Crispity, crunchy, and nicely chewy; bacon, seasoned with garlic and other tasty stuff, , roasted on a rack in a foil-lined pan in a hot oven, then brushed with a bit of good maple syrup to finish it all beautifully.
What could be better?
This recipe, originally from the barefoot contessa, works as well with the thin cut bacon I used here as with thick, you will just need to adjust your roasting times – mebbe add five minutes or so.
INGREDIENTS
•8 oz thin cut uncured bacon
•Garlic powder
•Gateway to the North Maple Garlic Seasoning*
•Maple syrup
*Or your preferred steak or grilling seasoning.
Heat oven to 400º.
Arrange bacon in single layer on rack inserted into a foil limed baking pan.
Season with garlic powder and Gateway to the North Seasoning.
Bake for about 15 minutes, until the bacon has begun to brown.
Note: this was very thinly sliced bacon – think pancetta – if you use a thicker cut bacon, you may want to let it roast for about 20 minutes.
Remove the pan from the oven (be careful not to slosh the bacon fat, we’re gonna be wanting to save that!), brush with the maple syrup then return to the oven and bake for another five to ten minutes.
Transfer the bacon to a paper towel lined plate to drain.
Allow the bacon drippings to cool just a bit before pouring into a container and stashing in the fridge for other fabulous uses; like…
this take on a bacon tart, or, just in case you find your self wanting to fry some green beans in a bit of bacon fat with chopped sweet onion and tiny new potatoes – one of my favorite food memories from my grandmother, Rachel. She would drain home grown and canned pole beans and toss ’em with some diced onion and quartered new potatoes in melted bacon fat in large skillet and cook until all were nicely done and delicious.
Bacon and then bacon fat, the gift that keeps on giving.