Harlequin X ([info]xlagartixax) wrote in [info]food_porn,
2007-09-18 12:04:00
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  • Mood: bacon

Bacon Apple Pie: Do Not Adjust Your Browser Settings

My love affair with bacon is well-documented in my artwork. Living la vida loca of the Starving Art Student leads one to seek ever cheaper substitutes for proper nutrition. The local Cash & Carry willingly obliges by selling 15-lb flats of bacon for $0.87 a pound, making it the cheapest meat available in the region. Despite much eye-rolling and finger-shaking by my peers that I'd suffer eighty-seven heart attacks in a year with all the bacon I eat, I've actually lost ten pounds and my cholesterol is so depressingly normal that it's too boring to write about. Meanwhile, my neighbors have dubbed my dwelling-place The House That Bacon Built.

I joked last spring when printing my drypoint engraving All Day I Dream About Bacon that I was going to put bacon on an apple pie. No one believed me.

Until last Saturday, that is, when I marched to the Arcata Farmer's Market in search of Gravenstein apples...






Gravenstein apples are tart and crisp, ideal for pies and snacking. These Gravensteins came from a farm in Willow Creek, California, less than 100 miles away. Eating local food is a smart choice at any time of year, but September is also Local Foods Month in Humboldt County. What better way to celebrate than with a pie?

My main concern with this pie was that the bacon would make the apple pie too greasy. To avoid this, I fried the bacon first and then crumbled it to manageable portions. I then lined the pie crust with bacon pieces, and mixed the rest in with the apples.





From there it was just a matter of laying out the top crust and engaging in a bit of arts and crafts...





And into the oven it went.



So how was it?

I wouldn't be posting this if it wasn't absolutely incredible. It wasn't greasy like I thought it would be. The flavor was a perfect balance of sweet and salty. I served it up with slices of smoked cheddar cheese for a room full of amused but open-minded skeptics, and the entire pie was gone in 10 minutes.

Bacon Apple Pie

Ingredients:

* Pastry for 9-inch pie, uncooked
* 6 cups apples, peeled and cut into thin slices (about 2 1/4 lbs or 8 medium apples)
* 3/4 lb uncooked bacon
* 3/4 cup sugar
* 2 Tbl flour
* 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
* 1/4 tsp nutmeg
* 1 Tbl milk
* 1 Tbl sugar

Directions:
Fry bacon in skillet until slightly floppy. Drain on paper towel. Chop bacon into 1/2" pieces. Line bottom of pastry-lined pie plate with a layer of bacon, reserving the rest.

In a large bowl, mix together 3/4 cup sugar, flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Add apple slices and remaining bacon pieces. Toss to coat.

Transfer bacon-apple mixture to pastry-lined pie plate. Place upper crust on pie plate (bonus points for a lattice, double bonus points if you can show me a bacon lattice!) and seal. Cut slits in the top if you are using double crust to allow to vent. Brush top with milk and sugar. Bake at 375 F for 1 hour or until bubbly.

Cool on a wire rack. Serve with smoked cheddar cheese slices.
Tags: bacon, pie

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  • 41 comments

[info]pickleberries

September 18 2007, 19:23:54 UTC 4 years ago

There are no words for me to properly admire your culinary prowess and sense of adventure. Bravo is the closest I can come.

Mmmm, bacon.

[info]odonata9

September 18 2007, 19:26:14 UTC 4 years ago

pure genius! bacon truly does make everything better.

[info]kisstheground

September 18 2007, 19:31:49 UTC 4 years ago

omg. i will make my husband do this (he's the baker, i can't bake to save my life). we love the bacon here, too.

[info]perosha

September 18 2007, 19:32:26 UTC 4 years ago

baaaaacoooooooon...

this is pure genius!! will definitely have to try this sometime. ♥

[info]fairbrook

September 18 2007, 19:35:28 UTC 4 years ago

mother of good..you are truly doing the lord's work.....

[info]mistress_mab

September 18 2007, 20:03:36 UTC 4 years ago

LOL Indeed.

[info]badseed1980

September 18 2007, 19:41:25 UTC 4 years ago

Sounds severely yummy! You must be one of those people who wouldn't look at me like I'd gone insane when I say I want to try one of those Vosges chocolate bars with bacon in them!

[info]elizabethf

September 18 2007, 22:29:01 UTC 4 years ago

I'm actually going to be getting one of those (along with a bunch of other Vosges yummies) when I'm in Vegas in a couple of weeks!

[info]badseed1980

4 years ago

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[info]xlagartixax

4 years ago

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[info]quix

September 18 2007, 19:42:35 UTC 4 years ago

This product was obviously made just for you:

Bacon Salt. ^^

[info]ghoti

September 18 2007, 20:07:43 UTC 4 years ago

Kosher bacon? There's somethign wrong there.

[info]wdomburg

4 years ago

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[info]kajicarter

September 18 2007, 19:45:17 UTC 4 years ago

Lovely! And man, I wish we could get bacon at that price here!

[info]lola_joan

September 18 2007, 19:54:57 UTC 4 years ago

That's truly inspired. wowza.

