Candied Bacon Goat Cheese Toasts W Honey Lavender Drizzle Food

CANDIED BACON

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
• Put bacon slices in a bowl, season them with pepper and toss with the brown sugar. Cover a baking sheet with parchment or foil and arrange the bacon in a single layer on top. Sprinkle any sugar left in the bowl over the bacon. Top with another layer of parchment or foil and top it, squarely, with another baking sheet. The baking sheet will flatten the bacon as it cooks.
• Place the tray in the center of the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Check the bacon by lifting the top tray and parchment. If it is not golden brown and fairly crispy, resist the temptation to turn up the oven temperature, and cook it for 10 to 15 minutes longer. Check it again. Keep in mind that when you remove the tray and transfer the bacon to a serving platter or individual plates, the bacon will "crisp" up a little more. Be patient!

GOAT CHEESE WITH HONEY

Steps:

• Drizzle half a tablespoon of honey over each round and sprinkle with some of the zest.
• Serve with toast, crackers, graham crackers, and/or cookies.

BACON WRAPPED GOAT CHEESE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°F.
• Freeze the goat cheese for five to ten minutes if too soft and gooey so you can roll it into 8 lumberjack-thumb sized logs.
• Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and roll in the chives.
• Wrap with bacon so that the whole log is covered.
• Place in an aluminum foil boat, or a shallow glass pan (i.e. a pie tin).
• Bake for ten minutes, or until the bacon is golden brown and the cheese bubbly.
• You can do these on the grill too if you have an aluminum grill pan. Or in a pan on the stove over medium heat turning occasionally so that it is evenly browned.

CANDIED BACON WITH GOAT CHEESE

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, combine the sugars with the pepper, mixing until well blended. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper or quick-release foil (regular foil works just as well) and spread the sugar mixture over the sheets. Press one strip of bacon at a time into the sugar mixture, then flip it over to coat the other side. Place the bacon strips side by side on the sugar as you finish, to form a single layer in the pan.
• Repeat with the remaining bacon on the other cookie sheet. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the cookie sheets in the oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the bacon is darkened and cooked through. Remove sheets from oven and let cool for 5 to 7 minutes.
• Once the bacon has cooled and hardened, cut the strips in half and top each with a dollop of goat cheese.