I am about to say something I know is going to piss some people off.
I don’t get the whole bacon thing.
I think bacon has jumped the shark. There, I said it.
Everyone in this country has gone bananas for bacon. It has become a catch phrase, something to fall back on. You ask someone how their day is, and it is common to get a response such as “Well, would have been better with bacon”. At brunch, people make jokes about ordering bacon with their bacon. An obscene amount of space on the web is dedicated to this pork product. There are bacon shoes, bacon skateboards, and bacon band-aids. Even the Japanese have gotten in on the trend:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8KDsJmECf4]
My foot…it is down. I am stomping it violently; listen closely and you can hear me. Seriously. We need to latch on to another food product with unabashed zeal. Don’t you think this hurts sausage’s feelings? What about all the other delicious meat products out there? They deserve our love, too. It doesn’t have to even be meat. I think cauliflower is seriously underrated. I say we start a cauliflower craze, a cauliflower t-shirt line. Cauliflower Mania, bitches!
I am trying to understand, though. I mean, a whole country cannot be wrong. I couldn’t let healthy eating month pass by here without a salad, so I decided to tempt all of you by throwing some bacon on there. The presence of the bacon means you have to love it, right? Following trends always pays off. My tramp stamp and Women’s Studies degrees worked out well…ahem.
I have to admit…maybe bacon does deserve some of the attention it is getting lately. This was a darn tasty salad; simple to make, yet interesting and sophisticated. I know what you are thinking: bacon is not healthy. Well, in excess and alongside an omelet, yes. I used two slices of center-cut bacon here, which is leaner, and it is the only fat. If a few slices of bacon can convince you to eat a huge salad, I can get on board with that. I used balsamic glaze as dressing, which is 20 calories and 0 fat per tablespoon, which also keeps it healthy. I am obsessed with this balsamic glaze, which I found at Whole Foods, and really recommend you try it, but a balsamic vinaigrette would work great here as well. And the figs? Awesome. They are in season and tasty as all hell. I finished this salad wondering why I don’t eat them more.
So, bacon, I gave you your due. You are tasty…oh yes, you are. Still, I am kind of over you. It is not you, it’s me. Sorry.
(Note: this is a pretty classic salad, but this recipe reminded me I really needed to make my take on this.)
Bacon and Fig Salad
2 strips center cut bacon, cut into bits
2 figs, quartered
2 cups mixed greens
2 Tbs balsamic glaze
Salt and pepper
Brown bacon and drain on paper towels. Place bacon bits and figs on greens. Drizzle with glaze. Salt and pepper salad.
9:17 am on September 23rd, 2008
I too have been slightly perplexed by the bacon obsession. There is one product that highlights this theory; Tuscani Pasta from Pizza Hut-Mac n’ Cheese with bacon. I mean come on, a horrible product is supposed to be instantaneously transformed by the miracle power of fried pork fat strips? I seriously doubt this. Okay, I admit I may have been thinking too hard about this advertisement for Pizza Hut I saw the other day or even still bent out of shape for not getting any sleep. Either way bacon does not always make things better. I would even suggest putting this product on the horrible things to try list. I digress.
Have a good day and thank you for the vent space. As you can tell this rubbed me the wrong way.
Pizza Hut needs to stick to delicious (yet trashy), greasy pizza. They aren’t fooling me with the damn bacon.
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9:20 am on September 23rd, 2008
Fine. More for me.
I am right, you know I AM RIGHT.
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9:29 am on September 23rd, 2008
Ever see that taco bell bacon commercial with the woman having the bacon chalupa or whatever it was in her purse to attract men? Yeah – I’ve heard that actually works
I’m with ya though – I do like bacon a lot, but it is definitely over hyped. I mean, what about a nice slice of ham with breakfast? People forget about the ham. Ham is sad. Ham is very jealous of its neighbor bacon. That said, bacon wrapped scallops and bacon wrapped asparagus are pretty good
I love ham on an egg and cheese. It is most definitely under rated. All grilled and greasy…yum.
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9:34 am on September 23rd, 2008
Bananas for bacon?
I wonder if bacon and bananas would go well together. I bet they would. Hmmmm….I should really try that.
I do like a good strip of pork, but it’s not one of my desert island foods. My island will have ice cream, tequila, beer, potatoes, and more ice cream. Ice cream will never jump the shark.
Pistachio ice cream? I think that is my favorite. That, or coffee with heath…or maybe Chubby Hubby. Either way, those are all better than bacon.
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9:38 am on September 23rd, 2008
Bacon is a great addition to a lot of stuff, but I definitely think it’s overrated when it comes to breakfast vs. sausage. The thing is, bacon can go so WRONG. Have you ever had limp, translucent sausage? No, didn’t think so. BOO YA
Oh, LiLu, please tell me you did not make a limp sausage reference. REALLY!? Come on now.
