Happy Fourth of July!
My family arrived in Ohio on Tuesday evening. I convinced them to visit me during the week of July 4th because of the festivities in downtown Columbus. I was especially excited to take them to see Red, White & Boom in downtown Columbus. Red, White & Boom is touted as the biggest display of fireworks in the Midwest. I went to see the fireworks last year and had a great time. This year, I wanted to show my family what Ohio has to offer. I ended up having to go to work on July 3rd, so I printed out a map of downtown Columbus, circled a few spots, and let my family wander through the city. When I got off work, I met up with my family at Columbus Commons park. We made a quick stop at Tiger + Lily for dinner before heading to the river walk. My parents and aunt ordered some ramen. I had a vermicelli bowl. After dinner, we dodged the rain, made our way through all of the food stands by the river walk, looped around Cosi, snapped a few pictures along the way, and found our spot right on Front street. Like clockwork, once it was 10:00 p.m., the show began. The fireworks started right on time and did not stop until about 10:26 p.m. My mom, dad, aunt, and I watched the fireworks in awe. After about 5 minutes, the smoke did begin to fill the air. Our eyes remained glued to the fireworks most of the time. My parents’ eyes did alternate between the live fireworks and their phones. They had their phones ready to capture videos and photos of the fireworks display. Once the show ended, my parents headed back to their hotel. I headed back home. Dad kept reliving the moment and watching videos of the fireworks on his phone. Mom sent a few updates to my older brother to let him know what a blast she had. Aunt was just tired and was ready to sleep off her exhaustion. As we parted ways for the evening, my family already started asking what we had planned for July 4th. Well, let’s start with my simple recipe for candied bacon made with just three ingredients – brown sugar, black pepper, and (of course) bacon.
My friend, Paul, introduced me to the joy of candied bacon a few years ago when he brought the most splendid candied bacon to a potluck. He used a combination of maple syrup, brown sugar, Dijon mustard, kosher salt, and cayenne pepper in his version. I just had to share the ingredients for Paul’s wonderful candied bacon with the world because it really was that good. My simplified version only has brown sugar and freshly cracked black pepper, but let me assure you my candied bacon still has all of the amazing flavors you would expect in candied bacon. My candied bacon is sweet, smoky, crispy, salty, and has just a little kick of spice from the freshly cracked black pepper. The bacon was so good, I could not stop myself from eating more. As a warning, the candied bacon is irresistible. If you make too many, you will eat them all in one sitting. I cooked my bacon on a metal rack placed over a large sheet pan. I find this method of cooking bacon to yield the most evenly cooked bacon. The time it takes to cook the bacon depends on the thickness of the bacon, and the temperature of your oven. I cooked my candied bacon in a 350°F oven for 30-45 minutes. I used thick cut bacon and started checking on the bacon after 30 minutes of cooking time. For me, 45 minutes worked best as it yielded extra crispy bacon that had just the right amount of browning. Once the bacon was done cooking in the oven, I let it rest for 15 minutes on the metal rack before serving up the candied bacon in a glass cup. The candied bacon made for such a simple, yummy, and satisfying snack. Now, I need to get started on a red, white, and blue treat to celebrate Independence Day. Wishing you all a happy fourth!
For the Candied Bacon:
· 9 slices of thick cut applewood or hardwood smoked bacon (or as many as you can fit on your metal rack and sheet pan)
· 1-2 tablespoons brown sugar
· 25-30 turns of freshly cracked black pepper, or about a teaspoon
Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 350°F. Place a metal rack on top of a large sheet pan.
2) Begin laying the thick cut strips of bacon on the metal rack right next to one another. It’s okay to place them right next to each other. Once the bacon starts to cook, it will shrink.
3) Sprinkle on the brown sugar and freshly cracked black pepper on both sides of the bacon strips.
4) Place the sheet pan in the oven and let it cook for 30-45 minutes. Around the 30-minute mark, begin checking on the bacon strips every two minutes. Remove the candied bacon once it reaches your desired doneness.
Takeaways: Candied bacon is a very customizable recipe. You can add some paprika or cayenne pepper to the bacon strips to up the spice factor. If you prefer, you can try Paul’s recipe and coat the thick cut bacon with maple syrup, brown sugar, Dijon mustard, kosher salt, and cayenne pepper before cooking the bacon in the oven. If you stick with some element of sweetness and spice, you can’t go wrong.