HEART SMART BACON FAT MAYO

A few times a year I wake up with a certain kind of hangover that only bacon will cure.  I know all too well what it’s like to have to leave the house with gut rot and a pounding headache just to wait for a table at a mediocre brunch place filled with Lululemon wearing yoga Moms and their spawn.  For this reason and this reason alone I always have a pack of bacon in the freezer.  I’m not one to cook a few slices of bacon, I always cook the entire pack.  Somewhere in my mind I rationalize that if I eat a piece of bacon out of the pan it doesn’t count as actually eating it; same thing if there’s any left over on a plate on the counter and added bonus if congealed fat is starting to form.

OK so here’s what happened today.  I got up and had a serious case of the bacons.  I grabbed my pack out of the freezer and decided on a BLT because well,  I didn’t eat any vegetables yesterday.  In mid-fry I realized that I had no mayonnaise.  Not an issue, homemade mayo is way tastier anyway.  I had one egg in my fridge and plenty of oil and vinegar.  So I started whisking my mayo together while still tending to my bacon.  Eureka moment.  While whisking the oil into my mayo I glanced over at the pan of bacon sitting in its grease and the wheels started to turn.  Now if you look at the title of this post you must know where I’m going with this.  One of my favourite cookbooks is Fat by Jennifer McLagan in which she has a recipe for bacon fat mayonnaise.  But here’s where the heart smart part comes in.  Her bacon fat mayo uses 100% bacon fat while mine uses roughly 30% canola oil and only 70% bacon fat; practically good for you!  OK perhaps I’m kidding, the health benefits of my mayo over hers are negligible at best but either way I can’t tell you how delicious this was.  Definitely a once, or maybe twice a year kind of thing but next time you go to toss that bacon fat think again.

INGREDIENTS

1	Egg yolk
1 tsp	Dijon mustard
1 tbsp	Red wine vinegar
½  cup	Canola oil
¾ cup, roughly	Bacon fat, cooled slightly
1 pinch	Each, salt and pepper

METHOD

Fry bacon.  Remove to a plate and pour fat into a jug to cool for about 10 minutes.  Place a large mixing bowl on a wet cloth to prevent slipping.  In the bowl, whisk together egg yolk, mustard, vinegar, salt and pepper.  Add canola oil to bacon fat.  Start very slowly adding oil and bacon fat to the mixing bowl, constantly whisking.  Once half of the oil has incorporated add the rest a little faster.  The mayo will slowly thicken as more oil is incorporated.  Check seasoning and adjust with salt and pepper before serving.  This will keep for a day or two in the fridge but it’s best eaten right away as the bacon fat causes it to stiffen when cooled.  Slap this on a BLT  and serve with a Bloody Caesar and 2 Extra Strength Advil.  Now get your ass to work you drunk.