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9:47 am on September 23rd, 2008
Liv – All I’m sayin’ is you’re the only one to blame if the sausage is limp.
I hear the sausage has a drinking problem and THAT is to blame.
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10:17 am on September 23rd, 2008
Interestingly, slightly limp bacon can prevent limp sausage…or so I’m told.
You know what I like about this site? Nothing ever gets dirty.
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10:37 am on September 23rd, 2008
Wow. Am I out of the loop. I didn’t even know there was a bacon obsession sweeping the nation. Where have *I* been?!
That said, this salad looks amazing. And the figs! Such an underused little treat. Thanks for the great salad idea!
Oh, the nation. it has been SWEPT. It is everywhere.
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10:53 am on September 23rd, 2008
Clearly you have never had one of my Bloody Mary’s that has a strip of deep fried bacon as a stirrer.
Clearly, I have not. Deep fried bacon? That is just…wow. Too much, methinks.
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10:54 am on September 23rd, 2008
I love bacon. And judging by what it does to my triglycerides, it loves me too… or loves hanging about in my bloodstream. So I don’t have much bacon these days. But I still love it.
That said, I have not the faintest idea what the hell is up with adding bacon to everything, even chocolate. Yeah, people will swear that whatever it was added to somehow became this amazing thing with a sort of culinary tee-hee appeal, but come on now.
These days, I treat fetishized bacon like I treat politics: I say, “whatever…” and walk away.
A well placed “whatever” works wonders in many situations. i went through a short phase where I considered making bacon cookies–then I thought better of it.
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11:02 am on September 23rd, 2008
Aaahhh bacon, how I have loved thee. I actually don’t think I have ever eaten anything with bacon that I haven’t liked, but I am going to have be honest here and say that Figs might just be that one thing. I have never really developed a taste for that fruit, but I really want to try this salad. I wonder if pears would work as a substitution?
I think pears would work really well here..as well as apples. (Applewood smoked bacon and all…)
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11:07 am on September 23rd, 2008
I really feel sorry for you, Lemmonex . . . I’m thinking that you just don’t get it on the bacon front. I mean . . . I think it deserves even more attention than it’s getting at present. And, to that end, come November I’m going to be taking turducken to a whole new level . . . by stuffing one with bacon and then also wrapping it in bacon. I’m pretty sure it’ll develop a religious, cult-like following . . . perhaps understood globally as the second coming of JC. That’s the kind of attention bacon deserves!
My friend (over email) also likened bacon to Jesus. While I do admit that I believe in bacon more than Jesus, I think you people have lost your damn minds.
Turduken on the other hand? Yes, please.
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11:34 am on September 23rd, 2008
Bacon is bigger than Jesus.
Have you ever had datiles, dates stuffed with almonds wrapped in bacon?
Yes…they are tasty, I agree. Yet, you will not change my opinion on the bacon trend, even if I do think you are swell.
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11:37 am on September 23rd, 2008
I once saw Jesus in my bacon, but because the bacon was more important, I ate it before I could call the tabloids.
It would have been how you made your millions…fool.
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11:51 am on September 23rd, 2008
Bacon, jumped the shark? That’s like saying sex has jumped the shark. Come on. Bacon’s good. Just because it’s (apparently) all the rage right now, it’s still the same old salty, delicious bacon that it ever was. Really… does the popularity of a product have anything to do with it’s quality? Or maybe you’re one of those people who stops liking a band once someone else has heard of them.
If anything, I welcome the attention bacon is getting, because there are now many more kinds of delicious craft-made bacons easily available that you would previously have had to drive to Montana to get. This is a renaissance. Viva bacon!
No, I am not a snob in that way. Jamie, I am seeing Ben Folds in concert tomorrow. I don’t think that is too cool. Also, a friend mentioned the Decemeberists recently…December who?
I just think it is all a bit silly. yes, bacon is tasty, but it is not ALL THAT.
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11:58 am on September 23rd, 2008
Bacon is absolutely the best of comfort foods. I get the 40% reduced fat variety at Whole Foods and cook it on paper towels in the microwave, rationing it out one strip at a time. Yum!
The salad is simply beautiful! Figs and bacon…
Oh, haven’t seen that bacon. When I open a pack of bacon (because yes, I do still eat it from time to time), I will wrap two strip of bacon together and then through all my little bacon packets in a bigger bag to have individual portions on hand.
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12:02 pm on September 23rd, 2008
I have been waving my bacon flag high and proud since the mid nineties, but there are a lot of tiresome poseurs out there lately.