[info]buboniclou

September 18 2007, 20:44:14 UTC 4 years ago

Oh, what if you baked the cheese into the crust?? Mmmmmmm

[info]kastinkerbell

September 18 2007, 21:22:07 UTC 4 years ago

I was going to say a little cheese, too!
I'm thinking of making something like this for my upcoming birthday, except instead of a double crust, I'll do a sharp-cheddar crumbly top...

[info]xlagartixax

4 years ago

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[info]starbrow

September 18 2007, 20:49:35 UTC 4 years ago

omg. that looks so good.

Shall have to make it for myself sometime, much smaller.

[info]ladypuppy

September 18 2007, 21:00:37 UTC 4 years ago

Recipe is saved. This, combined with the bacon pumpkin muffins posted yesterday, has given me my theme for the fall. BACON.

PS-- the bacon salt was not great. Too sweet.

[info]ophy

September 18 2007, 22:23:35 UTC 4 years ago

I'm sorry.... bacon pumpkin muffins? I've scrolled back in this community and peeked at your friends list (you've got some awesome communities and RSS feeds over there) but I can't find these muffins.

Can you reply with a link? Muffins can be done a lot easier than a pie right now.

[info]ladypuppy

4 years ago

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[info]subjnctive

4 years ago

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[info]ophy

4 years ago

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[info]ladypuppy

4 years ago

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[info]squidkibbles

September 18 2007, 21:21:48 UTC 4 years ago

Incredible. This is truly fantastic and inspired. Had I not just made a batch of apple crisp with my remaining macs I would be rushing off to the kitchen to create this toute de suite.

[info]heartsarts

September 18 2007, 21:39:48 UTC 4 years ago

::waves:: hello!!! I live in Eureka! My bf, is SO love with bacon, I can't wait for him to get home & show him this! I went on vacation this summer and brought him him bacon band-aids, bacon shaped air freshener for his truck...

Do you go to HSU? I'm currently taking printmaking there and I love your drypoint :D

[info]xlagartixax

September 19 2007, 00:39:31 UTC 4 years ago

I do indeed attend HSU! You might have even seen my pair of monotypes of the Wildlife building if you've been in the printmaking studio recently; I'm currently taking Print 2 with Sarah.

Small world? Small county, indeed...

[info]heartsarts

4 years ago

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[info]elizabethf

September 18 2007, 22:26:38 UTC 4 years ago

Oh my hell. I am DEFINITELY trying this. It sounds divine!

[info]westwind429

September 18 2007, 22:48:15 UTC 4 years ago

I wish to salute you. Your work has done much for the theory that bacon can, in fact, make everything better.

[info]helgarde

September 18 2007, 22:59:06 UTC 4 years ago

Get on with your bad self!

I am going to have to try this out--though I have to admit to liking the idea of the crumbly cheese topping, too, instead of a top crust.

I wonder if chipotle chiles in the filling would be too much of a good thing?

[info]ophy

September 18 2007, 23:08:25 UTC 4 years ago

Oh please do something sharp cheddar-y with a crumb crust! Everything you do is just amazing... I'd really like to see what you do with this.

Personally, I'd think that the addition of chiles would take it from one thing completely into another, but for the joy of seeing your take on it, it'd be worth it!

[info]singeaddams

September 19 2007, 01:54:16 UTC 4 years ago

Thou hast BEFOULED, not one, but TWO of the purest, most sublime foods in existance. I'm going to kill myself.

[info]zare_k

September 19 2007, 05:33:11 UTC 4 years ago

That's quite ingenious, I'll have to try it. Pork and fruit is a classic combination so I can definitely see how it would work.

[info]hezul

September 30 2007, 04:02:29 UTC 4 years ago

Hi, I bookmarked this when you first posted it, and we just finished baking it right now, so I had to come back and tell you thank you for sharing the recipe. This is amazing!

[info]xlagartixax

October 13 2007, 03:09:14 UTC 4 years ago

I'm so glad you tried it and liked it! Apparently this is starting to be called the hottest recipe on the Internet. I thought I was all alone in my bacon-worship; I'm glad to see I am not.

[info]patgund

October 18 2007, 16:58:04 UTC 4 years ago

Can I repost this recipe on my LJ? (With proper credit given, of course)

[info]badseed1980

January 10 2008, 21:35:36 UTC 4 years ago

Hey there,

I'm making a this pie tonight for a bake-off tomorrow at work (where original recipe is not a requirement). I have no oven access at work. Given that, how would you smart folks recommend I treat this? Now, the bake-off is tomorrow afternoon at 2:30pm. I have refrigerator access at work and at home. Should I refrigerate the pie until a few hours before serving and then allow it to come to room temp? Should I simply leave it at room temp until the bake-off? Should I try microwaving it? Should I serve it at fridge temperature?

I don't want to make anyone sick, and don't really know how long bacon that's been cooked and is in a dish like this can be left unrefrigerated. I also want it to be REALLY good and take the prize. Recommendations?

[info]corporeal

March 19 2008, 10:45:10 UTC 4 years ago

Is the pastry sweet or savoury?

[info]azurelunatic

October 13 2009, 06:33:33 UTC 2 years ago

This looks like delicious fun. I may have to try making it. (Here via the LJ book.)
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