Bacon & Blue Burger and Bacon Wrapped Tots

It is the fourth night of "bachelorhood" for the two boys and me while Alexis is in Florida and today our bachelorhood hit full stride. I say that because in the past 24 hours the most productive things we have done are:

1. Watched the movie Zombieland....twice (funniest movie I have seen in years in a twisted way)
2. Made fire roasted teriyaki chicken wings for lunch (our standard 30-20-10 hot wings process on the Big Green Egg)
3. Watched ACC and SEC basketball tournament games and
4. Went to Wendy's and tried one of their new Bacon & Blue Burgers that were advertised during the basketball games.

Ok, lying on that last one. The burgers looked good in the commercial but we knew if we went to get them they wouldn't be anything like the commercial and they don't sell bacon wrapped tots so I took matters into my own hands.

First, the bacon wrapped tots are easy and totally not good for you, we only eat these 1-2 times a year. They are a guilty pleasure.

Cut bacon slices into 1/3rds on a bias as shown and wrap 1 tot or crown in each piece. (You cut it on an angle like that so you can use the diagonal edges to stretch around the tot.)


Sprinkle lightly with a BBQ rub and cook at 450 for 18-20 minutes or until crisp. I served them with a spicy ketchup (2 TB ketchup, 1 t of Chok On Dis Blaz'n Glaze).

For the Bacon and Blue burger, I ran into a problem: I was totally out of natural hardwood lump charcoal that I use in the Big Green Egg. I did have some Kingsford Competition briquettes so I broke out my back up, a Brinkmann Professional Charcoal grill.


I fired up a load of coal in the chimney starter. These are great if you use a charcoal grill. It starts a batch of coal using just two sheets of newspaper, no nasty lighter fluid. You can get them for $15 at Lowes or Home Depot.


Spring is only 1 week away and I am doing my best to cook my way out of winter. Doesn't this photo make you feel warm and comfy? Can't you feel the soft, green grass between your toes and hear the frogs croaking their songs of summer?

I then grilled some burgers over a 450f fire.

For the blue cheese sauce, I used this one from the Bon Apetit Cookbook

Blue Cheese Mayonnaise

4 oz blue cheese, crumbled
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce

Mix all ingredients, cover and refrigerate before using.

Then I just served it with a fresh grilled burger on a kaiser roll with tomato, lettuce, and red onion.

I'm pretty sure this is what you'd get from a drive thru, even late at night. Aren't you? (ha ha)

PS: If you wake up tomorrow (Sunday) morning and find that you've lost an hour of time, don't worry, you weren't abducted by aliens*. It's just Daylight Savings Time.

*Wait, what if Daylight Savings Time is all a ruse? Maybe we are ALL abducted by aliens every spring???????