Putting On My Layer of Winter Blubber

You know that when a recipe calls for the cook to brown bacon in butter, it has to be good. And so it was earlier this week when I indulged my Teutonic whim and made Bohnen, Birnen und Speck, auf Hamburger Art which translates as Beans, Pears and Bacon, Hamburg Style.



The recipe called for a pound of bacon to go along with an equal amount of beans. I used Nueske's bacon. Unfortunately, I kind of did things on the fly and was unable to find a slab of bacon on short notice so I used the thick-sliced stuff and chopped it coarsely. This is, of course, a lot of tender porcine flesh, but, to make cardiac matters worse, the recipe directs one to retain all of the fat in the dish. This ensured a rich smoky flavor which one's arteries may not appreciate quite as much as the palate. Next time I'm going to put another pear in the pot. While it was delicious, I thought it could have used a bit more of the sweetness of the fruit to balance out the smokiness of the meat.