Bacon Dessert Contest!

The finished product.

S'mores with Bacon-Bourbon Marshmallows on a Rosemary Graham Cracker

The Piggery, local farm-to-table deli and butcher shop, held it's first annual Bacon Fest this past week.  It was days of smoky, fatty, crunchy  fun.  There were more types of bacon than I knew existed, and menu specials like bacon jam crostini, bacon croquettes, bacon-maple fiddle faddle.... Australian bacon, Irish bacon, Canadian bacon, duck bacon...

The culmination of Bacon Fest 2013 was a bacon dessert contest.  Keeli and I decided that 42 North 76 West should enter about 10 days before the contest.   Keeli came up with a bloody freeking genius idea, which didn't work out - THIS time - and I'm not going to tell you about, because then the surprise for next time will be ruined.   Never daunted, our plan B was a bacon marshmallow s'mores.  We set to researching, and ended up combining two marshmallow recipes, one from Epicurious for bacon marshmallows, and one adapted from Smitten Kitchen for bourbon marshmallows.  We made our own graham crackers, another recipe form the glorious Smitten Kitchen, and added some rosemary.  We made a bacon dusting powder, for further bacon-ness, and decided without qualms on using Hershey's chocolate.  We're high-brow chocolate ladies, never you doubt, but Hershey's and s'mores do not deserve to be separated.  (A few products, main-stream and non-pronounceable ingredients be damned, are not replaceable: Heinz ketchup, Hellman s mayo, and Hershey's on s'mores.  I adore a chipotle ketchup, a house-made aiolli,  Green and Blacks 70%, but never, never take away the others, pretty please).

At 6:15 p.m. on the fated contest evening we loaded up the car and headed to The Piggery.  It was weirdly a warm-ish, and we were excited - but for what?  The only contest requirements were that you 1. made a dessert with bacon in it, and 2. were willing to share anything left after the judges tasted with who ever was there.  We didn't know who else was entering or how many entry's there would be.

The place was packed.  We let Heather, the owner, know we were there, and then since we were a little early, sat at an outside table and had a beer, watching the door.  The desserts started filing in! We craned our necks and whispered to each other, getting a little sweaty under the collar. All in all, there were 18 dessert entry's, and the table before the judges was laden with Bac-lava, pies, cookies, donuts, and more.

Our s'more was served warm.  We brought a toaster oven, and topped one graham cracker with a marshmallow and the other with tow squares of Hershey's and the bacon powder.  We set the oven on toast until the marshmallows were just melty, and slapped the two halves together, sandwich style.  Anxiously, we watched the judges faces....

The announcement came.  They upped the winner slots from 3 to 6, and started to announce.  At 3rd place we looked at each other: we had either not placed at all, or we were doing pretty good.  The suspense!! They announced first place, and it was unanimously 42 North 76 West - we won!! Woohoo!! Nothing like small-town fame to put a grin on your face and some bounce in your step!

For the graham cracker, please see Smitten Kitchen's blog.  We added a couple teaspoons of well-ground rosemary to the recipes, and cut the crackers round.  Please note, I use white spelt flour for most recipes, including this one.  Sometimes that requires more flour being added, but this recipe has not needed that.

The Marshmallows:

Bourbon Marshmallows - How Sweet It Is

[adapted from these beer marshmallows which were adapted from smitten kitchen]

We added 9 slices of well-cooked, finely chopped bacon pieces, mixed in right before putting the marshmallow mixture in the pan to cool.  Cook 12 pieces of bacon, saving 3 aside for the coating.  Save the bacon fat, and pour through cheesecloth before it is cooled all the way.  Save the fat for the classic coating too (below).  We also coated the pan with lard, which isn't that great of an idea.  Stick with a mild vegetable oil.  

makes one 9×13 pan

3 1/2 envelopes unflavored gelatin (I used Knox)

1/2 cup cold bourbon

1/2 cup cold water

2 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cup light corn syrup

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 large egg whites

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Oil a 9 x 13 baking pan and sprinkle on powdered sugar (or coating, below) to cover and coat. Set aside. In the bowl of your electric mixer (a whisk attachment is best), pour 1/2 cup cold water and 3 1/2 packs of gelatin. I gently mixed with a spoon once, then let sit while you make the sugar mixture.

In a medium pot combine sugar, bourbon, syrup and salt. Heat over low heat and whisk until sugar is dissolved, about 3-5 minutes. Turn heat up to medium and let sugar come to a boil. It will bubbly up so keep yours eye on it so it does not overflow. Let it boil for 8-12 minutes, until it reaches 240 degrees F (measure with a candy thermometer). The mixture will appear to be a lightish brown color – don’t worry, the marshmallows will still be white.

Cooking the syrup. (photo by KM)

Once mixture is at 240 degrees F, turn off heat and gently pour it in the mixer over the gelatin with the mixer on low speed. Once all of the sugar has been added, turn the mixer to high and beat for for 6-8 minutes. It should grow in size and be white and fluffy. About 3-4 minutes in, add the egg whites to a separate bowl and beat until stiff peaks form. I used a hand mixer to do this. If you don’t have a hand mixer, I assume you have to remove the whisk attachment, clean it (it will be a sticky mess), add a new bowl to the mixer, beat egg whites. Once stiff peaks are formed, add egg whites and vanilla extract to the sugar/gelatin mixture and beat until just combined.

