Beer for Bacon Day

Baconated beer?

Tomorrow is International Bacon Day. This doesn't directly have much to do with beer, but it doesn't need to be that way. Beer and bacon are two things that people are passionate about, therefore it is not surprising that the two are often combined. Brooklyn Brewery made headlines recently with their creation of a bacon beer, though they are hardly the first to attempt this. The St. Louis Homebrewers Association combined a porter brewed with baco bits, a tomato-flavored ESB, and lettuce juice to create the world's first BLT beer.

Jenny from Purple House Dirt, a local food blog, suggested a different approach. Instead of bacon-flavored beer, why not beer-flavored bacon? More specifically: stout-glazed bacon. The gal clearly knows both beer and bacon: she frequently cooks with bacon, has brewed her own beer, and even used the excess hops to create hop-flavored ice cream, so I took her advice. 

Stout-glazed Bacon

serves 8, 2-3 strips per person

• 1 pound bacon
• 3 tablespoons light brown sugar, packed
• 2 tablespoons stout of your choice

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place a sheet of aluminum foil on a rimmed cookie sheet to catch grease and place a baking rack on that. Lay out the bacon strips on the baking rack and bake for 15 minutes.
2. While bacon is cooking, combine brown sugar and stout. After 15 minutes, brush bacon with stout mixture and bake for another 5 minutes. Flip, brush again, and bake for another 5-8 minutes or until cooked to desired crispness.

If you do not partake in pork products, turkey bacon or fakin' bacon would probably work, though I suggest you celebrate instead with a baconesque rauchbier or adding some Bacon Salt to a cheap, tasteless lager.

Some other beer and bacon recipes that look good:

Bacon Beer Bread
Bacon Cheddar Beer Soup
Five Spice-crusted Salmon with Bacon, Onions and Sauerkraut