Tipnique of the week, August 30, 2013

Hey everyone,
Last week's  Bobby Flay's shrimp and grits  was a bowlful of warm cheddary grits topped with a mixture of shrimp, onions and, (genius) bacon. I'd never had Shrimp and grits, and I've never heard of bacon being a part of that classic Southern combo, but I have heard of Bobby Flay, and I do love bacon. So that's the recipe we went with.
When a recipe calls for crumbled bacon, I usually take this short cut:

 Slice the raw bacon into strips about a half an inch wide. This is easier if the bacon is cold; if you have time, throw it in the freezer for 20 minutes- it'll be super easy to slice.
You can cook about half of the pound of bacon at a time this way:

The little bits magically separate as they cook, and for some reason, they cook faster and more evenly than  whole bacon strips. Scoop them out with a slotted spoon onto paper towels, and hey presto! Cooked crumbled bacon!