A mighty fine little hole-in-the-wall restaurant exists smack dab in the middle of Corona, California. If you’re not paying attention you might drive right by without even knowing it was there.

That place is the Burger Basket and they’re open from 6am to 10pm, 7 days a week serving breakfast, lunch and dinner.

What we were there for was breakfast fortified with bacon. For our first taste test we ordered the simple meal of the bacon & eggs breakfast plate. We ordered the eggs over hard with some white toast to top it all off.

The bacon was excellent. Thick, just the right balance of soft & crispy for this reviewer’s taste. The slices had just enough grease to keep things interesting without making the bacon too dry.

If you’re in Corona, make sure you stop by the Burger Basket.

Smaste™ Rating: 32.191

The Burger Basket
1058 West 6th Street
Corona, CA 92882
(951) 734-1331

Read what others are saying about the Burger Basket on Yelp

A mouthful both in name and flavor-packed taste, the Baja Chipotle and Sun Dried Tomato Bacon Wrapped Chicken I made tonight was absolutely killer. Here’s a meal fit for a king but simple enough even for the court jester to pull off with ease.

Start with two or three medium sized chicken breasts. Marinade them in a tangy chipotle marinade. Slice the breasts open sideways, kind of like you’re filleting a fish. Do the same thing with an equal number of string cheeses and slide the cheese halves into the chicken pocket you’ve created.

Get yourself some quality bacon. I recommend Rocco’s Sun-Dried Tomato bacon to add a little zest to your meal. Wrap the stuffed chicken breasts with the bacon and place in a baking dish.

Bake the bacon-wrapped chicken in a pre-heated oven at 375 degrees for 20 minutes. While the chicken is baking, make your side dishes. You’ll probably have a couple extra slices of bacon after wrapping the chicken, so I suggest making some sauteed carrots with fresh garlic, pepper, and tasty bacon. Combine all those elements along with a couple tablespoons of butter and a some olive oil and let all that saute for 15 minutes or so.

I also warmed up a few sweet potatoes to balance out the meal. Overall this was an amazingly delicious and extremely simple meal to make. It will be sure to impress bacon lovers and casual porcines as well.

Smaste™ rating: 49.842

This weekend I found myself once again at The Anchor Bar in Superior, Wisconsin. After a night of great music at Pizza Luce I was invited to lunch with the fine folks from the two bands that performed the night before: Cars & Trucks and The Evening Rig.

The Anchor Bar is famous in dive bar circles and has been featured on some popular foodie shows in the past couple years. You might think I’m jumping on the bandwagon but I was born in the city of Superior so I’ve got some street cred.

I opted for the plain old $2.50 burger, some greasy bar fries, and a side of bacon. The burgers are what make the Anchor famous, but I go there for the bacon. They prepare their meat candy with all the love and affection you’d expect from northern Wisconsin dive bar — they drop the stips in the deep fryer then toss them on the flat giddle to finish them off. Mmmmmmm…deep fried bacon.

I grabbed one of the perfectly cooked strips of thick bacon and gave it the official taste test. In a word — perfect. For me, there is not a better way to prepare bacon then they do at the Anchor. I then piled the bacon high on my burger and topped it off with dill pickles and a splash of mustard.

The meal was absolute heaven for a bacon lover. If you can wiggle your way up to the south shore of Lake Superior, make the Anchor Bar a lunchtime stop. Make sure to order the Pancake Breakfast Shot as an added bonus.

Smaste™ rating: 42.959

I heard a rumor that something amazing had been created at the Anchor Bar in Superior, Wisconsin along the south shore of Lake Superior. I was up in the area so I called up the creator (my buddy MattO) and asked him to introduce me to his little invention called The Pancacke Breakfast — a shot of alcohol that tastes like a plate of syrupy pancakes with a side of bacon.

Honestly, I was quite skeptical that the shot would taste anything like pancakes. The ingredients were a secret and all I knew that a tasty strip of bacon was used as garnish. The lovely ladies of the Anchor Bar, Shayla and Bobbie, were ready to introduce me to the new drink and MattO was right there to down the Pancake Breakfast Shot with me.

I watched the preparation of the Pancake Breakfast Shot and was able to jot down what I think is the secret forumla:

50% Butterscotch Liquor
50% Strawberry Schnapps
One tasty strip of bacon

Leave the bacon in the drink for a few mintues to let the flavor soak in and that’s it. I hear it can be served chilled or at room temperature — I tried the latter.

After watching the preparation I remained completely skeptical. How could three simple incredients taste like one of America’s favorite meals? I was about to find out as MattO and I tipped our heads back and pounded down the shots.

WOW! As soon at the Pancacke Breakfast Shot hit my tounge my eyes opened wide. I was pouring a syrupy pancacke into my mouth and munching on a piece of bacon. The Anchor Bar staff got a good chuckle as I stood there completely shocked. MattO has definitely invented a winner here. I give it an off-the-charts Smaste™ rating of 53.228!!!

