Chipotle and Honey Glazed Bacon

This bacon could be sold in a candy store as it is just that good! As you know I have been tinkering with bacon for some time now, and for the most part, the experiments have been really amazing, but what bacon isn’t amazing? During the extended holiday break, I was able to experiment a bit more with bacon. After coming off an excellent Thanksgiving, I had plenty of leftovers, and one of my favorites being turkey. The leftover turkey sandwich is something that I really love, especially when it is on great bread with some nice cheese, and pressed so the cheese bubbles through and gets nice and crusty. I’m hungry just thinking about it.

So on Saturday morning my oldest asks, as he does quiet often, ‘you making bacon this morning?’.  My response was ‘would you like some bacon this morning?’, knowing very well what the answer was going to be. So there I was with bacon in mind. I figured I could make a couple of slices for him, then create a glaze that could be lathered onto the bacon, slowly cooked, and used later on a turkey sandwich. Sounds like a plan, right?

Trust me on this one when I say just how great it is. You get the sweetness from the honey, and the nice heat from the spices and chipotle chili.

Ingredients:

• 6 slices of premium bacon
• 1/2 cup of honey
• 1/4 tsp chili powder
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp of the adobo sauce

As my previous test with bacon went, you know that I slow cooked it in the oven, however this time, I went back to the my roots, and busted out the large skillet, placing the heat on medium-low. Cook the bacon from about 7 minutes on one side, then flip, and cook another 5-6 minutes on the other side. The goal here is to warm up the bacon, get the majority of the fat out, however retaining a nice texture being careful not to overcook it.

During this time, add the honey, powders, chipotle pepper and adobo sauce into a small sauce pan and place on very low heat. You just want the honey to warm through, while you incorporate the other flavors.

So once the bacon cooked on both sides, remove the bacon and place on some paper towel to remove any excess fat. Discard the bacon grease, saving it for later, or placing in your grease container.

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. As your bacon is resting on the paper towel, brush some of the honey chipotle glaze on the top of each piece. Place on a baking sheet and cook for a few minutes. Remove the tray, flip over the bacon, brush with more glaze and return to the oven for a few more minutes.

The outcome of this bacon is something wonderful. The texture changes just ever so slightly to create what almost appears to be bacon candy. It has a bit of chew from the honey, the awesome texture from the slow cooking, and the great heat from the chipotle pepper.  This is a great snack, or better yet, served on that leftover turkey sandwich! Enjoy.