Now, I did a little research on chicken fried bacon, and as best I can tell, it originated (along with any number of other fried sins) at the Texas State Fair a few years back.  There were quite a few ways to make it, and it seems that some people bread it, some people batter dip it, and there were recipes using flour, bread crumbs, and any number of things.  So I decided to go out on my own and do a simple double dredge.  I took some thick cut bacon, and cut it in half because I was afraid these big long strips might be hard to manage, and I am glad I did, because I do think they were easier to handle since I was pan frying.

I used a couple cups of flour that I flavored with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and cajun spices.  You can just do it to your taste.  Then in a bowl I had about 4 or 5 eggs that I beat thoroughly.  Then one strip at a time I lightly dredged them in the flour, dipped them in the egg wash, and then gave them another coating in the flour.  I put them in a pan of canola oil to fry.  I would give you a temperature, but I don’t have a thermometer so I just did the good old-fashioned flick a little flour in there and see if it boils thing to see if it was ready.  I put 3 or 4 pieces in at a time, and just let them hang out in there until they were golden brown on both sides.

I drained them on paper towel, and they were ready to go.  I have to admit that I had low expectations of the flavor, but it was GOOD.  Very good.  Served it with biscuits and gravy, and it was something that I would make again, but only after a few months of doing a good detox cleanse!  The accomplice even came up with the bacon and gravy sandwich on a biscuit.

The Rockin Rooster is a quaint home style restaurant where most of the patrons know each other. I even knew someone there, surprisingly.

My husband spied it the second he opened his menu……………Chicken Fried Bacon.  Yes.  We laughed about it and when we ordered (him) fried fish and (me) a hickory burger I had almost forgotten the plate of pork death.  Then, he yelled out to the waitress, ” and an order of chicken fried bacon.”

I could not begin to imagine what  this looks like.  When she brought it out I was shocked to see that it looked like long chicken strips. It came with a side of gravy, just in case we wanted to stare death in the eyes a little sooner.  Really though, it wasn’t that bad.  Not if you like greasy and crunchy drenched in gravy.  Rod gave it two thumbs up.  I’m making a cardiology appointment as we speak.

He said it would be great for breakfast.   Dream on.

Chicken fried bacon is one of those foods that you should probably eat only once in your life.  Like bungee jumping or knife juggling, you take a picture and talk about it for years to come, but it’s really only for the brave.

The fried fish was really good, as was the coleslaw.   I like my fish a little more brown but he doesn’t. This was perfect for him so he was happy.

I got the hamburger with hickory bbq sauce, bacon, and onion.  It was hand pressed and more than enough for two people.  Yikes!

We opted out of dessert.  They had everything from blackberry cobbler to fried oreos and fried twinkies.  Rod had taken in his limit of grease for the evening!

I tried to call Joy and tell her of the happenings at the Rocking Rooster but part of the charm of this place is that it is kind of far from things like cell towers.

To the left….

And to the left….

You may not be able to get any signal out here, but you can definitely get a good meal!

So I set out to make one that does.  I decided early on that this little project would have to include bacon, because let’s be serious, I use it in everything but dessert (stay tuned for me to figure that out one day).  Then I decided I was also going to stuff this dog.  This involved me actually putting some thought into this project, because how on earth was I going to stuff anything into a little hot dog weenie?  Well, I decided to use a beef sausage link because they are much bigger, but still pretty much taste like a hot dog.  Then I cut a little pocket into it.

After that I used some smoked provolone that I tore into little strips to stuff the hot dog with.  I used provolone #1 for the smokey flavor and #2 because it’s a firmer cheese that won’t melt super fast.  This would be a disaster with something like Velveeta.  Then I wrapped the hot dogs in bacon and used toothpicks to hold it in place.  I put them in the pan along with some chopped onions, and let the bacon do its thing.  And by do it’s thing, I mean make everything taste amazing!

The bacon didn’t get super crispy all the way around, and towards the end of the cooking process I took the toothpicks out so I could get it a little more brown all over.  Then when they were ready I put them on a whole wheat bun, covered them in hot dog chili, and then topped them with those onions that had been sweating it out in bacon fat.  Celebrate National Hot Dog Night on July 17th with your own delicious variation of this classic summer food!