Abstract:

If you're throwing out your bacon grease after Sunday breakfast, you're doing yourself a disservice. About forty percent of bacon is fat, and if you think about it, it's just downright silly that you'd spend all that time rendering out most of what you bought just so you can toss it in the trash. Bacon wants to be sensible; after all, curing and smoking are simply means to keep our streaky friend from prematurely going bad. In a world of over-the-top bacon-themed recipes (and in the spirit of sensibility), I'd like to submit this recipe call to reason: Popcorn prepared in bacon grease dosed with real maple syrup and finished with hickory smoked salt. Nothing ridiculous here; just plain old-fashioned good snacking that'll fire on every one of your taste buds.

Purpose:

The bacon we get from locally procuring our hog is goo-OOO-ood! So good that I always make it a point to save that grease for a rainy day. On an afternoon that in hindsight seemed to be promising precipitation, I was craving popcorn but I wanted to season it with a little extra something special. Chalk it up to the tendencies of a southpaw, but I tend to zero in on one specific piece of inspiration and work bass-ackwards until I can see the big picture. On this occasion my muse was a bottle of smoked salt; a perfect pair to the rendered pork fat stockpiled in the fridge. Having the salty and savory sides of the equation, I figured it wouldn't hurt to add some sweet as well. Back from the pantry with a jug of maple syrup in hand, I was ready to make kettle corn. Maple bacon kettle corn.