[stevetcg]

My girlfriend and I always comment on how bacon makes everything better. Jokingly, I always say that someday I am going to make bacon wrapped bacon.

Now I need some help. :-D

I have a vision of some sort of ball made of crushed bacon and bread crumbs... maybe fried, then baked with a strip of bacon around them. Kind of like they do with scallops and bacon... which of course is awesome because bacon makes everything better.

Am I crazy or can I get an amen on the looming angioplasty?

(translation... anyone have some ideas?)

[N0help4u]

Yep I can't stand the thought of eating pork or ham with beef or chicken or beef with chicken etc. but when it comes to bacon it is good with potatoes, veggies and a lot of things
I really love turkey devonshires. Bacon really makes chicken or turkey taste really good. Even a turkey or chicken sandwich with bacon and provolone is my fave sandwich other than an Italian hoagie.

[melloboi23]

Here's something for you though not healthy. Take some whole jalepinnos and split them on one side fill them with a crème cheese bacon crumb mixture I would suggest apple wood bacon. The wrapp it in a strip of bacon. Place a toothpick in it to hold closed and hold on the bacon. Then double dredge it in buttermilk and tempura. Then deep fry. Great party dish. If that isn't what your looking for I would make a meal with all sorts of types of bacon. A breakfast feast. But invites lots of people to sample so you don't end up eating too much bacon you just sample a lot. Like make pork belly salt pork thick cut maple applewood smoked bacon be creative and don't get too much cholesteral.

[linnealand]

Hmm... interesting question.l I think we just became automatic friends.

Let's start with the ideascapade. (yes, I just made that up. I'm in a creative mood now.) :)

Okay, you'll probably need a binder on the inside bacon.

I would cook the inside bacon first, and then crumble it. That will give you the most flavor. Use a lot.

You could also ask your butcher to grind a slab of bacon for you, or you could do it yourself. It will change the consistency, but the flavor will still be there. Try ground versus double-ground bacon. You could still add crumbled bacon to that mix.

You'll have to test out various combinations to see what you like best, and to really get whatever it is you're going for.

Binders that would work well could include egg, cheese, cream cheese, onion, green onions, bread crumbs, crackers, apple cider (instead of water)...

You could also work with the idea of ground pork, pork sausage, etc. to keep it going with the pork theme.

And then there are other more unusual ingredients that you might want to experiment with like apple or diced pear on the sweet side... on a savory/veggie side you could go with artichoke or eggplant... (if you're wondering where the eggplant or artichoke play in, there are meatball-type recipes that rely on these vegetables as a main ingredient... they are also great fried or with bacon flavors.)

You can go in the direction of a meatball or a cheese-based ball on the inside, just keeping it heavy on bacon flavor. There are plenty of bases you can work with.

Then wrap with bacon, and bake, sauté or fry. What about smoking them first? Or doing bacon wrapped bacon barbecue? Wow, lordy... now doesn't that sound good...

Please promise you will let us know what you come up with. Even as you're working it out, come back if you need help. This is fun.

p.s. drink lots of green tea, drink lots of fresh squeezed lemon juice with a little water, or sip a little strong vinegar during the days of your baconscapade. It might help to rid your body of some of the excess toxins and fats you'll be ingesting... :) by the way, can I coin "baconscapade"? This is fun.

[starbuck8]

This might be a cool and tasty idea too. Dip asparagus in an egg wash, and then in a mixture of bread crumbs, parmesan cheese and crumbled bacon. Drop them into a screamin hot canola oil for a short time... just long enough for them to set up, and then wrap them with bacon, and stick them in a high heat oven long enough for the aparagus to get a nutty taste, and the bacon to cook.

You might also want to try something with water chestnuts, or mushrooms with a breading of crushed nuts, parm cheese and bacon, and then wrapped in bacon. Butterflied prawns stuffed with bacon, and then egg washed and dipped into bread crumbs and wrapped with bacon?

