Hold the Bacon

Appears in

Published 2019

About

I love bacon as much as the next person. In fact, I love bacon more. I freaking own a restaurant all about bacon. That said, even I need a break sometimes. These breaks are often fresh, bright, and acidic, and they help to cut through all of that delicious fat. While none of these recipes actually have bacon in them, they’re all great complements to bacon.

Some of my favorite things to make in the restaurant are pickles. Nobody thinks you can make your own, but once you get the hang of it, they’re stupid-easy. They take just a few minutes to put together and they really surprise you with that acid. I love a good bread and butter pickle on a sandwich, for example—the slight sweetness and juicy crispness play the perfect partner to the smoke and salt of an awesome piece of thick-cut bacon. Once you get the technique down for these Bread and Butter Pickles, you can move on to things like Pickled Fennel and pickled jalapeños and one of my favorites, Italian giardiniera. I promise they’ll up your sandwich game like crazy.