Apricocity (Farm To Consumer Legal Defense Fund Baconpalooza Entry)

Back in July, our friends Matt and Stacy of Paleo Parents released their second book, Beyond Bacon.  I was at work the evening of the book release, but Heather attended in my absence and had a fantastic time.  Among the guests were George from Civilized Caveman, Sarah from The Paleo Mom, and Russ from The Domestic Man.  It was Russ who introduced us to Kathy, from the Farm to Consumer Legal Defense Fund.  The FTCLDF is a fantastic non-profit that provides support and council to real food farmers, and I encourage you to check out their website and consider joining to support the cause.  Long story short, they were hosting an event in August coined Baconpalooza. I was hooked at the name, and was even more intrigued to cook for hundreds of people using real food ingredients and raise money for a good cause.  Oh, and Robb Wolf was a guest and presenter, which made my fanboy alarm go off as well.

We also were lucky to be sponsored by Polyface Farm.  In case you haven’t heard of the Salatin family, they are what I would call a sustainable farming dynasty.  Joel Salatin has written many books on how to run a sustainable farm, and has given talks all over, including cool, forward-thinking places like Google.  We were introduced to Daniel Salatin, and he was gracious enough to supply us with the bacon to feed all these great people.  If you live in the DC area, you need to check out their products.  They have local deliveries all over, and you won’t be disappointed with your order.

The event was incredible fun, and we were so glad to be involved.  We met a lot of new friends, and hope some of them have found their way here to get the recipe we cooked that day.  Russ won the show (no big surprise there), but there were many great chefs involved.  You can view the full list here.  A lot of them also have blogs, so you’d be remiss not to go check it out.

We had to cut down the recipe from serving a couple hundred to serving a household, so this is an estimate as an appetizer for 4-5 people.  Feel free to double, triple, quadruple… because, bacon.

Ingredients
Apricocities
10 strips of bacon, cut in half
10 dried apricots
1 can whole water chestnuts (number per tin varies, so plan accordingly)

Marinade
1/2 C coconut aminos
4 Tbsp roasted minced garlic
1-2 tsp grated lemongrass

Method

Prepare the bacon by slicing in half.

Wrap a water chestnut and apricot with bacon, and pin together with a toothpick.

We purchased minced garlic from Costco, and just roasted that in a pan for 20 minutes at 350ºF, but you can mince and roast your own garlic.

Create marinade by combining aminos, garlic, and grated lemongrass.  Toss apricocities with marinade, and let sit at least 10 minutes, but up to 2 hours.

Bake in the oven at 350ºF for 20-25 minutes.  This does not result in crunchy bacon, so if you prefer your bacon crisp, try putting these under the broiler after 20 minutes for 1-2 minutes per side to crisp up.  Either way, you’re going to enjoy this appetizer.  Crunchy, sweet, savory, and bacon-y.  It wasn’t the winner of the day, but I think you’ll enjoy it all the same.