In our first installment of “Does Bacon Rally Make Everything Taste Better”  we’re going with something basic.  Saltines!

I was scrolling through Facebook the other day when I came across a picture of a bacon wrapped saltines on the page of Chef Barry Martin.  It seems Barry had written this strange food item up on Char-Broil’s website.  I’m afraid I didn’t read all that much of the article because I didn’t want to get to many ideas on how to do this.  It only took a couple of minutes to decide this would be the first installment of D.B.R.M.E.T.B.  For more details on how this appetizer/snack came about check out the link to Char-Broil’s website.

Making bacon wrapped saltines is about as easy as it gets.  Barry’s version uses thin sliced bacon but since I only had thick sliced I went a head and used it.  Take a half slice of bacon and wrap it around a cracker.  I “rubbed” my version with Simply Marvelous Cherry rub and cooked them for about 20 minutes using high heat (about 400 degrees) on my Weber kettle with indirect heat.

When the bacon was at the point of perfect crispy goodness I lightly sauced the bacon with a sweet BBQ sauce.  I was surprised that the saltines did not turn into a soggy mess.  Instead I was left with a nice crispy, somewhat fried” cracker that tasted fantastic with the bacon.

I’m actually going to probably make these again.  They are a great little bite and a good conversation piece.  Changes for next time would include more spice/heat when rubbing maybe even a piece of jalapeno under the bacon.

Does Bacon make saltines better?  Yes!

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I was an early adopter of Bacon Salt and have sung it’s praises ever since the first time I sprinkled it on my eggs one morning.  A few years later along came Baconnaise, a tasty mixture of bacon and mayonnaise.  I’ve been a devoted user ever since.  So when Justin Esch emailed me recently to ask if I wanted to try Bacon Croutons I said yes.  Even before they arrived I started to think about how I was going to use them.  Croutons are normally found on salads.  But it wasn’t likely that I was going to waste the goodness of bacon on a salad.  I had to come up with something more exciting than lettuce.

Over on Pork, Knife and Spoon I have been working on a series of blog posts on pork ribs.  I had some rib trimmings left over and it occurred to me that a Pulled Pork Cake, much along the lines of a crab cake could be a beautiful and tasty creation.  Usually I start my recipe development with a bit of internet and cookbook research.  My search for “pork cakes” lead to very little information but it did lead me to an actual pork cake.   I figured the best way to do a pulled pork cake was to make them as similar to a crab cake as possible.

I made up the pulled pork cakes, following the recipe below, and as I was getting ready to pan fry them the bag of J&D Bacon Croutons were staring across the kitchen counter at me.  It’s almost as if they were speaking to me.  It was in that brief moment that inspiration struck.  I decided to crush the Bacon Croutons and use them to bread the pulled pork cakes.  It’s not the first time I’ve had inspiration in the kitchen, but rarely does that inspiration come out as good as this one did.  The combination of the pulled pork, seasoning and bacon created a fantastic flavor profile.  I’m going to be making these pulled pork cakes when I have left over pulled pork.

Pulled Pork Cakes

Ingredients:

• 3 cups pulled pork, course chopped
• 2 cups panko break crumbs
• 1 teaspoon jalapeno, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon bell pepper, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon shallot, finely chopped
• 1 egg, beaten well
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• Bacon drippings
• Salt, Pepper and BBQ Rub, to taste

Directions:

In a small skillet melt the bacon drippings.  When hot saute the jalapeno, bell pepper and shallots until tender.  Let them cool to room temperature.

In a medium mixing bowl combine all remaining ingredients and mix well.   I used about a tablespoon of BBQ rub, but you can use however much you want.  Form the mixture into three compacted patties.  I used a hamburger patty press to make sure they were consistent in size and firmly packed.  Lay the patties out on parchment paper and chill in the refrigerator until cold.

