Good Ol' Home Cookin' Discussion

[Busguy2010]

This can be a fun one. As a preface, I consider myself a poor man's executive home chef. I come up with some good stuff here and there when I get cooking. I took a few culinary classes at MCC Fort campus (which turns out to be a very good culinary school), and I learned a lot. Now, as I said, I'm a "poor man's" or maybe better, "lazy man's" executive home chef.

I want this thread to be a place where people can share their staple home cooking recipes, fun recipes, experimental recipes, etc. Whatever you whip up at home qualifies...

I'll call what I did tonight a "Ghetto Mushroom and Onion Burger". Admittedly, it is a lazy recipe, as it includes onion mix, but it turned out good. I got a pound of 85/15 ground beef on special, a package of sliced mushrooms, and I already had a carton of GV unsalted beef broth, a package of Lipton Onion Soup mix, and Sara Lee Whole Grain White Bread. So I mixed the pound of beef with the onion soup packet, with about a tbsp of packaged minced garlic. In a well oiled and seasoned cast iron skillet, I fried about 1/3 pound of the beef mixture as a large and flat disc at half power. Once the patty was seared and cooked through, I transferred it to a plate in a 170 degree (holding) oven. I then deglazed the pan with some beef broth to cool it off, then added the mushrooms and cooked out nearly all the water. Once that happened, I added almost a whole quart of beef broth, then added about a heaping tbsp of corn starch (I suppose flour would work for that), and more garlic, then whisked it all in, and cooked it down until it was to a desirable consistency. I constructed the burger and spooned the mushroom broth on top

I am very interested to hear of some of your other home recipes.

[Omaha Cowboy]

I like the idea of your thread here, and hope to see some other responses..

Sadly, I’m really no chef by any stretch of the imagination..but oddly, I drawn to watching recipe and food cooking channels on YouTube..

Go figure, lol…

Ciao..LiO…Peace

[Busguy2010]

I got another one... Easy Oyster stew (or soup).

One undrained can of oysters, 2-4 tbsp or more of butter, the rest is optional... a tsp of minced garlic (or up to 1/8 tsp of granulated garlic), 1/4 cup of minced onion (or up to 1/8 tsp granulated onion), just a really small dusting of black pepper, cayenne pepper, and white pepper. Cook almost all the water out of the mixture, remove from heat, then add about one cup on whole milk (or a small bit of water prior can keep the milk from scorching). Return pot to heat, and just heat the milk. Overheating and boiling will easily cause the milk to overflow.

[Busguy2010]

Anybody ever use those wood fired pizza oven stove thingies? I saw lowes was selling them for $400. Wayyy too steep for me to justify, but it looks like they turn out my kind of pizza. I can't remember the name of it.

[Brad]

Anybody ever use those wood fired pizza oven stove thingies? I saw lowes was selling them for $400. Wayyy too steep for me to justify, but it looks like they turn out my kind of pizza. I can't remember the name of it.

Go back to the flooring section, get one large piece of ceramic tile and put it on your regular grill/smoker/etc. It works just fine for pizza and will save you $395.00

[nebugeater]

Anybody ever use those wood fired pizza oven stove thingies? I saw lowes was selling them for $400. Wayyy too steep for me to justify, but it looks like they turn out my kind of pizza. I can't remember the name of it.

Go back to the flooring section, get one large piece of ceramic tile and put it on your regular grill/smoker/etc. It works just fine for pizza and will save you $395.00

I have had this for a couple of years and use it on my grill and smoker for Pizza. Works great.

[Busguy2010]

After spending over $10 on a Big Mac meal at MCDonald's last week, I had set out to make my own rendition of the Big Mac at home this week... And calculate how much it cost me.

So here's the breakdown, and keep in mind, I didn't even use the cheapest version of all these items: For the patties, buns, cheese, lettuce, and onions it breaks down to $2.60 per burger. I made my own Big Mac sauce at home, which is hard to quantify, but I'd guess per burger, it would add no more than $.10 (and I have enough sauce now for a dozen burgers), along with the pickles. I'll even give it a generous total of $3.00 per burger. Add a serving of frozen french fries for $.18, and a small Coca Cola for $.57.

Grand total For a Big Mac, fries, and a drink: $3.75... Heck, even if you factor in the Ketchup for dipping, and the electricity, it can't top $5.

[Busguy2010]

After talking about what condiments go well with pork last week, pork chops are back in my life! Hadn't had one since I was a kid. Always hated pork chop night because they were prepared bland over cooked and dry (dont tell my dad). Only way they went down was with a generous amount of BBQ sauce.

