Recipe: Balsamic Strawberries with Crisp Cherrywood Smoked Bacon atop Vanilla Ice Cream

Balsamic macerated strawberries, crispy bacon, vanilla bean ice cream. The most unusual sundae that works in a purely magical way.

After meeting the team from Jones Dairy Farm back in February, I knew I wanted to work with them. For a variety of reasons. Because I loved their mission statement. Because their products contain no filler or unpronounceable ingredients. Because they are a family business. And, you know. Bacon.

Because c’mon on…

My first assignment for Jones Dairy Farm was to create a recipe with their bacon. Not just any bacon, mind you. Dry aged. Cherrywood smoked. Thick cut. Pretty much the bacon to end all bacon.

In the grand scheme of things, it’s not hard to create a bacon recipe. But I wanted to do some out-of-the-box thinking with this one. Create something completely different. A recipe you wouldn’t have thought of on your own.

And here we are.

Now besides the fact that this recipe features bacon, tomorrow is also the kick off of National Ice Cream Month. Yes, a full month to celebrate ice cream. And this recipe to celebrate bacon.

I mean, life can hardly get better.

This recipe is super simple, and took full advantage of the fresh strawberries we picked recently. You’ll get a subtle, rich tang after you marinate the chopped strawberries in balsamic vinegar, and the extra juice is perfect when lightly drizzled over your ice cream. Top it with the crispy chopped pieces of bacon, and well, it’s honestly just awesomeness in your mouth.

And the neighbors I force fed it to completely agree.

One more thing. I don’t cook the bacon in a pan. That’s so old school. I bake it in the oven. I’ve been doing it that way as long as I can remember and it’s the best way to cook bacon for three simple reasons:

1 – no splatter or mess on your stove top and also no babysitting

2 – by putting it on a wire rack set inside the cookie sheet (as pictured above), you allow the bacon to get perfectly crispy from all sides

3 – the bacon doesn’t cook in the grease, as it would in the pan, since it drips to the bottom. which makes it a tiny bit healthier. and that means you can have more. You’re welcome.

Celebrate summer. And National Ice Cream Month. And most of all, BACON, with this simple, but blow-your-mind recipe.

For even more Jones Dairy Farm goodness, be sure to grab a copy of their just-released cookbook. It was put together to celebrate their 125th year anniversary and features many bacon recipes, along with highlighting their other products as well. Everything from breakfast to dessert is yours for the making. Free to download.

Balsamic Strawberries with Crisp Cherrywood Smoked Bacon atop Vanilla Ice Cream
Recipe courtesy of Cate O’Malley

Four servings

Ingredients
6 slices Jones Dairy Farm cherrywood smoked bacon
2 cups strawberries
5 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
vanilla bean ice cream

Directions
1 – Preheat oven to 425. Put a wire rack on a cookie sheet and lay the bacon on the wire rack in a single layer. Bake in oven for 30 minutes, or until it reaches desired crispiness.
2 – While the bacon is cooking, rinse the strawberries, cut the tops off, and quarter them. Set aside.
3 – Put the balsamic vinegar in a bowl and add the sugar. Stir and let it sit until the sugar dissolves (about 10 minutes).
4 – Once the sugar has dissolved, add the strawberries to the balsamic vinegar mixture and toss to coat.
5 – Once the bacon is cooked, remove from oven, let cool slightly and chop into bite size pieces.
6 – Divide your ice cream into four sundae dishes, top with the strawberries, a little drizzle of the marinade, and the crispy bacon.

I was compensated to create this recipe through my work with Jones Dairy Farm. All opinions are my own.