Well, I promised you some bacon recipes from Niamh (Knee-uv) Shields' book Bacon The Cookbook, and here she be, my hearties. The first cab off the rank; all the bacon and maple syrup flavour you could ask for. Niamh uses this candied bacon in quite a few of her recipes, so I decided to post this recipe separately so it's easy to find on the blog.
This is a wonderful book, full of colour and fun, and really interesting recipes. There are lovely, colourful drawings and photos, which are a pleasure to the eye. Niamh has filled it with sweet and savoury dishes, and even tells you how to cure bacon yourself. Eek, not sure I'll go there. I think that's a pig too far for me :-) (And she has researched the curing process and use of nitrites, which makes for interesting reading.)
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| sticky, sweet, savoury, bacon-y bacon |
ingredients:
about 300g./10.5oz of smoked streaky bacon
100 mL/3.5oz of good quality maple syrup (not maple-flavoured)
Method:
Put the bacon slices in a large mixing bowl, pour over the maple syrup and massage the two together till well and truly married
Put aside for an hour, covered and in the fridge
Turn your oven to 180C/350F, then while it's warming up, place the bacon slices onto two baking paper-lined oven trays
Pour any lingering syrup over the bacon
Bake for ten minutes, take out the trays and turn the slices over
Bake for another ten minutes - you want to see sticky strands of syrup hanging off the slices - and if you don't, shove 'em back into the oven for a few minutes till you do (mine took about thirty mins. but I have a veeery slow oven)
Let them cool right down, as they will be hot hot hot!
You can store them in clingwrap or baking paper in an airtight container in the fridge for a few days
Notes:
I suggest getting your bacon from the deli section, rather than in a packet. It will (hopefully) be fresher, and better quality. Niamh suggests using 12 slices of bacon, but when I measured mine, they ranged from 30 grams to 50 grams, so go by weight rather than the number of slices
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| massage the bacon and maple syrup together well |
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| lay the bacon on the trays after marinating for an hour |
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| see the beautifully sticky threads? |
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| mm just one tiny burnt bit - but still delicious |
Our longtime friend Kara, formerly known as Karin, aka Karen, always said she could never be a vegetarian because of bacon! I think I have to agree. There is just nothing like bacon, my friends. My cousin gave me some coconut faux bacon for Christmas. Oh dear! Hubby and I were vegos for a decade, and as many a lapsed vego has said: 'It was the bacon that drew me back'. Niamh knew exactly what she was doing with this book!
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| © Sherry M. |
Oh this sounds delicious!
ReplyDeleteit is indeed anne!
DeleteBacon is one of my true loves. I like wrapping it around a chicken thigh and adding a dollop of Marmalade or peach jam on top. It bakes and carmelizes on the chicken. Mmmmmmm
ReplyDeletehi tina
Deletei think you'll like this. great idea with the chicken thigh.
These look to die for. Thank you!
ReplyDeletethey are good jeanie. worth a go.
DeleteSuch a great recipe! We make a candied bacon recipe with brown sugar -- basically the same idea as this, just substitute brown sugar for the maple syrup. This sounds better, though. Gotta try it! Thanks.
ReplyDeletehi KR
DeleteNiamh mentions the use of brown sugar for this too but i think maple syrup is the way to go. it is delish!
Sounds wonderful Sherry, I especially love maple syrup over other sweeteners xo
ReplyDeletethanks Michaela. I do love me a bit of maple syrup too. and it goes so well with bacon :)
DeleteIt's too dangerous to keep these around me...you know, I have ZERO self control in front of bacon. This looks crazily GOOD, Sherry.
ReplyDeleteoh yes it is angie. yes indeed - very good.
DeleteI have made cupcakes using maple candied bacon and they were delicious!
ReplyDeleteoh i bet they were tandy. such an interesting idea isn't it?
DeleteWell, what is not to love about this? This is the perfect marriage of salty, smoky, and sweet - I really can't wait to try this. I can inly imagine how many ways it can be used.
ReplyDeleteyou are very right david. and yep you can use it in so many ways.
DeleteFor vegetarians and kosher-keepers, I’ve. heard bacon called the gateway meat — or maybe even gateway drug. You sound like you agree. I live in a kind of bacon vortex as our local Zingerman’s deli and bakehouse are very big on bacon. They published a bacon cookbook around 12 years ago, and sometimes run “Camp Bacon” a sort of bacon cooking school and all-around bacon fest.
ReplyDeletebe safe... mae at maefood.blogspot.com
really? gateway meat. mm interesting. There is a book called the bacon bible out too, and it looks like a bible. so many recipes! the camp bacon sounds like fun!
DeleteSo mouthwatering, Sherry! Love the sweet and smoky combo!
ReplyDeletethanks kelly.
DeleteLooks great, and that maple glaze on the bacon is just perfect! I'm sure it tasted delicious, I've only tried candied fruits, but you've inspired me to try it with meat!
ReplyDeletethanks aarthi. it did turn out well i'm glad to say. and it's great like this.
DeleteOh, there is nothing like bacon! In fact, I've been craving a good BLT sandwich lately - with extra bacon. Yum! I happen to love maple candied bacon. The sweet + salty together is fantastic. (I also happen to be intrigued by curing your own bacon, although I know it's a project that I should leave to the experts!) Oh, and speaking of maple bacon...try crumbling a bit on top of a cupcake. Maple Bacon Cupcakes were a HUGE thing here in the States some number of years back. There's a good reason why - sweet + salty in dessert form is amazing!
ReplyDeletehi david
Deleteyes tandy (above) said she made the cupcakes too. i'd never heard of them, but i had made lorraine from Not quite nigella's bacon ice cream before. (and niamh's recipe coming up next week here on the blog).
This looks absolutely dreamy! I absolutely love candied bacon... and wish I could reach out and grab a piece! :)
ReplyDeletehi heidi
Deleteyes it's very hard to resist, esp. when hot out of the oven:)
I love candied bacon! And in Canada they often do candied salmon! :D
ReplyDeletesalmon??!! OMG. that may be a bridge too far for this little black duck:)
DeleteOh yum! You make it look so easy... And delicious. I tried going kosher for a while but in the end I missed ham and bacon too much! Now I want to know what you're going to do with the candied bacon because I think I'd be eating it straight from the jar!
ReplyDeleteit is easy sammie. yes bacon is a big drawcard to every mammal i think! Ice cream coming up on the blog next:)
DeleteCandied bacon sounds wonderful! It would make a nice cocktail party snack too. Have you tried bacon jam? OMG, you really must.
ReplyDeleteThanks for dropping by my blog and for the comment.
Eva http://kitcheninspirations.wordpress.com/
I have some fab recipes for bacon jam. Must do it soon!
DeleteCandied bacon sounds wonderful! It would make a nice cocktail party snack too. Have you tried bacon jam? OMG, you really must.
ReplyDeleteThanks for dropping by my blog and for the comment.
Eva http://kitcheninspirations.wordpress.com/
thanks again!
DeleteDefinitely a deli bacon is needed for this. That's the only why you could really get the smoky flavor of the bacon with that sweet coating. These are so YUM!!!
ReplyDeletethanks MJ.
DeleteI don't know how I missed this post Sherry but life will never be the same now. This looks so addictive and delicious. Now I am set to try some of your other recipes. I try not to buy bacon too often though as it ends up in everything, but then what's wrong with that? Thanks so much.
ReplyDeleteit is delicious pauline. Worth a try.
DeleteI've had candied bacon before. It's amazing! Thanks for the recipe.
ReplyDeleteyou're welcome:)
Delete