Hot Chicks Eat Bacon

Mad Men’s Christina Hendricks is mad for bacon—chocolate covered bacon to be exact—according to Esquire. A woman after my own heart, she orders a soup with both pancetta and guanciale and exclaims “I know my pork!” She goes on to extol the wonderful uses of having a deep fryer. Is there anything sexier than a hot woman who just loves to eat?

Next month, I will be going a Mad Men-era cocktail party filled with hot women who love to eat. So what do I bring for these drunk, hungry bitches? When I think of 1960s entertaining, I think: canapes! And wouldn’t baconmarmalade be a beautiful (and yummy) topping for a canape?! But... I’m not exactly prepared to share that much of my stash. Instead, I whipped out my trusty Bacon Cookbook and found a french cheese & bacon puff recipe that looks amazing. I then googled 1960s canapes and found a recipe for “baconettes” which sounds more theme appropriate. Which would you rather enjoy while knocking back a gimlet or two?

French Cheese & Bacon Puffs

1 cup water

1 stick butter, cut into pieces

1/4 tsp. salt

1 cup flour

4 large eggs

1/2 lb slab bacon, diced

1 cup shredded Gruyére

Combine water, butter & salt in a heavy saucepan & bring to a boil. Reduce heat, add flour & beat w/ a wooden spoon until a ball of dough forms. Transfer to a mixing bowl & add eggs one at a time, beating with an electric mixer on high until the batter holds soft peaks. Cover with plastic wrap & chill briefly.

Fry bacon until crisp & drain. Preheat oven to 375° & Butter a large baking sheet. Fold the cheese & bacon into batter & drop by tablespoon onto the baking sheet. Bake for 30 minutes, turn heat off & let stand until golden & crisp, about 10 minutes.

OR

Baconettes

bacon

peanut butter

large apple & toothpicks

Spread slices of bacon with peanut butter. Roll tight & fasten with toothpicks (soaked in water). Toast under broiler until bacon is done. Serve by sticking the toothpicks into a large apple.

The Red Cat’s Bacon Tempura

Earlier this summer I got a tip from baconista followers about this dish featured on Food Network. Unfortunately, it was no longer on the menu at the time. But due to popular demand, it recently reappeared on the Red Cat menu and I was ready to try it with three eager & willing friends.

We met at the Standard Grill for drinks. When you start the night off with tasty cocktails and a plate of pork perfection—jamon iberico, chorizo, and sopressata—you know it’s going to be a good night. Then off to Red Cat for a good dinner with even better dessert. We of course had the bacon tempura which was much lighter than I expected and made for a very good combination with the corn salad sprinkled on top. Also shared was a decent duck entree, a crab appetizer and an amazingly decadent polenta (that was basically all cheese—delicious, delicious cheese). Strawberry shortcake was fresh & light with a very interesting cornmeal texture. But my favorite part of the meal may have been the banana ice cream sandwich with caramelized bananas & caramel sauce. I’m done with my ice cream ratings for now but for this I make an exception—3 scoops!

Photos courtesy of Patty.

Buttermilk Channel

The Buttermilk Channel is where—if you were a Brooklyn farmer a couple centuries back—you may have once walked your cows across at low tide to graze on the grass of Governor’s Island. It’s also a Caroll Gardens restaurant that offers grass-fed steak as well as buttermilk fried chicken. But the purpose of my visit was to have a cocktail and sample their famed maple & bacon roasted almonds. Similar to the bacon peanut brittle at Readhead, but sweeter and with larger chunks of deliciously candied bacon. I was also persuaded to try the mustard-glazed grilled bacon even though I am not a fan of mustard. It looks pretty tasty but if you don’t enjoy mustard it is probably not for you. Bacon seems to be laced throughout the menu here which gives me plenty of reason to go back for a full meal. I am eyeing the A-B-C grilled cheese on the brunch menu: apples, double smoked bacon, and NY state cheddar. Mmmm...