Yesterday was a great holiday. No, not Labor Day…National Bacon Day! Over here at hoopLA, we took celebrating seriously and cooked up our version of the Bacon Explosion. Ours was gluten free and had the amazing addition of pulled pork.
To make this beautiful bacon goodness, grab your slow cooker, about 3 lbs of pork shoulder and a cup of chicken stock. Put the pork shoulder and the chicken stock in the cooker and let it slow cook for seven hours (check it here and there). You want it to be slightly under since you’ll be cooking it again later. At this time, also slice up two jalapeños and put that in a container with apple cider vinegar. Let those jalapeños marinate in there.
Once the pork is done, weave up a sheet of bacon (approximately two packages), then take five Italian sausages (we used spicy ones for an extra kick) and take the sausage meat out of the casing. This makes them gluten free. Spread the sausage over the bacon sheet. Take the pulled pork and pour a small amount of the apple cider vinegar over it. Spread this over the sausage. Now, roll it all up like an Italian pinwheel. We added a rub, which is optional. Our rub had hot paprika, J & D’s bacon salt, pepper, oregano, basil, garlic salt, and chili powder. Cook it for about two hours at 225 and when you get an internal temp of 165 degrees.
Needless to say, it was delicious, but be prepared to share. After one and a half slices, you will be full and ready for a nap. Hope you had a Happy National Bacon Day!
