Epic Fail

It was one of those ideas that sounded great at first.

My son and I had spent the afternoon shopping for his grad suit, and were passing through Commercial Drive on our way home.

"Dolce Amore?" he asked. Not one to pass up on ice cream I agreed. On the way, we passed a frites place that also served the infamous deep-fried Mars bar. That was when the idea took form.

If ice cream was good, and the deep-fried Mars bar was (supposedly) good, the two together would be ...

Really dissappointing. Doughy, chewy and tasteless, the Mars bar ruined a perfectly good bowl of ice cream.

Some things you just shouldn't mess with.

Makin' Bacon

This past weekend was our annual Luau & Pig Fest. And as often is the case when I'm cooking for this meat extravaganza I squeeze in some extra cooking for personal use. Hell, if the smokers are up and running you may as well put them to good use.

I was presented with these four beauties by fellow smoker and meat guru Neil. He and Dave (friend and co-worker) have been experimenting with various forms of charcuterie. Dave's venison sausage is legendary, as is his chorizo. What I was presented with were four coppas (essentially, the nape of a pig's neck) that had been curing for just shy of 2 weeks. These were bacons in the making.

After some nifty trussing by yours truly, they were put in the smoker over some maple and apple wood. 2 hours at 140F, and then another 2 hours at 220F.

The finished product smelled even better than it looks.

Taste test: a lot like ham, but very very smokey.