Bourbon and bacon

Two amazing ingredients. Four different ways.

First, the veggie is already a recipe on this site, Bourbon bacon candied pecan green beans. And for the drink, one ingredient you'll need has to be made ahead of time, the Bacon infused low-carb simple syrup. But the rest? The rest is right here. This meal involves 13 slices of bacon and eight ounces of bourbon, plus all the other yummy stuff (a whole stick of butter, some steak, shrimp, cream, various cheeses, etc.)

For the steak, any cut will do, but I used ribeye caps.

Ingredients (feeds two):

• 2x 4-6 oz ribeye (prime or waygu) caps
• 1 lb Fresh green beans
• 12x slices of thick-cut smoked bacon
• ~12 large shrimp
• 2 oz heavy whipping cream
• 4 oz Italian six cheese blend
• 1 medium shallot
• 8 tbsp butter
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tbsp minced garlic
• Salt
• Pepper
• 4 oz pecans
• 2 tbsp Swerve brown sugar mix
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp pecan oil
• 4 oz of high quality bourbon (for drinking)
• 4 oz of good quality bourbon (for cooking)
• 10-12 dashes Agnostura bitters
• Lemon peels from two medium slices of lemon

Directions:

1. Season the fresh and/or fully thawed caps with salt, pepper and throw them, plus the minced garlic into a vacuum bag.
2. Sous vide at 122.5° F for one hour.
3. While in the sous vide, pre-fry the bacon in a frying pan.
4. Dice shallot.
5. In a small saucepan, add 2 tbsp of butter, on medium-low heat. Once melted, add the heavy cream and stir lightly.
6. Add the cheese to the heavy cream and stir on occasion, reducing heat to low.
7. When bacon from step 3 is almost done - lots of fat rendered, but the edges aren't crisp yet - remove the bacon from the pan, conserving the grease. Place all eight slices on a paper towel to cool and dry. This may take two efforts of frying (four slices at a time).
8. Dice pecans into small pieces and put in a small (omelette sized) frying pan.
9. Begin pan toasting pecans on medium heat in pan.
10. In the first pan with the bacon grease, add 2 tbsp of butter and the diced shallot, begin cooking the shallot down at medium heat.
11. Fry four more slices of bacon on medium heat in second medium-sized frying pan.
12. Thaw, peel, de-vein shrimp and set aside.
13. Chop tips off green beans and cut in half/quarters to bite size pieces (if you want; otherwise just remove tips).
14. When the last four slices of bacon are done, remove from pan, conserving bacon grease in the pan. Place bacon on a paper towel to dry and cool.
15. First eight slices of bacon should be cooled. Set four aside, and dice the other four into large bits.
16. Remove second bacon pan from heat, but add pecan oil while still hot and twirl pan to blend pecan oil with bacon grease.
17. When pecans begin to darken, add Swerve and stir, covering all pecans with liquifying Swerve as it carmelizes.
18. Once all pecans are covered, add vanilla, stirring and immediately reduce heat to lowest simmer.
19. Begin preheating heavy cast iron pan to 425° F or higher.
20. When steaks are done in the sous vide, remove and let rest, in bag, for 10-15 minutes. You should be able to figure out the timing; you want to be doing the final stages of the steak searing and green bean flambé roughly together, and you don't want to overcook the shrimp, so make sure to adjust as necessary.
21. Wrap the four slices bacon around the filets.
22. Microwave the 4 tbsp of remaining butter to liquify (approximately 30 seconds).
23. Stir in 2 oz of bourbon to the butter along with baking powder
24. Dice last four slices of bacon into bits and set aside.
25. In pan with bacon grease and pecan oil, throw in green beans and cook at medium heat.
26. In pan with bacon grease, butter and shallots, add shrimp.
27. In cast iron pan, increase heat to 550° F.
28. Paint bourbon/butter/baking powder mix on one side of steak.
29. When shrimp look done on one side, and green beans haven't began to blister but start to look like they are finishing, toss both steaks into cast iron and immediately then flip shrimp.
30. Approximately 30 seconds later, paint other side of steak, with more butter/bourbon/baking powder mix and flip.
31. As green beans begin to blister, add the remaining 2 oz of cooking bourbon and flambé.
32. Paint more bourbon/butter/baking powder on first side and flip again. Goal is to flip three total times, with only 30-45 seconds per side searing on the cast iron.
33. As shrimp begin to look finished, pour cream sauce over them.
34. Remove steaks from cast iron to rest.
35. Turn heat off all things.
36. Pour 2 oz of drinking bourbon over a single large ice cube (preferably a spherical one). Repeat for second glass.
37. Add 1 tsp of Bacon infused low-carb simple syrup and 5-6 dashes of Agnostura bitters to each glass.
38. Twist a lemon peel over the drink to express the lemon oils, then drop into the liquid.
39. Serve the steak + green beans + shrimp + old-fashioned.
40. Enjoy, you magnificent bastard!