Bacon-cheddar Beer Biscuits

Biscuits. Need I say more? Well....its a blog..so...I'm gonna. Growing up in the south, I have had more than my share of these tasty little disks of happiness. It pains me to think people buy biscuits in a can. Why? Why would you settle for something less than perfection when its something as amazing as the simple biscuit? I can make the dough from scratch before the oven pre-heats! Christ people! .....sorry.....I digress.
     Tonight we took my favorite buttermilk biscuit recipe and added cheddar cheese, chopped bacon,  green onions...and beer! I also made my own baking powder because we were out. Baking powder (single acting that is) is nothing but baking soda, cream of tartar, and corn starch. Now the corn starch is just to prevent the mix from clumping or absorbing humidity so no need to use it if your making it as you use it. To my surprise, not only did it work, but it worked better than my store bought baking powder! gotta love chemistry, eh?

oh, and no shortening for me. Pure lard!

Bacon-cheddar Beer Biscuits

2 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cream of tartar
3/4 tsp salt
5 Tbl lard (or shortening if you must) 
1/2 cup shredded cheddar
1/4 cup chopped green onions
6 slices cooked bacon, chopped

1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup beer (something light. no stouts or porters)


1. Mix the dry ingredients until everything is evenly dispersed.

2. Add lard or shortening and work with finger tips to mix the fat into the flour mix . Should look sandy when done. 

3. Stir in cheese, bacon, and green onions. 

4. Add beer and buttermilk and mix until a sticky, wet dough forms.



5. Deposit on an ungreased baking sheet in heaping tablespoons. Bake at 425 F for 12-15 min until tops start to brown. Let cool on baking sheet for 5 min before tearing into them!

Bacon review: sunnyville farms

I picked this bacon up at my local Winco Foods for a steal. The bacon is nice and thick, and averages 60/40 fat to meat ratio. The outside is a light tan showing minimal smoking or wet smoking. I prepared it in a stainless pan on the stovetop. 8 slices of bacon produced around 3/4 of a cup of bacon drippings. Certainly a fattier bacon than i like but i assure you, the drippings shall not go to waste.
          The final product showed less shrinking than average store bought bacon. The flavor was quite generic and typical of a simple sugar/salt cure. It was quite salty. Saltier than i like for eating out of hand, but good for cooking with and topping.
        Overall, this was a good value for the money ($2.29/lb) and i would more than likely buy again. Im gonna give this a 7 out of 10.

My name is Bob,,,

....and I'm a baconaholic. I was introduced to bacon at a young age and began using it habitually almost immediately. I think about it all the time. The taste. The Smell. The way it makes me feel. I have even had dreams involving bacon. Sweet porcine meat candy. Without you...my world is incomplete.

   I feel so strong about my non-kosher companion, I wanted a place to share my bacon adventures. Come with me young friend , and I shall tell you a tale of my first love. Savory or sweet, bacon does not discriminate. Yes, sweet lady bacon gets along with everyone. Chicken fried to chocolate covered, bacon makes everything better. Join me on my quest for bacon glory. The road will be tough...and delicious.

      Now like any connoisseur, I have standards for bacon:
 
   1. The bacon must be comprised of a single slab of meat before being sliced. Ground meats (or god forbid non-meats) simply wont do. For this reason, "turkey bacon", "tofu-bacon", and "soy bacon bits" do not qualify.

  2. The bacon must be either dry cured, or wet brined NATURALLY. Commercial bacon is cured using a bunch of hollow needles filled with a brine solution that is "pumped" into the pork bellies. Sorry guys, but this is not my idea of bacon.

 3. The cured meat must be smoked a minimum of 2 hours. "unsmoked bacon" is like "un-carbonated soda" its nonsense and will not be allowed in my kitchen. 

    Pretty simple huh? Now some may notice I didn't say it had to be pork. Well that's because it doesn't! Bacon has expanded outside of the bounds of the simple piggy. Some examples are beef bacon which is made from beef flank, and lamb bacon (omfg...sooo good) that's made from de-boned lamb breast. They are  amazing, and as far as I'm concerned...they are bacon. \

                      So...were shall we start? Bacon bourbon? Perhaps tempura bacon? lets see were this road takes us!

Live, Love, and eat Bacon,
Bob