Smoked Bacon Dipped in Dark Chocolate

Every year in my family we try to make treats for friends and family.  This year we are still making cookies but we are also doing something a little different.

SMOKED BACON DIPPED IN DARK CHOCOLATE SPRINKLED WITH COURSE SEA SALT!

Yes, I said that!  And for you naysayers don't knock until you have tried it.  It is quite good!

So for my first batch (test run) I took thick cut apple smoked bacon, smoked it on the pit at 350 for 25 minutes (next time I will smoke it at 325 for 25 minutes - little less dry crisp).

I brought the bacon in and let it cool and patted off the grease.  Want to make sure you do this otherwise the grease will cause problems with the chocolate sticking.

While the bacon cooled I tempered/melted my chocolate.

This was done by bringing a pot of water to a boil, then reducing it to a slight simmer.  Don't want to steam or boil your chocolate.  Just need a little bit of heat to melt it.  Also, avoid getting moisture in the chocolate as that will cause it to seize up.  For this reason I use a bowl (aluminum or glass) that is much larger than the pot I use for boiling the water.  I rest the bowl on the pot and have about 2" inches of clearance between the water and the bottom of the boil. 

Put the bowl with chocolate in it over the simmering pot of water, use a plastic spatula (wooden or bamboo may cause the chocolate to seize) to stir, and after about 3 to 5 minutes you should have some shinny, smooth chocolate ready for coating the bacon. 

Next batch I will be adding some bitter sweet bakers chocolate to the mix to help tone down the sweetness of the Hershey's Dark Chocolate.

Next dip the bacon and set on a rack to cool.  Next time I will still use a cooling rack however I will put parchment paper down to help keep the bacon from sticking. (somehow I managed to NOT take a picture of the bacon cooling after being covered in chocolate).  While the chocolate covered bacon is cooling, I lightly sprinkled with course ground sea salt the placed in the freezer for about 10 minutes.

Pulled them out of the freezer and dipped a 2nd time in the chocolate then put them back in the freezer for about 20 more minutes.

Learned a few things from this first test run...

• Less cook time on the bacon, thicker slice too
• Add Bitter Sweet Bakers Chocolate to the Hershey's Dark Chocolate to tone down the sweetness
• Use parchment paper to keep bacon from sticking to cooling rack after being covered in chocolate
• A little salt goes a very very long way!

 Over all though, I really enjoyed the bacon and will definitely be doing it again!

Hmmm Chicken (Chicken Leg Quarters)

So I was working more on my chicken this weekend. Been trying to get it to that next level.

Used two different rubs... my go to homemade rub and another rub that I got hooked up with from the BBQ Brethren Bash I went to. I forgot to write the name of it down but I'll edit this later with it. Isn't a fancy rub but its got a good solid flavor profile.

For this cook, I brought the pit up to 350... while it was warming up ... I lightly oiled each leg quarter with EVOO, then dusted them with the BBQ Brethren Bash rub and then sprinkled with mine. Went outside ... temp was good.

At 55 minutes in I cranked the temp up to 425 and dunked each leg quarter in my home made BBQ that I spiced up with some mango/habanero.

I then proceeded to baste them every 10 minutes for 30 minutes...

Pulled and rested them for about 15 minutes...

Loved the skin - was bite throw, had a bit of a caramelization / crunch to it. The heat was subtle and came on the 3rd of 4th bite in. Had a few people try it and they loved it. Said it was my best chicken ever!

"Bite-through skin, tender, juicy, just the right amount of heat and sweet.... Very, very good!"

Will be doing this again to make sure I can replicate! Loved it! My wife killed it too! I thought I'd have some left overs for today - but NOPE! :(