Bacon & Brie
Ingredients
- 8 slices thick cut bacon
- 4 slices crusty bread (about ½ inch thick)
- 4 tbsp blackberry preserves
- 1 jalapeño (diced small)
- 4 oz brie (rind removed and sliced)
- Arugula
Directions
- Bake the bacon at 425°F until cooked to desired doneness. About 12-17 minutes
- Strain on paper towels
- Warm a skillet over medium heat with 1½ tablespoons of the bacon drippings
- Spread 2 slices of the bread with 2 tablespoons of blackberry preserves each, sprinkle diced jalapeño, top with bacon, arugula, brie and then the second piece of bread
- Once the skillet is nice and hot add the sandwiches to the skillet
- Cook on each side until golden brown and the brie is melted. About 3 minutes
- Serve and enjoy!
Bacon and Brie is the perfect dish for brunch. Seriously. It’s so simple and so good! The bitterness from the arugula really balances the sweetness from the blackberry preserves and the saltiness from the bacon. My biggest suggestion for this is to get your bacon from the meat counter instead of packaged meat. Your butcher will usually have a good quality, thick-cut bacon that will cost the same as the packaged (or even be on sale!). If your butcher has Daily’s (based out of Missoula, MT), then you’ll be in for a real treat!
The first step is to cook the bacon all the way through. I do prefer my bacon pan fried, but it’s hard to argue with the simple cleanup and ability to cook more at once in the oven. Feel free to cook the bacon however you prefer, for this recipe, I use the oven. On special occasions, I’ll fire up the Traeger and cook the bacon outside! Once the bacon is done, reserve some of the drippings to use to cook the sandwich.
Spread 2 slices of the bread with blackberry preserves, sprinkle diced jalapeño, top with bacon, arugula, brie and then the second piece of bread. Cook until golden brown in bacon drippings over medium heat. If the brie isn’t melted all the way through, go ahead and place the sandwiches in the oven using some of the residual heat from cooking the bacon. I like to have fresh fruit or fried breakfast potatoes as a side.