This is fun! :) Now I want bacon... and... something!! :D

[linnealand]

Okay, now I've got bacon on the brain.

What's ironic is that I don't actually have any access to bacon (at least American bacon). We have pancetta, but it's a little different. Good God, I swear I'm thin. I know you don't believe me with all of this bacon in my skull, but it's true. :P I'm just so happy to have a full flavor, full fat, full on culinary challenge.

Sooo... I was thinking about this project, and I remembered something that I thought might make you happy (or make your girlfriend happy, since she also sounds like a bacon fan). Are you ready for it? Yes, any man who wants to create bacon wrapped bacon deserves it.

Here we go: it's the grateful palate's Bacon of the Month Club

That's right, it's different varieties of artisan bacon delivered straight to your door every month for a whole year.

They also have some cooking recommendations, one of which involves a tempura batter and deep frying. Another is with half a stick of butter and 2 eggs. (maybe going a little overboard there... ) :)

Also on sale from their bacon collection: a trio of BLT votive candles, each smelling of one of the constituent parts.

Here's the porky link:
http://www.gratefulpalate.com/?p=Category_11

Now, if that were not enough, Dayenu! ("Dayenu" means approximately, "it would have been enough for us" or "it would have sufficed." Dayenu - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) you also get a whole radio interview on NPR about bacon and the bacon of the month club.

And again, Dayenu! Following the interview, you will also find some of the most interesting and bacony-bacon recipes you've never tried.

This will give you an idea:
Bacon Peanut (or Pecan) Brittle
Scallops in a Bacon Consomme
Bacon Baklava

Here's one with its description in tow:
Bacon Gravel is the only way to describe the crumble of bacon served alongside a sweet corn crème brulee at the eco-conscious restaurant Tilth in Seattle.

Listen here:
Pigging Out with the Bacon of the Month Club : NPR

Okay, that's it for now. Please come back so we can talk about more bacony things or offer you tips on your bacon based adventure.

[linnealand]

This might be a cool and tasty idea too. Dip asparagus in an egg wash, and then in a mixture of bread crumbs, parmesan cheese and crumbled bacon. Drop them into a screamin hot canola oil for a short time...just long enough for them to set up, and then wrap them with bacon, and stick them in a high heat oven long enough for the aparagus to get a nutty taste, and the bacon to cook.

Very interesting! I love the ideas starby!

In one of the dishes I made when catering my mother's 60th birthday party and ladies luncheon, I blanched green beans, then wrapped them in bacon, drizzled them with a little hot butter, maple syrup, salt and pepper and threw them in the oven to roast. They flew off the table. I've also done an alternative version with lightly steamed/blanched asparagus spears wrapped in prosciutto. Delicious combination.

Oh! Have you ever had fresh figs with salami? Lordy, that's wonderful. Going on that idea, figs are delcious stuffed with a little very fresh cheese inside, lightly grilled, and then drizzled with honey. I'm sure figs, honey and bacon would be wonderful together.

You might also want to try something with water chestnuts, or mushrooms with a breading of crushed nuts, parm cheese and bacon, and then wrapped in bacon. Butterflied prawns stuffed with bacon, and then egg washed and dipped into bread crumbs and wrapped with bacon?

This is fun!! :) Now I want bacon...and...something!!! :D

Nuts and bacon... that sounds fantastic. I'll bet sesame seed and honey bacon would be amazing.

Oh, and more ideas for the binder: Gorgonzola cheese, mascarpone cheese, goat cheese, potato...

What about baconimals? Lol, lol... you could do a bacon, potato and rosemary croquette, and then stick slim shards of bacon around it, and then fry... you'd have a "pork-u-pine" or a "star of pork". Then stick a cherry tomato into one of the spines, and make a face on it out of cloves, green onions and bacon... okay, that one was silly (but it sure would be cute!)

More! This is a great little game...