And really, I love all parts of the pig. Bacon is just my favorite because it’s so versatile and convenient. Kind of the way my grandparents loved me better than my sister or cousin, because I was accommodating and close by.
And in response to FK’s question–bacon and bananas are great together. Especially on a peanut butter sammich. Especially if you can work nutella in there too.
God damn bacon poseurs, I am telling you. I bet bacon and bananas are also good in some kinda pancake form…but sausage would be just as good.
Also, I kind of like a piece of cheese wrapped around a banana. I am weird.
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12:06 pm on September 23rd, 2008
Maybe the sausage had too much EVOO to drink.
Sausage needs a 12 step…
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12:42 pm on September 23rd, 2008
Figs are sexy!!!
I don’t like to eat bacon by itself. It is good in sammiches and salads though.
Yes, it is actually quite good on a burger as well.
Figs ARE sexy. I like sexy things.
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12:51 pm on September 23rd, 2008
The phrase “jump the shark”
Once had happy days, until
It too jump’d the shark.
I actually thought about how “jump the shark” has jumped the shark, but I didn’t want to even engage in that great national debate here.
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12:52 pm on September 23rd, 2008
Also, I kind of like a piece of cheese wrapped around a banana. I am weird.
Weird or just a little kinky? OK, I’ll promise to seriously consider thinking about cleaning it up….maybe.
Possibly a bit of both…
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12:55 pm on September 23rd, 2008
Bacon, I love thee
All greasy, sizz’ly goodness.
Stop my heart for you.
Ah, I love the return of the haikus, I really do.
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12:57 pm on September 23rd, 2008
Weird- sausage IS my 12-step program.
Btw, I made your Mexican Chicken meatloaf yesterday while I totally played hooky from work, and let’s just say that if I could have sex with it? I would.
Oh wait…
Mmmmm… spicy….
Hm, if I could have sex with a food it would probably be…carrot cake?
And, thanks!
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1:12 pm on September 23rd, 2008
For years I went without the pig. Never really liked pork chops, plus bacon just seemed so… fatty. But now that bacon love has sweeped the nation, I cannot lie, it’s smelling pretty good. Plus it’s crispy, and just a bit salty. And carb-less! Wahoo. I go for the turkey stuff. As far as I know it tastes the same.
There is a difference in taste for sure, but it is still pretty damn good.
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1:54 pm on September 23rd, 2008
Ohh as a veggie, bacon is one of the few meat products I truly miss. But the whole crazy bacon phase on anything is weird to me. And gross.
But you know me…I do not like my sweets and saltys to be always mixing. They are sweet vs salty for a REASON!!
I am with you on cauliflower…HAIL TO THE CAULIFLOWER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well, dear…you are in luck. I am making cauliflower this week and it will go up soon!
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1:57 pm on September 23rd, 2008
Mmmm, candy.
Candy? Am I still drunk from last night? Is bacon your candy?
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2:15 pm on September 23rd, 2008
Good turkey bacon
Sold at your local Whole Foods.
Hippies say “yum yum.”
Oh, the hippies…gotta love ‘em.
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2:18 pm on September 23rd, 2008
Lemmy loves hippies
Now bed smells like patchouli.
Poor girl, take a bath.
I would never, ever date a hippy. Well, never say never…but yeah. NO.
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2:57 pm on September 23rd, 2008
HEY
I smell like patchouli. Zum Body lotion, and it is good. Please, please leave patchouli out of this.
For you, and only you, I will leave patchouli out of this.
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3:49 pm on September 23rd, 2008
I defer to Lemmy
On which readers get respect.
But patchouli stinks.
Thanks for following the rules here, SD.
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4:02 pm on September 23rd, 2008
I love bacon, but it has it’s place. I nearly came to blows with my cousin about blanching bacon before I saute the beef cubes in bacon fat to make beef bourgignon.
“BUT BACON MAKES IT TASTE BETTER”
“I’M NOT PUTTING A 30 DOLLAR BOTTLE OF PINOT IN THIS STEW JUST TO HAVE IT TASTE LIKE OSCAR MEYER”
“F- THAT. FRY THE BACON AND LET’S DRINK THE WINE!!”
I’m more fascinated with those beautiful figs. I fed a girl figs wrapped in proscuitto and stuffed with goat cheese once. It was a very, very good evening.
See, bacon doesn’t make everything.
Yeah, I have never had anyone feed me anything. One day, maybe…Any smart man knows the way to my heart is through my stomach.
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7:43 pm on September 23rd, 2008
jumping on the califlower train….mash them up with some cheese….yummmm
They really are quite tasty and underrated.
