For every package of bacon you are going to use:

• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp cinnamon (optional)

For my Coconut Curry Bacon Candy:

• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 Tbs curry powder
• 2 Tbs dried shredded coconut

Other fun additions are 1 Tbs Chinese Five Spice or 1 Tbs Pumpkin Pie Spice. You can also try using different dried peppers. Have with it and let me know if you have an questions.

Peace, love and bacon candy!

The Bacon Vixen

I’ve been making candied bacon for years now, (that’s actually why I started The Sticky Pig), and wanted to see if I could have a go at making bacon candy hearts myself. And holy-bacon-sugar-delicousness-moly did they come out well!

If you are interested in having these bacon treats at your wedding or party as favors or part of your dessert table, please send me an email at thebaconvixen@thestickypig.com or call 949/864.6477 for more info. The colors and chocolate can be customized to fit your theme and can be individually wrapped, as well.

Your event will definitely be unforgettable!

You can also follow me on Pintrest by clicking here.

BACON CANDY

It’s one thing to adore bacon, as former members of the Bacon of the Month Club, we get it. It’s another to call yourself the Bacon Vixen and dedicate years to perfecting handmade gourmet bacon candies. Meet Tara Simon of Costa Mesa, part-Pilates instructor, part bacon candy artist who founded The Sticky Pig candy bacon confections that will seduce any bacon lover. The next time you’re considering the perfect hostess gift, party favor, or just a box of treats for the bacon aficianado in your life, you’ll know where to turn. The Sticky Pig’s latest original bacon candy collection includes dark chocolate, milks and white chocolate candies such as the Rogue with buttery caramel, fleur de sel and toffee; Jane, with spicy peanut butter and caramelized banana and the Lakshmi with sweet curry, coconut and Kafir lime leaf. And each month, The Sticky Pig introduces a new specialty flavor, for March it’s the Boudicca, with pistachio, Irish cream and candied mint.

The confections are sold exclusively online in boxed sets of 4 pieces for $20 to 12-pieces for $34.99 and 24-pieces for $69.99. You can also customize your order to be nut-free, dairy-free or add a personalized note. The true bacon candy addict, can have candied bacon delivered monthly with a candied bacon subscriptions.

To order, go to http://shop.thestickypig.com/, or call 949.864.6477

Forget about giving your lover boring roses and chocolate-dipped strawberries this Valentine’s Day, give them something much more sinful and unforgettable…The Sticky Pig!

I started by pan frying three pieces of bacon as I chopped the pepper and zucchini. When the bacon was half way done and the fat was rendered I pushed the bacon aside and started to saute the veggies. Once the bacon was crispy I pulled it from the pan and added my tomatoes and cooked them for about one minute. I then cracked two eggs into the pan and scrambled everything together. At the very end I added my spinach and cooked for about 30 seconds, or until wilted. Once plated I added my diced avocado (about 1/4 cup) and finished it with my chopped or hand-torn crispy bacon. I did not add any salt or pepper, but you can adjust the seasonings to your liking. I sometimes add a Spanish Pinchito spice, which is like a Spanish curry – it has cumin, saffron, paprika and loads of other spices. A dash of curry seasoning would probably be killer as well, or some cayenne and sea salt would do the trick just fine. Enjoy this healthy paleo breakfast my bacon lovers!

And these words of wisdom from my koala mug…

OK, some of you might be thinking: avocado and ice cream sounds a bit weird. It’s not. Let me break it down for you. If you know the taste and texture of an avocado then you’d describe it as having a slight nutty flavor, nothing too overpowering, and a creamy and smooth texture, thanks to it’s good fats – the perfect addition to an ice cream, really!  The bacon does its job of rounding out the flavors by adding a salty, smokey and crunchiness.

So stop sticking up your nose and give this recipe a try. And if you were sold by the words bacon + avocado + ice cream like me, then you rock!

Makes about 1.5 quarts.

Avocado Bacon Ice Cream Recipe:

• 10 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled
• 4 cups heavy cream
• 1 cup sugar, divided
• 1.5 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 whole eggs
• 1 egg yolk
• 3 ripe avocados, peeled and pitted
• 1/8 cup fresh lime juice

Cook your bacon and crumble it and set aside.

Combine milk, 3/4 cup sugar and vanilla in medium saucepan. Cook and stir over medium-high heat just until milk begins to boil; remove from heat.

Combine remaining 1/4 cup sugar, whole eggs and egg yolk in large bowl. Beat mixture until combined. Continue whisking mixture while very slowly pouring in 1 cup hot milk mixture.

Slowly pour egg mixture into saucepan and cook over medium heat and whisk slowly until it coats the back of a spatula or spoon. Do not boil.

Pour custard mixture through fine-meshed sieve into medium bowl set in ice water.

Combine avocados and lime juice in medium bowl and blend until smooth in a blender. Stir into custard mixture.

Cover and refrigerate until cold then put  in your ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer’s directions. When your ice cream is just about to be done add the bacon bits.

