone’s faces and a good feeling in your heart and mind, knowing that you fed them some seriously good eatin’! Enjoy!

(Serves

1 lb. Gourmet Sun-dried Tomato Bacon

8 ears of corn, chopped into thirds

2 large red bell peppers, chopped

2 large onions, chopped

2 “15 oz” cans of low-sodium chicken broth

4 cups of fresh lima beans

4 cups of green squash 

6 cloves of garlic, minced

1 tsp. of dried thyme

½ tsp. crushed red pepper

½ tsp. salt

Instructions:

Heat a large frying pan over a medium-high heat and place the bacon in the pan. Cook the bacon till crisp by frying for 3 to 4 minutes on each side.

When bacon is crispy, remove to paper towel lined plate and once cool enough to touch, pat with another paper towel to remove excess grease.

Now add the onion to pan and cook, stirring and turning continually until lightly browned.

Add the bell pepper, squash, garlic, thyme, salt and red pepper flakes to the pan of onions and cook while continuously stirring for another 3 to 4 minutes.

Pour the chicken broth into the pan, being sure to stir up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan.

Now add the corn and lima beans, turning then often so that they cook evenly and until the corn and beans are tender and the liquid reduces slightly to a thicker, soupy broth like consistency, approximately 5 minutes.

Now chop the bacon into quarters and stir into the mixture, allowing the bacon to saturate itself into the mix for about 5 minutes on a very low flame / heat.

Serve and Enjoy!

When faithful Bacon Today reader Alana Muir visited family members last fall in Duluth, Minn., she had a near-religious experience while dining out. And no, it didn’t involve Norwegian-style Lutefisk, that air-dried whitefish loved by the Norwegians and Swedes who settled in Minnesota.
So what was the focus of Muir’s spiritual moment, even though she didn’t get to try the dish? Look no further than The Duluth Grill, a family-owned eatery in town that serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. Oh, and a little dessert called the When Pigs Fly Sundae.
But what does this have to do with bacon, you ask? Easy: the When Pigs Fly Sundae a delicious dessert built with three scoops of vanilla ice cream, crispy applewood-smoked bacon, caramel, hot fudge, saltine crackers and a cherry. The dish costs about four bucks for a sweet-and-salty finale to a satisfying Duluth Grill meal.

We’d order that in a minute, but Muir lives in Scotland, which is a little far for takeout ice cream, no matter the bacon content. That’s why you should take time when cruising through Minnesota to check out the restaurant’s site to see what looks good. You might want to call ahead while you’re at it and mention the When Pigs Fly Sundae. On its own the sundae might make the trip worthwhile, although we think the list of burger options might also get us there.
So thanks, Alana, for alerting us to this bacon-fueled dessert. We hope you’ll come back and order a When Pigs Fly Sundae so you can let us know what you think. Now, how far is it to Duluth…

Growing up in a family that was originally from a very tropical place, meant that there was always fruit in the house. The counter was always littered with slices or baskets of watermelons, oranges, strawberries, blackberries, mangos, grapes, etc. etc. etc. With such a variety of fruit always at an arm’s reach, it was almost natural to love fruit salads.

Everyone makes fruit salads differently. It’s all about personal preferences. My favorite type of fruit salad has small square shaped chunks of fruit, mixed together with a little bit of condensed milk with grated mozzarella cheese and coconut on top. For anyone who hasn’t tried it, it’s delicious but you have to make sure to use at least 6 different types of fruits (mangos, bananas, apples, strawberries, oranges, and grapes work well). As the end of summer approaches, I decided to look up fun picnic meals. Here is where I discovered the bacon fruit salad.

I didn’t really look too much at what was in the salad (aside from remembering there was watermelon). But the idea of adding bacon to my favorite fruit salad, suddenly seemed amazing. That little bit of salt, I’m not sure if the condense milk would still be as good but I might try it both ways. But the bacon could replace the cheese, or who knows the cheese might be as delicious on the fruit with the added compliment of the bacon. I wanted to share my excitement and suggest to all fellow bacon and possible fruit lovers this awesome combination.

To me, Sunday mornings aren’t complete without two things: bacon and National Public Radio. This American Life is one of my favorite shows to listen to while eating bacon: Ira Glass’s bland, nasal vocal tones complement the salt and fat in my breakfast treat, and the whole thing is just about as much enjoyment as you can have with your pants on.

In episode 413, the journalists from the show visit several different counties in Georgia, and reporter Nancy Updike mentions in passing that two of Georgia’s adjacent counties are named Coffee and Bacon, but not for the reasons you might think: they’re named for people. (Seriously, maple syrup glazed bacon: RESULT. Kick those starchy pancakes to the curb.)

