Make your own Praline Bacon

Often times the simplest of recipes are some of the most memorable. And although I believe Rachel Ray may hold the record for the most absurd laughable simple one-ingredient recipe of all time, this surely has to come a close second.

Invented by Elizabeth’s restaurant in New Orleans, this easy concoction marries the savoury, salty glory of bacon with the brown sugar sweetness of praline candy. So it’s essentially crispy, salty, sweet, carmelised and candied bacon. With pecans.

To make this, you’ll need a couple of strips of good ol’ American bacon. If you’re in Australia, you have to hunt down some kaiserfleisch or streaky bacon from your butcher/deli. The regular Aussie style bacon will not crisp up like you want it to.

Go ahead, get your meat candy on.

Praline Bacon

Ingredients

• 8 strips of bacon
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 3/4 cup chopped pecans
• 1/2 tsp chipotle powder

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 200c/400f, and place your bacon on a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper.
2. Place it in the oven and allow it to bake until it is about 75% cooked, will take about 20 mins. You’ll see the edges start to curl.
3. Remove from oven and sprinkle each strip with brown sugar, chipotle and pecans. Easier still, you can combine all ingredients to do this in one step instead of three.
4. Return to oven and bake for another 10 or so minutes. Time suggestions are never going to be as precise as just watching the bacon – you want to try to get it pretty dark and crispy, but definitely not burnt.
5. Remove from oven and allow to cool. It’ll firm up while it cools, so don’t worry if it still seems pliable when you take it out.
6. Let is cool enough to not burn your mouth off, and then go ahead and dive in! It’s best eaten warm, but its damn good at room temp too.