Anyhow, I did a little digging on how to prepare pork chops, and it didn't take long to see that (somehow) apples go with pork with resounding favor. I was a little skeptical, but this turned out BOMB.



Its a pork chop pounded thin, just salt and pepper, dredge through flour and bread crumbs, and pan fried in shallow oil.

The surprising part for me was the apple salad. I cut up a fuji apple, tossed it in a sauce of oil, apple cider vinegar, a little Dijon mustard, honey, a dash of cinnamon and salt. Topped it with raisins and walnuts.

And let me tell ya, It WORKS! I'm totally surprised by it and I highly recommend trying it. It fits so well with these cooler days.

[Stan]

That looks great! I threw one of those prepackaged pork loins on the grill last night and it was very good. I cook to temp on most items, but only recently in the past few years cook pork to 145.

As for some other home cooked recipes, I make this one pretty regularly - https://www.recipetineats.com/chicken-s ... rn/#recipe

I like to start the chicken marinade either the morning of or the night before. Let it really soak up the flavor. Then I'll grill some other vegetables like red pepper, zucchini, onion or whatever you like. Serve with some black beans and rice or other grain. I really like farro for the chewiness. Freekeh is another grain that I'd like to try.

If you top all of this with the greek yogurt sauce or toum, you'll be very happy.

[Busguy2010]

That looks great! I threw one of those prepackaged pork loins on the grill last night and it was very good. I cook to temp on most items, but only recently in the past few years cook pork to 145.

Those are also in the group of pork Ill eat on occasion. They come in pretty handy. Every time I go to Family Fare, I check the managers special and hope to see some of those in there. Its not often, but when you can basically get 3 for a little over the price of one, they somehow taste better lol.

But yeah, they are good and really easy to cook. I like to keep the sauce they come in and make a gravy with it, simple poured over real mashed potatoes and some fresh green beans, makes a good simple meal.

[nebugeater]

That looks great! I threw one of those prepackaged pork loins on the grill last night and it was very good. I cook to temp on most items, but only recently in the past few years cook pork to 145.

Those are also in the group of pork Ill eat on occasion. They come in pretty handy. Every time I go to Family Fare, I check the managers special and hope to see some of those in there. Its not often, but when you can basically get 3 for a little over the price of one, they somehow taste better lol.

But yeah, they are good and really easy to cook. I like to keep the sauce they come in and make a gravy with it, simple poured over real mashed potatoes and some fresh green beans, makes a good simple meal.

Just buy a whole pork loin on sale. Cut yourself and freeze. Do that all the time and can't beat the price.

[thenewguy]

After spending over $10 on a Big Mac meal at MCDonald's last week, I had set out to make my own rendition of the Big Mac at home this week... And calculate how much it cost me.

So here's the breakdown, and keep in mind, I didn't even use the cheapest version of all these items: For the patties, buns, cheese, lettuce, and onions it breaks down to $2.60 per burger. I made my own Big Mac sauce at home, which is hard to quantify, but I'd guess per burger, it would add no more than $.10 (and I have enough sauce now for a dozen burgers), along with the pickles. I'll even give it a generous total of $3.00 per burger. Add a serving of frozen french fries for $.18, and a small Coca Cola for $.57.

Grand total For a Big Mac, fries, and a drink: $3.75... Heck, even if you factor in the Ketchup for dipping, and the electricity, it can't top $5.

I've done that, too, except walmart carries a 'secret sauce' sauce that is pretty daggone close to the real mccoy. We were able to make like 8 big macs for like 20-ish dollars (a couple years ago). Even now it'd probably be like 30, and you don't feel as crumby after

[ChadJK]

[Busguy2010]

After spending over $10 on a Big Mac meal at MCDonald's last week, I had set out to make my own rendition of the Big Mac at home this week... And calculate how much it cost me.

So here's the breakdown, and keep in mind, I didn't even use the cheapest version of all these items: For the patties, buns, cheese, lettuce, and onions it breaks down to $2.60 per burger. I made my own Big Mac sauce at home, which is hard to quantify, but I'd guess per burger, it would add no more than $.10 (and I have enough sauce now for a dozen burgers), along with the pickles. I'll even give it a generous total of $3.00 per burger. Add a serving of frozen french fries for $.18, and a small Coca Cola for $.57.