So I was reading about Senator Bacon, and thought that maybe I’d mine his biography for some comic detail, and when I found that that he was Chairman of the Committee for Engrossed Bills, I thought, “This stuff writes itself.” But I gulped when I found Senator Bacon’s most enduring legacy: in addition to being a soldier in the Confederate Army, his dying act was to establish in his will a whites-only “public” park in Macon, Georgia. If he thought his will would stand up in court, Bacon was mistaken about Macon. The Supreme Court struck down his bequest, but it certainly makes Bacon less a figure of fun and more of a reminder of how hurtful and backwards this country’s prejudices once caused people to behave.

If Senator Bacon were alive today, I don’t know what he’d think about having a black President in the White House: maybe he’d be among the erroneous few who falsely believe Barack Obama is a bacon-eschewing Muslim. But I for one am glad to live in the America where the Union triumphed, and where the 14th Amendment will forever ensure that a park is where whites and others meet.

I have a soft spot for confections and (obviously) bacon. So when you combine the two, my head explodes and I have to write about it.

I’ve mentioned it before, I’m a big fan of Twitter. I’ve been introduced to companies I never would have heard of without it. And one of those companies is CupcakeStop. 

CupcakeStop opened in 2009 (by owner Lev Ekster) in NYC and this food truck is bascially heaven on wheels. It tools around NY and serves up different varieties of “handmade made from scratch” cupcakes everyday. It also has a cupcake stand sans wheels at the Limelight Marketplace  on 6^th and 20^th. And it’s there that I tried the French Toast with Bacon Cupcake. Squeeee(al)!

Okay. This cupcake is PERFECTION. I’ve tried other bacon confections and even tried to make one myself but this one takes the cake. (Yes, I also enjoy a good pun in addition to bacon.) The maple french toast flavor is subtle without being overly sweet nor does it overpower and the saltiness of the bacon. And this bacon is GOOD. Chewy, thick and present. It doesn’t tease, it doesn’t overwhelm, it subtly says, “Hi, I’m porky goodness, what’s your name?”

Obviously, as any good bacon reporter is want to do, I had to ask CupcakeStop more questions about their delicacy.

ME: So tell me, how did you come up with a French Toast with Bacon Cupcake? How many recipes did you try before coming up with the final product?

CupcakeStop: Because our baker Chris Mitchell is a true southern boy with an affinity for bacon, he decided to create this flavor. We like to think of it as the perfect breakfast cupcake. We went through approximately 8 different variations before coming up with the final product.

ME: This is truly the best bacon cupcake I’ve tasted. What are the key ingredients in your cupcake? What is the frosting made out of?

CupcakeStop: Thank you! The key ingredient is Apple Wood Smoked Bacon, that is then caramelized with pure maple syrup and vanilla sugar. The frosting is a buttercream infused with cinnamon.

ME: Well the thought and care that you put into this cupcake shows. I’m sure these cupcakes sell quite well.

CupcakeStop: They sell very well. We only make a limited quantity of them so when they do become available, our customers go crazy. However, they are rarely requested for the Bar Mitzvahs we cater.

ME: HA! I’m sure. How often are they on your rotating menu?

CupcakeStop: They appear on the menu approximately two times per month.

ME: Are the bakers at CupcakeStop bacon enthusiasts?

CupcakeStop: The entire staff loves bacon!

ME: I knew you were good people! So I HAVE to ask, anymore bacon cupcakes in CupcakeStop’s future? And if so, when?

CupcakeStop: Absolutely, we just can’t divulge that information yet. All I can say is that we are currently developing new bacon themed flavors.

ME: Yay! Love it! How can someone who doesn’t live in NY or NJ get to sample your French Maple Cupcake with Bacon? Do you take special orders for specific flavored cupcakes?

CupcakeStop: We don’t offer this cupcake for nationwide shipping, yet.

ME: Last question, any expansion plans?

CucakeStop: Yes! We are currently looking into new locations in NYC and a few out of state as well.

You can follow CupcakeStop on Twitter and on Facebook! And as always, enjoy!

OK, in order to prevent potentially passionate pork patrons from walking away from this most enjoyably enticing epicurean experience before they fully realize just what a truly amazing meal this really is, let’s quickly clarify a couple of terms that sometimes gets some people making that quizzically stumped face while muttering the words “What The Huh?” to themselves.

Confit: is a term borrowed from French cuisine, actually pronounced as “con-fee.” The culinary term designates a piece of meat that has been immersed, marinated, cooked and even stored in it’s own fat, sometimes with the augmentation of other additional juices and / or spices, for the bountiful benefit of both immaculate flavor, as well as superior preservation.

Pork Belly: Though mostly heard these days in reference to piggish spending and / or political pigeon-holing of funds, Pork Belly is precisely what the term would logically designate, the belly section of a pig, from which most continental bacon is traditionally cut.

