Mark's Holiday Bacon Leg

One of my friends put this photo up on Facebook on 4th of July and I don't remember the rest of what he said about his family (sorry, Mark!) because I was too busy worshipping the divine bacon.  I confess I don't eat a lot of meat but I could also never be a vegetarian simply because of the divine-ness of bacon.  A few years ago, I said that to a friend and he said "Let me let you in on a little secret: even vegetarians eat bacon."  It was a joke, so no outraged letters from vegetarians, please, but I completely understood what he was saying.  There is something about bacon that no matter how bad it is for me...I really really want it.  Maybe that's the reason why.  Nah, it's really the salty, savory goodness that makes my heart go pitter-pat (or stop so I don't eat it often)..  I really do try to eat good-for-me stuff most of the time but, then again, we're talking about bacon and bacon breaks all the rules.

Then Mark posted another pic of what was inside the basketweave bacon leg and if I had not been sold before, I certainly was then.  Tater tots.  And cheese.  'nuff said.

Well, one more thing to say:  Recipe, please!   Mark obliged.  Gene looked at the pictures, made sure he gave me the recipe, and said "Thank you, Mark!" 

Mark's Summer Holiday Bacon Leg

Recipe by Mark Seery

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs thick-cut bacon
• 4 Bratwurst, flavor of choice, removed from skin and sliced in half
• 1   20 oz bag Tater Tots
• Approx. 1 cup BBQ sauce, flavor of choice (leave in the bottle and guess so it will be easier to squeeze evenly over  top of tater tots--give or take a little on the amount doesn't matter)
• 2 cups shredded Cheddar or Cheddar/Jack mix

Directions: 

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees F.

1)  Lattice weave the bacon (approx 2 lbs) on parchment paper. (The short end should be approx. 9-10" wide. For instructions on how to lattice weave, see this video on how to lattice weave a pie crust. Same thing, no cherries.

2)  Layer bratwurst across bacon, spreading it out with a spatula as even as possible.

3)  Add a layer of tater tots.

4)  Drizzle the BBQ sauce on.

5)  Then add the layer of cheese.

To finish, starting one of the short ends, tightly roll up, tucking the sides in as you go.  Place it in the glass bread pan and bake at 375 for 2 hours. At the 1.5 hour mark, remove it from the oven and carefully flip it upside down in the bread pan so that the bottom would get crispy too.

Allow bacon leg to rest 30 minutes before slicing. Cut into approximately 1" slices. Serves 8-9.

Thanks again for sharing the recipe, Mark!