Dust the patties in a little flour and then put in an egg wash.  From the egg wash put the patties into the crushed Bacon Croutons.  Make sure you cover both the side and all the way around the edges.  (NOTE:  When you open the package of Bacon Croutons you need to resist tasting them.  You have been warned, if you eat one you could find yourself eating the whole package.  They are that good.

Fry the patties until golden brown in oil.  Place them on a paper towel or rack to drain and then put them in a 200 degree oven until warmed through.  Serve garnished with BBQ Mayo (Mayo mixed with a little BBQ sauce) or some other BBQ condiment.

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2011 Larry Gaian

I know World MOINK Ball Day is all about the balls but I had to post a picture of how Pascal set up his kettle grill for indirect cooking.  This is an excellent technique for people who want to give their meats a little smoke but don’t have a traditional smoker.

And the MOINK Balls look fantastic also!

And now a few entries from the United States:

This entry from Ric made me so jealous.  Not only does he show great technique with the MOINKs on Skewers but the view from his deck is simply amazing.  What a great day this must have been.

Mike uses the colored toothpick technique to jazz up his MOINK Ball entry.  Check out the nice glaze on his balls, that’s something to be proud of.

Check out this mound of  MOINK Balls from Richard.  And his method of serving them is spot on.  A big pile of sauced MOINK Balls in an aluminum tray captures the simplicity of what a MOINK Ball is!  Great job…

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2011 Larry Gaian

Marc shows off his MOINK Ball results after his helper did all the hard work.  Nice job!  Marc, can I get some pictures of the outdoor fireplace behind you?

Okay, the MOINK Balls from Kees in the Netherlands look fantastic, but I’ve got to admit this picture of his mobile pit has me curious about how it all works.

Another great contribution Netherland’s contribution from Ewald.  His MOINK Balls came complete with a custom made flag!

Here’s another set of pictures that made me jealous.  Dirk was enjoying the warm weather while grilling his MOINK Balls.  Nicer weather in the Netherlands than Northern California on World MOINK Balls Day.

Bernd uses the classic Netherland’s indirect heat method to cook his MOINK Balls.  Someday I’m going to get my hands on some of the bacon they use.  Love the look of it on the MOINK Balls!

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2011 Larry Gaian

There are a variety of “popper” holders available on the internet for purchase.  I’ve got all kinds of BBQ tools and I’m not always hesitant to buy what I need in the accessory department.  But for some reason I just can’t bring myself to spend the money for what is basically a sheet of metal with holes cut in it.

Recently, I saw a post on the BBQ Brethren that showed a simple and inexpensive way to hold your jalapenos while they are cooking…a egg carton.  This post led me to an article in the in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel where I learned the original idea seems to have originated with Arlie Davis.

Making ABTs is very simple and you’ve got to give them a try.  With Spring and Summer right around the corner these need to be on your “to do” list.  All you need are some jalapenos, cream cheese, random fillings, bacon, toothpicks and some kind of holder for your grill/smoker.

So the process to make ABTs is so, so simple…

All you need are some jalapenos, cream cheese, bacon and some kind of meat to mix into the cream cheese.  There’s a variety of different things that can be mixed into the cheese.  I’ve used Lil Smokeys but this time I used some of the Tasso I smoked a couple of weeks ago.

(NOTE:  If  you love jalapenos but can’t stand the heat here’s a tip on how to tame them.  Click here)

So the first step is to cut the tops off the jalapenos.  Make sure you wear rubber gloves and glasses when cooking with jalapenos.  Some misplaced jalapeno juice can cause a lot of pain if you get it somewhere it shouldn’t.

The next step is to remove the insides of the jalapenos.  Taking out the seeds and veins not only makes room for the fillings, but it removes the part that contains a lot of the heat.  (If you want to have completely tamed jalapenos try this technique I wrote about last year.)  The next step is to mix the meat into the softened cream cheese.

Now comes the fun part.  Take your egg carton and turn it upside down.  Remove the bottoms of each cup.  This will hold jalapenos of any size.

Fill the jalapenos with the cream cheese mixture, top the jalapeno with bacon and secure it with a toothpick.