[starbuck8]

Ohhh, I'm getting soooo hungry! Those sound delicious Linney. I just added to my shopping list. I'm about to leave to get to the grocery store. Perfect timing! :D

I was trying to think of what to do with cherry or grape tomatoes. Yummy!!

[starbuck8]

Okay, you guys might think I'm really strange, but I guess I had this question on my mind. I woke up this morning, and being the constant 'dreamer' I am, I drempt that I was cooking things in my dream. When I woke up, I remembered one 'recipe' in particular. I'm not even sure how this would taste, or how it would work.

In my weird dream, I remember taking a toilet paper roll, wrapping it with tinfoil, and then wrapping bacon all the way around it, and it formed kind a of tube shape with the bacon. I remember I somehow removed the inside tube, and then I filled the inside of the bacon with some kind of filling.

I've been sitting here all day thinking about this, and different kinds of tubes to wrap the bacon around (cause the toilet paper roll sure doesn't sound too appealing... LOL) and then different fillings that you could stuff it with.

I know it's a little weird, but hey those are the strange dreams I have. I must have been hungry in my sleep... hahaha!

[linnealand]

Actually, I love that idea. One thing that could make it work might be to use two metal cylinders, with one just slightly larger than the other. You would wrap the bacon strips around the inner cylinder, and then slide that into the larger one. Then you could bake it, roll it over a grill or rotate it in a rotisserie. I hope... :)

Inside you might want to put some lightly dressed peppery greens like arugula, and maybe some thinly sliced roasted artichokes. Yum.

Or think of deconstructing traditional bacon dishes...

I'm impressed, miss starby! Please keep dreaming like that!

[starbuck8]

Here's another thought. How about wrapping something like cream cheese, fresh herbs, and crumbled bacon, and maybe escargot also in filo dough. You could then wrap them up into a tube like shape, and then wrap bacon around the outside, and bake them till the outside bacon is crispy.

Or even a ground pork filling, and then the filo with bacon on the outside.

Ps. As long as I keep dreaming like that Linney. I have some preeety weird dreams sometimes. In fact nightly, all night long, and I remember the majority of them. I should be writing them down, but there are just too many! I would be constantly writing. ;)

[melloboi23]

Smoke the bacon over an open fire fueled by nothing but cedar wood. Use like a grill or something but that cedar taste would be amazing.

[starbuck8]

Smoke the bacon over an open fire fueled by nothing but cedar wood. use like a grill or something but that cedar taste would be amazing.

That would be a fine way to cook bacon, but we are trying to come up with ways to do bacon inside of bacon.

[linnealand]

"cream cheese, fresh herbs, and crumbled bacon, and maybe escargot also in filo dough..."

Whew, I like it! Talk about melt-in-your-mouth, miss starby. :D

I enjoy dreaming about food. You can eat as much as you want, and you never get fat.

When I first moved to italy, I promised myself not to start eating the classic (and practically only) authentic italian breakfast, which consists of a cappuccino and a pastry, which is usually filled with chocolate, cream or jams, and then sprinkled with powdered sugar. The cappuccino was fine with me, of course; it was just the pastry that I was trying to avoid. Well, every morning I would watch everybody around me sinking their teeth into these incredibly delicious looking, stuffed croissants. Finally, after months of this torture, I had a dream about one. It was flaky, buttery, covered in powdered sugar, *gigantic* (like 60 times bigger than a normal one), and being slowly, slowly wheeled right past me on a golden cart.. . so I leaned in and took a bite out of the middle of it. LMAO... yum! (oh, I do eat those pastries now... at least sometimes. :) yes, one of my favorite things about the italians is that they believe that a slice of chocolate cake is a perfectly normal breakfast. Who wants to argue with something like that? :D

With dreams like that, you need to be writing them down! At least take notes! If you keep a pen and notebook by your bed, it will be so much easier to just jot the important ideas down in the morning (or in the middle of the night).

STEVETCG, please post to let us know that you've seen the posts! :>)