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10:19 pm on September 23rd, 2008
lemmy is the antithesis of patchouli. haha. as a jew i’ve had a love hate relationship with pork and bacon…one of pork’s only redeeming qualities IMO. it’s the smell that usally ends up breaking me.
Yes, I would venture to say no one would ever think of me and pathcouli together…ever.
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10:20 pm on September 23rd, 2008
I don’t give a fig for figs (to call a fig newton a cookie is like putting lipstick on a pig, it’s still a pig:)) and remember what do we bring home? the bacon, not the steak, not the sushi, not the oreos, the bacon. No wonder everyone loves bacon. Eating bacon is like eating donuts, if you are eating it, chances are your cholesterol is not the highest priority.
As for cauliflower, I highly recommend watching the original version of The Heartbreak Kid (and far superior to the hit you in the head with a sledgehammer remake) when the main character starts waxing about the sincere cauliflower. The actor was Charles Grodin and many years after the movie I happened to be at a cocktail party that he also was attending. There was a raw vegetable platter which included cauliflower and it was all I could do to stop myself from approaching him with the platter and asking him about the sincerity of the cauliflower. Moral of the story, while cauliflower can be a bit intense and sometimes raw, it is always sincere.
I have never heard about this scene in the Hearthbreak Kid. I really like the analogy, though. Maybe I can find it on youtube.
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11:53 pm on September 23rd, 2008
Sigh spoken like a member of generation ADD. Watch the whole movie! It’s funny but with a slight symapthetic edge (watch how he stands up to Eddie Albert) to a character otherwise totally unsympathetic.
I wanted the instant gratification of seeing what you were talking about! I will watch the whole movie someday.
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1:17 am on September 24th, 2008
I don’t care if it IS overrated, played out, etc. I’m still a fan.
All I’m going to say is that I’m eagerly awaiting a non-soft-service visit to Founding Farmers (the new place opened by the folks who brought us Agraria down on the Georgetown waterfront) so I can finally try their Bacon Lollis – bacon candied with cinnamon and brown sugar glaze.
Don’t know if I’m game for a whole order, but one of their fancy cocktails is served with one so I may have to check them out that way.
I have had praline bacon and I mist admit–that was pretty darn tasty.
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9:05 am on September 24th, 2008
I am thinking Fro Yo will be the next food to jump the shark. Just wanted to put that down in writing somewhere…
Bacon is simply a classic and could never be played out! Yum.
Yes, with the new insurgence of Tangy Sweet, Mr. Yogato, I have to agree. Cupcakes, while tasty, have of course jumped the shark as well.
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9:10 am on September 24th, 2008
Figs….oh my god FIGS. My latest obsession. How is it that I had never had one up until a few weeks ago? No matter. I shall spend the rest of my days in a passionate love affair with figs. And I am not ashamed. No sir, I am not ashamed.
Oh, there ain’t no shame in loving some figs. They are lovely…and as jman said, not at all like that atuff you find in Newtons.
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10:15 am on September 24th, 2008
A backlash is no doubt coming, just has it snowballed over the last 6-8 months with people hating cupcakes.
While I definitely love bacon – it’s just one of many, many delicious meats. My rant this week is supposed to be about why I’m over bacon on burgers.
I don’t know how I feel about figs. I can’t remember the last time I ate one.
You should try them…they are underappreciated. I am sure you will have positive feelings about them.
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9:20 pm on September 24th, 2008
It seems you aren’t the only one who thinks bacon has overstayed its welcome in a position of prominence in pop culture. I was browsing FARK tonight and they had on the front page a blog entry from The Kitchen Sink echoing your thoughts.
http://blogs.taunton.com/n/blogs/blog.aspx?nav=main&webtag=fc-kitchensink&entry=187
Personally, I love bacon. The joy I get isn’t from all these novel ways of infusing bacon into everything a person could possibly imagine. It comes from a nice piece of bacon in my mouth. That’s it. No more, no less. I’ll always love bacon.
Very interesting recipe. I’ll try to try it.
Great minds, eh? I do like bacon, I really do…I am just so over it. We need a new foody obsession.
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9:02 am on September 29th, 2008
[...] actuality, I should be ten times more fearful of the foodie police. I speak out against bacon, I use Splenda and Egg Beaters and I like really trashy junk food. These are not things any self [...]
9:08 am on October 2nd, 2008
[...] cups have it all; eggs and bread (obviously), as well as cheese and bacon. (I know, bacon. I never said I hated it, just I was over the cultural infatuation. It is what I had…though I do think sausage would [...]
10:01 am on December 4th, 2008
[...] December 4, 2008 by Lemmonex “I am surprised you are making this”, was bettyjoan’s response when I sent her this recipe. She knows how I feel about bacon. [...]