Cooking Bacon

Frying bacon in the frying pan is a pain in the ass. I remember when I thought that was the only way to do it. It was so hard to get it nice and crispy. It demanded constant attention, and despite my constant care, it would curl up around the edges in defiance of my pampering.

There finally came a time when I realized like any parent must, that bacon in the frying pan is like that preteen who really just wants you to leave it alone. It will be happiest when it's left to do its own thing. It will also be on its best behavior when you do decide to check up on it. Ya see, bacon is just a free spirit that can't stand being controlled. Just let it breathe, let it live a little, and it will pay you dividends.

To truly unleash the free spirit of bacon, lay it on a rack over a foil-covered baking sheet, the place it in the oven.

Then preheat the oven to 350.

When the oven reaches 350 check on your bacon, depending on how fast your oven preheats, you may need another 15 or so minutes (mine needs about 10 extra minutes but my oven is real slow)

Your bacon should be flat and crisp and perfect. Now take away its freedom and DEVOUR IT.

Bacon

It all started with my procuring of a 4 pound Lancaster pork belly, from my buddy the butcher. "Mmm" I thought, pork belly is second only to foie gras in my hierarchy of meats.

I found Ruhlman's recipe online, then set about making the cure, and placing the belly in a plastic bag for a week.

That was a sad week.

Each day I would open up the fridge to find the belly staring at me with puppy eyes, begging me to braise it and devour it right away. That week put me in touch with animal lovers across the world. I practiced composure and restraint until it was time to remove the belly.

I roasted, not smoked, the meat- smoking wasn't convenient at the time. Though bacon connoisseurs may scoff, I beg them to taste.

This bacon is much more than salty, fatty, heaven. The flavors of thyme, bay, and peppercorn, rarely detectable in bacon, harmonize to create ultra-flavorful, multi-dimensional meat, that is yes, salty, fatty, heaven as well.

I did not make all of the belly into bacon however. Half is dry-curing to become pancetta. Updates on that in the future!

ALERT: For the next few days, maybe even a week, my attention will be devoted to writing about my recent meal at Per Se.

Yes, I went back.