Happy Birthday Harley - The Perfect Bacon Egg and Cheese Sandwich

Photo: Credit: Warner Bros.

Margot Robbie gets a lot of deserved praise for her portrayal of Barbie in last year's blockbuster movie. But for me, she will always be Harley Quinn, the former psychologist turned Batman villain from the movie "Suicide Squad". Robbie was that film's highlight and breakout star, earning her a spinoff, "Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)". At one point in this film, Robbie's character hopes to lift her spirits by getting her favorite breakfast sandwich from her local bodega. While you may not find yourself on a wild adventure after eating one, most New Yorkers (where the sandwich originated and was perfected) would tell you it's the best way to start your day. In honour of Mrs. Robbie's birthday, here is the recipe for this cinematic culinary delight.

Ingredients

3 slices of bacon
2 eggs (if you're allergic to chicken eggs as Robbie is, duck eggs can be used)
2 process cheese slices
1 sandwich roll (plain, kaiser, potato, poppy seed - whatever you prefer)
melted butter
hot sauce
kosher salt

1. Cook the bacon over medium heat in a skillet until it's crispy. Drain the excess fat into a clean container (save it for future use) and dry the cooked bacon on a paper towel-lined plate. 
2. While the bacon cooks, slice the roll in half lengthwise along the side, and set it aside. Heat another skillet over medium heat. Brush some melted butter on the cut side of the roll and place it face-down on the skillet after it gets hot. Press down on the roll with either a grill press or something heavy like another skillet. Toast the roll for about two minutes before transferring it to a cutting board.
3. Brush one of the skillets with melted butter and crack the eggs as close together as possible. Season with kosher salt. Flip the eggs when the whites are almost entirely set, then top with the cheese slices.
4. Place the bacon on one of the halves of the roll.  When the edges of the cheese melt, place the egg and cheese on top of the bacon.
5. Add two dashes of hot sauce to the top of the sandwich. Finish the sandwich with the other half of the bun and slice it in half before serving.

Better Bacon

We all know that the love people have for bacon borders on obsession. But what is the best way to prepare the salt-cured pork belly everyone craves? Inspired by a feature on Cooking for Engineers, I tested several different cooking methods and compared the results. As it was on sale at the time, I used Schneiders Classic Cut brand bacon for the tests. Each piece of bacon was rated out of five, with five being excellent, and a score of one being inedible. Assisting me with the tasting part of the experiment were the other bacon eaters in the house, my wife Dawn Xanklin, and our son, a fourth-grade bacon connoisseur.

Baked on Aluminum Foil
I placed enough aluminium foil to line a baking sheet, then I put the bacon on top, and baked it at 205°C until it was done to my liking, flipping the bacon occasionally.


Cooking Time: 17 minutes + 17 minutes for oven to reach temperature = 34 minutes
Scores: Franklin on Food: 5 DXanklin: 4 Kid Franklin: 5

Cast Iron Skillet
For this I placed the bacon in a cold cast iron skillet and cooked it at medium heat, flipping the bacon occasionally until it looked good enough to eat.


Cooking Time: 11 minutes
Scores: Franklin on Food: 4 DXanklin: 4 Kid Franklin: 4

Grilled
I put the three strips on some aluminium foil and placed it over two burners on a BBQ at high setting.


Cooking Time: 17 minutes
Scores: Franklin on Food: 4 DXanklin: 5 Kid Franklin: 5

Instant Pot
The bacon was made to fit in a single layer in the Instant Pot cooking chamber. Then I hit the Saute button and cooked everything for three minutes intervals, flipping the bacon before hitting the button again.



Cooking Time: 9 minutes
Scores: Franklin on Food: 3.5 DXanklin: 4 Kid Franklin: 5

Microwave
I took three slices of bacon and placed them on three paper towels on a dinner plate, which I then I put into my microwave oven.


