Irish Bacon

I previously wrote about a trip I took to a new pork butcher in Phoenix called The Meat Shop. One of the unique things about this butcher is that they carry Irish bacon.

This form of bacon is not like traditional American bacon made from pork belly - instead it comes from the loin area of the pig. In Ireland and England, this bacon is most commonly fried for breakfast. But when a "rasher" of Irish bacon is cut thicker, it is then called a "Bacon Chop" which is best prepared as a lunch or dinner entree. The Meat Shop's Irish bacon was sliced thin, but I decided to prepare it for dinner with a friend the way you would prepare a Bacon Chop by brushing it with a honey and Irish whisky mixture and then covering it in a combination of flour and bread crumbs before frying it in oil in a frying pan. Once the breaded bacon has been cooked to a golden brown color - which only takes a couple minutes - you transfer it to a serving plate and drizzle it with more of the honey and whisky sauce which has been reduced over heat.

A popular way of serving the Bacon Chop is with a side of grilled banana slices. My attempt at making a breaded Irish Bacon Chop didn't work quite as well as it would have had the cut of meat been thicker, but the combination of flavors was all the same. The honey and whisky mixture with the salty pork is really what makes this meal so tasty.

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