August 23, 2010 by Marianne

August 23, 2010 • Filed Under: Bacon Reviews , Bacon, bacon-wrapped shrimp, Shalhoob's

Not long ago, my husband and I went to one of our favorite local eateries, Shalhoob’s for a long-anticipated date night. Besides having really great steaks and cocktails, this restaurant has a long history in Santa Barbara. Shalhoob’s Meat Company has been a Santa  Barbara staple since 1950. The restaurant’s location was once a Shalhoob’s Deli, but a few years ago, daughter Jill took the reins and turned it into a happening steakhouse and an immediate locals hangout. From the mixed grill to the turkey dip to the perfect filet mignon, this restaurant pretty much always knocks my socks off.

After all that hype, you’ll probably be surprised to hear how disappointed I was in the bacon-wrapped shrimp appetizer. When we saw it on the menu, we were shocked we’d never ordered it before. When it arrived at our table, we couldn’t wait to tear into it. The five shrimp were served on a bed of rice pilaf and looked like a work of art (although my iPhone didn’t do them justice.) The bacon was perfectly wrapped, a festive stripey ensemble. Unfortunately, it also  had an overdone crispness to it, nearly burnt in flavor, and the shrimp were dry. The only thing we could figure was that they must have deep-fried them and left them in the oil too long. Deep-frying always seems like a good idea, but it can certainly be taken too far. Let this be a lesson to all you Fry-Daddy owners out there. Too much of a good thing can be…well, too much.

Having said that, the rest of our meal was outstanding; just thinking about their famous split-pea soup is making me hungry. To top it off, each and every bartender can make a killer Manhattan. If you happen to visit Santa Barbara, you have my highest recommendation for Shalhoob’s. Just don’t forget to invite me!

July 20, 2010 by Marianne

July 20, 2010 • Filed Under: Bacon Reviews , Garrett County bacon, uncured bacon

On the Fourth of July, I was shopping at our local fancy-schmancy grocery store, Lazy Acres. It’s like the small-town version of a Whole Foods. I love their produce, their cheese department, their fantastic wine and liquor selection, and…the meat and seafood case. It’s so hard to walk by it without buying SOMETHING. Just one artisan-crafted sausage. Or maybe a small piece of ahi to have as an appetizer. Well, on this day my eye was drawn to a package of bacon. It first caught my attention because the slices were so thin I thought it was some sort of prosciutto. I picked it up and flipped it over and was amazed by the low fat content.

This, it turned out, was Garrett County’s hickory-smoked, uncured bacon. Unlike most bacon aficionados, I really like those rare thin slices you find hidden in a normal package. Thick cut-bacon doesn’t always win me over, and I was totally intrigued by this very different looking product. So, refusing to acknowledge a price, I threw the bacon in my basket and moved on.

When I buy a new bacon, I like to try it plain the first time. So I opened it up, pulled out a few slices and threw them in the skillet. Well, maybe it wasn’t that simple. First of all, before cooking, it smelled very smoky, almost more like ham than bacon. When I removed my slices from the package, the bacon was so thin it was difficult to get out of the package without tearing, and they stretched a great deal. I actually thought I had three slices when indeed it was four, but I wasn’t likely to complain about that. As you can see in this photo, there really was a lot less fat, which meant much less grease produced during cooking.

It was difficult to cook them evenly, I suppose because of the diminished grease content. I would have liked them to be more crisp overall, but I took them out before certain areas of the bacon could burn. The flavor was really good, but again, not necessarily what I would associate with a favorite bacon…more like a tasty ham. Or rather, what I wish ham tasted like, because I don’t love ham. I think the rest of the package will be used as an ingredient. For instance, I was planning to make some split pea soup soon. This will be the perfect smoky, salty bacon for that use.

This is what I love about American food culture. At any given moment I may run across a food from anywhere in the country, anywhere in the world. We have such a ridiculous wealth of food variety at our fingertips, and I want to taste it all. So maybe this won’t be my new breakfast favorite, but it was definitely worth a try. I’m always on the lookout for new and different bacon products to try. And yet I still haven’t had the KFC Double Down…hmmm. Maybe I don’t really want to taste it ALL.

