Frozen bacon!

Oh, noes!

It turns out that putting the bacon on the top shelf of the ancient BDJ Labs cold-temperature bacon preservation chamber (i.e. the fridge) was a horrible idea--our entire supply of bacon is frozen harder than a block of concrete. We refuse to use the 'defrost' function on our microwave, for fear of accidentally baking the salted meat strips around the edges (that always happens), so today's test will be delayed somewhat.

In the meantime, please enjoy this delicious-sounding recipe from CulinarySherpas.com, which makes use of cold-treated bacon in a more delicious way than simply making raw baconsicles.

Maple Miso Bacon Ice Cream Bourbon Root Beer Floats

For the bacon:
6 thick center-cut strips of bacon
½ cup light brown sugar
Place the bacon strips on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper so that the strips do not touch, then cover liberally with brown sugar. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes. Remove from the oven, let it cool, then chop.

For the ice cream:
12 egg yolks
1 qt. heavy cream
1 vanilla bean – split
¼ cup Turbinado sugar
4 tbsp maple syrup
2 tbsp white miso
Combine the maple and miso in a small pot and over heat just until you can whisk the two together, about 4 minutes. Place the cream and vanilla in a pot over medium heat until steaming, about 8-10 minutes. Meanwhile, combine the Turbinado sugar and egg yolks in a bowl and beat them like you should have done to the wrestling team back in high school, that time they caught you walking alone at night….

Huh? Oh, yeah, I’m back. When the cream is steaming gradually add ¼ cup to the egg mixture, stir very well. Repeat this with another ¼ cup. This is called tempering the eggs. Add the egg mixture to the pot of cream and stir – don’t stop, even for a second, or you’ll get scrambled eggs – until the mixture begins to thicken, about 3-4 minutes. Strain the mixture into a bowl, then pour the mixture into as many shallow dishes or baking pans as can fit into your freezer and will hold the entire amount. Place this into the freezer for 2-4 hours, until the custard is completely frozen.

Working in batches, use a spoon to scrape thin shavings from the custard and place them in your food processor. Then, pulse the custard in the food processor until it’s creamy. Move the custard from the food processor to a bowl, and repeat with the remaining custard. Finally, fold in the candied bacon bits; place this mixture into an airtight container and return to the freezer to harden, about 2-3 hours.

The custard is now ice cream, so put some Maker’s Mark in a glass, add some root beer, and top with a couple scoops of the ice cream.