An unusual recipe for the New Year!
This recipe was just so unexpected that I had to post it.
It is courtesy of worldspice.com - who says:
So this may look like a weird combination, but it's really good. This recipe makes a dense, rich brownie. And to make sure that there is enough chocolate in the brownie, we used both cocoa powder and melted chocolate. The key is to make sure that you have crisp bacon. (And using some bacon fat doesn't hurt either.) Definitely not a low-calorie treat...
Bacon Whiskey Brownies
1/2 lb thick-sliced bacon
10 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
9 Tbl unsalted butter (1 stick + 1 Tbl)
4 Tbl bacon fat
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar (preferably dark)
3 Tbl whiskey (bourbon would be good, too)
4 large eggs
1 tsp Alderwood Smoked Salt (can use non-smoked salt, too)
1/4 cup Valrhona Cocoa Powder
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (pecans or hazelnuts would be good, too)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9-inch square baking pan with parchment paper, leaving an extra 2 inches hanging over on each side. (Doing this makes it easier to remove from the pan.) Spray the inside of the pan with pan spray. Set aside.
Cook the bacon until crisp. Drain on paper towels. Reserve 4 Tbl of the bacon fat for the batter. Chop bacon into small pieces.
Fill a small saucepan halfway with water. Place a heat-proof bowl on top of the saucepan. Put the butter, reserved bacon fat and chopped chocolate in the bowl and stir until melted. When melted, scrape into a large bowl and mix in both sugars. Add the whiskey, eggs and salt and mix until smooth. Finally, add the cocoa powder and flour and mix well. Fold in the chopped bacon and nuts.
Scrape batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 50 minutes. Transfer pan to a cooling rack and let cool completely. When cool, use the overhanging parchment paper to lift the brownies out of the pan.