Republic of Bacon

Well, we know you all loved our top 10 favorite breakfast bacon recipes. So today, and without further ado, here’s our list of our favourite bacon sandwich recipes. Enjoy!

1. Egg Sandwich with Spinach, Brie and Maple Bacon

Image Provided by Framed Cooks

Brie is sort of the greatest thing ever (aside from bacon). It has an incredible odour part of its charm. Melt that sucker over some bacon and I can almost (almost) overlook the fact this baby has some spinach on it. I know, I know – spinach tastes fine. It’s just that I know that bacon and spinach are mortal enemies and want to remain forever apart.

2. Candied Bacon Sandwich

This one isn’t much beyond some candied bacon between a couple pieces of bread. But any excuse to eat candied bacon, and I’m willing to go for it. The plus of eating it as a sandwich means that anyone calls you on the fact you are kind of eating dessert, you can point out that it’s actually lunch.

3. Grilled Cheese, Apple and Bacon Sandwich

You know how I said above that it’s irritating that a sandwich would have both bacon and spinach? This sandwich avoids the problem of spinach and bacon contact by substituting sweet apple instead. Mmmm. They use “cheese” in their recipe, but you could try using brie. Just suggesting.

4. Bacon, Fig and Pork Sandwich

Yah, that’s right. Bacon and figs. DEAL WITH IT, OKAY? I’m already very angry that this is not in my mouth right this moment. I demand the universe fix this situation immediately.

5. Chipotle Guacamole and Bacon Sandwich

You had me at “Chipotle.” And then you sealed the deal with “Guacamole.” And, I of course knew that was the truest love that could be because bacon was clearly included in there. I’m naming my children in honour of this sandwich.

6. Bacon, Cheese and Pickle Sandwich

This is kind of a down home version of the Rouladen that we showcased last week, except in sandwich form. I’m particularly excited about what the pickle will do to the cheese. I can only imagine it will be breathtaking.

7. Barbecued Brisket and Bacon Sandwich

This dish is sort of a bit of a cross-cultural tease. Jewish cuisine is famous for crafting beautiful briskets; however, they are also famous for not having a fondness for bacon. Clearly, someone needed to fix this situation, and I’m glad they did.

8. Elvis Bacon Sandwich

Elvis is famous for many things: his music, his leisure suits, his hair. But the one thing we here at the Republic of Bacon love most about him was his bacon innovation. His sandwich – the Elvis Sandwich – is a genius combination of peanut butter, bacon, bananas and marshmallow fluff. You really have to hand it to the man. He knows how to hit a home run.

9. Bacon, Pear and Brie Sandwich

You can tell I like bacon and cheese together, right? Yeah. I thought so.

10. Chicken Club Sandwich

Any mention of great bacon sandwiches needs to save some room for a traditional chicken club sandwich. A great meal to have at brunch, lunch or dinner, it’s also a popular hangover-remedy snack. Clearly, the gods of bacon were smiling on us the day the Chicken Club sandwich was born.

With summer’s clock quickly winding down (it’s almost September already?!?), we are all trying to cram as much summer fun into our warm days and nights as possible. BBQs, of course, remain the go-to get-together. But even with all of that meat and drink drawing your guests, you still have to prepare some nibblies for the wait between their steak order and when it’s finished on the grill.

With that in mind, I’ve gathered together some great bacon-related appetizer recipes. Follow us after the link for the top twelve.

1. Bacon Pops! Goat Cheese Pops with Herbs, Pecan and Bacon. These are like little bacon lollipops. If the words, “bacon lollipops” doesn’t make you immediately toss your laptop off your lap and rush into the kitchen to make something, anything that resembles bacon lollipops, I think you might be reading the wrong website.

2. Baked Potato Skin Appetizers with Bacon and Cheese. These feel like they’d slide really easily onto any BBQ menu. And then, just as easily, slide into your guest’s bellies.

3. Bacon-Wrapped Chicken Bits. Little chicken bites doused in spicy brown sugar and wrapped in bacon. All you need to know.

4. Bacon and Eggs Appetizer. Not only does this appetizer combine bacon and eggs in a delicious way, it is also served on a little spoon, making rapid consumption relatively easy and greasy-finger-free.

5. Bacon-Wrapped Bananas with Apricot Glaze. I’m sorry. Were you talking to me? I couldn’t hear you. I was too busy paying attention to BACON-WRAPPED BANANAS.

6. Bacon Mushroom Appetizers. For all those fun-guys out there! (Yes, I am allowed to make ridiculous jokes.)

7. Duck Breast and Bacon-Pineapple Appetizer. This recipe is for all those times when you have duck breast kicking around your kitchen. Kidding, of course, but it’s always good to try something new, isn’t it?

