At one time, bacon was generally thought of as a delicious side dish to accompany eggs or pancakes at breakfast. These days, bacon is actually one of the most versatile ingredients that you can have in the kitchen because you can easily work it into everything from breakfast to dinner to dessert – and people are finding more and more ways to do just that. I Love Bacon! is a cookbook dedicated to this ingredient, and in it you’ll find more than 50 different recipes from some of America’s best know chefs that all use bacon.
The book is very visually appealing right off the bat, with a cover photo that is good enough to make bacon lovers drool before they even open the book. Fortunately, the excellent photography continues throughout the text and readers are treated to many enticing photos of bacon-infused dishes. The only thing that would really make it more appealing is if the book smelled like bacon in addition to just looking good. The first chapter in the book is called “Make Your Own Bacon” and, for most of us, this isn’t something that we’ve ever considered doing. This chapter contains a few basic bacon recipes that cover the most common ways that you’ll see bacon prepared. The Classic Cured Bacon recipe is easier than it sounds and is definitely a must-try project for those who love to make homemade versions of food you would normally just purchase at the store.
The rest of the book contains more recipes, divided up by meal type: Brunch; Small Bites; Soup, Salad and Sides; Pasta; Fish; Meat; and Dessert. Just about everything sounds good, from the Poached Eggs Wrapped in Bacon to the Bacon and Tuna Poke. The desserts really jumped out at me because I love that salty-sweet flavor contrast, so Chocolate Bacon Cupcakes and Maple Bacon Ice Cream would be first on my to-try list. The recipes are easy to follow and clearly written. They’ll probably inspire you to try putting bacon into other dishes after you try a few. And whether you like crispy bacon strips or tender pork belly, that is probably not such a bad thing.
Maureen
June 27, 2011Oh what I wouldn’t give for American bacon. Thin bacon that crisps when you cook it and breaks when you want to fit it on a sandwich.
Laurie G.
June 27, 2011I was just thinking of reposting a blog I put up on Facebook about bacon. There’s so much baconalia going on, to borrow the name of Denny’s new “celebration.” It’s fun to see there’s a book!