Cooking Time: 3 minutes on high, then cooked 30 seconds until it was done to my liking = 4.5 minutes
Scores: Franklin on Food: 3 DXanklin: 3 Kid Franklin: 5

Water in Skillet
After arranging the bacon in a cold metal frying pan, I added just enough water to cover everything. I then cooked it over high heat until the water boiled, lowered the heat to medium until the water evaporated, and then continued cooking the bacon over medium-low heat until it was ready.

Scores: Franklin on Food: 5 DXanklin: 5 Kid Franklin: 5
Cooking Time: 14 minutes

Notes and Observations:
The overall favourite was the one I was the most skeptical about, the water in the skillet method. It's the method the food scientists over at America's Test Kitchen recommend, as they theorize that the water keeps the cooking temperature low and gentle, allowing the bacon to retain its moisture and stay tender. This gave the bacon a nice ratio of crispiness and chewiness. While it does let the bacon cook in its own fat, the oven is not the most efficient way to cook a small amount of bacon, and it takes the longest of the methods tried. It's much better for larger amounts. Instant Pot bacon isn't an option if you don't have the all-in-one wonder device and barbeque grilled bacon may not be an option if you don't have the equipment or the desire to cook outside. It doesn't get more old school than cooking bacon in a cast oven pan, and while you can't beat the speed of a microwave, it did produce the least liked bacon of the tests. To see which way works best for your bacon needs, you will have to try each method on your own. If you do decide to try this experiment, please note that cooking this much bacon at one time will make the area around your kitchen smell amazing.

What’s in Season: Tomato-Bacon Jam With Onions and Garlic

You don't have to love fruits and vegetables to take advantage of the local farmer's market. Do it to support local business and farmers; do it if reducing your carbon footprint is a concern to you, or do it to try a new recipe using produce you can certain of its freshness and quality. This month's featured ingredient is everyone's favourite culinary vegetable, the tomato. Originating in Central and South America, tomatoes can be eaten may ways, including raw, as an ingredient in many dishes, sauces, salads, and drinks. This month's recipe makes excellent use of the tomato's natural umami flavour, and can be used on grilled cheese, crackers, or anything you would put ketchup on (as long as it's not a well-done steak).

Ingredients:

230 g thick-cut bacon, chopped
15 g brown sugar
2.5 g freshly ground black pepper
1.25 g teaspoon crushed red pepper
120 mL fresh ripe diced tomatoes
120 mL pure maple syrup
60 mL balsamic vinegar
30 mL Dijon mustard
15 mL Worcestershire sauce
2 medium cloves garlic, minced
1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced
1 bay leaf

1. Cook the bacon over medium heat for about 5 minutes until browned. Add the onions and garlic and cook them until they are translucent and softened, stirring everything for 5 to 7 minutes. Drain any excess bacon grease from the pan.
2. Stir in remaining ingredients and reduce heat to low. Simmer for about 1 hour uncovered, stirring occasionally, until reduced and thickened to a jam-like consistency. Discard bay leaf afterwards.
3. Transfer everything to a blender and pulse to combine, leaving some chunks. Use immediately, or store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Celebrate Bacon with the Bacon Ice Cream Sundae

As it is International Bacon Day today, and with Baconpolooza happening next weekend, I thought this would be a good time post this dessert recipe I received in the gift bag I got when I volunteered at Baconpolooza's inaugural event last year.

Ingredients 

500 g sugar
185 mL water
60 mL heavy cream
30 mL butter
2 strips bacon
your favourite ice cream

Caramel Sauce

1. Mix 250 g of sugar and 125 mL of water in a saucepan. Heat on medium-high until mixture starts to turn colour.
2. When the mixture turns golden, add the butter and cream.
3. Remove from heat. Use a wooden spoon to stir until smooth.
4. Pour into a heatproof container, and let cool.

