Bacon Crumble

Certain food/s make one’s heart sing. Bacon happens to be just that! Only someone who loves bacon as much as I do will understand that. For ‘oink’ lovers this is a must-have pantry/fridge staple. I usually make this is a large half-kilo quantity. My choice of bacon is usually streaky. The meat crisps up and the fat melts gorgeously providing me with oinky-fat for eggs, fried rice, etc. While I know chicken bacon is available, please don’t waste your time crisping that up. Really, if it’s chicken bacon you wanna use, just don’t bother! *cheeky grin* Bacon crumble is always, always ‘oink’!

Ingredient:

Half kilo streaky bacon (or any bacon)

Method:

1.    Heat a pan. (non-stick or otherwise)

2.    Lay out bacon strips in the pan and fry them NEARLY crisp on both sides.

3.    Remove and leave to drain onto a plate lined with kitchen paper towels. They will further crisp up as they cool.

4.    Remove the released fat from the pan into a bowl.

5.    Repeat the frying process until all bacon is used up.

6.    Once cool, cut into pieces with a knife (difficult) or snip the strips with a pair of scissors (easy-peasy). To cut large crumbles, or fine, is entirely up to you. I prefer small crumble. Go on, fry a batch… or two… or three. *wicked grin*

Chef Notes:

1.    As always, the words in caps and bold are merely for emphasis; not meant to offend.

2.    Please do not over-fry the bacon. You aren’t going to enjoy the crumble if it tastes bitter.

3.    Do not crowd the pan with bacon strips. Add them in a way where they fit comfortably and are easy to flip.

4.    Do not forget to remove the melted bacon fat into a separate bowl after each batch is fried. That liquid is ‘oink-gold’. 😊

5.    Draining the fried bacon strips on kitchen towels and allowing them to cool is a VERY IMPORTANT step as the bacon crisps up beautifully when given time to drain the excess fat and cool down.

6.    You can also use an electric chopper if you want very fine crumbles of bacon.

7.    I usually use these crumbles for omelettes, scrambled eggs, chowders, grilled cheese sandwiches, creamy mushrooms on toast and more. There are times when I stand in front of my fridge, open the fridge door, sneakily grab the box of bacon crumble and steal a spoonful. Shhuussshhh! Sometimes, I’m surprised there’s any left when I actually need it. Hehehe! 😊

8.    This keeps beautifully for 4 to 6 six weeks, in an airtight bottle or box. I usually store it in the fridge, but it keeps just as beautifully when stored outside. My reason for using the fridge is mainly that it stays out of sight. *Honest confession – Sigh!*

9.    While point No 9. is not exactly a ‘Chef Note’, I simply had to pen this. Before you cut up all the bacon, keep one slice aside for yourself. Head to the fridge, get out that jar of Bitter Orange Marmalade, smear some on the slice of bacon and…. ahem!! Do I need to say anything more?? Oh alright, eat it, dammit! So darn yum! Disclaimer: Please do this after you have finished snipping the rest of the bacon slices or you’ll have no bacon left to snip. *evil grin*

10. There is a microwave method, too, wherein you lay bacon strips between two kitchen towels. Ensure they are laid out without sticking together. Put the bacon (encased between kitchen towels) on a plate and microwave for 5 minutes. I’m told the kitchen towel absorbs the grease leaving you with crisp bacon. Clarification: This is something I read online and is not a method tried and tested by me. I always opt for the pan crumble.

11. You may share the direct blog-link of the recipe/s but do NOT publish my recipes and my photographs on any blog-site or website without my explicit consent or attempt to pass off my recipe/s as your own. You will be held accountable for plagiarism.

Some more photographs: