Baked Maple Fennel Bacon

We watch a lot of Food TV.  This is bad as we usually watch it late at night and thereby sabotage our eating the next day.  I am also a sucker for restaurant advertising.  And must eat at any restaurant that has me drooling the night before.

Recently I watched a Dinner At Tiffani's show where she made some baked bacon.  I have been thinking about making some baked bacon for my B&B guests and this was the final push I needed to finally do it.

Of course you can't make a recipe for B&B guests without trying it out on a guinea pig treasured friend.  It was actually pretty good and I intend to add it to the B&B meals, but my oven cooks unevenly, so the next time I make it I will rotate the pan halfway through to prevent some spots being fine and others being a bit underdone.  Bacon should be crispy.  Unless you live in England and then it is a soggy mess and should  be called warm ham, or something.

I made enough for two people, but you can multiply this recipe for whatever number you are serving.

Baked Maple Fennel Bacon

4 slices thick cut bacon
1 Tablespoon Maple syrup
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds
black pepper

 

Heat the over to 375°.  Line a baking sheet with foil.  This is a messy recipe to bake and you will not want to try to get the burnt sugar off your pan.  So don't skip this step.

 

Place an oven proof rack over the foil.

 

Mix the syrup and the brown sugar in a small bowl.

I couldn't find my mortar and pestle.  I only seem to find it when I am looking for something else.  I do have a coffee/spice grinder.  The last time I used it was for coffee, so I wiped it out carefully and used it to coarsely grind the fennel.  I used 1/2 teaspoon of seeds and had a lot leftover.  Fennel has a fairly strong flavor, so I only used about half of what I ground and so I suggested 1/4 teaspoon in the recipe above.  I was a bit worried about transferring some coffee flavor, but that didn't happen.  On the other hand I am now curious to try some maple COFFEE bacon using ground coffee beans. 

 

If anyone tries that, let me know if it is good!

You should leave the bacon in the refrigerator until you are ready to place it on the rack.  A chilly slice of bacon is easier to remove and place without stretching it all out of shape.  Use a rubber spatula to separate the slices without stretching them.  Place the strips on the rack without them touching.

 

Brush one side of the bacon with the maple mixture.  Turn the slices over and brush the remaining maple mixture over the bacon.  Sprinkle the crushed fennel sparingly on them  and grind some black pepper over the whole thing.

 

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes.  You might consider turning the baking sheet halfway through.  I know I will next time.

Remove from the heat and loosen the bacon from the rack.  If you don't, it will stick and you may break the pieces trying to remove them.

 

I served the bacon in a glass.  They were quite good and nicely complemented the goat cheese blueberry scones and chocolate dipped strawberries I made for our tea party. 

I had to have SOMETHING to serve if the bacon didn't turn out!