Elvis, James Dean, Marilyn Monroe and Wiley Publishings

Source: TCPalm (Original Article)

If you were to name some of the best food aromas you could think of, what would you pick: cookies baking in the oven or steaks grilling over an open fire? How about that magical scent of crispy, smoky, salty, sweet bacon, frying in the pan?

Bacon, is probably one of the tastiest and most maligned foods of all. If I were to choose a food that I know isn’t very good for me, but I want it anyway, it would probably be bacon. I’ve heard many other selective eaters say the same thing.

One of those, a knowledgeable eater and a wonderful cook, is my daughter in law, Reed. She works for a major publishing company, John Wiley & Sons, and this past Christmas, she gifted me with a marvelous cookbook just published by Wiley. When I opened it, I shrieked, for there on the colorful cover photograph of strips of bacon cooking in the pan, was the simple title, “The BACON Cookbook.”

Food writer, James Villas, not only provides 168 ways to savor bacon, he also gives an explanation of the many varieties, which come from America, Great Britain, Canada, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Hungary, Denmark, and China. I list them all so you can truly understand that bacon IS universal.

The very best thing about this cookbook, (other than the marvelous recipes and photographs), are these words: “If health concerns sometimes make you feel guilty about loving bacon…relax…yes, it’s high in sodium and fat, but if eaten in moderation or used as a flavoring agent…it is a guilt free indulgence.”

Villas also shares tidbits of bacon “trivia” such as the fact that during the U.S. westward expansion in the nineteenth century, settlers making the four-month trek from Missouri to California packed about twenty-five pounds of bacon per person!

He includes various bacon recipes, way beyond the proverbial breakfast items. In addition to soups, casseroles, main courses, vegetables, Low Rate Credit Card pastas and breads, believe it or …continue reading

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 9th, 2008 at 11:56 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.