People, you need to do one of two things and both of them involve getting up off your butt and heading out the door. 1) Get over to the Anchor Bar and have a Pancacke Breakfast Shot at the source or 2) Grab the incredients and make your own Pancake Breakfast Shot. Either way, please take some pictures, shoot some video, and write us to let us know what you think. We’ll be publishing a follow-up article in late November with your stories.

My trip to Virginia was quite fruitful when it came to bacon. At Tractor Supply Co. alone I found two gems — the How to Raise Pigs book and what I’m about to share with you now.

Bacon Dog Food.

That’s right, now your pooches can be fed as they should — with bacon. Beef, bacon, and cheese to be exact. Retriever brand dog food comes in a variety of flavors but you know what your pet is really going to love.

Just imagine the look on Rover’s face when he hears the crack of that tin lid. I’m betting he’ll quickly turn down every other food in favor of the taste of sweet, sweet bacon in a baste of beef & cheese. That mouth-watering goodness will become Rover’s main meal for years to come.

Regular price for this K9 delicacy is only 89 cents. Think about that, you can make man’s best friend infinitely happy for under a buck a day. What’s stopping you? Run out to your local Tractor Supply Co. and get your pup what he or she deserves — bacon.

Walking through Tractor Supply Co. in rural Virginia, I noticed a book on the shelf titled “Home Sausage Making”. I took a quick glance around the book rack and was initially disappointed that their only meat preparation book involved bacon’s compressed cousin.

Upon closer examination though revealed that Tractor Supply Co. has it’s priorities straight. I spied the book “How to Raise Pigs” — in a way a book about bacon from start to finish.

This book is filled with everything you need to know about raising pigs and preparing them for a future as sweet, sweet bacon. Just look at the table of contents – this sucker is action packed!

Chapter 1 – An Introduction to Pigs & People
Chapter 2 – Getting Started
Chapter 3 – Pork Production Systems – What’s Your Plan?
Chapter 4 – Breeds of Pigs
Chapter 5 – Pork Production Systems – Organic, Sustainable, and Convential
Chapter 6 – Housing and Facilities
Chapter 7 – Fencing and Enclosures
Chapter 8 – Nutrient Management
Chapter 9 – Breeding and Reproduction
Chapter 10 – Feed for Profit and Production
Chapter 11 – Managing Your Pigs
Chapter 12 – Marketing Meat
Chapter 13 – Home Butchering
Chapter 14 – Exit Strategies
Chapter 15 – Showing Pigs
Chapter 16 – Country Living
Chapter 17 – Help and Advice

Here are a couple sample pages. Run out and buy this one, start raising some pigs, and document the process. We’ll start a new series on Bacon Today featuring your entry into the world of start to finish baconing!

I recently took a trip to the east coast and spent some time in the small town of Mineral, VA. While there I shopped at the Food Lion grocery store. My trip was very short, so I didn’t get a chance to cook up any of the local bacon and taste what Virginia had to offer.

Here are some photos of the bacon selection in the Food Lion. If anyone knows how these bacon varieties taste, please let us know. I’d like to know what to choose the next time I’m down in Mineral.

This year’s Los Angeles (LA) County Fair was a riot of food, fun, and festivities. A notable addition to the fair this year was the increasingly-popular chocolate dipped (AKA chocolate covered) bacon.

As I walked the fairgrounds I noticed no fewer than ten separate booths selling bacon covered in rich milk chocolate. After a day of walking around, seeing the sites, and riding the rides I decided it was time to give this treat a try. All the booths were selling the same variety of bacon and chocolate so I walked to the nearest booth and placed my order.

For $5.00 I was presented a small paper hot dog holder containing five large strips of bacon covered in rich chocolate. As I took the first bite a stranger walked up to me and asked “is that the chocolate bacon?”. I said “yes, would you like to try a piece.” To my surprise the man was a bacon lover and jumped at the chance for some free bacon.

I‘ll tell you what I told him though…it tasted great, until you got to the bacon. The stranger took a bite, gave me a funny look, and said “you know, you’re right. It’s great until the bacon.” I’m not sure if the problem was overly-rich chocolate, poor-quality bacon, or a combination of both but this chocolate covered bacon was definitely not a winner.

Save your 5 bucks and go for a ride on the Tilt-a-Whirl.

Smaste™ rating: 18.223

We’ve had our successes and our failures at Burger King when it comes to bacon. This time we had neither, but had a positive bacon encounter nonetheless.

Credit my mom with spotting this gem of a sign at the Burger King in Hinckley, Minnesota:

Bacon: You take things to another level. One meat just isn’t enough. In fact, if they could find a way to make the bun out of meat, you’d be all set.

Mmmmmm…buns of meat (not to be confused with hats of meat). I think the folks at Burger King may be on to something there…

Bacon Today reader Paul S. clued us in to some top secret and incredibly awesome items you can order from fast food restaurants. Paul pointed us to this article on Mental Floss. Check out item #10:

At Fatburger, you can order a Hypocrite – a veggie burger topped with crispy strips of bacon.

Has anyone tried this? There is a Fatburger a block from my house. I now know what I’m doing for International Bacon Day on September 5…heading to Fatburger to order a Hybocrite.

photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/misbehave/2809876527/