July 13, 2010 by Marianne

July 13, 2010 • Filed Under: Bacon Reviews , Bacon, bacon cheddar, bacon cheese, Kraft Deli Deluxe

Once again, Royal Bacon Society was fortunate to receive some product for review, and some coupons to share with our readers! Representatives of Kraft asked us to try their new Deli Deluxe Bacon Cheddar. As much as I love to buy stinky cheese from the local shop, there’s this kid in me that still loves a fat slice of American cheese on my burger, just the way my mom used to make. While this product insists it is cheddar, the consistency and flavor really reminded me of American, so I proceeded under this assumption.

First we got a few slices out and had a look. The cheese didn’t smell like liquid smoke, which was a definite positive. So many “bacon” products are really just smoke enhanced with no actual bacon involved. Not so with these slices. There were evident bits of bacon in each slice. I dug one out and tried it and, as far as I could tell, it was just a tiny piece of bacon. Nothing weird or texturally creepy about it. Two points for the cheese.

Next we threw some burgers on the grill and topped it with a slice. Like good American slices, this cheese melted beautifully without adding any extra grease to the formula. I assembled my burger with the usual condiments, pickles, lettuce, tomato and took my first bite. Sadly, the bacon flavor was drowned out by all the other ingredients. We decided to try a few bites of just the burger and cheese (no bun, no condiments) and found that the bacon flavor was there, just not strong.

My next favorite thing to do with an American slice is to make a grilled cheese. Sadly, these photos did not turn out, but let me see if I can give you the mental picture. I just took two slices of whole wheat bread, buttered one side of each, and threw them in a skillet with two slices of the bacon cheddar in between. When the sandwich was golden brown and perfectly crispy (mmm…grilled cheese), I placed it on a plate and let it cool for the 10 seconds that my self-control would allow. THIS…this is what this cheese was made for. Two slices made sure it was nice and gooey on the inside, and the bacon flavor was able to shine through, unfettered by condiments of any sort. Now, it’s certainly not the same as making a grilled cheese with a couple slices of real bacon, but it’s a quick and easy way to get some bacon flavor with much less hassle.

Kraft is also making their Deli Deluxe slices in Jalapeno American flavor (something I will definitely try), and 3-Cheese Garlic & Herb. Want to give one of these products a try? Just hit the contact button at the top of this page and send us your name and address. I have 10 free coupons to give away on a first-come, first-served basis. Give it a go and, if you feel so inspired, send us your feedback. We’d love to hear what you think. (Dave, I’m looking at you!)

February 17, 2010 by Marianne

February 17, 2010 • Filed Under: Bacon Reviews , Bacon, Carl's Jr., Grilled Cheese Bacon Burger

Now, Naseem and I have each been on our own version of a health kick. We talk a lot about salads and calorie counts and Naseem actually exercises. Regularly. She’s crazy like that. But for this free burger we decided to have a “cheat” day. A SERIOUS cheat day including fast food lunch and a 4 pm margarita & tapas happy hour. Heady, no?

So Naseem picks me up last Friday and we head to the nearest Carl’s Jr. There are giant images of burgers all over that restaurant, and by the time we had placed our order, we were starving. The Grilled Cheese Bacon Burger comes in a single, a double and a “six dollar” version. I don’t really know the difference between the three, as we went for the biggest and baddest burger we could get. We decided to split the one burger and top it with large fries because, you know…saving room for happy hour. Of course it didn’t look like the coupon, but I wasn’t fazed. Marketing images are always over-glossed

My past experience with so-called grilled burgers has been kind of gross. The buns are usually super greasy, more like deep-fried toast, but I think I’m thinking of Jack-in-the-Box. Anyway, the flat sourdough-type bread was not greasy. One point for Carl’s. There really was a ton of cheese. Another big point. The burger was flame-broiled and there were three slices of tasty, albeit thin, bacon. Point and point. I mean, if you’re going to eat fast food, these are all good things. This burger has no condiments of any sort, just bread, cheese, bacon and burger.