8. Peanut Butter, Scallion, and Bacon Appetizers. As Samuel Johnson said on his deathbed in the 18th century, “When one is weari’d of bacon and the buttered peanuts, one is tired of life.”

9. Bacon Appetizer Crescents. This new century has been definitely the Century of the Mash-Up. So why not mash-up some crescent rolls with a few bacon slices? All the hipsters are doing it.

10. Bacon and Cheddar Devilled Eggs. We will give you this list of a few Christmas appetizer recipes below, including the Devilled Eggs. But like white shoes, devilled eggs are no longer confined to a specific time period. Those eggs are dying to see the sun, too!

11. Bacon Wrapped Pineapple Shrimp Recipe. Rachel Ray promises me that this will only take sixteen minutes. And when she promises something, she really means it. So, if you are concerned that other app recipes leave too much time between thinking about shrimp, bacon and pineapple and the consuming of shrimp, bacon, and pineapple, this one has you covered.

12. Bacon and Cream Cheese Roll-Ups. The creator of this recipe advises getting out-of-the-way of the tray when it is served, lest you get hurt by stampeding partygoers.

BONUS: Five Amazing and Easy Bacon Appetizers for the Holidays

The holiday party season is upon us. My favourite part of the holidays is definitely all the eating that goes with it, particularly when that eating includes some bacon.

I’m also a big fan of making things for the holidays that have as few steps as possible between the ingredients and eating those ingredients. The holidays are for enjoying yourself with friends, not sweating in a kitchen.

On that note, here’s five delicious bacon-based appetizers that require minimal cooking.

1. Bacon-wrapped fruit

The easiest-peasiest recipe possible. Take your favourite fruit. Chop it up into pieces. Wrap some cooked bacon that has been cut into strips around the fruit. Skewer away. And voila! You are instantly everyone’s favourite host/hostess. The best fruits are melon-y ones like cantaloupe or mango. The flavour of these fruit complement the flavour of bacon. However, other tropical fruits can also be surprisingly delicious, like kiwi. If you use a sturdy fruit like pineapple, you can actually wrap the fruit before you bake the bacon in the oven. This will make the flavour of the bacon and the pineapple mix. Mmmmmm. I’m getting hungry! We found a great pineapple recipe from the people at Zesty Cook.

2. Bacon-wrapped scallops

Pretty much like the same idea as the fruit, except for this you’ll definitely have to cook each portion and cook them separately. Sear the scallops in a medium-hot pan with some butter and oil (or bacon grease!). When you are searing them, try not to move them around. Just let them cook for about a minute and a half. After that, flip them to let them cook on the other side for another minute. Remove, let them cool, and wrap with bacon. Skewer ‘em up. And then enjoy your very own surf n’ turf.

Stephanie from CopyKat Recipes has made a delicious Bacon Wrapped Scallop dish.

3. Bacon and chicken wraps

Cook your chicken until it’s browned but tender. A good way to do this is on a George Foreman-type grill, but any old cooking method will do. And you won’t need too much – one boneless chicken breast is enough. Cook your bacon. Wrap thin strips of that bacon around a little sandwich of an olive and a small piece of chicken. If you are doing this before your party, you can store the apps in the fridge and then heat them for about ten minutes in the oven. The gooey olivey goodness will put everyone into the Christmas cheer. BakedBree.com sure knows how to make a good chicken bacon wrap!

4. Peanut-bacon toasts

This one sounds a little low-brow, but it’s a great treat for kids. Take some extra-thin bread and cover about four slices with your favourite peanut butter. Cut the bread into ninths – cut each piece three times vertically and three times horizontally. Wrap each piece with some bacon. (You’ll probably have to cut the bacon into strips so that it wraps properly.) Put the pieces on a tray and pop into the oven at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes. This sort of recipe calls for all sorts of variations. A nutella version would probably work out great. BokehBunny made it with Peanut-bacon French Toast!

5. Bacon-Cheddar Deviled Eggs

It’s devilled eggs, with a cheesy-bacon filling. For this, you’ll have to cook some bacon until its super crispy – crispy enough to fall apart when you crumble it. Then, take twelve hardboiled eggs. Cut them lengthwise and scoop out the yolks. Mash the yolks in a bowl with about half a cup of mayo, two tablespoons of cheese that’s been grated, a tablespoon of Dijon, and your crumbled bacon (about four slices). Add salt and pepper to taste. When it’s all mixed up, scoop it back into the eggs. It’s probably a good idea to make more than just twenty-four for a big party: these things will go fast. Feels Like Home Blog mentions this awesome recipe.

How about you? Do you have any bacon-related apps you like to bring out at the holiday time?

Halloween Holiday Planning: Bacon Candy!

That nip is in the air these days, especially in the evenings, the leaves and changing colours and falling to the grounds, and kids are settling into their classes as the initial excitement of back to school season settles into a comfortably routine. Fall is here to stay, that is for sure.