Bacon Brittle

1. Mix the remaining sugar and water in a saucepan. Heat on medium-high until mixture starts to turn colour, about five minutes.
2. When the mixture turns amber, remove from heat and pour out on a non-stick baking sheet.
3. Chop the bacon into 1/4" pieces, place in a frying pan, and cook until bacon is crispy.
4. Drain the bacon fat, then sprinkle the bacon bits onto the cooked sugar.
5. When completely cool and hard, break into pieces.

  Bacon Ice Cream Sundae Assembly

1. To serve, scoop some ice cream into balls and roll in the bacon brittle to coat completely.
2. Place in individual serving bowls. Top with the caramel sauce.
   
   Note: Adding whipped cream and a cherry on top is optional but recommended.

Volunteering at Baconpolooza

Bacon has gone from something you ate with your eggs at breakfast, to a culinary obsession that makes tofu and kale fanatics jealous. Among the many bacon-enhanced items available, there's bacon ice cream, bacon-infused vodka, bacon salt, chocolate-dipped bacon... even bacon-flavoured lip balm and rolling papers. Bacon fashion is a thing, as well as bacon-of-the-month clubs, and bacon camps that feature lectures on bacon as art, and bacon recipe contests. It's the meat that even vegetarians have their own version of it to consume.  Whether it's a holdout from the Atkins diet craze or a tasty way to thumb one's nose at more health conscience lifestyles, bacon is eaten and enjoyed by many. Baked, boiled, fried, grilled, or smoked, people can't get enough of the stuff. Today the Canada Agriculture and Food Museum celebrates this love of cured pig meat with its Baconpalooza event, Ottawa's foremost celebration of all things bacon. Wanting to get a behind-the-scenes perspective for an event of this magnitude, I decided to volunteer my services for it, and after attending an information session Monday, and filling out some paperwork, it was made official. The following is how my four-hour shift went:

• I got up at 6:30AM to grey skies, cool temperatures, and damp conditions - perfect bacon festival weather. As I sipped my first coffee of the day, I began to wish I had volunteered for the VIP event that was held the night before. I now may not get the chance to ask Lynn Crawford what it's like working on "Chopped Canada", but parental duties prevented me from hob-knobbing and rubbing elbows with the special guest chefs, as well as the bigwig vendors and partners who helped put this thing together. 
• Just as I turn into the volunteer parking area, I realize that I left my parking pass at home - not the start to the morning I was hoping for. I did manage to get checked in after explaining the situation to Security and managed to get another pass for my car once I found the Volunteer Coordinator at the morning briefing. After getting my spiffy orange Baconpalooza shirt, the Coordinator outlined what he wanted us to do, and where he wanted us to do it. I was one of the lucky ones to get to work outside in the drizzle, but at least me and the volunteer I was partnered up with (Josh) got some umbrellas to use. A little after 8 o'clock, we were on our way to the Market area to help with the setup.
• Between the two of us, we set up tents for several vendors: Fat Boy Soaps were selling their new beer soap; Muckleston & Brockwell had lots of sauces, marinades, snack foods, and BBQ accessories for people to purchase. Griffith Farm & Market brought their best meats for sale, as did Kiefro Wild Boar Farm, and Seed to Sausage. Rounding out the vendors were Lowertown Canning Company, The Unrefined Olive, and One Sweet Idea. As we did our best to be available to everyone who needed help, people began to slowly trickle into the grounds, proving that it takes more than a little rain to keep people away from bacon
  


• Once that was done, I went to get the free Bacon Bites Breakfast the folks at the Ottawa Marriott were serving in the area that was usually a sheep field. Scrambled eggs served with chives and sauteed onions, with grilled baby potatoes and a bacon weave you could use as a taco shell to eat everything with. Add a bit of hot sauce to that, and you got a breakfast I'd wake up early every Saturday for.
  
