One of the highlights of Last years’ foodbuzz blogger festival was a wonderful brunch at LuLu in San Francisco. I got to sit and hang out with some very old and dear online friends who are now just old friends. The day was amazing! This post is about just one part of that day and a certain super-blogger’s love of bacon.
Yes Jaden, I’m talking about you.
While we talked about many things over that brunch, the topic kept going back to bacon. Not only because the bacon at LuLu was somehow better than most other I’ve ever had, but because Jaden just couldn’t resist going back for “one more piece” every few minutes.
At some point in the conversation someone quipped that we should just make the bacon into a straw to go with the bloody mary (or it could have been a virgin mary, I didn’t check) that she was drinking.
I thought that was a brilliant idea, and while it’s more of a “From the playing with your food” files than it is a recipe, I went ahead and made sure it happened. It just took me a while.
So this post finds itself dedicated to the venerable and ever so sweet Jaden Hair of Jaden’s Steamy Kitchen. These bacon straws are for you, my friend. Perhaps you can enjoy them with your next Bloody Mary. Oh, and if you haven’t already done so, go grab a copy of Jaden’s cookbook: The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook
. It’s full of wonderful recipes your family is sure to enjoy. You won’t regret it, I promise you that.
Bacon Straws for Jaden
Ingredients
- 1 pound thick-cut pepper bacon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees (204C).
- Carefully tie one end of bacon slice around a wooden dowel or copper tube with butcher's twine. (I'm opting for the copper next time.) Wrap bacon around the tube and tie off the end. Repeat as many times as the tube or dowel will allow.
- Bake on a cooling rack placed on a baking sheet for approximately 25 minutes or until bacon is crisp. (If using copper you'll have to check starting at around 10 minutes. I haven't tried this method yet.)
- Let cool for 5 minutes and carefully remove straws from the dowel or tube.
- Repeat as necessary.
- Share and Enjoy!
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
8Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 265Total Fat: 20gSaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 12gCholesterol: 56mgSodium: 955mgCarbohydrates: 1gFiber: 0gSugar: 0gProtein: 19g
What I would have done differently had I thought of it at the time:
I used wooden dowels for this attempt, but was not terribly happy with the results. I think that when I do this again (and yes, I’ll be doing it again. The kids loved it!) I’m going to use copper tubing so that the bacon cooks both crisper and faster. I may also try this using a super thin pork product like prosciutto for a more delicate looking finished product.
But those are experiments for a later date…
Remember everyone. It’s fun to play with your food sometimes!
That is simply brilliant, Jerry. The type of idea that can make you famous! Bacon straws!
Now how does one not eat them while drinking that Bloody Mary?
.-= Carrie Oliver´s last blog ..Eaglehawk Farms Rating: Easy Going Beef =-.
@bellini valley,
It’s a clever idea in the making. There are still kinks to be worked out of it.
@Carrie
Awww. now what do I say to that? Thanks!
@Rachael,
Go bacon Straws. Will you guys eat them with chopsticks?
@Jen,
It was a fab lunch! And you should have had the bacon ;)
This batch would not have worked well as straws. The wood insulates the bacon too much. I think if made on copper tubing the result would be crisp enough to work as an actual straw for a minute or two but, bacon is a protein so liquid will break it down quickly.
Such a clever idea Jerry with so many possibilities. I can relate with Jaden since I only have bacon when I am out I would be back at the table every 5 seconds.
This is awesome! That was such a fun morning, and yes, that bacon was GOOD! I love this idea. My family will love these (because OF COURSE I have to make them some bacon straws)!
.-= Fuji Mama´s last blog ..Bake Sale Recap—Daylon’s Run/Walk & Carnival =-.
That’s awesome! And that WAS a great lunch, though I don’t remember the bacon (maybe I didn’t have any? SAD!). Anyway, did you actually try sipping something out of these “straws”? :)
.-= Jen @Tiny Urban Kitchen´s last blog ..Il Canale =-.
It’s always fun to play with your food…I love this! Remindes me of Bacones form What Would Brian Boitano Make, http://baconcamp.org/Bacone
@jennifer,
Glad you enjoyed them. they’re still a work in progress, but something my kids thought were Uber-kewl, and I think they’d be great with bacon ice-cream… Hmmmmm
You could fill then with toffee studded chocolate!
.-= Jennifer´s last blog .. =-.
@Jennifer,
You could!
Improving upon bacon? Sacrilege! It can’t be done! (Wait…bacon STRAWS?????)
Yep. Bacon straws. it had to be done. it just had to!
Absolutely brilliant Jerry! And a perfect tribute to that chief bacon lover herself, Jaden. :-)
Elise. I’m blushing! Stop it. No. wait. On second thought…
LOL! He has been talking about making these things since November! I’m so glad to see it was a success!!!
Oh my god, that looks awesome! Bacon straws! What a great idea – and I think it’s totally worth the effort. I may have to try this one :)
.-= Kate´s last blog ..Make Your Own Frozen Yogurt =-.
@Mrs. Honey,
Yep. I’m strange like that. Just couldn’t get the idea out of my head. finally just had to go ahead and make them!
@Kate
If you want to be able to use them as actual straws, make sure to go with copper tubing. The dowels were very good insulators, which is NOT what you want in this case
Great idea! I’ll have to make hundreds!
I was in Nashville at a bar with a bloody mary buffet table (they pour the alcohol and you add the mix and spices from the buffet table). I told him about a bar that puts bacon in their bloody mary. He thought it sounded good. Bacon in anything does right? So after a few minutes of talking about baon, it came to me, why not make the straw out of bacon. This morning i created my prototype and was talking with a few people about it. Everyone thought it was a great idea. So we went online to check if anyone is doing this and I found this thread. Great minds think alike. I even had the thought of other meat straws. Great idea, hope it’s treating you well.
It is a great idea, though I still wonder how well they would stand up to immersion in liquid for more than a minute
Just made these and I wrapped the bacon too tightly around the dowels and they did not come off. The kids had to eat the bacon off the dowels like corn on the cob. Going to try again and wrap a LOT more loosely.