5.29.2013

pork out

It's been a long time - do you ever have those moments in life where everything becomes chaotic all at once? I have been knee deep in chaos since mid-february and have been seriously neglecting you. I'm sorry. I promise my hardest not to do that to you again. 

You see, lots of things have been happening in my life. Matt and I bought a condo - yep, first time home buyers! My new kitchen is amazing and I can't wait to share it with you soon. That is, when i'm done digging my way out from all of the boxes. On top of all the moving/buying a condo chaos, work has been crazy busy AND I'm planning a wedding. Life is great. Life is amazing. But mostly, life is BUSY! 

Lets slow things down for a minute and talk about bacon. Specifically hot pepper + bacon vodka. Yep, that's a thing. It takes 1 - 2 weeks to make (the closer to the latter the better) but it's totally worth the wait. It's so easy to make and definitely makes brunch a lot more exciting.


hot pepper + bacon vodka

ingredients:
1 pint (375 ml) vodka 
6 strips of bacon (cooked & crispy)
1 jalapeno, cut in half length wise
1 serrano pepper, cut in half length wise

put ingredients into a mason jar or any sealable container and let sit for 2 weeks. if you're in a big rush, 5-7 days will work. the longer you let it sit, the stronger the flavors build. after 1 week, remove the peppers (unless you like it really hot). this way the hot pepper won't overpower the smokey bacon goodness.

now the little bit of work happens… totally worth it work. work that gets rewarded with bacon vodka in the end. strain your cloudy mixture through a fine mesh sieve and put it in a clean container and into the freezer. the freezer portion is key here. nobody likes greasy vodka, nobody. fat + drinks don't equal awesomeness. although it sounds like it could work, trust me, it doesn't. freeze your vodka for a minimum of 5 hours, 1 day is ideal. take a coffee filter or cheesecloth and place it into a fine mesh sieve on top of a medium sized bowl. pour your frozen vodka into the strainer and place in the refrigerator. after about 2 hours, the mixture should fully strain through, separating the fat from the liquor. 

bacon + hot pepper vodka is ready! store in the refrigerator or freezer. use to make the best bloody mary's or fancy, kicking cocktails. 

improv style:
you can leave out the hot peppers if you're not into spicy. if you're into heat but not HOT, use a milder pepper or peppercorns. candied bacon would be interesting… all types of bacon will affect the mixture - smokey bacon would be really great here but use what you can find! vodka is a neutral flavor but what about gin? bourbon... that could be REALLY interesting.