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!

Raclette, The Cheese That Melts in Your Mouth

Raclette is a piece of wintertime Switzerland that most of the people like to have not only in winter chalets but also at home. If you ask most of the people which they prefer, fondue or raclette, most will reply raclette! The reason why is this so remains a mystery! I am a fondue monster myself, which is not to say that I don't enjoy cheesy raclette with good old friends. 

For those of you who haven't a clue, perhaps I'd better explain what it is. Raclette is essentially melted cheese, served over boiled potatoes with lots of ground black pepper, accompanied by small pickled onions and gherkins. The name comes from the French verb "racler", to scrape, because of the way the melted cheese is scraped off the block.

Like everything with a strong tradition, there are lots of very strict dos and don'ts, which don't actually matter that much. After you've had it a couple of times you'll get to know what you like and what you don't. The only thing that you need is to have a good raclette machine! 

Once you have one of those, and the following ingredients, just invite some friends round and you're all set.

Time: whatever it takes to cook the potatoes, plus as long as you want

Ingredients:

• 200 to 250g raclette cheese per person (in rectangular blocks for the first machine, or half-wheels for the second) - damage $15.00
• small firm potatoes (in Switzerland we use Bintje, Charlotte and the aptly named Raclette varieties) - damage $6.00
• pickled onions - damage $4.00
• a selection of dried meats, prosciutto, parma ham etc. - damage $10.00
• (optional) sliced peppers, tomato, onion, mushrooms
• paprika and fresh black pepper

1. Boil the potatoes in their skins until they're done.

2. Set the table with your meats, pickles, vegetables and cheese, the latter cut into thickish slices (too thick for a sandwich).

3. Put the potatoes on the table in their pan, covered, to keep warm while the cheese is cooking.

4. Each diner takes a slice of cheese and pops it into his/her individual cheese tray, tops it with a slice of tomato or other vegetable if he/she so desires and slides it under the grill. This is a good time to eat a few slices of ham and some gherkins. When the cheese is bubbling convincingly and going brown around the edges, remove the tray from under the grill, scrape the contents with a small wooden spatula on top of the potato which you have just placed on your plate, sprinkle with pepper and paprika, and eat. As it can take five minutes or so for each slice of cheese to cook, particularly before the grill has warmed up properly, it's a good idea to put a new slice of cheese in as soon as you've scraped the last one onto your potato. That way you can keep 'em coming.

And to finish off, here's the last word on "Real Raclette", taken from Sue Style's book A Taste of Switzerland: "Light a good fire. Buy yourself a half wheel of real Raclette cheese, preferably from the Valais (Gomser, Bagnes, Orsières etc.), between three and five months old. Scrape off the rind, top and bottom, so that the cheese can melt more easily. Prepare boiled potatoes in their skins and have ready a supply of gherkins or cornichons, pickled onions and black pepper. When the fire has died to a mass of glowing embers, procure yourself a large stone and put it before the fire. Set the half cheese on top, its cut surface exposed to the heat. Nearby have a supply of plates. As the cheese melts, scrape it off on to a plate and serve at once. Continue in this way until everyone is full."