Peppered Bacon Knots Recipes

CANDIED BACON

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
• Put bacon slices in a bowl, season them with pepper and toss with the brown sugar. Cover a baking sheet with parchment or foil and arrange the bacon in a single layer on top. Sprinkle any sugar left in the bowl over the bacon. Top with another layer of parchment or foil and top it, squarely, with another baking sheet. The baking sheet will flatten the bacon as it cooks.
• Place the tray in the center of the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Check the bacon by lifting the top tray and parchment. If it is not golden brown and fairly crispy, resist the temptation to turn up the oven temperature, and cook it for 10 to 15 minutes longer. Check it again. Keep in mind that when you remove the tray and transfer the bacon to a serving platter or individual plates, the bacon will "crisp" up a little more. Be patient!

JALAPEñO POPPER PIZZA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Lightly coat a baking sheet or pizza pan with olive oil. Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add bacon and cook until brown and crispy, about 6-8 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate. In a small bowl, combine olive oil, jalapeño, red chili pepper and shallot; set aside. Working on a surface that has been sprinkled with cornmeal, roll out the pizza into a 12-inch-diameter round. Transfer to prepared baking sheet or pizza pan. Spread cream cheese evenly over the top, leaving a 1-inch border. Top with bacon, jalapeño mixture and cheese. Place into oven and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown and the cheese has melted. Serve immediately.

SMYE'S LIGHTLY PEPPERED BACON

Steps:

• Rinse pork belly and pat dry. Mix brown sugar, salt, paprika, red pepper flakes, black pepper, curing salt, and cumin seeds together. Add maple syrup. Spread the cure mixture evenly over pork belly.
• Vacuum-seal the pork belly or place it into a resealable plastic bag, squeezing out as much air as possible. Refrigerate for 7 to 10 days.
• Remove pork belly from bag and rinse thoroughly. Pat dry and refrigerate while preheating your smoker to 220 degrees F (105 degrees C) according to manufacturers' instructions.
• Place pork belly, fat-side down, onto the wire rack. Place the rack into the smoker. Add 1 fist-sized chunk of applewood and 1 chunk of hickory wood to the smoke pan according to manufacturer's directions. Smoke for 1 1/2 hours; add 2 more chunks of applewood. Continue smoking until pork belly reaches an internal temperature of about 150 degrees F (66 degrees C), about 1 1/2 hours more.
• Remove pork belly from smoker and slice as desired. Store in the refrigerator for roughly 30 days. You can also portion out the finished bacon and freeze whatever you don't plan to consume right away, as you would any other meat product. To use, simply thaw in the refrigerator and you're good to go with little loss of texture.

PEPPERED BACON KNOTS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350.
• Line a broiler pan with foil to facilitate cleanup. Position broiler rack on top and coat with vegetable cooking spray.
• Tie each bacon slice into a loose knot and place in a single layer on prepared broiler rack.
• Brush with honey and top with a generous grinding of black pepper. Bake until bacon is crisp and honey is bubbly, 15 to 20 minutes.
• Transfer, honey side up, to paper towels to drain and cool. Peppered bacon knots can be held up to 3 hours at cool room temperature. Serve in a napkin lined basket.

OVEN BAKED PEPPER BACON

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Arrange bacon slices in 2 jelly roll or shallow roasting pans, overlapping the lean edge of each slice with the fat edge of the next. Evenly sprinkle pepper over bacon slices. Place pans on 2 oven racks and bake 25 minutes, switching pans between upper and lower racks halfway through the baking, or until bacon is golden brown and crisp. Transfer bacon to paper towels to drain; keep warm.