• With all the vendors' booths finished, we went back to the Learning Center to be reassigned new tasks at the halfway point of the shift. This time we were sent to Barn 76 to help set up and man the beer ticket tent with two other volunteers. With it still not yet eleven, it was a pretty easy task, but as soon as we were legally able to serve alcohol, we got customers. The offerings were wine, a pumpkin beer from the Clocktower Brewpub, and a freshly made bacon Caesar. I handed out tickets and chatted with the others until I was relieved at 12:30PM. Not a bad bit of volunteering if I don't say so myself.
• Random observations:
• with all the food trucks around, you hardly notice the usual barnyard smells you associate with the Agriculture and Food Museum
• there was an animal rights protest happening across the street from the museum. The activists hoped to get people to think about what they were eating by laying naked on a plate. If it was anything like a similar protest done at last year's Ribfest, the protesters will have all their titillating parts covered, and their protests will fall on deaf ears.
  I'll assume they would not have liked these pictures of what was cooked over at the Meatings tent
  
• Favourite foods tried - the bacon sticky bun and the pulled pork and applewood bacon sandwich
  
  Apparently, pumpkin beers should be served warmer than usual brews to really get that pumpkin taste, but the one I had tasted pretty good chilled.
• This is the closest I got to Lynn Crawford and her cooking demonstration.
  
  Looks like I'll have to ask her about Dean McDermott next time.

The fun continues until eleven tonight, with performances by Drew Nelson and Monkey Junk. Come on down and get your bacon on.

Deceived by a Huxtable

With Bill Cosby's troubles being one of the biggest stories in the news these days, it got me thinking about an episode of "The Cosby Show". It was the one where Denise wanted to sleep on the sidewalk in order to get tickets to see The Walking Lemons, that ended with Denise and her friends, Cliff, Claire, and their friends all dancing in the living room. The B-plot of this episode involved trying to get Rudy to eat her Brussels sprouts. The cutest Cosby kid hated those mini cabbages, and who could blame her? They were boiled, green, and slimy. But as is the case in most vegetables, getting children (and adults) to eat them all depends on how you cook them. I recently tried a recipe that brought out the flavour of the sprouts and made them a great side dish for any dinner table. As for Cosby himself? Like many people who grew up watching the Huxtables, and have fond memories of Fat Albert, I really hope the rape accusations aren't true. But with more women coming forward by the day, it looks like all the jazz musician grandfathers in the world can't save him now.

Ingredients

4 strips thick-cut bacon
2 tablespoons butter
454 g. Brussels sprouts, halved
1/2 large onion, chopped
salt
pepper

1.  Cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium-high heat until it's crispy. Place the bacon on a paper towel-lined plate, and then roughly chop it up.
2. In the same pan with the bacon fat, melt the butter over high heat. Add the onions and Brussels sprouts and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sprouts are golden brown, about 8 to 10 minutes.
3. Season everything with salt and pepper, to taste, and toss the bacon back into pan. Serve immediately.
   
   Makes 4 to 6 servings

Bacon Whiskey

I'm planning on going camping with some people who enjoy their bacon as much as they enjoy their booze, so I'm bringing some bacon-infused whiskey for the nights around the campfire. I'll be using a technique called fat washing, a process of using fat to “wash out” undesirable molecules. The flavoured fat will bind with the alcohol molecules, creating flavours that you wouldn't normally get in traditional infusing.

Ingredients

1 package bacon (you will need to cook about half the package to produce the required amount of bacon fat)
1 bottle (375 mL) of whiskey or bourbon

1. Take 4 teaspoons (20g) of filtered bacon fat, and mix it with the entire bottle of whiskey. If you have an immersion blender, this would be a good time to use it.
2. Let rest at room temperature for at least 12 hours. 
• Longer times and higher temperatures will yield a stronger infusion, so you’ll want to experiment. As good as it was, I was a bit disappointed that I didn't get hit in the mouth with bacon when I tried the Hogsback Brewing Company's Aporkalypse Now oatmeal bacon stout. For this experiment, I've added several pieces of the cooked bacon to the batch, and will be letting the mixture sit for 10 days.
3. After the infusing has been completed, place the mixture in the freezer until the fats have solidified. Filter the alcohol, through a coffee filter, or by other means, for as many times as you see fit. It is now ready to be used in your beverage of choice.

