BANACON BREAD

Say WHAT?!? Let me break it down for you...Banana Bread. Pecans. BACON.

This is definitely an original, as far as I know. I was scratching my head one day at work trying to figure out what the hell to do with this growing mountain of blackened and bruised bananas. Of course, there was the obvious choice...Banana bread. Throw some walnuts in. Whatevs. But something was tugging at the back of my mind. What would make it alchemy? What would make it magic? Duh. Bacon.

Growing up in South Africa, I didn't eat totally weird things. It was pretty normal. (Above: Me as a young bacon enthusiast)My dad, however, being the crazy artist/rocket scientist that he is came up with yet another crazy invention. Bacon Banana sandwich.
It's like a grilled cheese (sans cheese, of course) with smashed warm banana and perfect crispy bacon on it. It started my obsession of the sweet/salty combination that I find so fascinating. I am thoroughly amused, disgusted and excited about where bacon has been going as of late. Such a growing trend. Just call me hip, I guess. I digress...

So I got out my trusty recipe for Banana Bread. Made the batter. Cooked off a great pile of bacon, and crumbled it up. Put together the recipe, and made sure to have a nice bacon sprinkling with some brown sugar on top. WOAH. Toast it with some butter for breakfast, it's a complete balanced meal. Momma would be proud.

You can also make muffins this way too. It's cute. I made them for the kids at school today, and they were gone in 5.5 seconds.(All 60 of them).
OK, Here goes:

BANACON BREAD

Makes 2 loaves or 30 little muffins.(awww)

3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of salt
4 lrg eggs
2 1/3 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil (olive oil works fine as well)
3 cups coarsely mashed ripe bananas (talking BLACK. Like my soul.)
1/4 cup sour cream
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/3 cups walnuts (toasted and roughly chopped)
1 package (or more, whatever you want bro) good quality applewood smoked bacon.

*The first thing you want to do is cook off your bacon and crumble it. Set it aside for the epic end.

1. In an electric mixer, beat together the eggs and the sugar at a medium-high speed, until thick and pale and forms a ribbon when the beater is lifted. Aprx. 10 minutes.
2. While that is happening, measure out your dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt) into a bowl. Mix thoroughly with a whisk.
3. Once the eggs and sugar are at desired stage, reduce speed to low and add oil in a slow, steady stream. Then mix in bananas, sour cream, and vanilla.
   
4. Fold the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients bowl, incorporating the walnuts and most of the bacon, a little bit at a time. Don't over mix it. Don't under mix it. DON'T FUCK IT UP.
   
5. Spray your pans with non-stick coating (either the muffin tins or the bread loaf tins)
6. Divide the batter evenly. Try not to fill it passed the half way line, or it'll be overflowing. Save some of the bacon crumbles and put on top of the bread. Sprinkle a little brown sugar on top. Trust me, I know what I'm doing.
   
7. Bake in oven at 350 degrees. For muffins, usually takes 15-20 minutes. For full on bread, it will take up to an hour and sometimes more than that. Stick a toothpick or stick in the middle part of the bread. If some jizz it stuck to it, it ain't done. Put it back for another five, son.
   
   
   (NOM NOM NOM)
   

Volcano Muffins

PICTURE THIS:

Cornbread muffins with bacon, caramelized onions and apples, and a nice warm volcano of goat cheese in the middle.

(There they are, need better camera and better lighting...still learning)

This recipe will please kids and adults alike. Great accompaniment to a traditional bbq (think ribs, kale coleslaw, bbq beans, maybe some chili...oohhhh....yeeeaahhh)

RECIPE: makes 16-20 small-ish "muffs"

Cornbread Muffins:

1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup fine ground cornmeal
1/2 cup sugar (please don't substitute with your hippy agave nectar or sucanat. I'll punch you, seriously)
1 tblspn Baking Powder
3/4 tblspn salt
2 cups buttermilk
3/4 cup canola or vegetable oil
1 egg

-Combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, salt and baking powder in bowl and mix thoroughly with a whisk.

-Combine buttermilk, oil, and egg in a separate bowl and mix thoroughly with a whisk.

-Pour wet ingredients slowly into dry ingredients bowl, mixing at the same time. If you want to use an electric mixer, turn it on slow, however it is not necessary to use one unless you are complete pussy.
Batter should be smooth and completely integrated. Set aside.

Caramelized onions and apples:
I prefer to use a really tart apple such as Granny Smith, but if in season, Honeycrisp Apples are the BOMB.

1 red onion, small dice
2 Granny Smith apples, small dice

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a pan over medium-high heat and add onions and apples. Cook until "caramelized" (nice and brown, but not burned). Remove from pan and set aside.

Bacon:
Duh. Lay out 6 strips of bacon on a cookie tray or sheetpan and bake in oven for 4 minutes each side, or done to your liking. (if you're into burned bacon, you never know). Remove from over, set aside.
Once cooled, crumble bacon with your hands (sexy)

Add the bacon, apples, and onions to the raw batter and stir thoroughly.

Ok, now we need to construct these muffins.
-Butter your muffin pans or spray a good amount of cooking spray into each of the muffin holes.
-Scoop just a small amount of batter into each one, coming roughly a 1/3 way up the tin.
-Get out your goat cheese (an eight ounce log of Chevre should be perfect) and break off a piece about a quarter size, and place in each of the half-constructed muffins.
-Then scoop another small amount of the batter on top of the cheese, just covering it.
-Place in pre-heated oven at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes, or until golden brown and done.

You should eat these bad boys within 10 minutes of baking, or re-heat before re-enjoying.

*i've made these in several different incarnations, you can try jalapeno, corn and cheddar and bacon.
Chive, gruyer , and bacon.
Let your imagination go. it rules.