20. LACQUERED BACON

serves four or more


1/3 cup mango chutney, any large chunks dropped
1/4 cup apple juice or 3 tablespoons water with 1 tablespoon light or dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons yellow or brown mustard
1 tablespoon white or cider vinegar
12 thick slices (about 1/3 pound) bacon

Preheat the oven to 375˚F. Stir the chutney, juice, mustard, and vinegar together in a small bowl. Arrange in the bacon in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake the bacon until it begins to look opaque and the fat begins to render, 10 to 12 minutes. Pour off any accumulated drippings. Turn over the bacon and brush about one half of the glaze on each slice. Return the bacon to the oven and cook for 3 to 4 minutes longer. Remove the bacon from the oven and turn it over again. Brush it with the remaining glaze and return it to the oven for 3 to 5 minutes, until well browned and firm. (With the glaze coating, the bacon gets chewy and crunchy but stays short of crisp.) If you want to drain the bacon, do it on a rack rather than on paper towels to avoid wiping off the glaze. Serve warm.


courtesy of: A Real American Breakfast by Cheryl Alters Jamison & Bill Jamison. New York: William Morrow (HarperCollins Publishers Inc., 10 East 53rd Street, NYC, 10022), 2002, p. 128