Lexington Avenue Hipster Bacon Pizza

Bacon-deprived Hipster

Let's face it:  bacon is hip right now.  It's up there with kale and Brussel sprouts as the new trendy food among discriminating hipsters.  And since I love all three, I say more power to this foodie trend.

Recently Nathan and I went to Asheville, America's new Beer City.  Asheville's 50+ breweries recently stole the title of Beer City from Portland, Oregon.  I grew up for awhile outside of Asheville and remember its downtown as largely empty except for a great bookstore (Malaprop's), a shoe store my mom loved (Tops), a gay bar (O'Henry's) and a few law offices.  Today the downtown is among the most fun in the United States.  It is chock full of coffeehouses, brewhouses, great locavore restaurants, tourists, hipsters, retirees, bookstores, etc.

While in Asheville a few months ago, we went to LAB (Lexington Avenue Brewery).  They apparently switch up their menus every season, but we were fortunate to have a late night bacon pizza there.  We have since tried at other pizzerias but none have come close.  Here is a duplicate I've found works well:

• Make a thin or medium crush pizza.  If you haven't mastered the art of pizza-making (I haven't!), you can also buy a good frozen cheese pizza.
• Try to find some thick cut bacon from a local butcher.  Dice into small cubes.  The cubes work MUCH better sprinkled over the pizza than strips of bacon.  Alternatively, cut up strips to sprinkle.  
• You'll have to experiment some.  I found thick cut bacon needs to be partially cooked.  Then it will finish cooking as you bake the pizza.  Thinner cut strips may cook sufficiently but you want a fairly nice, crisp bacon when the pizza is done.

DIETS:
Diabetic:  no
Gluten Free:  yes*  (depends on crust used)
Mediterranean:  yes
Nightshade Family Free:  yes*  (depends on if you use a white sauce rather than tomato sauce)
Paleo:  no
SugarBusters:  no
Sugar Free:  no
Vegan:  no
Vegetarian:  no
Wheat Free:  no
200 Calories or Under:  no

Notice:  Be sure to check with your doctor and nutritionist about the safety of any eating plan for you.  Also, check ingredients as different brands and products may have different ingredients or have changed them since this post.  Some calories are estimates based on packaging.  

Tasses de Porc

Tasses de Porc is just another of my fancy-fied French names for a dish.  The name means "pork cups".

Anyhow, these are an interesting breakfast or brunch novelty consisting of an edible cup made of ham, Canadian bacon, or even bacon.



The basic recipe is to spray some non-stick oil/spray onto a muffin pan.  Then place a thin slice of ham, Canadian bacon, or bacon into each dish to form a cup.  Because this dish has a short baking time, you will either need a very thin cut of meat or use cooked meat.  You really don't want to be eating undercooked pork! Then you add a filling and bake at 350 F until the egg filling has cooked to the consistency you seek for your eggs.

The fillings can vary:

A. One approach layers the bottom of the pork cup with cheese followed by whisked eggs mixed with herbs, peppers, diced onion, chives, diced tomatoes, etc.  Make sure whatever additions to you add to your eggs are finely chopped.

B. I don't like eggs with a runny yolk, but this dish is often made with cheese, a sauce, or a slice of tomato topped with a whole egg that will bake to a sunnyside up texture.

C. I've only made this a few times.  The ham cup can dry out, so be sure to fill to the top.  I've had the best success with a basic quiche recipe of 1/2 cup cream, 1 egg, a pinch of salt, a pinch of pepper, and a pinch of red pepper.  Others add nutmeg instead of the peppers to give a subtle, sweet flavor to the eggs.

D. I have also experimented with a take on eggs Benedict:  toast and trim an English muffin to fit in the bottom of the pork cup made with some type of cooked pork (nothing raw).  Place a poached egg on top of the muffin.  Pour Hollandaise sauce over the egg and muffin.  Sprinkle on some red pepper or paprika.  Bake for 5-10 minutes to warm the entire dish but not so long as to dry out the sauce or pork.

This dish is as versatile as its big sister, quiche.  Feta and spinach, mushrooms and ham, basil and tomatoes...the combinations are endless.  This dish can also be made ahead of time and served a few hours later as a room temperature picnic item similar to quiche.  Depending on the filling this dish can be refrigerated and warmed up for a yummy, quick breakfast.

DIETS:
Diabetic:  no
Gluten Free:  yes*  (depends on filling)
Mediterranean:  no
Nightshade Family Free:  yes*  (depends on filling)
Paleo:  yes*  (depends on filling)
SugarBusters:  yes*  (depends on filling)
Sugar Free:  yes*  (depends on filling)
Vegan:  no
Vegetarian:  no
Wheat Free:  yes*  (depends on filling)
200 Calories or Under:  no

Notice:  Be sure to check with your doctor and nutritionist about the safety of any eating plan for you.  Also, check ingredients as different brands and products may have different ingredients or have changed them since this post.  Some calories are estimates based on packaging.  

Bacon

This week's posts are about bacon...delicious, crispy, fatty, forbidden, hipster, expensive, country, bacon.  It seems that plain ol' morning pal of eggs has suddenly turned hip and cool -and expensive.  Due in part to a disease killing piglets in 15 states, the cost of pork belly futures has risen from an already really high $135 per 100 pounds in 2010 to $185 per 100 pounds this month.

But why, you may ask, are pork bellies important to bacon?  Because bacon is made from pork bellies.



After researching this topic a bit, I'll share with you what I learned.  Bacon vocabulary and cuts vary.  We all probably have heard of Canadian bacon.  Many of you have heard of Brits' love for their rashers and streaky.  What's the differences from American bacon?

Well, it turns out that the bellies of pigs are not that different from various couch potato humans.  There is some lean stomach muscle (loin) in there under a thick layer of fatty pork belly.  American bacon is made from the fatty pork belly through a curing process.  Canadian bacon is made primarily from the loin with most of the fat cut away.  The British often use a cut that includes both the loin and pork belly.  The more loin cuts are called rashers while the pork belly cuts (similar to American bacon) are called streaky.  In times past rashers were more popular with upper classes in British society with the cheaper, fatty streaky sold more to working class eaters.

Both orthodox Judaism and Islam ban the eating of pork, but in many secular restaurants pork belly and bacon have recently become something of a foodie rage.  This week we will look at some bacon dishes.