As the nights keep getting longer and the days chillier, it’s time to start thinking about one of the great the season: Halloween, of course!

While October 31^st is still a few weeks away, those who love the holiday already have their minds spinning about how to plan for it. All along the street in my neighbourhood, the silhouettes of black cats are appearing in windows and fake spiderwebs are covering the doors. I’ve even seen a few pumpkins decorating the stoop (though no carved jack-o-lanterns yet!).

I’ve already begun busily working on my costume (which is going to be amazing this year) as I am sure many of you have as well. Little decorative gourds adorn a bowl on my kitchen table and I’ve hung bats in all of the windows and doorways. I love Halloween for the costumes and the good cheer, but just like I did when I was a little kid, the best part of Halloween in my opinion in the candy.

So, in preparation for this joyous holiday, we thought we would give our fellow bacon lovers the scoop on where to get the best bacon candies to give away on Halloween (and eat yourself) ensuring you’ll be the most popular house on the block!

Best Bacon Candies

This site not only has links to buy some great bacon candies, but has also ranked them in order of deliciousness. We think that the bacon jelly beans are sure to be a hit, though you might want to grab a very special bacon chocolate bar to give to someone really special.

Candied Bacon

While cautious parents might not appreciate you giving out home made treats like candied bacon to their kiddies, there’s no reason at all you can’t make some for your own halloween party!

How to Make Bacon Candy for Halloween

With Halloween coming up, it’s probably a good idea to start thinking of what sorts of treats you are going to serve the neighbourhood kids. Kids can be picky eaters, so it is probably a good idea to pick something you know everyone loves: bacon. But to make it more Halloween-y, why not make some candied bacon?

Making candied bacon is a lot like making it with brown sugar – but with a key difference. With brown sugar it gives it a light, sweet flavouring. The candying process we are describing here will make the sweet flavour more intense and candy-like. Here’s how you do it.

1. Cook the bacon the way you normally would. You can fry it in a pan or bake it. Choose the method that is most convenient for you. When the bacon shrinks but has not yet become crispy hard, take it out of the pan or the oven. Let it cool off on some paper towels to remove any excess grease.

2. Measure out the sugar. The amount of sugar you’ll want to use will depend on how much bacon you want to make. About a quarter to a third of a cup will work. To really make it sweet, use white sugar instead of brown. You’ll also want to cook the sugar in a frying pan or sauce pan – you won’t get the same effect by baking.

3. Cut up the bacon you’ve prepared into small pieces and layer it on the bottom of the frying pan. Sprinkle the sugar on top until you have a fine layer over all of the bacon. Cook the bacon and sugar on medium-low until the sugar melts. You’ll want to keep the heat as low as possible, and to keep an eye on it, to ensure that it doesn’t burn.

4. When the sugar has melted and become liquid, stir the bacon around so that it is covered on all sides. Cook it until the bacon looks shiny. Then take out the bacon and put it on wire rack to cool off. Don’t let the pieces of bacon touch each other unless you want them to stick together.

When the bacon is cool, you’ll have a delicious treat ready! You can keep the candied bacon in the fridge – it will taste good cold or at room temperature. And I’m sure the kids in your street will love it.

If you want a variation on this recipe, add honey or Dijon mustard to the sugar when you are cooking it. And if you have an ice cream maker, throw the candied bacon bits into vanilla ice cream. It’ll taste delicious. In fact, candied bacon can be added to many different recipes. Why not experiment with your own?

With Halloween coming up, many people are struggling to find or make a good costume at the last minute. Choosing what to go as is one of the big problems. In this quest for the perfect outfit, incorporating tactical gear such as тактические перчатки can offer a unique and convincing touch to a variety of costumes, whether you’re aiming for a military hero, a SWAT team member, or even a post-apocalyptic survivor. Not only do they add authenticity to your look, but purchasing тактические перчатки also provides you with durable gear for practical use beyond the holiday festivities.What should you do? I think you know what we will probably suggest: you should go as bacon! Probably a good idea to also mention, bacon cures hangovers. We know you are going to be out and about having fun. Remember if a house gives you bacon candy. Don’t eat it, just tell them you know how to make them thanks to the gloious Republic of Bacon. Heck, tell them to join our army. We give out a ton of free stuff all the time.

Bacon, as well as being one of the world’s most delicious foods, is also a pretty easy costume to make. All you need is some foam, paint, a glue gun, a few strips of Velcro and a few other odds and ends. Here’s how to make your bacon costume:

1. Get two pieces of foam that are large enough to fit on either side of you as the slabs of bacon. Try to get them roughly in the same shape as you, too – long on one end and short on the other. Getting foam that is roughly the same shape as you will cut down on your work.