Grand total For a Big Mac, fries, and a drink: $3.75... Heck, even if you factor in the Ketchup for dipping, and the electricity, it can't top $5.

I've done that, too, except walmart carries a 'secret sauce' sauce that is pretty daggone close to the real mccoy. We were able to make like 8 big macs for like 20-ish dollars (a couple years ago). Even now it'd probably be like 30, and you don't feel as crumby after

Yeah, those secret sauces are pretty good. IDK who makes them, but I think I hadn't discovered them at that point. With ground beef prices what they've been (I think about $7 for a pound), I've given in to buying frozen patties. I recently scored a box of 20 quarter pound patties for I think 11 bucks. They actually turn out to be pretty good and versatile. I may be converted If those fresh prices don't come down.

[nebugeater]

After spending over $10 on a Big Mac meal at MCDonald's last week, I had set out to make my own rendition of the Big Mac at home this week... And calculate how much it cost me.

So here's the breakdown, and keep in mind, I didn't even use the cheapest version of all these items: For the patties, buns, cheese, lettuce, and onions it breaks down to $2.60 per burger. I made my own Big Mac sauce at home, which is hard to quantify, but I'd guess per burger, it would add no more than $.10 (and I have enough sauce now for a dozen burgers), along with the pickles. I'll even give it a generous total of $3.00 per burger. Add a serving of frozen french fries for $.18, and a small Coca Cola for $.57.

Grand total For a Big Mac, fries, and a drink: $3.75... Heck, even if you factor in the Ketchup for dipping, and the electricity, it can't top $5.

I've done that, too, except walmart carries a 'secret sauce' sauce that is pretty daggone close to the real mccoy. We were able to make like 8 big macs for like 20-ish dollars (a couple years ago). Even now it'd probably be like 30, and you don't feel as crumby after

Yeah, those secret sauces are pretty good. IDK who makes them, but I think I hadn't discovered them at that point. With ground beef prices what they've been (I think about $7 for a pound), I've given in to buying frozen patties. I recently scored a box of 20 quarter pound patties for I think 11 bucks. They actually turn out to be pretty good and versatile. I may be converted If those fresh prices don't come down.

20 - 1/4 pound patties ( 5 Lb) for $11 has to be some pretty trash beef that is in a processed and formed patty, kind of like buying the $0.99 Bar S hot dogs that I wouldn't feed to an enemy.



As comparison the 88% lean Fresh ground that I bought at Costco last week was 5.49 Up from 4.99 on my last purchase

[Busguy2010]

20 - 1/4 pound patties ( 5 Lb) for $11 has to be some pretty trash beef that is in a processed and formed patty, kind of like buying the $0.99 Bar S hot dogs that I wouldn't feed to an enemy.

When compared to a Big Mac I'm just sayin' don't turn yer nose up at them, they're actually not half bad. They end up bigger than a flimsy little Mac Donald's patty. Which ones worse for wear, I mean?

Course, I'd sure love to buy only locally sourced organic grass fed beef, but $11. I ain't arguin'.

[thenewguy]

20 - 1/4 pound patties ( 5 Lb) for $11 has to be some pretty trash beef that is in a processed and formed patty, kind of like buying the $0.99 Bar S hot dogs that I wouldn't feed to an enemy.

When compared to a Big Mac I'm just sayin' don't turn yer nose up at them, they're actually not half bad. They end up bigger than a flimsy little Mac Donald's patty. Which ones worse for wear, I mean?

Course, I'd sure love to buy only locally sourced organic grass fed beef, but $11. I ain't arguin'.

Supersaver has had some smokin deals lately on fresh ground...but I have also had to resort to prepattied burgers. Costs are prohibitive

[ChadJK]

I've gotten $2.99/lb ground beef just because I was standing near the Fareway meat counter a little before closing time.

[Busguy2010]

I have a fondness for those frozen Angus patties. The first time I went camping in Estes Park, me and my buddies bought a cast iron skillet, a pack of those frozen burgers, a thing of lard some cheap azz buns and all the fixins. It was the first time I ever even heard of 73-27 beef. I thought 80-20 was like the lowest. But let me tell ya, I did NOT mind it. To this day, those burgers charred up in that cast iron pan over a wood fire in lard... I'd just have to say give it a try. I do not believe I've had a better burger since. And thats saying a lot for how simple they were.

[Stan]

In my hometown here in Nebraska, they still sell a loose meat sandwich that they've always called a beef burger. Iowans know them as Maid-rite and some others might call them tavern sandwiches.

