When you’re lucky enough to have a talented pastry chef as a friend, you have a plate like this sitting on your table during a party.
These are bacon caramels.
You read right. Bacon. Caramels.
Catch your breath and follow me to Not Without Salt, the food blog of Ashley Rodriguez, former pastry chef for Spago, mama to two of the sweetest little boys you will ever meet, and all-around good person. Also, she’s our friend. And, she makes bacon caramels.
Like all the people we seem to gravitate toward, Ashley has a deep, abiding love of food. As she writes in her About page: “I am always thinking about food. My husband is always so amazed at my ability to eat a huge meal and while wincing in the pains of indulgence I still manage to talk about what my next meal will include.” Well, that sounds familiar around here.
But more than that, Ashley has an abiding passion for the people who make our food: “As much as I enjoy that tasty product and the process in which it was created, my personal infatuation with food focuses on the aspects that go beyond satisfying a bodily hunger. I am completely and utterly obsessed with food because of its effect on the people who consume it, grow it, produce it, enjoy it, and live for it. Food is culture, it nourishes our bodies, it is passion, it is hard work, and for many it is their livelihood.”
Yes. Absolutely.
One look at Ashley’s recipe index should tell you: this woman knows how to create spectacular food. And a couple of weeks ago, she created bacon caramels for our pork party.
You know you want some.
All you need is sugar, brown sugar, corn syrup, butter, heavy cream, maple syrup, and bacon. (As Ashley wrote, “Bacon fried to a crisp. The amount is up to you. I used 8-12 strips of thick-cut bacon. I REALLY love bacon.”)
You need to read her piece about being an entrepeneur, gaze at the photos, and copy down the recipe. Bacon caramels could be yours, tonight.
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