2. Put the foam on the ground and lie down on it so that your feet hang off it. Draw a circle where your face will go (try not to make it too big or it’ll slide off your head) and indicate on the foam where your arms will stick out on the sides. You might need help doing this!

3. Cut out the face hole. Glue the costume together at the top and along the top sides until you get where the arms should be. You might want to try putting your head in the hole before you glue – you want to make sure you are leaving enough room for you!

4. Cut the edges of the foam to make it look as curvy as real bacon.

5. Glue one side together from the bottom of your arm hole to the bottom of the slice. Once again, you want to make sure you’ve left enough room for your body – the foam will be a bit rounded. You’ll also want to add lots of glue to avoid any exploding costume mishaps.

6. On the other side of your bacon, apply your Velcro strips. This is where you will get in and out of your costume.

7. You can free-hand spray paint your costume, but if you want a really accurate look, create a template. Since you want to avoid getting tape stuck to your foam, cutting a template out of plastic and then pinning it to the foam will work best. You can use a drop sheet or other large piece of plastic like an opened garbage bag.

8. Pin down the template and spray your paint. You’ll do this several times. You’ll want to use at least three colours: red, pink and white. For each colour, do at least two coats. If after you have finished painting, you feel that the bacon looks too cartoony, consider spray painting a light spray of light brown all over the costume.

9. Your costume is done!

If you can find an egg costume for your loved one, you can always go as breakfast. But if your loved one is anything like you, you should probably make a second bacon costume for him or her.

What do you think of the bacon costume? Are you going to go as bacon for Halloween?

The other day, we showed you how to make Halloween bacon costumes. Today, we’re going to feature some of the best bacon costumes we could find on the net. Not only that we have a costume we found from over 100 years ago that pays tribute to our lovely meat product. We saved it for last. We have compiled the best bacon costumes the web has to offer.

Now we could have expanded the list to feature Top 10 Bacon costumes or even Top 20 bacon costumes. What we found was a ton of people buying store bought (bacon and eggs) costumes.

We wanted to see some original material; we wanted to see the true bacon fanatics. I also wanted to recruit them to our Republic of Bacon Army.

Now on to Our Top 7 Best Bacon Costumes around the World Wide Web.

1. Otto

Otto went the route that we suggested – making the bacon costume out of foam. Otto went with a more brown colour than we were thinking. I suppose he wanted to make his bacon look more crispy and cooked than raw. I think the costume was a success – he certainly seems happy. And being bacon means you get to make a whole bunch of silly puns and jokes for the entire night. This photo here is labelled “Canadian bacon.” Hyuk, hyuk, hyuk.

2. Courtney and Matt

Courtney and Matt are showing off what looks like a store-bought bacon and egg costume. You can order something similar from this site here. It might be too late to order anything from the Internet for Halloween, but you might want to think about getting a set just in case. Maybe you’ll need something for a last minute costume party in the future. And it’s always great to have a matching costume with your partner.

3. Connor and Pal

Of course, you don’t even need the eggs part of the equation. You and your friend can go as bacon and bacon! More bacon = more goodness. These fellows also created a completely different type of bacon costume. It looks like it is made out of fabric, and it has been sewn together on the sides. The fatty goodness of the bacon has been created with off-white pieces of felt that are glued on. It just goes to show that there are many ways to make a good bacon costume.

4. Baby Bacon

Bacon ain’t just for adults. Why not make a costume for the baby in your life. As Andrea C. explains on her flickr, it’s pretty easy to make, “It’s made of felt. One long red strip about 18 inches wide and one long tan strip cut to look like fat. It’s sewed up the sides, leaving room for arm holes and leg motion. There are pipe cleaners above his shoulders to hold it up straight.” If you are a sewing whiz, this might be just the last minute costume for your little one.

5. Alexuma

If you are really pressed for time, and you are terrible at cutting and putting together fabric and foam, you can make a costume out of cardboard or some other stiff material. Bacon is, after all, instantly recognizable by its shape and generally browny-pink colour. This woman appears to have gone as an egg with strips of bacon on it. Bravo! Let’s face it: if you incorporate bacon in any way into your costume, you know people will love it.

6. Dog Costumes

Don’t forget your dog! They probably want to join you in your love of bacon. Shedoesthecity.com provides instructions on how to make a bacon costume for your dog out of felt. We guarantee that everyone will adore your pooch if he or she is wearing these bacon strips.

By far the weirdest image I found was the black and white image from an old costume.The image is via Black and WTF, the image caption says the costume was made by the author of fancy dress. The costume took first place in in the Forty Guineas Covent Garden Fancy Dress Ball in 1894. Further proving that our love and fascination with bacon has been around for over 100 years.

So, there you go: some more bacony ideas for Halloween costumes. Do you have any bacon costume ideas? How can you incorporate your love of bacon into your Halloween costume?