King Tut’s Bacon Mashed Potato Death Mask

Recipe by Matt Harron

Ingredients:

3 lbs Yukon Gold Potatoes

1.5 lb sliced lean bacon (the more dark meat the better)

1 Jar of cheese whiz (refrigerated)

2 tbsp Bar-b-q sauce

8 tbs of butter (1 stick more)

1 cup of whole milk or heavy cream

Salt & Pepper to taste

1 photo of King Tut’s death mask to work from

Directions:

Prep Time :  1:15 hrs

Cook Time:  20 min

Peel and cube the potatoes and boil in a large pot for about 12 minutes in 3-4 quarts of water.  Don’t over cook these or they may become hard to work with when molding.  Drain the potatoes and force them through a ricer or hand-mash them in the same large pot you boiled in.  Slowly add the butter and milk to make sure they potatoes do not get too runny.  You want them to be firm and tasty.  Add salt and pepper.

In a large greased casserole dish, start molding the face by scooping up two large handfuls of potato.  (I found that greasing my hands with bacon grease helped the potato from sticking)  Work from the top of the dish down, remembering to leave room for the headdress at the top and the necklace at the bottom.  Once you have the oval face, try rolling the potatoes between your hands into strips and laying them around the face.  You’ll need to shape the chin, nose, eyes, eyebrows, and headdress. Remember this is not an exact science.  It’s going to taste good anyway.

Once you’re shaped your Tut, use the cheese whiz and coat the face and headdress like you would icing a cake.  If your potatoes are still warm, keeping the cheese whiz cold will help it to spread nicely.  You don’t have to cake it on too much, you can always add the extra after you cook it.  For the chin, I used bar-b-q sauce and fatty bacon stips to make it look like bandages.

Now separate out about 7-8 pieces of bacon and set them aside. Using scissors or a sharp knife, cut the remaining bacon into strips to be used to accent the headdress and the face.  Use the picture of Tut to help you decorate.

Weave the remaining bacon into a rectangle that will fit your creation.  I did 4 pieces horizontal and 3 pieces cut in half vertically.  This part was a little tricky because you may need to cut out the headdress and chin from the bacon weave in order to fit it into the pan.  Think of the bacon weave like construction paper and you should be fine.  You can always add more.

Once you’re done, make sure to take a “before” picture and then bake the entire casserole on 350f for about 20 minutes or until the cheese looks crispy.   Add any remaining cheese and enjoy!  Feeds about 4-6.