Place the “carton” of ABTs in your smoker.  I smoke mine at 225 degrees for about an hour or until the bacon gets crisp.

You can do these on a grill but make sure you use indirect heat.  The reason using a cardboard egg carton works is because you are not putting these over a direct flame or direct heat.

DO NOT place the cardboard egg carton over direct heat.  The cardboard absorbs the bacon drippings and will make the egg carton very flammable.

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2011 Larry Gaian

I stopped at The Fatted Calf yesterday on my way through Napa to pick up a little bacon.  The Fatted Calf produces some of the most amazing cured meat products in Northern California.  Their slab bacon is simply…amazing.

I sliced off a little bacon to just cover the bread.

I used the Char-Broil RED to cook the bacon.

When it was all done I added some mashed up avocado, some heirloom tomatoes and lettuce.  A little slather of mayo made this a nice little sandwich for my entry in the Bacon Throwdown.  I’m not sure if my sensible little B.A.L.T. will be good enough to win, but it sure did taste good.  (No I didn’t eat the whole thing…in one sitting.)

Mrs. Grail’s B.T.P. Salad

Ingredients:

• 12 ounces Whacky pasta or other pasta of your choice
• 12 ounces lean bacon
• 3 medium ripe tomatoes, cut into chunks1
• 1¾ cups frozen petite green peas, defrosted
• 3 tablespoon fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1 tablespoon apple vinegar
• A pinch of sugar
• 4 tablespoons green onions, chopped

Directions:

Cook pasta per package instructions and set aside.

In a large skillet cook the bacon over medium high heat until crisp.  Or bake the bacon on a rack in a 400 degree oven until crisp.  Drain on paper towels.  Reserve 3 tablespoons of the bacon drippings in the pan.  Add tomatoes and garlic to the pan and cook just until warm.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Drain tomatoes and garlic and discard bacon drippings.

Crumble the bacon into bite-size pieces; set aside 1/4 cup for garnish. Toss the remaining bacon and the tomato mixture with the pasta.  Add the peas and 2 tablespoons of cilantro.

Combine mayonnaise, sour cream, apple cider vinegar, green onions and sugar together until well mixed.  Pour mayonnaise mixture with pasta until evenly combined.  Season again with salt and pepper if needed.

Allow to refrigerate for a few hours until cold.  Garnish with the reserved bacon and the remaining 1 tablespoon of cilantro.

The meal came with with baskets of these cheese biscuits/rolls. Eating one of these was impossible so we inhaled a couple baskets of them. Eating one of these biscuits made the meal better than the previous nights whole meal.

Barry ordered a BLT that had some kind of cheese, pimento spread working. The bacon used on Jim 'N Nick's is amazing. Not oversmoked, thick cut and cooked to perfection.

Celeste ordered the biggest, juiciest Southern Fried Chicken Tenders that ever graced a plate. There was so much food on her plate that she could only eat one of the chicken tenders.

I ordered some of the best catfish I've ever eaten. Two huge filets that with the mound of fries filled a huge plate.

The collard greens were cooked to perfection.

We ordered some rib bones because we had to try some actual BBQ. They were smoked and lightly glazed with sauce. Just about as good as you can do in a restaurant.

And finished up with some of the most amazing pie I've ever had. It would have made my grandmother happy. We tried the coconut cream, lemon icebox and chocolate cream pies. All flavors were first rate.

I cannot even big to express my satisfaction.  This was one fine meal and a restaurant I would recommend.   Everything in the restaurant is made from scratch right on the premises.  From the salad dressings to the desserts.  The food is fresh, vibrant and tastes so good.  You’ve got to eat there is you get a chance.

On a final note.  We ate in the Memphis restaurant and Jerald was our server.  He was knowledgable about everything on the menu and was able to explain everything to us.  His personality was great and he obviously has a great deal of pride for his place of employment. 

PS:  I don’t know what Jerald is making at Jim ‘N Nick’s but he should get a raise.