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Fat 'n' Happy: Bacon Bourbon
The Web site for the award-winning alternative weekly, the Philadelphia City Paper.
Fat 'n' Happy: Bacon Bourbon
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| Bacon, meet bourbon. You two are perfect for each other! |
Kurt Wunder has been pouring drinks for a long time. He's heard it all.
But when a rumor of a cocktail so wrong it's right � The Bacon
Old-Fashioned � crossed his bar, the owner of the 700 Club didn't waste
any time worrying about spiritual morals. He just knew that he loved bourbon and he knew that he loved bacon. And now the twain should meet.
All
good rumors can be investigated on the Internet, and that is where
Wunder found a simple method for infusing bourbon with bacon fat. The
pig-enhanced potion became the basis of a modified Old-Fashioned that
included maple syrup in the role of sugar cube. Wunder admitted to
enjoying the resultant cocktail, but doesn't plan on serving it at 700. "This is a little heavyhanded for me," he says. "I'm
more into classic cocktails. Besides, I can only assume it's legal."
Bacon
is a short infusion � you can render it with your breakfast and and
be drinking bacon bourbon by happy hour. Make your own with a bottle of
cheap booze and a package of the nicest bacon you can afford. Bacon can
also be infused into vodka for a much stronger smoked-pig flavor,
though "nothing about bacon is subtle", commented Wunder, "but the bourbon
did take on a subtle bacony flavor, which dissipated in just a few
days."
Step by step instructions after the jump.
Getting a Pig Inside a Bottle, or, Bacon-Infused Bourbon
adapted from PDT, as published in New York Magazine on April 7, 2008
Step
One: Cook five strips of good bacon over low heat to render out all of
the fat. Keep the heat low; you are looking for maximum melt without
burning anything.
Step Two: Pour the bottle of bourbon (Kurt
used Heaven Hill) into a large, freezer-safe container with a lid.
Set aside the bacon strips; pour the hot fat into the container with
the bourbon.
Step Three: Lid the container tightly, and then
give it a vigorous shake. Allow to infuse on the counter for at least
two (and up to six) hours.
Step Four: Place the container in
the freezer. After half an hour, the bacon fat will have hardened on the
surface of the liquid and can be scooped off. Store the fat in a jar
in the fridge to saut� onions, mushrooms, croutons or mirepoix in
(assuming your cholesterol levels will tolerate it).
Step Five: Strain the baconized bourbon through a cheesecloth- or paper towel-lined funnel back into the bottle.
Check out PDT's recipe for the Bacon Old-Fashioned here. Drink, marvel, oink, repeat.
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