I've seen a ton of recipes for them, but never one like how they're prepared at home. I'd have to ask my mom for the exact recipe, but it calls for hamburger, salt, pepper, msg, and you also let several hamburger buns cook down into a mush with the burger meat. I believe you add water to help it all condense. Add it to a regular hamburger bun, pickles, ketchup, and mustard and it's better than any Maid-rite I've ever had.

Come to think of it, I need to get that recipe and make it for my kids.

[Stan]

Oh, another thing. My mom was really good at spreading a meal out and I take on things from her like adding water to the pasta sauce jar, shaking it, and adding it to the sauce.

One thing she made was lovingly referred to as grub; hamburger, bacon, onion, seasoning, and cans of van camps pork and beans.

[Busguy2010]

Mmm, a loose meat sandwich sounds pretty good right about now. BG's back in the day was where we'd get them, but they're just a good at home.

Its a simple recipe. I just mince up a small onion, not afraid to add a clove of garlic, salt and pepper for a pound of beef, and thats all you need really. Sometimes its good to add some sloppy Joe mix, just for the seasoning, without all the water. So you can say it's a not so sloppy joe.

Now, my question is for this, what ratio ground beef?

85/15 is the sweet spot for me. Its not so much fat that I feel inclined to drain it, plus I paid for the calories, so I don't know if I've ever drained ground beef for any recipe. But it seems to be common practice in any recipe you look up. Never understood why.

[Stan]

My preference is probably on the leaner side of 90/10, but with current prices and whatnot, I'm going for that 80/20.

[Busguy2010]

I've been a bit under the weather, so all I felt I could stomach tonight for dinner was canned tomato soup. I was watching "Jamie Oliver Cooks Italy" when I got home. And I said to myself "Come on" as he always does haha. So instead of plain tomato soup, I whipped up kind of a 'gourmet tomato soup' if there is such a thing. I had some croutons and some cheese about ready to go, so I added that to the plain old tomato soup, and broiled it. It ended up reminding me of French onion soup in principle, with the bread, the broiled cheese. The funny part I noticed is that it was all stuff I already had at home, and it all happened to be Hy-vee store brand. FTW!

[Stan]

I think it's interesting how living in a larger city has influenced my cooking at home compared to people that still live in my hometown and have never really left rural life.

Recently, I saw someone from I grew up with ask for tips on recipes for the week. Pretty much all of the replies were heavy casseroles, meatloaf, noodles and stuff where I like to mix it up from week to week. I still throw in the hearty meals, but I also like to make things like chicken shawarma that marinadesd chicken thighs and includes grilled vegetables and homemade toum, tikka masala, or maybe some pad thai.

[Busguy2010]

Damn kids haha. I still have no idea what 6-7 means, and I dont know if anybody does. The frozen mussels microwave instructions said "5-7 minutes". Theyre getting under my skin I guess, cause I thought "don't you mean 6-7 minutes? durr".

I hate it that it means nothing lol. Cooking up the rest of the mussels, precooking the garlic and butter, I thought "oh, about 5-10 minutes, I don't know." And I realized 6-7 minutes would probably be closer. Palm to face. I think for me, I figured by cooking, it means "I dunno", "close enough", "maybe".

I just hate that now that I estimate how long something will take to cook, 6-7 minutes works for quite a lot of things forever now, even if it takes longer I'm gonna be like "I dunno, 40-45 minutes " making the hand gesture

Kids these days are the darndest.

[nativeomahan]

I think it's interesting how living in a larger city has influenced my cooking at home compared to people that still live in my hometown and have never really left rural life.

Recently, I saw someone from I grew up with ask for tips on recipes for the week. Pretty much all of the replies were heavy casseroles, meatloaf, noodles and stuff where I like to mix it up from week to week. I still throw in the hearty meals, but I also like to make things like chicken shawarma that marinadesd chicken thighs and includes grilled vegetables and homemade toum, tikka masala, or maybe some pad thai.

I never lived in a small town but I grew up in the 1960s and 70s and ate my share of roasts and casseroles. Virtually nothing I eat as an adult intersected with what was served to me as a child or teenager. I guess in some ways I could be called a foodie, but I’m not a fussy eater. So long as it looks appealing and tastes delicious I am happy with almost any cuisine. When we were stuck at home during the first year of the pandemic we explored and prepared countless new (to us) recipes we found online. It was maybe the only thing good to come out of the pandemic. When we are at our home in Omaha we typically cook and eat dinner at home 20-25 times a month, and other than a few nights of repurposing leftovers we never repeat the same meal twice. Life is too short to spend it eating boring food.

