Bacon Wrapped Saltines

A while back I mentioned Larry Gaian's (of the BBQ Grail) experiment in wrapping bacon around saltine crackers. This is what happened when I did it.

Prep is easy. Wrap each cracker with half a strip of bacon. I used center cut but you can use whatever kind you like. The bacon won't go completely around the cracker so just be sure the ends are tucked in underneath. They'll stay in place when everything's cooked.

Then I sprinkled some of my favorite pork rub on top. I use Meathead's Memphis Dust Rub recipe. Here's a handy tip. I usually have a problem with brown sugar clumping when I try to mix the spices together. I put it all in a blender and give it a few pulses. This mixes it well and you end up with a finer rub. The better to get into the meat, I say. If you use coarse salt (kosher or sea salt -- and you should) just add it after you blend the other spices.

Then the crackers went on the hot grill, set up for indirect cooking. Larry Gaian cooked his for about 20 minutes. I kept an eye on mine and after about 12 minutes they were starting to get done. So I put some Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce on them and let them go for a few more minutes. After a total cook time of 15 minutes the bacon wrapped saltines were done.

How did they turn out? Just look at the pictures. These make great appetizers and don't take much effort to make.

Do try this at home.

Meatzapalooza 2012

This Memorial Day weekend we hosted what I called Meatzapalooza 2012. On the menu was some of what you expect, hamburgers and hot dogs, and some of what you don't expect, the infamous bacon explosion and a traditional low country boil. I think some veggies made a token appearance but, really, who cares? It's all about the meat.

I had a couple of other items planned but we got so busy I put them off. Don't worry, you'll read about them soon enough.

Speaking of busy, the only picture I got was of the smoker cooking the bacon explosion. Yes, that is the same smoker as the one in my blog header. I recently sanded and repainted it, and restained the wood handles and shelf slats. Looks pretty good, doesn't it?

I've written about how I made my first bacon explosion, so I won't go into the details again. I will say I used a bit too much Italian sausage (just a bit, really!) and the bacon weave wouldn't quite cover the sausage roll. So I had to slap some more slices of bacon over the gaps to make it complete. Think of it as bacon spackle. I assembled the bacon explosion several hours ahead of time. Everything had time to set up and so it all held together when I put it in the smoker. Besides, how bad can be it be if you have to add more bacon? To anything?

The low country boil was pretty basic. Baby red potatoes, corn, smoked sausage, and shrimp in a pot with Old Bay seasoning and Zatarian's Crab Boil. Basic, but great flavors.

Both the bacon explosion and the low country boil were hits this year. I bet they will be again next year.

Self Protection

I probably won't make too many political posts here, but I just want to say:

An armed society is a polite society.