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Bacon Takedown
Matt Timms' uber-popular traveling takedown returned to Brooklyn's The Bell House Sunday night and busted out the porkers, proving that indeed everything tastes better with bacon. Twenty-one intrepid home cooks presented their best recipes in a bid for two prizes: the People's Choice Award and the judges' pick. (Judges included Food & Wine's Kate Krader and Erica "Chef Smartypants" Wides from the Heritage Radio Network.) And boy did they have a task ahead of them.
The winner of the People's Choice was perhaps the most peculiar dish served up: Jenn Wanous' "BacoAvo," an avocado–and–goat cheese gelato served with candied bacon. (We swear it was delicious.) And No. 1 on the judges' list was a cafeteria throwback: Mike O'Neill and Kristine Schmidt's "School Lunch," a creamy and bacon-y tomato soup served with a cheesy crouton. Winners took home a truckload of Hormel's Black Label bacon (overload!), as well as Anolon cookware and Wusthof knives.
Other favorites were Cody Burke's bacon "Pigstickers" with spicy peanut sauce, and Becky Macgregor's "Love Bites"—a gooey bacon-and-almond-toffee treat. Surprisingly, most of dishes were sweet treats—we counted no less than fifteen sugary offerings. Now, please excuse us as we sleep this one off.