Pour marshmallow mix into the 9 x 13 pan. It will impossibly sticky so be careful, and you will not be able to get it all out of the bowl. Get as much as you can, then spray a spatula with non-stick spray and smooth. Dust powdered sugar on top (or the coating, recipe below) and let sit to firm up for 3-5 hours. Once firm, turn the pan upside down on a cutting board to release marshmallow rectangle. Cut them into pieces of whatever size you like.

The coating:

In a food processor mix 1/2 cup cornstarch, 3/4 cup of powdered sugar, and finely 3 slices of well-cooked bacon.  Pulse, and add small spoonfuls of chilled, firm fat from cooking bacon slowly. Taste as you go, adding a little salt.  The powder will intensify in flavor over a few hours.  

Cut marshmallows. (photo by KM)

A New Year Has Begun

The paste coming together

I suppose I'm supposed to say something about the 'new year', about the passing of time, and how it's only faster as one gets older, how fast the world moves these days, and whatnot.  Well, it's all true, what they've been saying.  It's fast. It's interminably slow in situations that you wish would end, and the cumulative effect of time, regardless, is of speed.  It does fly by the older you get, and having children speeds it up exponentially.  My three year old has perhaps had the experience which will be, for his life, his first memory. If he hasn't, it's just around the bend.  In my experience, we've spent HOURS AND HOURS he and I, waiting to feel him kick in my belly, then waiting for him to be still in my belly so I could sleep, waiting for labor to start for real, so he could be born and I could MEET him face to face.  Waiting for him to sleep, wishing he'd sleep, peering over him while he slept in awe of his eyelashes and lips.  Hours upon hours of fussing over teeth and learning to crawl and who knows what.  Clapping when he learned his first word, getting him to repeat it to friends and grandparents and strangers, who couldn't have understood a thing if we hadn't translated.  His first crocus, first swim in the lake, first falling leaf, first snow.  None of which he remembers. All of which I cherished as much as my human self could, and is now fading into the blur that is parenting young children in a very fast paced world.  He doesn't remember, and I'm constantly forgetting.  I'm guessing the only hope for us is to be present while we're here.  I think breathing fresh air together helps, and getting lost in stories, and surrounding ourselves with good smells.

My husband made this curry once while we were away, cooking for himself in an otherwise empty house.  I love the image (though not too often!).   He said it turned out "okay" but he cut some corners and learned a little.  Mind you  the corners that he cut were using tofu rather than beef, and water rather than stock.  I can see my way to the tofu fine, but without a good strong vegetable stock, or even fish or chicken, one is sure to be lost.  Oh well, it was about the curry paste for him at that point, which is a fine thing to be all about.

We made it again just the other night.  We used beef and a good strong beef stock.  It still didn't turn out great.  We ate it, nothing to complain about, but it tasted like a little bit spicy beef stew, not like the strong-wind-from-another-land thai curry we hoped it would taste like.

The thing is, it smelled amazing.  Really.  I left the house at one point while it was simmering, and when I came back in I was hit with its pungency.  So, it is with hope that I give you this recipe, and with the confidence that even if it doesn't taste amazing, it will make your house smell like a memory being made.  And I do think you'll remember it.

From Bon Appetit, Jan. '12, with our substitutions, for better or for worse (duly noted):
The curry paste:                                          
they say to use....                                                               we used.........
3 dried guajillo peppers                                                       3 dreid pasilla peppers
1/2 tsp. kosher salt                                                              salt
1 lemongrass stalk, bottom 4"                                              no lemongrass (forgot to buy it)
2 tbsp. galangal                                                                   2 tbsp. fresh ginger, frozen
2 tbsp. fresh tumeric                                                            some powdered tumeric
1/2 c. chopped shallots                                                        shallots
1/4 c. halved garlic cloves                                                   garlic
1 tbsp. thai shrimp paste                                                      fish sauce (added to broth)

I believe the above discrepancies are where the problems lie: the kind of peppers, lack of lemongrass, and lack of shrimp paste.

Start with the peppers and a pinch of salt  in a mortar and pestle, and grind, adding the next ingredients one at a time.  It should take about 15 min. at least.   Enjoy this part - it smells good.

Grinding Chili's

Cut 2 lbs. of beef into cubes, and add to dutch oven with curry paste, ground thai chilies (2 tbs) and soy sauce (3 tbs).  Coat the beef with the sauce, and stir occasionally while it browns and the paste blooms, 5 min.  Add stock to cover by an inch or so and bring to a boil.  Reduce to a simmer and cover, for 2 plus hours.  Add chopped carrots, quartered shallots and kaffir lime leaves and simmer for another 15 min.  (We also did not have the lime leaves, but you can find them in the 'Asian vegetable' section of the supermarket, and keep them in the freezer.  We used quarters of limes).

Sauteing the beef in the paste and soy sauce.

The Curry ready to simmer