Bacon Recipes for Game Day

I hear there's some big sportsball game on Sunday? Well, I don't really get into the whole sportsball thing... but I do get into cooking up good eats for my friends that do enjoy that sort of thing!

So, of course, I will post my favorite bacon recipes for game day nomming right here for everyone.

Today I will feature three delectable dishes. We'll have your appetizer, your entree and your dessert. The appetizer is a yummy bacon vegetable dip that goes great with chips OR vegetables. The main course is what I like to call hogs in a blanket. You know what pigs in a blanket are? Like that, but bigger and with bacon. For dessert we'll be having maple french toast and bacon cupcakes. This is not MY recipe, I got it from foodnetwork.com, but it sounds delicious and I'm going to try it soon.

Let's get started.

 
BACON VEGETABLE DIP
  • 1 16oz sour cream
  • 1 envelope Knorr vegetable soup mix (Do not substitute this! Knorr is the BEST for dips.)
  • 4 strips of crispy cooked bacon - crumbled
  • Veggies or chips to serve with the dip

This is very easy to make but oh so tasty!
  1. Get a plastic or glass bowl with a lid that will hold 16oz of sour cream
  2. Scoop in 1/2 of the sour cream
  3. Dump in the package of soup mix
  4. Add about a tablespoon of water to facilitate easier stirring
  5. Stir it up, making sure you get all the sour cream from the bottom
  6. Once it's blended a bit, add the rest of the sour cream and stir well
  7. Okay, time for the bacon! Stir in those crumbles. Make sure the bacon is cooked so all the fat is crispy - if you put non-crispy bacon in this it will turn rubbery and icky as the dip sets. The bacon should also be crumbled very finely so the delicious bacon flavor can spread evenly throughout the dip.
  8. Stir and stir and stir and stir until it's all blended as evenly as possible
  9. Now you need to be patient and let it sit. Making this the night before you want to eat it is the best, but as long as you give it about three hours for the vegetables to rehydrate, you should be okay. Longer is better.
  10. Give it another good stir before serving and jump on in with your chips and veggies!

After you've warmed up your eating muscles with the dip, you'll need to eat something more substantial. Hogs in a blanket are a good choice! This recipe makes 8 of these bad boys, but you can double/triple the recipe to make more if you need it.

HOGS IN A BLANKET
  • 1 package (8) hot dogs
  • 2 tubes (8 count) crescent roll dough
  • 8 slices of bacon
  • 8 hot dog length/width slices of cheese
  1. Slice your hot dogs lengthwise about 3/4 the way through, so they open like a book
  2. Shove in one slice of cheese and one slice of bacon and close it up as well as you can.
  3. Unroll your crescent dough and break off the pieces in groups of two
  4. Pinch the seams of the two doughs together to make one big dough.
  5. Carefully roll the hot dog in the dough, pulling gently where necessary to make it fit. You want to kind of squeeze the hot dog tight while you roll it up to make sure the bacon and cheese stay in there. Depending on the size of your hot dog/dough you can enclose the whole dog in the dough or leave the little hot dog ends peeking out. If you enclose it, you will have less juice & cheese leakage, but it looks cuter with the ends showing.
  6. Carefully pinch the dough to seal it on to the hot dog.
  7. Place your wrapped up hot dogs on a foil lined cookie sheet and cook according to the directions on the crescent roll package.
They will be HOT when they come out of the oven, so be careful biting into them!

NOTES: 
I've made these with the bratwurst that comes in the same size as hot dogs and smoked gouda and they were delicious!
The harder the cheese you use, the less it will drip. For example, that smoked gouda barely dripped at all, but american cheese leaked a bit more.


Photograph by Kate Sears
for Food Network

So you've started in on the serious eating now, right?  Well, after the delicious hogs in a blanket, you will totally need a cupcake. Totally.

Here is the recipe featured at foodnetwork.com to finish off your bacon bowl feast!

MAPLE FRENCH TOAST AND BACON CUPCAKES
(Recipe Courtesy Kara Scow for Food Network Magazine)

Ingredients
For the Cupcakes:
* 1 cup all-purpose flour
* 1 cup cake flour
* 1 3.9-ounce box instant vanilla pudding mix
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1 tablespoon potato starch
* 1 teaspoon cinnamon
* 1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
* 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
* 1/4 cup granulated sugar
* 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
* 4 large egg whites, at room temperature
* 1/4 cup maple syrup
* 1/2 cup half-and-half, at room temperature
* 1/2 cup chopped cooked bacon (5 strips)

For the Frosting:
* 1 8-ounce package cream cheese, at room temperature
* 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
* 2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
* 1/4 cup maple syrup
* 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
* 3 strips bacon, cooked and chopped (optional)


Directions
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Place paper liners in a 12-cup muffin tin. Prepare the cupcakes: Combine the flours, pudding mix, baking powder, potato starch, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in a bowl with a whisk.

In a separate bowl, cream the butter and sugars with a mixer on low speed until combined, 6 to 8 minutes. Gradually mix in the vanilla and egg whites. Scrape down the sides of the bowl; continue mixing until light and fluffy. Add the flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with the maple syrup and half-and-half, mixing after each addition and ending with flour. Mix until the ingredients are just combined; do not overmix. Fold in the bacon.

Pour the batter into the prepared muffin tin, filling each cup about three-quarters of the way. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Cool completely.

Meanwhile, prepare the frosting: Beat the cream cheese and butter with a mixer on medium speed until creamy. Add the confectioners' sugar, maple syrup and cinnamon; beat until combined. Spread on the cooled cupcakes; top with chopped bacon, if desired.

SOURCE


Well, there you have it - a nice selection of recipes for your big sportsball game.
Go team whoever you root for!

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