[Busguy2010]

Virtually nothing I eat as an adult intersected with what was served to me as a child or teenager. I guess in some ways I could be called a foodie, but I’m not a fussy eater. So long as it looks appealing and tastes delicious I am happy with almost any cuisine... Life is too short to spend it eating boring food.

I'm the same. For whatever reason as a kid, I couldn't stomach much of anything even remotely "exotic", as if red onions are exotic haha. Now as an adult, I will try anything. I guess my parents kept it bread and butter like. I flipped a 180 at some point in my teens, from ordering my burgers plain, picking around certain ingredients. Everything but the most plain Jane made me wanna puke as a kid. Now I'll eat everything.

[ChadJK]

Virtually nothing I eat as an adult intersected with what was served to me as a child or teenager. I guess in some ways I could be called a foodie, but I’m not a fussy eater. So long as it looks appealing and tastes delicious I am happy with almost any cuisine... Life is too short to spend it eating boring food.

I'm the same. For whatever reason as a kid, I couldn't stomach much of anything even remotely "exotic", as if red onions are exotic haha. Now as an adult, I will try anything. I guess my parents kept it bread and butter like. I flipped a 180 at some point in my teens, from ordering my burgers plain, picking around certain ingredients. Everything but the most plain Jane made me wanna puke as a kid. Now I'll eat everything.

I used to scrap the top off my pizza and just eat the crust and sauce. lol I used to skip the marinara on my spaghetti and just eat plain spaghetti with some grated parmesan on it. I used to squeeze the ingredients out of my bean burrito at Taco Bell and then eat the mostly empty tortilla. I ordered hamburgers with just ketchup. Never a cheeseburger. Hot dogs were just ketchup. I didn't like mixing textures. Someone soft like tuna salad couldn't have anything crunchy in it like celery.

I'm not sure when the change occurred and I suddenly became super adventuresome with food. My poor parents. lol Though, karma has taken affect and my kid is even pickier than I ever was.

[Busguy2010]

I'm not sure when the change occurred and I suddenly became super adventuresome with food. My poor parents. lol Though, karma has taken affect and my kid is even pickier than I ever was.

I very well might be changing back. I've eaten more macaroni and cheese, chicken nuggets with ranch dip, fish sticks, and cheese pizza cause of the kids lol. For the fish sticks, I keep a bottle of cocktail sauce, tartar sauce, and malt vinegar. That's a big no-no with the kids, we can't eat in remotely the same vicinity, but I know when I was one, those things were utterly repulsive, now I can't eat them without.

The thing I noted, when I was a kid, at school they served all of us those plain hamburgers. Burger, bun, and thats it. And thats how I used to get that two hamburger order at McDonald's. Nothing on them. Nothing lol. Sometime in high-school, something flipped, and all the sudden I started loving the most flavorful foods. My dad made burgers, and he put everything, red onion, mustard, ketchup, pickle, lettuce. At the time that was really, really pushing the limit for me, but ever since I took the dive, I love almost everything.

One interesting preference one on my friends has had until at least his 20's was hamburgers with no cheese, only ketchup, and somehow onions. I thought that was interesting he didnt like anything else as far as toppings, but of them all, onions? I tried it, it was good. Me personally, if im going as far as onions, I'm going all the way haha

[Busguy2010]

Thinking about foods I hated as a kid, which ones do I still not eat? Now, all of these, I will eat if they're part of a dish, but I'm really not going out of my way for them. The short list is sweet potatoes, zucchini, squash, edamame.

One I never tried until adulthood was sushi. I've tried to convince myself to like it a number of times. Enough times that maybe once every 2-3 years, for some reason it'll sound kinda good. Every time I try to like it, I wonder what I was thinking. Ive never let it go to waste, but its one thing to choke down. Oddly enough, I really love seaweed, and every other ingredient thats in it. I just can't get past the thought of raw fish, and the texture.

[Busguy2010]

Hot dogs were just ketchup.

I just remembered a great example of my palate change. My parents used to only boil hot dogs, and I'd eat them with the cheapest white bread buns, sometimes it was just a slice of white bread, and no condiments.

Nowadays, thats just a sin. If im going to a cookout, those weiners better have a GOOD char to em, and I want it all. Ketchup, mustard, relish, jalapeños, onion. Anything and everything. A good Chicago dog is ideal, a chili dog with raw onion, or covered in baked beans. I think I'm getting hungry

Now and then I'll go back in time and do it the old way when im feeling lazy and cheap. Gotta revisit your roots sometimes.