Now to address the claim of being anything like a grilled cheese. First of all, though I like that it wasn’t greasy, that’s exactly what a grilled cheese would be. And really, with the sparse construction, it reminded me mostly of Jack-in-the-Box’s Ultimate Cheeseburger, but with better bread and a tastier, flame-broiled burger. I did love that there were four slices of cheese; it was so rich that I was really glad we were splitting it. Add a bunch of fries to that and we were both stuffed.

So my overall opinion was that this IS a tasty burger. The next time I find myself at a Carl’s on a road trip, there’s a good chance this will be the burger I order. (Farewell, Western Bacon Cheeseburger…it’s been nice knowing you.)

*Interesting side note: the Grilled Cheese Bacon Burger was created when the food inventors at CKE decided to make something for the vegetarians. Why not a really killer grilled cheese? Who doesn’t love it? Unsurprisingly, during the testing phase someone said, “This is good, but you know what would make it better? A burger and bacon.” And that was that. For those vegetarians out there, if you order a grilled cheese, they’ll gladly make you one.

February 3, 2010 by Marianne

February 3, 2010 • Filed Under: Bacon Gifts, Bacon Reviews , B More Nutz, Bacon, nutterz

I don’t know what it is, but lately I’ve received a number of product offers from people making innovative, bacon-flavored snacks. Anyone who’s known me any length of time will tell you that I love free stuff. In fact, you probably don’t want to accidentally leave a cool t-shirt, jacket or pair of shoes at my house because, hey! Free stuff! And that garden that I was so excited about last year? Free food! All it cost was hundreds of dollars in tools, fertilizer, a worm farm composter, seeds and seedlings, and dozens of hours of back-breaking labor! Best 3 months of my life. And now it’s a driveway.

But I digress. Not long ago I heard from Dick Taylor at B More Nutz. His is an inspiring story. He was a traveling salesman of sorts, and while in Scandinavia selling stuff and drinking (which is what you do in Scandinavia, right?) he discovered a type of peanut he’d never had before. It was wrapped in a potato chip. Strangest thing I’ve ever heard, but apparently it really sparked something in Dick. When he found he couldn’t find this intriguing snack in the U.S., he decided to make them himself. And that’s what he’s doing to this day. He calls them Nutterz and they come in four fun flavors.

So I received a box that contained three flavors: Nuclear, Mild Chili, and of course Bacon Cheddar. I don’t know what the Scandinavian version of this snack is like. I was imagining a peanut with an actual potato chip wrapped around it. In fact, it’s a peanut coated in a thick potato chip batter…like what they make Pringles from. So if you like dry-roasted peanuts and Pringles, you probably want to try this snack. They have a great crunch to them; I can see why Dick calls them the perfect beer nut. I opened a couple bags while some friends were over for drinks and they proved addictive.

Now for the flavors. The Nuclear was actually pretty spicy for a snack/chip. It wasn’t my favorite because it wasn’t as salty as I like my peanuts to be. But keep in mind that I LOVE SALT, so you’ll have to take my opinion with a grain of…you know. The mild chili was great, a bit saltier, not what I would call spicy at all. The Bacon Cheddar was my favorite by far. Very salty, very crunchy and lots of smoky cheddar flavor. And someone commented that they don’t leave any cheese dust or other residue on your fingers because they’re not flavor-coated. The flavor is INSIDE the chip. Genius.

The one type of Nutterz I didn’t receive was the CRAB NUTZ! Seriously, how great is that name? And although I love crab and am intrigued the name (CRAB NUTZ!) I had my fair share of seafood-flavored snacks in Thailand. I’m probably glad to pass on this one.

If you’re interested in trying this unique snack for yourself, you can go to B More Nutz online store and pick up a 6-pack, a case, or even a tub! Mmm…tub o’ nuts. Need I say more?