Baconfest

The King of Bacon has been crowned. Long live the King! 

Derek with a man wearing a pink crown and holding a spatula with a pig's face on it and a bouquet of roses

This happy gentleman in the pink crown is our King.  He created the winning bacon dish called Hot Stuffed Pig!

Other finalists included bacon-wrapped Timbits, bacon wrapped perch, bacon burgers (made with ground bacon and ground beef) and something called green eggs and ham which was actually made with fried green tomatoes and cheese.  They were all delicious in their own way but Jon Triebner’s HSP was the winner. We took our judging jobs seriously.

Blair cuts a dish and Derek and I wait with our plates for a sample. Plates covered in tinfoil are lined up on a black table in front of us and a giant Free-FM logo behind us.

It was a fun day and at least a thousand, likely more, bikes lined the streets of Lucan, 15 minutes north of London. The whole town got involved and proceeds went to the local food bank.  Western Mustangs cheerleaders washed bikes, even mine. There were tons of exhibitors and food offerings from bacon pizza to chocolate covered bacon. And my co-hosts were talked into making pigs of themselves.

Derek and Blair's faces sticking out from cutouts in a scene of a male and female cartoon pig standing on their hind legs on the beach. Derek is the male, holding a beer and wearing orange swim trunks. Blair is the female, in an orange bikini.

Why do men love bacon so much? It’s a mystery. But somehow bacon, bikes and babes all go together and they did so in big numbers on Saturday in Lucan.

And here is the winning entry’s recipe:

pork stuffed with cheese and veggies wrapped in a bacon weave

1 lb smoked bacon (Chris’ Country Cuts)
2 medium or chorizo sausages
1 tbsp Pistol Pete hot sauce
1 cup shredded jalapeno cheddar cheese
1 cup shredded monterrey jack cheese
1/2 jalapeno pepper finely diced
1 slice hybrid ghost pepper finely diced
1/4 green pepper diced
1/4 red onion diced
10-12 spinach leaves.

Tools & Supplies:

1 cookie sheet
Measuring cups: 1 cup, 1 tsp
frying pan
2 sheet wax paper
1 ziploc freezer bag
1 rolling pin
4-5 toothpicks
Charcoal Smoker
Hickory wood for smoker
Cooking/Baking Instuructions:
-Cover cookie sheet in wax paper
-Weave bacon on sheet (should have 1-2 slices left over)
-fry extra slices then dice (leave slightly undercooked they will finish in the smoker)
-cut sausages open and fill ziploc bag with meat, (do not seal)
-pour tbsp of hot sauce into ziploc bag and knead until incorporated
-roll meat flat using rolling pin until uniform thickness throughout bag
**this is a good time to start the smoker, you want it around 225-250**
-cut ziploc bag down sides and remove upper layer.
-place sausage meat onto 2nd sheet of wax paper (GENTLY or it will come apart)
-spread monterrey jack cheese evenly onto sausage followed by spinach leaves
-spread jalapeno cheddar on spinach leaves
-mix red onion, green pepper, jalapeno pepper, ghost slice & diced bacon in a bowl and spread on jalapeno cheddar
-Carefully roll the sausage (using wax paper to keep it together) including all the “stuffing”
-if need be overlap the last of the sausage but make sure to pull the wax paper off first.
-place sausage roll at side of bacon weave (roll should sit so the long side of the weave is sticking out either end)
-Gently roll bacon weave around sausage roll and hold in place with toothpicks as needed
-place on smoker for 2.5-3 hours depending on how hot smoker is.
-bacon will be crispy but not burnt when done.
-let sit for 15-20 minutes, slice into discs 3/4″ thick and enjoy