sprinklefingers

i’m so tired to two things:

1. people suggesting i add bacon to any of my baked goods. you know, because bacon is “everywhere” right now.
2. people suggesting i take part in the abomination that is cupcake wars. you know, because cupcake wars is “everywhere” right now.

i won’t put bacon in my baked goods. period. stop asking.

and i don’t need to be on cupcake wars. i didn’t start my life in food so i could participate in that kind of total crap. so, no cupcake wars for me. period. stop asking.

wow. did someone wake up on the wrong side of the bed this morning? did i start writing before i had enough coffee? actually, no. i’m just really sick of bacon and cupcake wars being the only two things people want to talk to me about. think up some new stuff, will ya?

speaking of bacon, i have no problem cooking with it. obviously. bacon brings so much delicious flavor to just about any recipe (it’s just that i’m not going to top a cupcake with it. so stop asking.)

anyways. bacon. i don’t know why i didn’t think to do this. (we’ve got the pastry queen to thank for it.) wrapping bacon around bundles of green beans is pretty much the best idea, ever. add a marinade of butter and garlic - and roast til perfect - and you’ve got yourself a true winner.

marinated & bacon-wrapped green beans
adapted from rebecca rather
serves 10 with enough for a vegetarian adaptation*, plus a few leftover bundles

note: there’s a bit of do-ahead to this recipe. you must prep the beans to the marinating stage at least a day in advance. the extra marinating time is worth it, trust me.

you need:

• 3 lbs green beans, washed and trimmed
• 8 oz unsalted butter
• 1 t dry mustard powder
• 1 T packed light brown sugar
• 3 cloves garlic, minced fine
• 1/2 t kosher salt
• 1/4 t freshly ground pepper
• dash or two of cayenne pepper
• 24 oz bacon

to make the bundles:

1. working in batches, blanch the beans in boiling water for 3 minutes. after 3 minutes, cool the beans down in an ice bath. repeat until all beans have been blanched and cooled down in the ice bath. (you can make an ice bath in a large mixing bowl - just fill with ice and water and plunk the beans down into it until cold. remove the beans with a spider or kitchen tongs.)
2. spread the beans out on clean kitchen towels to dry. to speed up the process, gently blot them with paper towels.
3. once the beans are dry, spread them out in a shallow ovenproof casserole dish or on a rimmed sheet tray.
4. melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat.
5. stir in the mustard powder, brown sugar, garlic, salt, pepper and cayenne pepper. let the mixture sit over medium heat, stirring all the while, until combined and fragrant.
6. pour the butter mixture over the beans, cover the casserole or sheet tray with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight at a minimum, two nights maximum.
7. preheat the oven to 375.
8. slice your bacon in half cross-wise so that you have double the amount of slices than you started with.
9. make a tight bundle with 9 beans. wrap half a piece of bacon (somewhat tightly, without tearing the bacon,) around the bundle and secure with a toothpick.
10. repeat until you’ve used all of your beans.
11. place the bundles in the same casserole or sheet tray that you used for marinating. 
12. roast for 45 minutes or until the bacon is completely cooked.

the bundles can be served warm or at room temperature and really are the ideal dinner party food. or any party food for that matter!

*vegetarians joining you for dinner? simply skip the part where the beans get wrapped in bacon! in a separate oven-safe dish simply pile in some marinated green beans and roast them along side their bacon-wrapped friends (you may need to reduce the roasting time by a few minutes.) if you don’t want your vegetarian beans sharing an oven with bacon, simply roast the non-meat beans before or after the meaty ones.