How did this batch turn out? Stay tuned...

UPDATE: I started the straining process on the 29th, using the best strainer and coffee filters money can buy from the dollar store. I may have lost about a third of the whiskey during the straining process, but it did remove the top layer of fat that you see in the above image, and all the fat particles and tiny pieces that came off of the bacon. It made a smooth whiskey and cola, you can really taste the bacon flavour in the last few sips. I would recommend giving your mixed drinks a good stirring or shaking to get the bacon whiskey's full flavour.

Afro-Canadian Approves of Collard Greens

Like a lot of children who grew up watching shows like "Good Times", "Sanford and Son", and "What's Happening?” the only thing I knew about collard greens is that it was something black people ate for dinner. But my family never did. Though popular in the southern United States, Brazil, and Portugal, as well as many parts of Africa, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, southern Croatia, northern Spain and in India, it was something my Barbados-born parents never cooked. In fact, I've only seen collard greens in the supermarket recently. Similar to kale, collards are known for their thick, slightly bitter, edible leaves, and are available year-round, but are tastier and more nutritious in the cold months, after the first frost. Packed with nutrients, they are an excellent source of fiber, vitamin K (half a cup of cooked collard greens has 8 times the daily requirement), vitamin A, vitamin C, folate, beta-carotene, and other carotenoids; lutein, and have been shown to have anti-cancer properties. A friend of mine (a white guy no less) came back from a vacation in North Carolina and raved about the collards he had with some fried chicken and macaroni and cheese. Having already tasted and cooked both the former and the latter, I figured I could add a new recipe to my repertoire after hearing my friend's glowing recommendation of the meal, as well as satisfy my curiosity about what the big deal with collard greens was after all these years. And I got to say, I can see why he's a fan - it tastes good on its own or with smoked and salted meat. I discovered two different ways to prepare collard greens (you can substitute spinach, Swiss chard or any hardy leafy green vegetable if you like), one a quick and easy method, the other for when you have more time to spare. Give them a try if you're looking to add a new side dish to your dinner table.

Ingredients for Beer and Bacon Braised Collard Greens

4 bunches collard greens, stems removed, and chopped
6 slices thick cut bacon, large dice
1 onion, large dice ( I added some minced garlic when I cooked it)
1 bottle beer, preferably a nut brown ale
pinches cayenne pepper
1/4 cup brown sugar
salt and pepper, to taste

1. Place the bacon in a wide bottomed pot and cook over low heat. Add the onions after 10 minutes and continue cooking until bacon is crispy and onions have caramelized, stirring occasionally.
2. Turn the heat to medium high. Add the half the collard greens and the bottle of beer. Stir with tongs or a spoon and let wilt some before adding the rest of the greens. Stir until the greens are mixed with the liquid and add the cayenne pepper, brown sugar, salt and pepper. Turn down the heat, cover, and let cook for 30 minutes or until greens are tender.

Ingredients for Sautéed Collard Greens

1 bunch collard greens; stems and thick veins removed, and sliced into 1-inch strips
enough olive oil to coat a sauté or nonstick pan

1. In a pan preheated over medium heat, add the greens and the olive oil. Quickly toss the greens to coat them in the oil.
2. Toss while cooking until the greens wilt evenly. Season with salt and pepper.
   
   For a different flavour profile, change it up with these combinations:

• 5 cloves garlic, minced; juice from half a small lemon
• 2 teaspoon balsamic vinegar, pinch of sugar
• 1 teaspoon sherry vinegar, 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, 1 can cannellini beans, 3 cloves garlic
• 1/4 red onion, sliced thin and sauteed to cook; 1/2 apple sliced into bite-sized pieces and cooked; a handful of chopped walnuts, toasted