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30 January 2008

FoodFilter I'm thinking about edging back toward a more vegetarian diet. Not "real" vegetarian, but vegetarian plus fish plus free range chicken.

Question: What non-red-meat food item might replace the yummy goodness of bacon in a BLT? Is there any way to get seitan crispy like bacon? Any other ideas?
post by: Claudia_SF at: 21:57 | 21 comments
The Morningstar Farms ersatz bacon product isn't bad if you hide it in something like a BLT. It's got the flavor, but the texture is a little crispy. More like a thick potato chip or a rice cracker than bacon.
posted by mudpuppie 30 January | 22:05
Oh, and I've never tried turkey bacon, but some people love it. Diestel makes a free-range turkey bacon. If you're going to be eating free-range chickens, might as well eat the turkeys too.
posted by mudpuppie 30 January | 22:09
turkey bacon isn't too bad. it can't get close to the real deal, but it can do a good mimic of the maple flavored stuff.
posted by kellydamnit 30 January | 22:36
Turkey bacon is like Morningstar Buffalo wings--it's okay, maybe even tasty, but the bad news is it's not very close to the thing it imitates. Taste-, as opposed to texture-, wise, I think that TVP/soy/seitan/liquid smoke/etc. bacon is closer.
posted by box 30 January | 22:37
Duck bacon. Mmmmm... duck bacon.
posted by ooga_booga 30 January | 22:37
Is there any way to get seitan crispy like bacon?

Maybe in a deep fryer, with breading.

I tried to pan-fry the stuff, back when I ate soyfoods, and was never happy with the results. No one would ever mistake the results of those kitchen experiments for bacon, that's for damn sure.
posted by jason's_planet 30 January | 22:38
I never knew there was such a thing as duck bacon.
posted by Claudia_SF 30 January | 22:41
Our corner restaurant here uses tempeh as a substitute for bacon in things like veggie BLTs.
I can't say I'm into trying it, as I'm a bacon person, but there you go.
posted by chococat 30 January | 22:43
Turkey bacon. If you bake it in the oven it crisps up nicely.

You can add some maple syrup if you require a maple flavor. I use turkey bacon whenever I have bacon. (I don't eat pork and I dislike the soy stuff.)
posted by fluffy battle kitten 30 January | 23:08
Oh, man, duck is so fatty and greasy. I bet it would make awesome goddamn bacon.
posted by box 30 January | 23:20
I grew up eating TLT (Tempeh, Lettuce, Tomato) sandwiches. They are really yummy. Now that I've started eating bacon, I know that a BLT isn't exactly the same, but there is something about the smoky taste that is somewhat reminiscent. Definitely not crispy like bacon, but I have a hard time keeping my bacon crispy in a BLT anyway.

My favourite way to prepare tempeh for a TLT is to slice it thinly, marinate it in a little soy sauce, and then saute it until it's nice and brown on both sides.

Just talking about it makes me hungry. Now I need to try and find some tempeh around here...
posted by mosessis 30 January | 23:45
Bacos. WikiAnswers says meat free.
posted by netbros 31 January | 00:07
Some friends of mine and I came up with the idea of making duck bacon one night as we were talking food. We thought we'd come up with the next big gourmet food item but our dreams of mallard megabucks were shattered after a simple google search. Still damn tasty, mind you.
posted by ooga_booga 31 January | 02:01
Mmmm, bacos ...

Ingredients: Defatted soy flour, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, water, salt, sugar, artificial and natural flavor, red 40 and other color added, soy sauce (water, wheat, soybeans, salt), hydrolyzed vegetable protein (corn, soy, wheat).
posted by Claudia_SF 31 January | 02:20
Alternatively, grill the bread with a covering of margerine and marmite until crispy (this usually results in *almost* burnt toast where the margerine covering gives way). This is the way to eat marmite, IMHO. Doesn't really go with tomato or lettuce, but spinach and egg is the bomb.

You could probably get something like the texture of bacon by frying folded tofu-skins (yuba) with bacon flavouring inside.
posted by asok 31 January | 04:52
What I would do is to eat sensibly for the most part, then, like monthly or whatever, splurge on a real BLT.

Once in awhile is not going to hurt any.
posted by danf 31 January | 10:45
I like tempeh in reubens but I swear by the Morningstar Farms fake bacon for BLTs or, really, almost anything. It has enough chemicals in it where it's probably worse for you than the real thing, but I started eating it in my vegetarian days and got addicted and it's too late to turn back now. I love the stuff.
posted by mygothlaundry 31 January | 10:49
I like turkey bacon for itself, because yeah, there's no mistaking it for the real stuff.
posted by deborah 31 January | 14:05
Um, yeah. *rolls eyes at self*
posted by deborah 31 January | 14:06
am i the only one who really loves fake bacon?!
posted by Mrs.Pants 31 January | 18:04
I'd steer well clear of veggie bacon - yuk.

Thought about trying crisped up, salted chicken skin? It won't taste like bacon, but it will be seriously good eating. You'd need to consume the sandwich right away though, or I imagine it would go soggy.
posted by bifter 01 February | 06:04
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