The very gracious Russ Bendel, who is a wine connoisseur and operating partner,  paired some of our bacon treats and here’s what he came up with:

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel: Dows 1985 Porto
Coffee ‘n Cream: Hall Cabernet
Coconut Curry and Lime: Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc
Orange Ginger: Dolce, late harvest dessert wine
The Elvis (Peanut Butter and Banana): Black Jack Ranch Merlot
S’mores: Seghesio, Old Vine Zinfandel
Carmel Apple Pecan: Rombauer Chardonnay
Rosemary Salted Caramel: Piper Heidseck Sparkling
Apricot Maple Sriracha: Loosen Brothers Reisling
Raspberry Jelly Doughnut: Cambria Pinot Noir

If you’ve tasted some of The Sticky Pig’s candied bacon confections and have a pairing of your own, please feel free to comment below. I’d love to hear from you!

xo,

The Bacon Vixen

Tara backs her brand…

With a nickname like the Bacon Vixen, you know whatever Tara Simon brings to the table is fabulously gluttonous. She’s the driving force behind her confection brand, The Sticky Pig. It’s all handmade, utilizing an entire strip of candied bacon to wrap in a bite-sized rush of umami. Consider The Elvis: peanut butter, fresh banana, a hint of lemon and honey; then topped with savory peanut butter icing and organic banana chip crunches. Um, yeah. One might think the confections would possess an overpowering piggy flavor, but that’s not the case. She’s found balance, walking the line between being cloyingly sugary and intensely meaty.

Tara originates from Philly, heading West to Southern California nine years ago…

…for a boy. Unfortunately for her, he wasn’t nearly the foodie she was, and they parted ways not too long after. With an art degree under her belt, Tara found steady work as both a graphic designer and pilates instructor. One day, her boss brought in some candied bacon for the troops, and that was the game changer for our vixen.

She started toying with the idea of more complex flavors, and found curry to be a sinful combination. It evolved into her dairy and nut-free delight Coconut Curry Lime. After a few more successful mash-ups, like S’mores, Tara founded The Sticky Pig in November 2009.

Our Bacon Vixen did not attend culinary school, citing PBS as her self-taught cooking institution, and classics such as Martin Yan’s Yan Can Cook and Jeff Smith’s The Frugal Gourmet as professors. Her current residence is Costa Mesa, but the bacon-tastic magic happens in various private kitchens around Orange County, including a restaurant at The District in Tustin.

The labor-intensive process begins with bulk bacon, and although a specific brand was never mentioned, she states matter-of-factly, “I tried every brand: Nieman Ranch, Farmer John, etc. Nitrate-free bacon didn’t work and cost too much.”

While Elvis is one of her top sellers, Coffee ‘n Cream and (her favorite) Raspberry Jelly Doughnut also share the spotlight. The ‘jelly’ in the doughnut is made up of fresh raspberries, dates and crunchy raw almonds; then it’s finished with a dusting of powdered sugar. These three flavors make up half of her always available Signature Six, the others being Chocolate Peppermint, Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel, and the previously mentioned Coconut Curry Lime. Due to the freshness of Tara’s ingredients, orders are perishable and can be refrigerated for up to a week. If you’re wondering what to serve these alongside, “They can pair with so many things,” she remarks. She’s currently updating The Sticky Pig site to reflect the possibilities, including wine pairings.

“I’m working on something BIG, but I can’t tell you just yet,” she says. What can she dish? There’s the Maple Cinnamon Whiskey Candied Bacon ice cream. Yum! Also forthcoming are possible bacon caramels, macarons, and candied rose petals. She would love to do a bacon-centric gourmet food truck someday, but one thing she won’t venture into: cupcakes. With her chocolate-hued boxes, Tara’s goal is for The Sticky Pig to be known as the “Tiffany of bacon candies.”

The Sticky Pig is available exclusively online at www.thestickypig.com.

Coconut Curry Lime was one of my very first flavor combos and one of only two flavors to not have a filling for two reasons: 1. I liked it the way it was and 2. I couldn’t think of what I wanted to fill it with…until now! A homemade sweet, curried coconut macaroon, much like a “Mounds” bar (only better!), is filling up the space between our curried candied bacon. If you’re a coconut lover like me you’ll definitely want to try out my Coconut Curry Lime redux.

And on another sweet note, I’ve been OBSESSED lately with a different kind of “macaron”…the French kind. Pronounced and spelled differently and made with entirely different ingredients; the French macarons are a light and airy French cookie where the possibilities of flavors are endless. I made a “Snickers” one the other night and “Oh Ehm Gee” they were to die for! Chocolate macaron filled with a milk chocolate ganache, peanut butter and marshmallow nougat, dulce de leche and chopped peanuts. I’m going to try out an Elvis one this weekend, with bacon of course! I will report back and let you know how those turned out. You may even start seeing them on the website…

Peace, love and candied bacon,

The Bacon Vixen xo

Today may or may not be the actual birth of the ice cream sundae and the origins of where and who stakes claim to this delicious creation is still up in the air, but who cares? Let’s celebrate regardless with a simple vanilla sundae with bacon!

For the ice cream:

• 1 package of bacon
• 2 cups half-and-half
• 1 cup whipping cream
• 1 cup minus 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 vanilla bean, split and scraped OR 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Start by chopping the bacon into small cubes and frying until crispy.

Combine the half-and half, whipping cream, sugar and vanilla bean or extract in a large saucepan over medium heat and bring the mixture to 170 degrees F using a candy thermometer. Remove the vanilla bean and pour the mixture into a container, cover and refrigerate overnight.

Freeze mixture in your ice cream maker until about double it’s volume and add bacon bits. Pour back into container, cover and let harden in the freezer for one hour.

Then go to town by adding your favorite toppings: hot fudge, whipped cream, nuts, fresh fruit or fruit preserves and don’t forget the cherry on top!

Enjoy!

XOXO,

The Bacon Vixen