Bacon - Need We Say More?

NBC Bay Area ^ | Sunday, Jul 10, 2011 | Marika Krause

[nickcarraway]

SF Bacon Takedown pits amateur chefs against the pros.

We don't know where it started - or whether it ends in a collective heart attack, but Americans have an obsesson with bacon. You can be the judge. This weekend more than a dozen Bay Area chefs are competing in the San Francisco Bacon Takedown at Thirsty Bear.

San Francisco Chronicle Political reporter Marisa Lagos is entering her recipe for bacon ravioli. She's actually a reformed vegetarian who says one day there was a steak she just couldn't pass up.

"Ever since I told people I was doing this event, people come out of the woodwork. People love bacon. It's one of those things you're surprised how many people care about." says Lagos.

Tom Herndon is a personal chef who says he cooks up bacon every week for people. One client eats it every day. He's cooking up what he calls "Hog Heaven." It's bacon covered in dark chocolate, sour cherry, roasted almond and black pepper. He swears it works together.

"Just wait 'til you taste it," says Herndon.

The copmetition's host, Matt Timms says it doesn't always matter if the recipe works.

"That's the beauty of an event like this," says Timms. There can be some dismal failures and some brilliant successes."

For $15, you can find out for yourself Sunday at the Thirsty Bear at noon where only one can take home the top prize. You can also vote for the people's choice.

Can't wait that long? Marisa & Tom shared their Recipes with NBC Bay Area.

Marisa’s Bacon Ravioli Ingredients: 1 lb fresh pasta dough, rolled out into sheets 1 lb Hormel® Black Label® bacon 1/2 white onion, chopped 4 cloves garlic, half chopped, half smashed with flat side of knife 4 oz parmesan cheese, grated 2 cups ricotta 2 cups spinach, fresh 2 tbsp each fresh sage, thyme, chopped parsley, chopped salt and pepper ½ cup of olive oil pinch of red pepper flakes

Sauté half the bacon until slightly crispy and cooked through. Remove from pan and set aside. Chop into thin strips when cooled.

Sauté half of the chopped onion with the chopped garlic on low-medium heat for a few minutes. Add the spinach and wilt for a minute. Remove from heat.

Mix spinach, ricotta, parmesan, bacon strips, and half of the sage and thyme in bowl.

Lay out pasta sheets and place about ½ - 1 tsp. of filling in small mounds an inch apart. Brush water between mounds. Place another sheet on top and press around filling.

Use knife or cookie cutter to cut into individual raviolis.

Boil a large pot of water with salt.

Meanwhile, heat up 2 pans. In one, cook remaining bacon until crispy; remove from heat and crumble.

In other pan, heat up olive oil on medium heat. Add 2 smashed garlic cloves and cook for a few minutes, then remove the garlic. Season with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes, then add remaining sage and thyme and immediately remove from heat.

Cook ravioli in boiling, salted water for about 2 minutes, being careful not to let them stick together. Remove with slotted spoon and top with oil sauce.

Garnish with fresh parsley and crumbled bacon. Tom's Hog Heaven

Ingredients:

1 lb sliced bacon 1 cup light brown sugar 1 tsp. ground black pepper 1 lb dark chocolate, chopped 1 cup roasted almonds, chopped 1 cup dried sour cherries

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

In small bowl, mix brown sugar and pepper. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.

Lay out the bacon on the foil making sure not to overlap pieced. Cover each slice with the sugar and pepper mix.

Bake 15 minutes, or until crispy. Drain on paper towel. Allow to cool and harden

In a double broiler over simmering heat, add the chocolate. Line a Baking sheet with parchment paper. Pour the melted chocolate onto the parchment paper spreading chocolate with a spatula to even out

Sprinkle bacon, almonds and cherries over the chocolate. Gently press everything into the chocolate. Allow to set for 2-3 hours in the fridge.

Crack bark into pieces and serve.

[Squantos]

Bacon BTTT !

[Liz]

Everything Should Taste Like Bacon Company

http://baconsalt.3dcartstores.com/

Bacon salt, bacon popcorn, Baconnaise, bacon lip balm, bacon ranch dressing.......

[Liz]

BBQ Bacon Bomb most popular recipe on the web.

Contains 5,000 calories and a mind-boggling 500 grams of fat. Uses 2 pounds thick cut bacon, 2 pounds Italian sausage meat, jar of fave BBQ sauce, jar your fave BBQ rub/seasoning.

Construction begins with a "5x5 bacon weave" of interlocking rashers. After coating with a generous helping of barbeque seasoning, the next step is to layer two pounds sausage meat on top of the bacon to create a patty. Next, cover the raw sausage meat with fried bacon - soft or crispy, depending on personal preference - chopped or crumbled into small pieces.

Note - it's okay, and encouraged, to snack on these pieces while you're chopping/crumbling. But keep in mind that once those bacon morsels touch the raw sausage, you'll need to resist all temptations to nibble. This can and will be difficult, but hospital trips are no fun, so stay strong.

Drizzle barbeque sauce over the top of cooked bacon, sprinkle with more barbeque seasoning and the roll into a giant, sausage-shaped monster. One final dusting of seasoning, and the construction is ready to be smoked on the barbeque. Cooking time varies but should take around one hour for each inch of thickness. Once cooked, the Bacon Bomb is basted with more barbeque sauce (sweet sauces are loaded with sugars, so they'll give your fatty a nice glossy finish.) Slice into rounds, sandwich on bun to serve.

[Liz]

Glazed donut bacon burger.

[Daffynition]

[tal hajus]

Bakin’ bacon right now.

[magslinger]

[joe fonebone]

I have always wanted to take some nice crispy bacon and cover it in chocolate.....

[PBRSTREETGANG]

[2nd Bn, 11th Mar]

I have made homemade bacon several times now. It’s pretty easy to make and several orders of magnitude better than store bought bacon.

Semper Fi and ROLL TIDE

[seoul62]

Love the sign.

[Eye of Unk]

Bacon, enough of it will keep Muslims away.

Like garlic and vampires?

Got a Muslim neighbor?

Make something that creates a fried bacon smell 24/7, it could be a simple as a halogen bulb in a pot of bacon grease.

[Logic n' Reason]

Bacon...bacon...bacon....bacon....bacon....bacon....BACON....bacon....Bacon...bacon...bacon....bacon....bacon....bacon....BACON....bacon....Bacon...bacon...bacon
....bacon....bacon....bacon....BACON....bacon....Bacon...bacon...bacon....bacon....bacon....bacon....BACON....
bacon....Bacon...bacon...bacon....bacon....bacon....bacon....BACON....bacon....Bacon...bacon...bacon....bacon....bacon....bacon....BACON....bacon....Bacon...bacon...bacon....bacon....bacon....
bacon....BACON....bacon....Bacon...bacon...bacon....bacon....bacon....bacon....BACON....bacon....

I LOVE bacon!!

[2nd amendment mama]

Yum...can’t wait to make the ravioli - it sounds delicious and there’s nothing better than fresh pasta. My pasta carbonara is one of my favorite comfort foods. I try to make it with pancetta but bacon works well too.

[MS.BEHAVIN]

Mmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!
Pinging a fellow foodie!

[mylife]

Everything is better with bacon! (except Obama)

[MS.BEHAVIN]

Didja see that recipe for Bacon Ravioli?
*salivating*

[mylife]

Yes I did!