Up until about a month and a half ago, Corey and I were vegetarians. For nearly five years, we dutifully substituted meat with their not-at-all-the-same soy counterparts. We embraced meatballs made of nuts, burgers made of mushrooms, and hot dogs made of... not entirely sure... Vegetarianism was easy for us and we were, for the most part, comfortable with our limited menu.
As a side note: You know people care about you when they recognize the extra preparation required to cook meatless and they still want to have you over for dinner. It's touching, really.
I'm not sure what it was that finally brought us back to meat or why now, but it was probably a mix of things. The creativity required to eat a balanced vegetarian diet had become tiresome and the reason I originally stopped eating meat was as blurry as my left eye. Something about factory farms or the rainforest or the quality of meat served in the "Bon" (the cafeteria at George Fox University).
Most people who come off of a vegetarian diet probably do so gradually and cautiously. But there are few things Corey and I go about cautiously. We're more of the dive-in-before-checking-for-
Our culinary considerations changed from questions like "Is this made with chicken broth?" to "Can we add bacon to that?"
And it was a variation of that question (asked to Siri) that brought me to this recipe during my holiday baking preparations. What would happen if I added bacon to chocolate chip cookies? Something magical, I assure you.
Maple Chocolate Chip Bacon Cookies
Recipe slightly altered from Shugary Sweets.
WARNING: This recipe may aid to the clogging of your arteries. Moderation is advised.
Ingredients (3 dozen)
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 3/4 cup light brown sugar
1/2 tsp kosher salt
2 eggs
1 tsp maple extract
2 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup semi-sweet morsels
4 thick slices bacon
Method
Lay 4 thick slices of bacon on a small baking sheet lined with foil. Top with 1/3 cup brown sugar. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes. Remove from pan and cool on piece of foil. Cut into small pieces when cooled and set aside for cookies.
In mixer, beat butter with brown sugar for 4 minutes. Add salt, eggs and maple extract. Slowly add in flour, baking soda and baking powder. Fold in bacon and chocolate chips.
Scoop onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 10-12 minutes. Allow to sit on pan 2 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool.
And that's all there is to it! I would recommend making them on the smaller side. They are so decedent that less is more.
Wasn't it one thoughtful man named Mark McCloud that led you to vegetarianism? (I don't think it's spelled that way). I do believe I hated his philosophy class and mostly drew pictures of people we sat next to, but I remember you being pretty convinced of his arguments. Something about souls and harming God's creatures? I don't remember.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, he didn't really do it for me because frankly I don't mind the killing of animals as long as it's ethically and for food, not sport. I don't know anything about souls, but his lecture impacted me somewhat as well. I mean, I think I ate meat for like 6 months or so after that class, but I eventually came to good ole Marky-Mark's basic conclusion, minus the souls, the watery eyes...side note: remember his bread? OMG. Anyway, now it's hard for me to imagine eating meat again. I tried to hunt last year--again, something I do not have a problem with, as long as it is for food--but I couldn't actually pull the trigger this time around. BECAUSE I'M A CHICKEN-LIVERED COMMIE NOW! Just kidding. But I was a little disappointed in myself. Minus 5 points of badassery.
But, anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, I've been thinking about this veg stuff lately because meat in Ecuador is often hanging by its neck, swarming with flies, and sold by the leg or ear or whatever in the markets. Of course, there are supermarkets that shield people from the reality of what it is they are consuming, but not like in the States. It's interesting. I think that if everyone had to see their meat in this form, there would be a lot more vegetarians. (But not here apparently. When I ask for something without meat they are like, "chicken?" "fish?" Still, way better than your Motherland...)
Maybe if everyone had to hunt and kill their meat their meat then? Other people eating meat doesn't bother me, but since I can't look an animal in the eyes and kill it (and subsequently drink its blood..er, I mean thank it for giving me its life?) then I don't feel right eating it. I also just really like to know where my food comes from in general. Doesn't mean I'll always make an ethical decision when I'm faced with a choice that involves supporting nasty corporations like Nestle--usually Edweena wins the argument--but the point I think is that everyone considers the food they are eating. That everyone understands what it is they are eating and what their money is supporting, etc. The point I'm making here, in some sort of roundabout way--because bacon cookies have me all pukey in my tum-tum--is that people should be more connected to the food they eat. Whatever that means for them. For me, it means still sometimes supporting Mansanto or Nestle, etc, but doing so knowing what I'm doing and having excessive liberal guilt about it. For others, maybe it's paying a little bit more to know that their meat is coming from people who treat their cows and their land better, etc.
Holy shnikes. I'm sorry bout the soapbox. Miss you, Twistin! Email me an update.