Bacon!!!

[Robin Garr]

For another great regional bacon, get Broadbent & Bingham at Doll's. It's from Cadiz, Ky., Barry Bingham Sr used to own a piece of the company, and it is outstanding.

Buy local ... buy regional ... buy good.

I would be happy to judge OR enter a third sandwich.

Sounds like a great idea guys, but where are you going to get the truly incredible tomatoes needed for this epicurean delight BLT? It's not tomato season for another 3-4 months.

Doogy,
You might want to call Whole Foods and see if they have the Niman Ranch bacon. I swear I've seen it somewhere in townn (besides work).

DEb

For another great regional bacon, get Broadbent & Bingham at Doll's. It's from Cadiz, Ky., Barry Bingham Sr used to own a piece of the company, and it is outstanding.

Broadbent does make excellent bacon including a pepper bacon. (the company pretty much goes by Broadbent Hams now.) They've won accolades from James Beard, David Rosengarten and the New York Times. Great people, great products. (I still think their Country Ham is the best out there)

http://www.broadbenthams.com/history.cfm

That said, Nueske's is still my personal favorite, hands-down- love that smoky -sweet flavor. For those of you who went to the last Throwdown at BBC, that's what I used in my Corn Chowder with grilled Shrimp. (I have not however tasted Father's )

Deb

Now the only thing we need is a venue and a couple of impartial judges...

For this... I nominate for a location...the BBC Taproom(if Dave will have us, and I'm pretty sure he will as long as we make him a sandwich too!)

As far as judges, let's see who follows this thread and go from there....You can choose your choice of venue if this doesn't feel comfortable to you...

I'm all about making it fair, I'll stand by my choice of BACON because I know it's the best!

My first nomination for a JUDGE is.. Ethan are you out there..I feel he would be an impartial judge as you can get because he's into sweets... But he has an great understanding of flavor profiles.

Your move ...

I'm here Dan.

Bacon has got to be one of my favorite food groups, but let it be known...
I'm not really into sweets, i just make them. (in fact, most of my desserts aren't really all that sweet).
I started cooking savory first, you know... (no pastry training here)

i did make bacon caramel for one of my previous menus, that i grated over cornbread french toast.


I've got no problem judging (provided my schedule allows it - i'm free sundays and mondays)
I'll add this though:
Due to my lactose intolerance, i'm usually pretty keen from shying away from taste-test and judging things.
It makes it pretty difficult to taste things if you can't get them down or digest them... i can handle dairy to degrees...
but the cheese usually equated with sandwiches (esp. burgers!) is usually why i tend to back out.
And most times it's difficult to be impartial and fair.
(don't even ask why i became i chef... i'm a horrible picky eater in general)

Now if we're talking ground rules to the effect of something like this...

your choice of:
bread
bacon
lettuce
tomato
sauce

...I'd be down.


but please don't let my dietary qualms influence the criteria for this event.
I'd much rather sit back and let you guys put whatever you want on your BLT.




I will say i'm very surprised to not have seen anyone mention Benton's Bacon.
...Hands down my choice for super smoky bacon.

I've tried the bacon from Benton's and it is good stuff...

However, I feel it is a "little" too smoky and can suffer from being cut too thick with out enough fat left in after curing that can make it almost "jerky' like after pan-frying...

You really can't go wrong with Nueske's..Its very tasty and very user-friendly...
Kind of like good bacon on training wheels....but I will take a hard stance when it comes to Father's as the perfect BLT bacon...

So when's this gonna happen guys? Can I be part of the audience?
Ummmmmm... bacon!

So when's this gonna happen guys? Can I be part of the audience?
Ummmmmm... bacon!

Yeah, when? I'm hungry!

So when's this gonna happen guys? Can I be part of the audience?
Ummmmmm... bacon!

I'd love to witness this one as well.....

I don't know about Father's bacon but their country ham is my very favorite.

I tried Deb's recommendation of Nueske's Applewood Smoked Bacon from a previous post. Some awesome bacon!

Where's that Griswold............

I suggest an early Monday evening when the Bats are in town....

Monday is usually my only day off and I love me some baseball so I can cram in two fun things on the same night!!

Opening Day is right around the corner folks...

Plus that will give anyone else who wants to get in on this some time to gather their ingredients...

What do you think Doogie?

I am thinking that I would like Marsha take my place and I'll be her assistant. That is, if she agrees.

You really can't go wrong with Nueske's..Its very tasty and very user-friendly...
Kind of like good bacon on training wheels....

Them's fighting words where I come from...


(not really. I come from California and we don't fight about Bacon there....

Deb

I am thinking that I would like Marsha take my place and I'll be her assistant. That is, if she agrees.

No way, Doogy, I'm not replacing you when it was your idea! You're just gonna have to bring it!

My days off are Sunday and Tuesday; or I could do it most any evening. Ever since someone mentioned the tomato issue, I kinda have been hoping we could push it a little further into the summer when the heirlooms are available at farmer's markets - what do you guys think about that?

The Tap Room is closed to the public on Sat., Sunday, and Monday so any of those would work. We do have 16,000 sq. ft. to work with here and can schedule any day really. I second Dan's motion to do it before a Bat's game as we are a short walk to Slugger Field. I second Marsha's motion to wait until we have really awesome tomatoes.

Now don't everyone fight over me at once here! It's clear that you all want me to be the judge of this competition. My name must have been thrown around at least a dozen times. I'll see if I can't make some room in my busy bacon-cooking schedule to delight in your culinary masterpieces.