Holiday Bacon!

No, it's not a misspelling of "Holiday Baking" made by an intern.  What you're actually looking at is bacon.  Since big breakfasts are often part of the sojourn of our holiday season we thought we'd share a post on cooking bacon.
 

Increasingly, our knowledge of cooking here at TBF is leaning more and more toward science as the basis for ease of preparation and increase in flavor in cooking.  This doesn't mean that we are throwing out Grandma's traditional recipes which often hit the perfect mark, sometimes, we're convinced, the result of scientific luck or many generations of trial and error. 

When most friends hear of our experiments and exploits they often laugh them off.  Like when we advised them to add water to scrambled eggs for a lighter, fluffier, even brighter colored final result.  We swear.  Try it.  About one half teaspoon per egg.  Without getting overly technical that milk (or, even worse, cream) you add is adding more protein which, when heated, becomes tougher.  Water does not contain protein.  Think of how a raw piece of beef (high protein) becomes tougher when introduced to heat.  The more heat, the more tough, until it's overcooked and tragically, permanently ruined. 

Neither do many believe that when poaching a marinated salmon fillet in the microwave (a GREAT technique for salmon-lovers like myself) it actually cooks from the outside in.  Try that, too.  We're not even sure how that works although it seems that there is more oil in the outer part of the fillet and oils heat up more quickly when you nuke them than the flesh of the meat.

So, we've adopted the technique of cooking our bacon in water.  Yes, I know, sounds ridiculous  -  until you try it.  Place the bacon in the pan.  Cover with water.  Cook on high to a full boil then reduce to medium and let the water cook off.  Reduce heat to low until done. 

Beautiful, crispy, succulent bacon every time with no splattering.  We promise.  These are the things that Grandma never taught you unless, maybe, she went to Harvard in the past five years or so.  Happy Holidays and happy cooking.