A praline bacon appetizer, side or cheese
course. Photo courtesy Wisconsin Milk
Marketing Board.

The praline-crusted bacon with its peppery kick contrasts with the creamy saltiness of blue cheese. The mouthfeel is unforgettably lush and the flavor is addictive.

Serve it as an appetizer, as a cheese course after the main course, or as a sophisticated side with breakfast eggs.

BLUE CHEESE WITH PRALINE BACON

Ingredients

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.

2. Combine all ingredients but the bacon in a wide, shallow dish. Dip and press each slice of bacon in the praline mixture on both sides.

3. Lay bacon strips on a large, rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle additional praline mixture over the bacon slices in the pan.

4. Roast the bacon until the fat begins to render, about 6 minutes. Rotate the pan front-to-back and continue roasting until the bacon is crisp and brown, about 8 to 10 minutes.

5. Remove, cool and break or cut bacon into bite-sized pieces. Serve warm or room temperature with the blue cheese and optional garnish.

This recipe is courtesy of the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board.

Numerous green salad, fruit salad and side dish recipes call for toasted nuts. You can also add them to pasta, rice, soup and vegetable dishes, and as plate garnishes. They’re a delicious topping for French toast, pancakes and waffles.

Toasting takes the bite out of walnuts and adds mellow dimensions of flavor to any variety of nut. It can also crisp up older nuts that have gotten soft.

When served as a cheese condiment, warming the nuts brings out the lushness of the cheese, while the salt and crunch of the nuts offer a delightful contrast.

So if you’re looking for something special for Father’s Day, consider a cheese course of Brie or Camembert with toasted pistachios. (Don’t want such a rich cheese? Find another in our Gourmet Cheese section.
 
 
RECIPE: BRIE OR CAMEMBERT WITH WARM PISTACHIOS

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. PLACE the cheese on the counter (at room temperature) 45 minutes before serving.

2. PREHEAT the oven to 200°F.*

3. SPREAD the pistachios on an ungreased cookie sheet. Toast in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes. Serve warm with the cheese.

Beyond pistachios, here’s how to toast nuts for all occasions, in the oven or on the stove top.
 
 
MORE

> cheese condiments for every occasion.

> The difference between brie and camembert.

> The history of Brie.

> The history of pistachio nuts.
 
 
 
 
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*Note: Most nuts are larger than pistachios, so can be toasted at 350°F.

[2] You can add some spice by using chili-flavored pistachios (photos #2 and #3 © The Wondeful Company).

[3] These chili-roasted pistachios come in family and snack sizes.

Finger-licking good BBQ. Photo courtesy Pig Of The Month.

Smoked barbecue ribs, award winning pulled pork, specialty sausages, gourmet bacon, sides and award winning barbecue sauces are just the start of the menu.

The family-owned company is so certain you’ll love their food, they offer a 100% money-back guarantee. We certainly look forward to our next order. Maybe we’ll overcome our guilt and add in some of the tempting desserts.

Read the full review.

DO YOU KNOW YOUR PORK CUTS?

Check them out in our crisp and delicious Pork Glossary.

Does chocolate have a sinister side? For sure! At Sweetly Demented Chocolate, it’s creepy and it’s kooky, mysterious and spooky.

There are white chocolate skulls filled with chocolate ganache, with brains that are filled with raspberry ganache. There are standalone brains, red-colored white chocolate filled with chocolate ganache.

Sink your teeth into some eerie Bye Bye Birdie hawk skulls. The jumbo swirl Hypno Pops, white and dark chocolate filled swirled together and filled with ganache, are the kind that Pugsley Addams would enjoy.

For the merely off-kilter, there is a large silver buck’s antler (edible luster dust over chocolate) and plaques of chocolate “wood.” And some rose-garnished chocolate mementos for Miss Havisham.

Tim Burton should give them as party favors. Sharon Osboyrne should give an assortment to Ozzie. And you can buy some for anyone who likes a tasty bite of the odd or morbid.

She hand-created the candy molds from actual deer antlers, hawk skulls and her own clay sculptures and uses Peter’s Chocolate, a quality chocolate popular with many chocolatiers and pastry chefs.

One other demented fact: There is no e-commerce on the website, or pricing either (although we found elsewhere that one two-inch brain sells for $6.00. If you want to sink your teeth into sinister chocolate, you’ll need to use the Contact form on SweetlyDemented.com.

If you’re a web designer/coder, offer to update Ms. Imnotelling’s website in exchange for chocolate. We’d like it to be easier for fans of this chocolate genre to purchase her work.
  

New school Caesar salad (photo © E&E Grill House).

Their approach—which has become trendy for Caesar Salads—let you enjoy even more flavor from your salad.

Romaine: Instead of tearing the romaine leaves, cut the romaine hearts in half lengthwise, then grill them, cut sides down, until grill marks appear ( about two minutes). You can then cut the grilled romaine crosswise into two-inch-wide strips to resemble a traditional Caesar, serve a half of the heart to each diners, or cut the core to separate the individual leaves, as E&E does.

Cheese: Instead of grating the Parmigiano Reggiano, as in the original Caesar recipe, shave it into large, thick pieces (use a vegetable peeler).

> The history of Caesar Salad and the classic recipe.