Alright, now that we’ve got tat out of the way, this is a savory, slightly sweet and salty, subtle and sapidly scrumptious recipe created by Jimmy, the “gastronomical genius” over at “Eat It, Atlanta,” a blog dedicated to “Cooking, Dining & General Food Philandering, Mostly in ATL.

Intended to serve four people, with a nice glass of slightly chilled Pinot, here’s Jimmy’s story about how the whole thing went down: I first acquired my pork belly. I found out the hard way that Whole Foods Buckhead doesn’t carry it. I asked the butcher why they didn’t have it, he laughed and said, “We cater to Buckhead”. No fat back either. So I picked up a small piece from Star Provisions. It was much smaller than the 2.5lb slab recommended, but my 1lb piece was plenty as an appetizer for four people.

”

The pork brines for about 12 hours before cooking. This was a cooked brine of rosemary, thyme, pepper, garlic, parsley, honey, and salt.The next morning I set my alarm for 5AM, dragged my ass downstairs, then melted some lard and duck fat, submerged the pork, went back to sleep, and let the pork cook at 200F for five hours.Then I poured the fat into a firm container, covered it with wrap, set a heavy can on it to press it, then it went into the fridge for six hours.When I was ready to sear the pork, I took it out of the fat and cleaned it off fairly well.I scored the fat side, then cut it into squares.Then I seared the belly, fat side down, on low heat for 15 minutes. After that, it went into the oven for 10 minutes to warm through.Then we dug in.Divine. With each bite, the fat melted and pressed into the flesh of the pork, creating a warm, and savory bite of the best pork belly I’ve had to date. This is the way fat was meant to be consumed.”

Bon Appetit!

They’ve always said that the easiest way to a lover’s heart is through their stomach. So it is with today’s latest trend, where pork passionate “paramours” please one with the gentle heat & sweet of a salty and sultry, tantalizing treat of taste-bud temptation.

Were talking about chocolaty caress of freshly dipped flesh, bacon that is … and it’s the latest rage in “Elite Epicurean Eroticism” as lovers willingly surrender themselves to the appetizingly ambrosial allure of today’s acknowledged and approved aphrodisiac of the aficionados …chocolate dipped bacon.

The amazing thing is that it’s so very simple to prepare and enjoy.

Simply cook the bacon till firm, but not brittle while slowly heating a fine chocolate to the point of melting, just like the will power of that very “special someone” whom you plan to enjoy this intoxicating and feverishly famished flesh-fest with.

Remember to drain and pat off any excess grease and allow to cool enough to avoid any injury when these sheets of sweet and salty sizzle are dipped in the luxurious luster of love and lust’s number 1 accomplice, a good quality, fine chocolate, warmed up slowly in a fondue pot or “double boiler” and relaxed just enough to allow it to voluntarily give up it’s existential essence with ease and ecstatic enthusiasm.

It truly takes two to tango … so slowly and playfully take turns teasingly and pleasingly feeding one another this sumptuously satisfying sensation and make a playful dance of it. You won’t be disappointed, we guarantee it!

Bon Appetit!

One “not so healthy” thing that tends to happen to us all during the hot summer months, is that we are often so very busy and on the go all the time, we begin to neglect or need for healthy veggies to healthfully balance out all the fast food and quick snack “carbs” and proteins that we continue to consume to fuel our flight and fancy while constantly on the run from morning to night.

Here’s a great recipe to fix that scenario in a very tasty, time sensitive treat that is as good for us as it is delicious.

Baby Bubba’s Braised Veggies & Bacon Bonanza.

(Serves 4)

Ingredients:

1 tbsp unsalted butter

8 slices of Baby Bubba’s Butcher Block Hickory Smoked Peppered Bacon chopped into ¼ inch segments.

1 lb. chopped potatoes

8 oz. chopped carrots

8 oz. chopped onions

sea salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste

¼ cup chicken broth

1 lb. green beans, trimmed and cut into 1- to 2-inch pieces

¼ cup “creme fraiche”

5 sprigs chopped tarragon

Directions:

First melt your butter in a wide shallow braising pan or large, deep skillet over medium heat.

Toss in the bacon and fry for 5 minutes, stirring often until well browned and crisp on the outside but still flexible.

Dump in the potatoes, carrots and spring onions.

Season to taste with salt and pepper

Pour in the broth.

Once the broth begins to bubble at the edges of the pan, reduce the heat to medium-low.

Cover and cook for 12 to 18 minutes, until the potatoes are just tender.

If the mixture seems dry, add a few additional tbsp of broth or water.

Cover and cook for 5 minute, until all the vegetables are tender.

Uncover and add the creme fraiche.

Now increase the heat to medium-high cook for an additional 3 or 4 minutes, stirring constantly until the creme fraiche thickens and the vegetables take on an appealing fawn-colored glaze.

Stir in the tarragon.

Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.

Enjoy!