The Pairing
The Grey Bastards by Jonathan French
The Reasoning
Having realized that this was a novel about a bunch of half-orcs who ride around on hogs, there was no way in HELL I wasn’t going to figure out a way to include candied bacon in this thing. And given the nature of the novel, bacon and bourbon seemed like the way to go.
The Cocktail
You will need:
- Small saucepan
- Small Frying Pan
- Whiskey Tumbler
- Food Processor/Blender
- Oven at 350F/175C
- Baking Sheet, covered with Aluminum Foil
- 2 Slices center cut/streaky smoked Bacon
- 4 oz Maple Syrup
- 1 tsp Dijon Mustard
- 3 dashes Black Walnut Bitters
- 2 Dashes Worcestershire Sauce
- 2 oz Bourbon
- 3-6 Ice Cubes
Take your frying pan and slices of bacon. Fry until crispy. In your small saucepan, pour 4 oz maple syrup and 1 tsp dijon mustard and stir. Add bacon strips, turn heat to medium and allow to simmer for approximately 10 minutes. Remove saucepan from heat, remove bacon strips, shake briefly and put on aluminum foil covered baking sheet. Put in oven for approximately 10 minutes (keep a close eye on this), flipping after 5 minutes. Set to one side.
Take your saucepan/maple syrup mustard mix and set to one side to cool. Once the bacon strips are cooled, put in the food processor/blender and pulse until broken up to roughly the size of breadcrumbs. Turn your tumbler upside down and coat the rim in the maple syrup/mustard mix, then the candied bacon. Fill the tumbler with ice, then add bourbon, black walnut bitters, worcestershire sauce and 1 tsp of the bacon infused maple syrup. use a spoon to mix thoroughly. This is best served in a floppy tankard, but if you don’t have one I guess a whiskey tumbler will do.
Live in the saddle. DIE ON THE HOG!
