Caramelized Praline Bacon

Do you know what today is? Only one of my favorite food holidays! It's....

Bacon is the support structure of my food pyramid. I consider it a seasoning that should be used as frequently as salt and pepper. It goes on, or with everything. I have had bacon served just about as many ways as humanity has been able to create it.

By far my favorite has been the Maple-bacon Donut. combining the perfect blend of fried, airy dough with sweet maple frosting and salty bacon to crown it the donut king. It's one of the most delicious and decadent foods I've ever put in my mouth.

That being said, I had a very hard time deciding what to showcase as my bacon recipe for this grand occasion. I settled on featuring bacon as the star, jazzed up with sweetness and a little kick of heat.

Friends, I give you.. Caramelized Praline Bacon!

This bacon has everything one could ask for in a food. Sweet, salty, spicy, crunchy and the right amount of chewy fat to give your mouth an explosion of happiness and flavor. The touch of cayenne pepper is just enough kick to give you an unexpected surprise and the caramelized nuts and brown sugar are a crunchy coating of heaven. So without further adieu.. try this one out:

Caramelized Praline Bacon

1 lb. of thick, center cut bacon. (go for the good $tuff)

1/2 C. of toasted pecans after being pulverized in a food processor 

1/2 C. of dark brown sugar

1/4 tsp. of cayenne pepper

Preheat the oven to 400.

line a cookie sheet with tin foil and place a metal cooling rack set atop the cookie sheet.

Mix together the pecans, brown sugar and cayenne pepper. Place in a long casserole dish to coat your bacon in. Starting one piece at a time, heavily coat each side of bacon with the sugar mixture and place side by side on the cookie rack. You will most likely need to make two batches, so don't crowd the slices. 

Bake for 20-25 minutes until browned and crisp. Watch the last 5 minues carefully as sugars will move past caramelized quickly and become burned. Remove from the oven with a spatula and set on a piece of foil on top of a cutting board to cool. Don't let the slices touch as they will stick together until the sugars have cooled and hardened.

Once cool, try to share with others and don't be selfish! (Yes, YOU!)

This bacon is amazing with any breakfast item, or crumbled over ice cream for dessert. Try it in a Fat Elvis sandwich for a combination too sinful to admit you ate in public. But there will be no judging on this blog! I'll just be jealous you ate some without me. Now go forth and eat bacon!