[ChadJK]

Now and then I'll go back in time and do it the old way when im feeling lazy and cheap. Gotta revisit your roots sometimes.

There are still meals where it's a PB&J or Kraft Macaroni & Cheese. It always hits the spot.

[Busguy2010]

Now and then I'll go back in time and do it the old way when im feeling lazy and cheap. Gotta revisit your roots sometimes.

There are still meals where it's a PB&J or Kraft Macaroni & Cheese. It always hits the spot.

Got that right, me too. PB&J sounds great now too haha. Coming in clutch. Bologna and cheese too.

[nebugeater]

Do I dare admit I have one or both of these in the freezer, to grab from time to time? Get the Big Box from Sam's or Costco







EDIT: Just had to go get one ( grape) Micowave for 15 -20 sec and great guilty pleasure

[nebugeater]

Now and then I'll go back in time and do it the old way when im feeling lazy and cheap. Gotta revisit your roots sometimes.

There are still meals where it's a PB&J or Kraft Macaroni & Cheese. It always hits the spot.

Got that right, me too. PB&J sounds great now too haha. Coming in clutch. Bologna and cheese too.

None of that Turkey Bologna though..

[Busguy2010]

I'm just about to tuck in for the night, and I couldn't not make a PB&J tonight haha. It's a great bedtime snack that I haven't thought about in some time. Cut a couple slices off a Hy-vee bread loaf, and put some great value grape jelly and GV peanut butter on each slice, all done with a plastic knife, washed down with GV whole milk, and served on a napkin Talk about frugality. love the simplicity and how it kinda reminds me that something so simple and cheap is often all ya need. It not only hit the spot, but it made me feel happy. Felt like the old days. Should sleep well tonight

[nebugeater]

I'm just about to tuck in for the night, and I couldn't not make a PB&J tonight haha. It's a great bedtime snack that I haven't thought about in some time. Cut a couple slices off a Hy-vee bread loaf, and put some great value grape jelly and GV peanut butter on each slice, all done with a plastic knife, washed down with GV whole milk, and served on a napkin Talk about frugality. love the simplicity and how it kinda reminds me that something so simple and cheap is often all ya need. It not only hit the spot, but it made me feel happy. Felt like the old days. Should sleep well tonight

Total fail if you are mixing Hyvee and Walmart products

[thenewguy]

I'm just about to tuck in for the night, and I couldn't not make a PB&J tonight haha. It's a great bedtime snack that I haven't thought about in some time. Cut a couple slices off a Hy-vee bread loaf, and put some great value grape jelly and GV peanut butter on each slice, all done with a plastic knife, washed down with GV whole milk, and served on a napkin Talk about frugality. love the simplicity and how it kinda reminds me that something so simple and cheap is often all ya need. It not only hit the spot, but it made me feel happy. Felt like the old days. Should sleep well tonight

Total fail if you are mixing Hyvee and Walmart products

I agree. Walmart store brand bread seems to be less dry than hy-vee's store breads (although truth be told, I'm rotella bread all the way). I don't know if it is because Hy-vee's bread vendors don't rotate as much, but with the amount of volume walmart does by comparison, it seems like they have fresher breads more often.

Side note: there are certain store brand versions of things I don't tend to mess with. Mayo happens to be one of them. It's Hellman's or dukes

[Busguy2010]

Family Fare had a good deal on bacon a couple days ago. Don't remember the brand, but it was the good stuff for $3.99. One of the better prices for the good stuff I've seen in a while. Thick cut and only 9 slices in the pack, so its grade A. I was kinda bored and thought, well, this stuff is such good quality, I'll have some fun with it. So I experimented with some different flavors. I looked up some ideas and I tried a few, including the usual black pepper, and maple brown sugar. But where I went off the rails was when I made one of them maple brown sugar cinnamon. Cinnamon, I thought that was a wild idea, but it turned out AMAZING. The smell totally reminded me of walking through the mall next to the nut stand. I cant overstate how great of a pairing it was.

Black pepper was good.

The other one I liked most was honey Dijon sprinkled with smoked Paprika.

I almost felt like I was poking around trying to find a way to ruin bacon, and I'm convinced it can't be done lol.

Next I'm going to get a scoop of cookies and cream ice cream and crumble a slice of bacon in. Its so wrong, but so right.