Boulevardier Bacon

The Boulevardier is one of my favorite cocktails - it's really just a Negroni that replaces the gin with bourbon. The bourbon gives it a depth that makes it the perfect winter drink in my opinion.  The "offical recipe" is equal parts of Bourbon, Sweet Vermouth and Campari (which is a bitter orange liqueur). - I prefer to up the bourbon so I usually use this recipe:

• 2oz Bourbon
• 1oz Sweet Vermouth
• 1oz Bitter Liqueur (there's a ton out there - not just Campari)

I few months ago I was enjoying my version with some bacon for breakfast (morning cocktails - you can't beat it, trust me) and I had an epiphany...  Boulevardier Bacon.  I had made candied bacon in the past - usually just sprinkling some brown sugar (along with some other ingredients) over the bacon before cooking - what comes out is a sticky, sweet, salty, savory monstrosity that will ruin any diet in its path. But I wondered if I could combine the flavors of the cocktail, particularly the bitterness, and up the candied bacon game.

I let the idea marinate for a while - and then this morning decided to give it a whirl.

To make the syrup I added the following ingredients to a sauce pan, brought to a boil and and reduced.

3/4c Bourbon
3/8c Sweet Vermouth
3/8c Campari
4T brown sugar 
0.5 capful vanilla 
Zest & juice from one orange (well, cutie)

It took about 20 minutes for the liquid to reduce down to a syrup and I was left with just under a half cup to work with.

Moving to the bacon...  I only had thin sliced bacon - but think that think sliced would work much better for this...

I sprayed a cookie sheet with cooking oil as I didn't want the syrup to burn/stick to the pan and then laid out as much bacon as I could fit on the sheet. Then I took about half the syrup and brushed it over the top of the bacon and threw it into a cold oven - and set it for roast at 400 degrees. 

Now I didn't time it - I just kept my eyes on it...  when it started to look like it was getting close to done - I pulled the pan from the oven, flipped the slices, and applied the rest of the syrup.

*NOTE* keep the syrup warm while the bacon cooks - I didn't do this and by the time I was ready to apply the second half it had cooled and was VERY difficult to brush on.

Now that the bacon was coated on both sides - I tossed it back in the oven and let it cook for another 6-7 minutes.
When I was happy with the color / look of the bacon I transferred the bacon to wax paper - skip the paper towels as the bacon will stick to it and you'll be stuck with papery slices...  not good.

So how'd it come out?  Well, it was downright delicious but there are certainly a few things I'd change. The orange is definitely dominate but not overpowering. I'd probably cut back on the zest/juice by half or so. I'd also up the brown sugar (or perhaps add my tobacco Bitters) next time to get more of a bourbon flavor. Finally the vermouth isn't as strong as I'd like it to be so I'd look at adding more, a different brand, or just spices that are typically used in making vermouth. The best thing, and what I was originally shooting for, is that the bitterness is fairly slight in the beginning but comes in right at the end for a great finish.

Overall I'm thrilled with how it turned out and can't wait to try version 2!