Bacon Takedown at the Bell House

October 17^th, a lazy late Sunday afternoon, I got my ticket ready and headed out the door with Hungry Boy. We’ve joined the other couple of dozen people here for one purpose — the second annual Bacon Takedown in Brooklyn!
Upon arrival, the place had a good amount of people. Once we’ve gotten on line the place was packed with bacon chompin’ lovers left and right. There were twenty-​one contestants, whom we’ve got to tried their homemade creations where bacon was the subject. There were both sweet and savory types of bacon-​related samples to try.
Here’s the rundown of the contestants with their bacon recipes:
Jenn Wanous — Baco-​avo Goat-​lato
Jill Strominger — Pig Sty Pie
Michael Stewart & Charlie Mirisola — Black Magic Bars
Miranda Magagnini — Maccherochini Al Fume
Emily Hanhan — Elvis Making Whoopie Pies
Ben Mims — Devil’s on Horseback Cake
Anne Lind & Julia Smith — American Splendor
Janine Logelfo & Bill Gagliardi — BBQ Bacon Loaded Meat Balls
Becky MacGregor — Becky’s Love Bites
Robert & Johana Fernandez — Lucky’s Wild Rice Krispies
Tony Santoro — Candied Pigs in A Fig
Cody Burke — Bacon Pot Stickers with Spicy Peanut Sauce
Mike O’Neill & Kristine Schmidt — School Lunch
Clay Ezell & Vadis Turner — Whiskey-​Bacon Bread Pudding
Alyson Mance & Rita Sallis –Almond-​Bacon Brittle
Jesse Forester — Divine Swine
Adrian Ashby — Bacon Pecan Waffles with Apple Bacon Syrup
Jordan Goldstein — Breakfast Terrine
Matt Barber — Hudson Bay of Pigs Sandwich
Erin Evenson — Bclyn Blackout Cake
Henry Chan and Jocelyn Voo — Strawberry Black Pepper Bacon Donut Holes
There were so many samples to try from that I didn’t know which one to vote for. But in the end I really liked the Bacon Pot Stickers with Spicy Peanut Sauce, Maccherochini Al Fume and the Almond-​Bacon Brittle. Some samples I’ve tried were really good and creative I felt and some were really creative, but not to my liking. I only went around once sampling from 21 different contestants and I already gotten full from it all haha. As for Hungry Boy, he had room for seconds. Then again it’s Hungry Boy, he will always make room for more. A total of 300 lbs of Hormel Black Label Bacon was used for this takedown. Pretty amazing for an event that lasted roughly about 2 hours long.
So when it came to voting, there was a vote from the judges and the attendees.
People’s Choice:
1^st Place: Jenn Wanous — Baco-​avo Goat-​lato
2^nd Place: Cody Burke — Bacon Pot Stickers with Spicy Peanut Sauce
3^rd Place: Becky MacGregor — Becky’s Love Bites
Judge’s Choice:
1^st Place: Mike O’Neill and Kristine Schmidt — School Lunch
2^nd Place: Matt Barber — Hudson Bay of Pigs Sandwich
3^rd Place: Jordan Goldstein — Breakfast Terrine
The winners all received a one-​year supply or six-​month supply of Hormel® Black Label® bacon, Anolon cookware, Microplane graters and Wusthof knives. Pretty neat. And as for the attendees, they were able to take home any leftover bacon samples, while supplies last. That was pretty awesome.
Also shout out to Albert W. and Elaine M., whom we’ve bumped into at this event! =)