Bacon......palooza!

Wow, what a fun party. I was absolutely outside of myself the entire time but it was a good affair for sure.  Friends wife made a comment yesterday that she realized I was drinking to cope with the crowd. This was true. Also just to cope with myself and my moods. I played it off well though. I slipped into a party persona and maintained a happy dancing demeanor. There were points I even truly enjoyed myself. So what made Bacon palooza, bacony? Well, the bacon of course. The point was for people to bring various experimental dishes in bacon to be judged on taste, creativity, and presentation.

I made: Sizzling Bacon Wrapped Apricots with a Cranberry Glaze Reduction and Bacon Bourbon Brownies.

I think I used too much bourbon in the brownies and they could have done with more sugar. However, the Sizzling Bacon Wrapped Apricots actually won me first prize in the bacon contest!! The irony of a strict vegetarian winning the Baron of Bacon trophy was not lost on anyone. The recipe was pretty simple too.

Sizzling Bacon-Wrapped Apricots with Cranberry Glaze

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp cornstarch mixed with
• 1 1/2 teaspoons packed brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 12 slices maple-cured bacon, halved crosswise
• 24 dried apricots
• 1 1/2 cups Ocean Spray® 100% Juice Cranberry Juice Blend

Directions

1.      Boil cranberry juice blend in medium saucepan over high heat until reduced to 1 cup. Whisk in cornstarch, brown sugar, and nutmeg. Bring to a boil over medium heat and boil until thickened. Cool to room temperature. Reserve 1/2 cup of the glaze.

2.      Meanwhile, line rimmed baking sheet with foil; set wire rack over foil and spray with cooking spray. Wrap bacon halves around apricots and secure with wooden pick. Brush with glaze and place on wire rack.

3.      Broil 3 to 7 minutes, or until bacon in browned, turning once. Serve warm with reserved glaze.

I couldn’t turn mine because of the damned toothpicks so I ended up turning the oven on high and baking them for 10 minutes instead. I also just drizzled the glaze over the bacon/apricots when I was ready to serve them so they weren’t overpowered.

Nice. Easy. Award winning? Apparently!

I also made my Honey and Nuts Snow White yesterday. It’s a very Traditional Turkish dish that I’m working on for our Mediterranean dinner party. And man did I get it right this time! It’s basically a blancmange with oatmeal bottom crush and sautéed apples/walnuts and honey on top. It’s not the simplest of recipes but I’m stoked about it.

Honey and Nuts Snow White

Ingredients:

For the Filling:

3 cups milk

2/3 cup sugar
3 tbsp flour
1 tbsp starch
3/4 tsp vanilla
For the crust:
1 cup oatmeal

3 Tbsp butter

Honey (to taste)
For the top:
2 tbsp honey
½ cup walnuts, coarsely crushed
1 apple
2 tbsp sugar
½ tsp cinnamon

Crust: Mix oatmeal, melted butter and honey together and press onto the bottom of your baking vessel. I used a 9” pie plate. Bake at 350 degF until golden brown: approx 10-15 minutes.

To prepare the filling, take milk, sugar, starch and flour into a pot. Cook over medium heat while whisking. Once it is thickened turn off heat. Stir in vanilla. Set aside.

Meanwhile, peel the apple and chop into small cubes. Cook them in a saucepan with sugar until their color changes to pinkish.

Pour the filling over the crust and let it cool for a while. Place the cooked apples all over and drizzle with honey. Sprinkle with walnuts and cinnamon. Serve cold.

Not too sweet, perfectly creamy, delicious. I’m so excited about this.

I also got to work on my light sabers a little bit yesterday! Friend and I cut down the hilts to the size I intend to wield and drilled out the attachment holes. Once that was done we busted out the liquid epoxy and attached the labradorite spheres I’m using as pommels and made the initial attachment. I’ve decided to depart from my previous use of amethyst inlaid crystal in favor of a dichroic glass accented display. The stones I have are beautiful. I hope it all turns out =) I have to say though, I have not been a fan of working with the sculpting epoxy I have. Granted I’ve been working with the lamest tools ever; namely a dull pencil, which I imagine is also contributing to my frustration. I’m definitely going to try to get these things to achieve the twisted organic look that I want. If not, I do have a backup plan, but I want to push my ideas forward to the next level. Not just settle for what I know I can do.