Review: The Bacon Lover's Cookbook by Christina Dymock

The Bacon Lover’s Cookbook
by Christina Dymock [641.636 Dym] 

I’ll have to admit it — second only to smoked BBQ, there’s probably no food I enjoy the taste of more than a good, smoky, crisp piece of thick-cut bacon. When I saw this cookbook on the “new books” display, I couldn’t pass it up! Author Dymock has compiled a collection of 50 bacon-centered recipes, in the following categories: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Sides, and Sweets. But first, she starts with several pages in which she discusses the various ways in which bacon can be cook, from frying, broiling and baking, to microwaving and grilling.

Each and every recipe is accompanied by at least one photo, illustrating the cooking process or the finished dish. There’s a lot of really simple, obvious, recipes — things that duplicate popular restaurant offerings like “Egg McMuffins”. The recipes I found to be more interesting, though, were for dishes that seemed a little more…unique. “Applesauce Bacon Dippers” are batter coated bacon slices cooked like a pancake, and ready to be dipped in applesauce or maple syrup. “Bacon Bruschettas” look like a marvelous variation on the popular appetizer. “Giant Cobb Sandwich” reimagines the classic salad as it would appear between bread slices. “Bacon Loaf” is a twist on meatloaf, using ground turkey and turkey bacon. “Bacon Wrapped Shrimp” is a variation on the classic favorite. “Mom’s Baked Beans” is made far more baconier. But it is in the “sweets” category, that Dymock really caught my attention — “Bacon Candy”, “Just Bacon Cookies”, “Bacon and Caramel-Dipped Apples”, “Bacon Brownies”, “Easy Bacon Caramels”, “Bacon Trifle”. Honestly, she had me at “Bacon S’Mores”.

One other thing I enjoy about The Bacon Lover’s Cookbook is that the author scatters little chunks of bacon trivia and knowledge throughout the content, as “Bacon Bits”. I learned quite a bit about the history of this delicious dish just browsing these nuggets of info. I really appreciated the photos in this book. The only reason it doesn’t get a higher score is the limited scope of only 50 recipes. Otherwise, a fun culinary read.

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Bacon Nation: 125 Irresistible Recipes, by Peter Kaminsky, or Bacon 24/7: Recipes for Curing, Smoking and Eating, by Theresa Gillam.] [ Christina Dymock‘s Blog ]

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library

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