Vanilla Bourbon Bacon

I had finally time to catch up with an good old friend for breakfast this morning, he single-handedly inhaled
almost an entire pound of bacon (It must have been his Wednesday ritual), which made me got to thinking about it more. Why is it that so many people love bacon? We love it so much that we even top lots of our foods with it now. Menu items including bacon have risen almost 30% in the past few years. Designers and artists are inspired by it and create all sorts of bacon concepts. Why?

I suddenly needed to know, and I went on an information hunting spree. After all, almost everyone I know loves bacon. I even know vegetarians who are tempted by the smell of bacon on the griddle. Another interesting fact is that not all pig breeds are suitable for good bacon. As per statistic there are about 73 pig breeds on earth, non officially about one hundred. It's always amazing to find out how many dishes and even deserts can be combined with Bacon. Ever heard of Vanilla Bourbon Bacon Molasses Cookies with Bourbon Glaze ? So here you have it. A cookie jam-packed with not only bacon, but booze as well! Well, the cookies are just as bacolicious without the booze, but we know you really want it!


For the cookies, you will need:

1/2 cup white sugar
1 cup dark brown sugar
3/4 cup of cooled bacon grease (or shortening)
2 eggs
2 Tbsp. vinegar
1/2 cup molasses
4 cups flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ginger
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. salt
Chopped Vanilla Bourbon Bacon

Line an edged baking sheet with foil. Lay the bacon strips onto the foil, then place in the oven. Heat oven to 400 degrees and set the timer for about 20 minutes. Once cooked, drain bacon strips over the pan then set them aside. Pour the hot bacon grease into a small measuring cup and let it cool completely (put it in the fridge to speed this up). You will use this bacon grease to replace the shortening in this recipe. If you do not have enough grease, fill the rest of the 3/4 cup with shortening.

While the grease is cooling, measure out the remaining ingredients and chop up the bacon. Use as much bacon as you want and enjoy a few pieces while you’re waiting for your grease to cool.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream together the grease/shortening and sugars. Beat in the eggs. Add remaining ingredients. Drop dough by spoonful onto a lightly greased baking sheet. Do not flatten. If the dough is too soft, refrigerate until more firm. Bake about 9 minutes. Carefully remove them from the cookie sheet and allow them to cool for at least 15 minutes.

Bourbon Glaze:
4 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup bourbon
1/2 cup dark brown sugar

In a medium saucepan melt butter, then add the brown sugar. Whisk in the bourbon, stirring constantly. Once it begins to bubble, turn the heat down to medium-low. Let the mixture bubble for 10 minutes or so. It will bubble and rise in the pan so keep whisking it! The longer you let it bubble, the thicker your glaze will be.

To serve, drizzle the glaze over the cookies or serve the cookies with vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of the Bourbon Glaze on top!

These cookies are perfect for family gatherings and summer picnics and potlucks. They’re also ideal for using up all of the leftover bacon grease you've been accumulating in your refrigerator!

The Perfect Mousse Au Chocolat

Chocolate mousse has never lost it's attraction of perfect desert to me.. it's basically a mousse that can fit to any type of menue.  Folding method is very crucial and important, don't over whip it, otherwise you will get a chocolate sauce and not mousse. So, treat this mousse as if it's your first date, be gentle to it and love it ! that will guaranty great results! I happen to try mousse au chocolat the first time in 1996 during hotel management school in Switzerland. It was amazing and I was always wondering on how they do it! Now, after many years I have had the privilege to find and try it out myself... a wonder thing that is not rocket science but simply discipline action following the steps that it requires. Celebrity Chefs would certainly become jobless on TV if you follow this recipe and not theirs, TV shows do not always have the best recipe...

Chocolate mousse is all about ingredients and the way you whip the mousse. There are only three ingredients, so they should be fresh and high-quality. Have your bowl and whisk for the egg whites immaculately clean and your cream very cold. If you've done these things, you’ll end up with a rich and perfectly whipped mousse that can kick the ass of any chocolate pudding. Another interesting aspect is that lot's of five star hotels have chocolate mousse on the menue, did you ever noticed that ?

These are the steps that you must strictly follow! Trust me, once you completed the mousse, it can taste even better than sex. So, try it yourself! Here the ingredients and steps!

Ingredients:

5 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped1 cup very cold heavy cream
3 large egg whites (no traces of yolk), at room temperature
Sweetened whipped cream, for serving (optional)

Then, the steps!

1. Fill a medium saucepan with 2 inches of water and bring to a simmer over medium heat.
2. Place chocolate and 1/4 cup of the heavy cream in a large heatproof bowl. (Place remaining cream back in the refrigerator until ready to use.) Nest the bowl over the saucepan, making sure the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water. Melt chocolate, stirring occasionally with a rubber spatula, until smooth and combined with the cream. Remove the bowl from the saucepan and set aside to cool slightly.
3. Place egg whites in a second large bowl and whisk vigorously until stiff peaks form, about 3 minutes (make sure the bowl and whisk have no trace of oil or fat, or the whites will not whip properly); set aside. (Alternatively, you can use an electric mixer.)
4. Clean and dry the whisk (or your beaters if you’re using an electric mixer). Place the remaining 3/4 cup heavy cream in a third large bowl and whisk until stiff peaks form. (Alternatively, you can use an electric mixer.)
5. Using a rubber spatula, fold half of the whipped cream into the melted chocolate, then gently stir in the rest (try not to deflate the whipped cream). Gently fold the egg whites into the chocolate-cream mixture just until there are no longer large blobs of whipped cream or egg white (do not over mix).
6. Spoon the mousse or pipe it from a pastry bag into serving cups and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Rien ne va plus! Leave it as it is, don't touch the mousse once these steps are completed! Dont mess it up!