Hey! Hey! lno! Salty fried things need what? Yes - they needs dippin’. Make up yerself a bacon ranch dipping sauce to go with the things that you’ll be baconating.
Mmmmm…bacon fries dipped in bacon ranch dressing. I’m tellin’ ya, they’ll come flocking.
Perhaps is you used maybe a diferent fat combination. Perhaps a 1/4 bacon fat to 3/4 Lard soulution. It may not foam as much but still have some of the bacon flavor. Don’t give up yet! It maybe just a matter of coming up with the right proportions.
I always thought bacon jerky would be interesting.
I recently attended a chi-chi marketing/bonding/junket thingy at a local cooking school/implement emporium.
One of the things they taught us was a variation on the bacon-wrapped hors d’ourves (not French, not looking it up) on a toothpick (which, if you squint at it is a little stick): dates marinated in fig viniagrette wrapped in bacon.
Yum. Fire and death did not ensue, which is a good thing (or so I thought), seeing as we were all a bunch of lawyers.
I am left wondering what a rage burning with the fire of a thousand baconated deep fryers is like.
This thread has inspired a lugubriously fatty, but oh so delicious, abomination… Smoked porkbelly confit in salt pork, chicken, and duck schmalz. Maybe some boiled onions, cabbage, and new potatoes sauteed in the same schmalz to serve with the belly…
Could be a new St. Pat’s day recipe.
You might also like to try Hunky Turkey (Szalona Sutes) for all of your bacony goodness needs. It is a Hungarian delicacy, consisting of a slab of country bacon roasted and defatted over an open fire. The bacon drippings are gathered and dripped copiously on a slice of hearty bread. The bread is then topped with the summer’s freshest, diced or sliced tomatoes, green peppers, and onions.
Salad with an oink!
Actually, to be exact, the name of the process, not the dish itself, is szalonnasütés. For example, kagylósütés is “clambake,” and szalonnasütés would be something like “bacon bake.”
The dish itself doesn’t have a standard name as far as I know–I’ve heard it referred to simply as sült szalonna (“roast bacon”) or cigányszalonna (“Gypsy bacon”) or even zsirós kenyér (“fatty bread”, although this usually refers to bread spread with lard, not roast bacon.)
It is traditionally prepared on a skewer, usually with half a small onion pierced atop the slab bacon. (The bacon chosen for this should be quite fatty and smoked.) It’s your typical Hungarian peasant campfire meal. Quite yummy. Most people I know don’t eat the bacon itself once it’s cooked–just the bread with the drippings and some onions and peppers. Personally, I like the fatty bacon.
I wonder where the name “hunky turkey” comes from. I’ve never heard it referred to this way, but a quick Google shows that some folk, at least, do call it this. Weird.
With apologies for continuing the hijack -
As a pure WAG I would say the name Hunky Turkey is probably an ethnic slur based on the term “Bohunk” or maybe “Hunky” for Hungarian. I would assume it would be based on the idea that a “Bohunk” laborer would not be able to afford a turkey and so would instead have a cheap cut of meat and some bread.
After some quick research online, I found that"Hunky" was indeed a derogatory term for Hungarians, and is probably the origin of the modern epithet, “honky”, for white people
Another item for the Baconator Booth: Popcorn popped in bacon grease. My friend was doing this years ago, and it is freeking awesome. A little something for the kiddies to snack on while their baconized entrees are being prepared.
Fridays and Saturdays according to their website - www.hotdougs.com
Enjoy!
There is a large ethnic Hungarian population near me in Toledo. The east side neighborhood that claims this proud nationality is called “Birmingham”. It is also known proudly and affectionately among the locals and residents as “Hunky Town”. Maybe you have heard of Tony Packo’s Hot Dogs as popularized by famous Toledoan, Cpl. Klinger (JamieFarr) from the MASH TV series. Tony Packo is indeed Hungarian and their cafe at Front and Consaul Streets is a landmark and the gateway to the Birmingham neighborhood. They also have the best Hot Dogs in the world. I know that’s a helluva claim, but it’s true!
Maybe the term Hunky could be used in a derogatory way, but I’ve never once heard it used in such a way. Colloquially, it seems to be a term owned by the Hungarians in Toledo and really is not offensive nor as ominous as you make it seem to most of the natives that I know. The Birmingham festival that they have every year features “Hunky Turkey” as a specialty. That is what the Hungarians advertise it as and it may well be a term coined here in Toledo. I am not entirely sure of its etymology but I really doubt it was meant to infer that a Hungarian couldn’t afford a turkey. My personal guess is that it had a more innocent analogous meaning. Whereas, we honkys might celebrate a special meal with a Turkey, the hunkys prefer to celebrate with a bonfire and a bacon roast. (tongue in cheek)
I can’t keep this out of my mind.
I see the Baconator spreading across the nation, and being sold on late-night TV informercials, and then getting into more respectable channels. The Food Network could feature a show dedicated to the baconation process. Iron Chef would have “Battle Bacon”.
But there are some clouds on this fictional horizon…
There’d be an eventual backlash against baconating food. The American Heart Association would eventually decide that the portion of my proceeds does not balance out the damage done by hundreds of millions of people baconating their food, and would publicly renounce their association with me. Someone would write a book akin to Fast Food Nation (possibly titled Baco-Nation?) decrying the damage done not only to the consumer, but the consumer’s family (cut to scene of man in hospital, doctor saying “This man has eaten baconated food for the past six years. He has only twenty minutes to live.” with his wife sobbing at the side of the bed) and also because of the increased demand for pork, the stench of hog farms spread across the nation.
After some time, the Baconator would disappear, and perhaps the manufacture of new Baconators would be outlawed. They’d be sold on eBay and other marketplaces as collector’s items with the disclaimer “NOT FOR ACTUAL BACONATING USE”. My money would dry up, my fame would recede, and it’d be pretty damned depressing.
…unless…
…unless I were to write Baco-Nation: An Inside Look At The Bacon Craze myself. Be a ghostwriter. Bring down my own empire, but build another one on its ashes.
It’s financial gold, baby.
All this talk of bacon reminds me of the segment on one of the South Park extras from the second season called ‘Bakin’ Bacon with Macon’ where Matt and Trey Parker keep feeding bacon to a pig named Macon. Kinda gross if you think about it but really really funny.
Oh, and the baconator…sheer genius!
I remember as a child, my elderly neighbor, Roscoe (from Alabama), always had a big coffee can of bacon grease next to his stove. He would fry everything in it. Catfish, okra, potatoes, eggplant…you name it, he fried it in bacon grease. I believe baconateing is actually a lost art waiting to be recovered and revived. From my childhood experience I always thought that if Alabama had a flavor it would taste like Bacon.
Mmmm… bacon fried Alabama… Mmmmmm drool…
Or how about baconated Baked Alaska? We could call it Alabaska or something.
OK, someone want to try the idea that was mentined of making popcorn in bacon grease? I’m intridgued. One thing that I’ve done is make popcorn and then putting some soy sauce on it. Status reports! I need status reports people! We can’t let the baconater dream die!
We need intrepid testers who are willing to put their bacon on the line for testing some of these fine ideas.
Well, I’ve never actually made baconated popcorn, but I can tell you the taste was simply divine. This is very easy to do, from what she told me. You just substitute bacon grease for whatever oil you use for popcorn, and wah-la! You have your heart-unhealthy snack!