Whisky Caramelized Bacon

Okay! So we’ve covered the burger and the marinade, what we need now is something that can act as a side dish or burger topping. One of my favorite things in cooking is to try and think of something new, and one of my most recent, and popular, “inventions” is whisky caramelized bacon. The basic thinking was take two delicious things (bacon, whisky) and combine them in a delicious way (caramelize) and the result should be 3*delicious or perhaps even delicious³.

As it turns out, I was pretty much spot on with my mathematical reasoning. This shouldn’t take more than 30 minutes to prepare and cook, and the bacon is ready to eat within 5 minutes of removing it from the oven (you can eat it straight away, but the texture will be better if you wait).

You’ll need:

• 9oz of smoked bacon
• 1.5c of light brown sugar
• About 3tbsp Whisky*
• Enough parchment paper to cover a baking tray
• A baking tray

*I wouldn’t use top-shelf stuff for this. Personally I tend to use a nice blended such as Whyte & Mackay, or a smokier single malt variety such as Bowmore 12 year old.

And how to do it:

1. Set your oven to 430 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Place the sugar in a decent sized bowl, and add the whisky one tablespoon at a time. You want to add enough for the sugar to become damp but not soupy.
3. Dip the bacon in the sugar and make sure both sides are covered with a decent amount of the mixture. If it doesn’t stick, add a wee bit more whisky, but be careful not to add too much!
4. Place the bacon on the parchment covered baking tray, and leave in the oven for about 12-15 minutes or until the bacon looks crisp and cooked (but not burnt). When you remove it from the oven, the bacon may still seem slightly chewy rather than crunchy, and that’s why you’ll need to leave it to cool for a few minutes.

As promised, this can be served either as a snack (warm summer day, the barbecue has just been lit up and you’ve got a cold bottle of Peroni Grand Riserva in your hand), or in a burger. This is also the secret ingredient in my renowned chocolate cake, but I won’t tell you the recipe for that.