Calling all bacon fans – Bittman’s 25 ways to serve bacon

Of all the many recent food fads, bacon seems to be hanging around longer than most. We’ll admit there have been some extremes (Jack in the Box’s Bacon Milkshake certainly qualifies), but that still doesn’t eliminate the pleasant fact that we’ve seen bacon add its special flavor to many unexpected dishes, and enjoyed them all the more.

In his column for The New York Times, Mark Bittman has compiled a number of these ideas, grouping them together in “Bacon 25 Ways.” As he writes…

“To cook bacon, you usually toss some strips in a pan, fry them and eat. If you start with good pork, there are (for omnivores, at least) few things better. But the uses of strip bacon beyond ”plain” are legion. Strips are ideal for swaddling fish, chicken, fruit (anything, really). And there is always the B.L.T.

Once you get into slab bacon, though, things become interesting. Slab bacon offers not only more flexibility but also better quality. And it’s far easier to cook to the optimum level of doneness for any given recipe.

All bacon – slabs, strips, chunks or bits – can be made any way you like: low to medium heat on the stove; roasted or broiled in the oven; grilled; even microwaved. Keep the heat low, and you have more control; use olive oil in the pan, and you’re less likely to burn the outside.” 

He follows with 25 recipes, including Spanish-style, with tofu, in arugula salad, in pasta, and even popcorn. If you’re a bacon fan, you should check these out. And if you’re a Bittman fan in general, and own any of his cookbooks, we have 19 of them indexed, so it’s very simple to use EYB to quickly find a recipe idea. Enjoy!