Maple Glazed Slab-Cut Bacon will make your guests swoon!

Bacon.
I really could just stop there, but there is always a story behind every recipe.

I was recently invited to the soft opening of Flemings Steakhouse & Wine Bar in Pasadena, part of a chain established 1998 by Paul Fleming and Bill Allen.

What really sets Flemings apart from the other steakhouses is the excellent service in addition to delicious food.

This beautiful location is a plus too. It features two outdoor patios, an open floor plan, main dining room, a spacious bar and customizable private dining rooms that can be combined to form space for large private events.

I am usually not a fan of chain restaurants so I went with some trepidation. But, the Pasadena Fleming’s changed my mind. The food was well crafted and absolutely delicious, and that staff! Oh, that staff! They were so attentive, friendly and well informed.

Each Fleming’s has a signature drink and in Pasadena, it is appropriately called the Pasadena Rose created by The Spirits in Motion, and Phil Willis. It is a fruity, yet serious gin-based cocktail, that is sprayed with rose water and topped with a caramelized orange and mini rose. It was a perfect start to our evening, followed by samples from the 100 wines by the glass.

There was something for everyone, with a wide selection of styles and price range, all organized into fun (and non-intimidating) categories:

• BUBBLY & FESTIVE
• FRAGRANT & FRUITY
• LIGHT & REFRESHING
• RICH & ELEGANT
• SMOOTH & FRUIT FORWARD
• EARTHY, COMPLEX, ROBUST & SPICY
• VELVETY & FULL-BODIED
• RICH & VOLUPTUOUS
• BIG & BOLD

For guests who aren’t sure which wine to order, Fleming’s has a custom iPad app that is intuitively designed to find the right wine to match your mood or your meal.

While we were enjoying our Round Pond Napa Valley Kith & Kin Cabernet from the Big & Bold category, one of our the appetizers was chunks of Maple Glazed Slab-Cut Bacon with pickled red onion. They were smoky, sweet and richly packed with bacon-y flavor. (I believe my husband ate the majority of them. Sorry everyone who didn’t get to sample this delicious treat.) I am so excited that Fleming’s graciously shared this mind-blowing recipe for us. (See below)

For dinner, I ordered the beautifully plated NEW WEDGE salad complete with slab-cut bacon, blistered tomatoes, crumbled gorgonzola, pickled red onion, toasted pepitas, and topped with a Danish blue cheese dressing salad. Oh Flemings, you understand bacon so well.

Fleming’s signature potatoes, their house specialty, are laden with cream, jalapeños, and cheddar cheese. I could have eaten the whole serving but remembered it was polite to share.

My husband and I both ordered the dry aged prime ribeye steak – USDA Prime and Certified Angus beef – aged a minimum of 21 days which was cooked to my idea of perfection, medium rare.

The Walnut Turtle Pie with house-made caramel, walnuts, and chocolate, all baked in a chocolate pie crust, was the perfect sweet ending to our evening.

Today’s Recipe: Maple Glazed Slab-Cut Bacon

I made today’s recipe with the thickest cut of bacon I could find at the store. It will happily swim in a sea of maple-bourbon gooey goodness.

I also used the Bourbon Maple Glaze to skewer bacon and Brussels sprouts. I blanched the Brussels sprouts before putting them on the skewer with bacon and poured the glaze over them. I cooked them right along with the bacon. My guests were in culinary heaven with both.

One of my guests said the next day, “I can’t stop thinking about that bacon dish, please don’t lose that recipe, as it was amazing.

Maple Glazed Slab-Cut Bacon

Recipe courtesy of Flemings Steakhouse & Wine Bar

Ingredients:

• 3 6-ounces slices of smoked, slab cut bacon
• 1 ounce pickled red onions (my recipe below)
• 1/8 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley
• 1 orange, segmented (how to segment an orange video)
• 1 cup pure maple syrup
• 1/4 cup Bourbon Jim Beam

Instructions:

1. For the Bourbon Maple Glaze, place syrup & bourbon in a container and mix well. Set aside.
2. Place bacon on a baking sheet and top with Bourbon Maple Glaze.
3. Bake at 400° for 5-6 minutes. Remove from baking sheet and plate bacon by crisscrossing two slices on the bottom and laying one over the top.
4. Drizzle remainder of the Bourbon Maple Glaze from baking sheet over the top of the plated bacon.
5. Place pickled onions on the top of bacon and sprinkle with parsley. Garnish with oranges.

Note: If your bacon hasn’t browned enough, turn the broiler on and cook a few minutes more, until the edges are blackened.

Quick Pickled Onions

Makes about 1/2 cup

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 small clove of garlic, halved
• 1 red onion about 5 oz., thinly sliced

Instructions

1. Whisk first 3 ingredients and 1 cup water in a small bowl until sugar and salt dissolve.
2. Place onion in a jar; pour vinegar mixture over. Let sit at room temperature for 1 hour.

DO AHEAD: Can be made 2 weeks ahead. Cover and chill. Drain onions before using.

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Thank you, Flemings for a picture-perfect evening.

We enjoyed the beautiful setting, great food, fabulous service and meeting new friends.

If you have a Flemings in your city, I highly recommend checking it out. If you are in LA here is the Pasadena address.

Flemings Steakhouse & Wine Bar
179 E. Colorado Blvd, Pasadena, CA 91105
626-639-0490
www.flemingssteakhouse.com

And if you love bacon, this will become your new favorite spot.
…and then, she paused for thought.

Disclosure: This is not a sponsored post. I was invited to a media event at Flemings Steakhouse and Wine Bar in Pasadena for dinner. All opinions are my own.

Yum