one of those weekends

As one of my favourite chefs likes to say...

There's a time and a place for everything, and it's called college.

Okay, I admit, Chef isn't really a chef. Nevertheless, his statement is relevant. My diet this weekend (which ran over into Monday) consisted of chips, queso, black & tans, puppy chow, white Russians, pizza, Jager bombs, cookie dough, B-52s, and wings. The only thing my binge-mates and I were missing was the hot tub of bacon.

You read that right.

Behold the beautiful product of a beloved cast iron pan, three pounds of bacon, and a case of insatiable munchies!

Two inches of sizzling grease in all its glory. A legend born of the best weekend in history this September. The trademark of our gatherings.

Not only is the hot tub epic, but it's actually a really effective cooking method for bacon. Just think about the idea of essentially deep-frying bacon. Mind blown.

So you wanna try this at home? (The correct answer is YES.) Grab a pan – preferably cast iron – and a lot of bacon. Fry up a few pieces. Remove and enjoy. Now the real key here – the absolutely crucial element of the hot tub – is simple: don't drain the grease between rounds of bacon. Just keep going. The more bacon the better. The hot tub is a process, and will take some time and patience. Consider the first couple rounds of bacon a sacrifice to something far more glorious. (Though I'm not sure one can truly consider the consumption of bacon a sacrifice. Really this is just an excuse to eat more bacon.)

A couple of tips:

·         Keep the heat at medium-low to medium. Too high and the bacon won't cook through well without getting too dark about the edges.

·         Ends & Pieces = perfect hot tub fodder. And, its being incredibly cheap, perfect for the college budget.

            

Here's to weekends.
Cheers!