I got some free bacon, thinking soup?! Any great recipes?

Cafe Society
1

My farmer is trying out a new butcher, and gave me a pound of bacon last week to try out. Thing is, I don’t use that much at once, and it’s frozen in a kind of a lump. My first feedback is going to suggest it gets separated by parchment each 4 slices or so. The original butcher makes it fairly easy to break a pack while still frozen with the parchment, while this pack is kind of impossible without defrosting first, and what am I going to do with a whole pound once defrosted? I’m thinking a soup or stew.

Anyone got recipes for a soup or stew that includes more than 1/4# bacon? I have a 6-quart dutch oven I would use, so can multiply recipes as needed, or use crock pot recipes by just putting the whole thing in a low oven. Googling doesn’t give me much of a great start, I haven’t made any bacon-containing soups or stews before!

I was originally thinking just something that uses ham, and just rendering the bacon as much as possible in a frying pan or the oven first, so a bean soup or split pea? Still too fatty and might just end up gross?

2

IMO bacon is better as a crispy accent to a dish than a main ingredient, like soup. In my experience putting a lot of bacon in a soup or stew exposed to moisture turns into piggy tasting bits of pork not unlike fatty bits of ham. I will no doubt be proved wrong here within minutes, though.

3

Best bacon recipe:
Fry bacon in a pan. Eat.

For some variety, try carmelized bacon. Many recipes here.

4

I think you could get a quarter pound of bacon into a big pot of fish (or clam) chowder. Key is you use the rendered bacon fat for the roux to thicken the chowder, so the grease isn’t floating around making things, well, greasy, instead it’s helping making things thick and wonderful.

Chop and saute onions and celery, then put them aside.
Chop the bacon into 1/2" pieces or so, fry it until a little short of crispy, remove the bacon with a slotted spoon or something, then use the bacon fat (and butter if necessary) to make a roux. Add milk, the onions/celery, some diced potato, bacon and a bottle of clam juice. Cook at least until the potato is soft. Ten minutes before serving, add coarsely chopped clam (canned is fine) and/or cod, tilapia, or really any mild white fish, roughly cut into 2" chunks. Add pepper before serving.

5

You say that like it’s a bad thing.

My family has an old recipe we call “Macaroni Soup”. It’s kind of plain, but it’s very bacon-y, and you can jazz it up if you want. It’s the kind of thing that sounds kind of dull when you look at the recipe, but is actually pretty good.

You fry up a pound of bacon (sliced into bite-sized pieces) and an onion or two. If you want to be fancy, add in some garlic. Once the bacon is done, drain it. Add in about a pound of cooked elbow macaroni, a couple cans of diced tomatoes, and 2-4 cups of chicken stock, depending on how “soupy” you want it.

Add salt and pepper to taste, and that’s pretty much it.

To jazz it up… hmm… I’d add more vegetables. Maybe some corn. Maybe some hot sauce. Pretty much anything would work.

Another non-soup idea for bacon: Bacon Spaghetti! Similar to the soup, but cheesier. Very much not- healthy.

Cook up 1/2 pound of spaghetti noodles. In the meantime, fry up the bacon (once again, cut into pieces), and an onion and garlic. Once bacon is done, add in a couple cans of diced tomatoes. Add salt & pepper to taste.

Grate up about 1/2-1 pound cheddar cheese.

In a square baking dish, add half the noodles, cover with half the bacon/tomato mixture. Cover with grated cheddar cheese. Repeat with the rest of the spaghetti/bacon & tomato/cheddar.

Cover with tin foil, bake at 350 or so until the cheese is all melted and it’s hot, maybe 30 minutes or so.

Now I want both these things.

6

My initial thoughts would be in that general direction, too. Bacon works fine for any kind of recipe that uses cured, smoked meat, and beans/split pea recipes use that. I would render the bacon, save as much as needed to fry up the onions (instead of using vegetable oil or butter), and then just proceed with the recipe. I’m personally a fan of white bean soup, so I’d probably do that. The clam chowder suggestion is also great. Even corn chowder works well. Here’s a recipe I just found for potato, bacon, and corn chowder. That would be up my alley.

7

Bacon Jam

8

Hmm, dealing with a whole pound at once?

Fry all of it up until it’s crisp. Then:

Crumble a third of it, and then freeze the crumbles for later use in salads or on stuffed potato skins.

With the next third, make a batch of BLT’s for dinner the same day.

With the last third, make one of the split pea soup recipes mentioned above and put it away for eating in two or three days.

9

Why would you freeze bacon though? It’s shelf life lasts til like the 5th of never.

I must be a glutton as a pound of bacon is only good for about three or four BLTs. Which I would have for lunch at work for the next few days.

You guys are amateurs! Using it all sparingly and shit. :slight_smile:

10

I used to make BLT soup.

Fry up chopped bacon and chopped onions, add a bit of flour and make a roux. Add a stock and chopped tomatoes. Season to taste, garnish with chopped lettuce.

11

Packaged meat sold across state lines has to be frozen. All my meat comes frozen because my farmer is in Indiana, so she has to freeze it all to bring it to Chicago. The pre-packaged stuff at all grocery stores was already frozen before they defrost it in the back and then put it out for purchase. I don’t know about whole carcasses though.

All of these ideas sound delicious! I never think of something as simple as just cooking/crumbling/freezing for later, that’s a good idea. Now I have to pick one or two of these, and I’ll bookmark this thread for the rest another time.

Thanks guys!

12

I like potato soup made with bacon and onions. Cook the bacon first, slowly, to render as much fat as possible while not letting the pieces get too crisp. Remove bacon, add chopped onions, cook until the onions are soft and transparent. Remove onions and fat, drain the onions but save the fat. In the same pot, which still has the good browned bits and a skin of bacon grease, add potato chunks and chicken broth. You may also add chopped celery and carrots, if you like. I’ve even diced up a tomato and put it in, which gives the soup a nice color as well as adding flavor. Simmer until soft. In separate pot, make roux of a little of the bacon grease, flour, and milk, then add to the potatoes. My mother used to make home made noodles with this soup, but I don’t care for noodles in potato soup. Instead, I like grated Cheddar. Salt and pepper to taste.

Save the bacon grease, and use it in place of butter in some savory dishes. You can also use it for greasing the skillet when you make cornbread.

13

Mmm Hmm, saving the fat is a new thing for me, but since I roasted a duck a few months ago, I’ve become a bit enamored with the saving fat idea, (bacon, duck, chicken, roasts, all of it) and man is it good on roasted root vegetables. Saves money on butter, I guess. My arteries might argue I should stick with the Earth Balance but now not saving and using the fat seems wasteful, especially with how much I spend on family farm raised meat!