So the Bacon Explosion has become a Super Bowl staple in our house, and each year we've updated it a bit (seen here and here). This year, I think we really outdid ourselves. Jamie got me a sausage maker, so we actually made our own sausage for it (totally unnecessary, you can use regular sausage, but it was great). We also smoked it for a few minutes which gave a great smoky flavor. Yum! For our sausage, we used a mix of pork shoulder, green apple, leek, garlic, chipotle, jarlsburg cheese, and a little maple syrup. It's a real crowd pleaser.
Ingredients:
2 packages regular bacon
1 package thick cut bacon
3 lb sausage
1/4 cup spice rub (I use a mix of brown sugar, chipotle, oregano, cumin, thyme, salt, and pepper, usually)
1/4 cup diced Jarlsburg or other melty cheese
big handful of grape tomatoes, cut up
big handful arugula
1/2 onion, diced, and 2 clove garlic, minced, sauted (saute the onion until soft then add the garlic for 1 minute)
BBQ sauce
toothpicks
If you're smoking it, 2 tbsp hickory chips soaked in water for a few minutes
Directions:
Create a square bacon weave, about 6 pieces by 6 pieces, on a large piece of tinfoil on a baking sheet.
