Friday, October 24, 2008

Bacon (Salt) Makes Everything Better

As I mentioned in a previous post I finally tracked down Bacon Salt here in Lutherville, MD. After striking out at SuperFresh and Wegmans I scoped out the shelves at Giant and lo and behold there it was. Picked up the Original and Hickory blends but have to go back and get the Peppered, which other folks say is their fave. The company is also coming out with a Cheddar blend and both Baconnaise and Bacon Lip Balm are allegedly on their way, hopefully by the holidays.

Anyway, I grabbed the Bacon Salt and a whole chicken since Giant did not have any leg quarters (my favorite chicken part) to go along with the split breasts I already had in the fridge. After breaking down the chicken and freezing the excess I put the chicken in a roasting pan, gave all the pieces a light rub down with extra light olive oil and seasoned away with the Bacon Salt, which totally smells and tastes like bacon, despite its vegetarian and kosher qualities.

The chicken pieces were placed in a 375 degree oven and roasted for about 45 minutes. At that point I added a coating of Yuengling Lager BBQ Sauce to a couple of the pieces. To be honest, I wasn't expecting much from the sauce and bought more out of the novelty than anything. Thanks to Head Country I have pretty high sauce standards and most of the commercial glop that's out there does nothing for me.

Much to my surprise and delight the Yuengling sauce achieves a delicate balance between thick and thin and is equally at home as a basting sauce or a dipping sauce. The aroma has a faint hint of hoppy, malty goodness from the Yuengling Lager listed as one of the ingredients, and it has a nice sweetness to it.

After giving the sauced up pieces a few minutes in the oven and checking to make sure the juices were running clear I removed the pan from the oven and let them rest for a few minutes while we enjoyed some piping hot chicken skin cracklings I also seasoned up with the Bacon Salt.

To round out the theme of Bacon Makes Everything Better we added some Bacon Salt to our baked potatoes (along with buttery spread and light sour cream) and dug in.

The reviews? Thumbs up all around for both Bacon Salt and the Yuengling Sauce. Both added their intended flavor without being overwhelming in any one way or another and left me wanting more of everything. We had leftover chicken last night and used the Yuengling Sauce to dip on the side. By the time I got to the dish to dip some pieces it was almost cleaned out, which is always a good sign.

5 comments:

LEHIGH ANNIE BLOG said...

YUM!!! I am totally envious...sounds delicious! I will have to look for some. I would totally use bacon salt lipgloss without a moment's hesitation.

LEHIGH ANNIE BLOG said...

I'm obsessed with thinking about Bacon Salt. My favorite comments from the Bacon Salt reviews on their website:

"Bacon Salt bitch-slaps the flavor of bacon into anything and everything it touches"

- PC Gamer magazine's Wonder Gear of the Month.

"There is really only one thing that's important to ask yourself when you're about put something in your mouth: Does it taste like bacon? If yes, then go ahead and put it in your mouth. If no, then liberally douse it in Bacon Salt only THEN should you put it in your mouth."

- AOL Food.

Dan said...

We can take you Bacon Salt shopping when you come down next month!

Douglas A. Waltz said...

This post made me sdrool. I keep forgetting to check for the stuff. I'll have to check Meijer's next time I'm in there. How can I keep forgetting something as cool as Bacon Salt? And putting it on chicken? Genius. Now you need to grill some hot dog and sprinkle it on those. Yum! I can't wait!

Dan said...

Made a turkey burger tonight and topped it with panceta, mushrooms and onions sauteed in butter and, eyp, Hickory Bacon Salt. It really does make everything better. Hoping to have Baconnaise on hand for a review shortly.