I think this post’s title says it all.
The flavorful salted sweetness of pork mixed with the extra
glutamate (or umami) satisfaction found only in deep-fried fat, bacon can only be described as
scrumtrulescent.
Bacon is a wonderful compliment to a high-caloric breakfast of eggs and pancakes. Fast-food chains have wisely incorporated bacon in their breakfast wrap/bagel/biscuit menus. A BLT sandwich, with tomatoes picked fresh from the garden, is one of man’s finest culinary inventions.
Truly, though, as perfect as bacon is, bacon to me is best used as a garnish. A sprinkle of bacon changes a compulsively chopped chef salad in to the scrumtrulescent Cobb. A dash of bacon in a peppers and cheese omelet transforms it into a Denver. Sprinkle bacon on top of a plain baked potato, and presto—the side dish magically turns into a main dish.
Bacon gives potato soup a reason for being.
I am the black sheep of two long lines of Southern cooks. Tex Mex blood runs through my veins. I am pretty sure I will be disowned by unveiling my aunt’s recipe for baked potato soup (peppered with a lot of “some of this” and “a chunk of that”). But this recipe is too good to not spread the message:
Ingredients:
2-3 large potatoes peeled and coarsely chopped
1 large onion chopped
1 can of cream of chicken soup (I prefer Campbell’s Cream of Chicken with Herbs)
1 cup of sour cream
2 cups of milk
8 slices of bacon
(optional) pepper to taste
(optional) garlic to taste
(optional) grated cheddar cheese to garnish
Directions:
Take the chopped potatoes, and boil them. (Depending on your preference, you can boil the shit out of them to keep them mushy, or boil them until you can cut a piece with a fork.)
While boiling the potatoes, fry up the bacon, save the grease.
Sauté the chopped onion in the bacon grease on medium heat. (I use the time-saving—and dish-saving—measure of frying the bacon and sautéing the onions at the same time on one pot.) The onions will be done once the onions are translucent.
Mix in the milk, sour cream, and the condensed Cream of Chicken soup in the pot. (ALERT: DO NOT ADD WATER TO THE SOUP!!)
Add pepper and garlic to taste. Add grated cheese (and more bacon?) to garnish.
Eat and enjoy.
Call the paramedics as you wait for your arteries/veins to harden and/or clot.
I think this post’s title says it all. The flavorful salted sweetness of pork mixed with the extra glutamate (or umami) satisfaction found only in deep-fried fat, bacon can only be described as scrumtrulescent.
