If you follow the Ministry of Bacon or Bad Decisions on Twitter, you might have caught wind of the news that the popular Baltimore dive bar is hosting yet another Bacon & Beer Happy Hour.  You may also remember that we just hosted a Bacon & Beer Happy Hour at Bad Decisions just last week.  So why do it again so soon?

The Travel Channel, that’s why.

After we had already announced Bacon & Beer Happy Hour X, the Travel Channel came a-callin’ and said they’d like to feature Bad Decisions in a show called “Food Paradise”, which picks a favorite kind of food and visits the places that do it the best.  They were getting ready to do an episode on bacon, and purely by word of mouth, they found out about our Bacon & Beer Happy Hour.  Would we do it all over again for the benefit of their cameras?  You bet we would!

If you’ll be in or near Baltimore today, join the party anytime after 5:00 p.m.  The guest chefs from our last two Bacon & Beer Happy Hours will be teaming up to dish out the best items from each of their past menus, plus some fantastic new creations.  The bar will be serving up anything you want to drink (even if you’re not in the mood for a bacon cocktail).

Click here for the Facebook event page for tonight’s shindig.

UPDATE: The Baltimore Sun‘s nightlife blog, Midnight Sun, has posted the menu for tonight’s Bacon & Beer Happy Hour.

If you follow us on Twitter or Facebook, you’re well aware that our 10th edition of Bacon & Beer Happy Hour is going on today at Bad Decisions in Baltimore.  This time around, the all-bacon menu features the creations of guest chef Sajin Renae from Vino Rosina, who went with a Southern “comfort food” feel.  Here’s the menu:

If you’re one of our many Baltimore baconists, come on down anytime between now and two in the morning to treat yourself to some of the goodies!

Here’s yet more evidence that Baltimore is the bacon capital of the East Coast. This dish at the Golden West Cafe, known as “Elvis Pancakes” (or “Lisa Marie Pancakes” if you want a half order), is described as follows:

“Two enormous buttermilk pancakes with smoked, thick-sliced applewood bacon inside. Topped with sauteed bananas, honey, and peanut butter.”

The pancakes were huge and fluffy, the bananas were soft like little yellow clouds, and the peanut butter and honey mixed into a potion almost (but not quite) too sweet to bear. (Why they also gave us a side of maple syrup is beyond our comprehension.)

“But what about that bacon?” you ask. The bacon itself was spectacular; our High Priestess Anna thought it was a bit too smoky for her taste, but it was certainly high-quality bacon, well-cooked but still just chewy enough to allow the full flavor to come through. However…we had to admit, it was a bit out of place in the dish. It’s kind of like having William Shatner at a college house party: didn’t really fit in perfectly with everything else that was going on, but an awesome addition to the scene that you wouldn’t even think of turning away.

We’re proud to announce that this blog, Ministry of Bacon, has been nominated as one of Maryland’s most outstanding foodie blogs in the Baltimore Sun’s Mobbies!

Now, the Ministry calls its loyal baconists and baconistas to action.

Stop what you’re doing—even if you’re cooking up another batch of thick-sliced maple bacon—and take just a moment to vote for the Ministry of Bacon.  You can and should vote once per day (now through Friday, October 9th). Once you place your vote for us as the best foodie blog, you’ll get a chance to also vote for us as the best overall blog.  Please do both!

There is no cause more noble than the pursuit and appreciation of bacon—and you know we would vote for your blog if it were up for an award—so please help make the world a better place by voting for us as the most delicious blog in the Mid-Atlantic!

To vote, click on the image above, or click here.

Editor’s note:  This past Saturday, Clipper City Brewing Company celebrated International Talk Like A Pirate Day with their first-ever “Bacon & Beer Fest”, featuring a bounty of some of Baltimore’s best beer and bacon dishes.  One of our most highly-esteemed baconists, Evan of The City That Breeds, was in attendance at this sold-out event and was gracious enough to file the following report for us.  — Bacon Bishop Spam

(if you’d like to read more about the beer and pirates and other such things about this event, go here.)

HELL YEAH $$$

You walk in through the front entrance and there it is sitting right in front of you: a big tray of bacon and a bar with four taps. All you care to taste bacon and beer, you say? Yeah. It’s the Bacon and Beerfest hosted by Clipper City Brewery, and this is the best 40 dollars you’ve ever spent, that’s for sure.

And I’m not just saying that. Not just for the beer aspect, but for the food alone this event could be worth 40 dollars, easily. With over 15 varieties of bacon (only a few of which I was able to taste) and a multitude of other bacon-centric food – most of which were really impressive, I cannot believe this thing didn’t sell out sooner than it did. Essentially, every bacon containing food creation you’ve received as a forward in your email was there, including the bacon explosion. Here’s a rundown of what I saw/ate – plus some bonus pictures!

• BACON BACON BACON – Pepper bacon, candied bacon, teriyaki bacon, bayou (cajun) bacon, the trays of bacon were seemingly endless. Though I don’t think I ever really saw over 15 varieties, I certainly tasted at least six. All of them were awesome. The candied bacon (aka Piggy Candy) stood out in my mind because it was definitely the most unique; literally like a candied apple, but …bacon. As it turns out, sweet and bacon go enormously well together.
• Chocolate Covered Bacon – Like I said, sweet and bacon. Chocolate covered bacon is no exception. The booth, put on by Sweet Cascades, also featured Old Bay seasoned chocolate, which was delicious as well.
• Bacon Wrapped Scallops / Water Chestnuts – John from Bad Decisions pulled out a few winners from his ever-popular Bacon and Beer happy hours and brought the sweet and smoky goodness of his bacon wrapped finger foods to the tray. They were just as good as before, but this time I didn’t pay extra for them!
• The Bacon Explosion / Bacon Cocoa Krisp – to be totally honest I had never seen a bacon explosion before this event, and when I saw that the fine freaks of Alonso’s Loco Hombre had put together several of them and were making sandwiches with them, I had to take the plunge. Yeah. It pretty much tastes like what you think it would – a seasoned sausage roll wrapped in bacon on a bun. And the bacon cocoa krisp? Holy CRAP. Like crunchy, puffy chocolate covered bacon. I just about peed my pants at this point of eating.

Some of the other things I saw but neglected to try: Bacon popcorn, bacon mac n’ cheese (from Crazy Lil’s – I’ve had it there before though and it’s a great appetizer), and some Canadian bacon BECAUSE IT’S NOT REALLY BACON JEEZ.

Good god, what a great time. Enjoy the pictures!

One of the things people know the least about Baltimore is that it sports one of the most diverse, creative and expansive dining scenes in America. Since we just happened to be based in “Charm City”, it’s only just that we take a moment now and then to highlight a couple of the area’s most impressive bacon dishes.

Baltimore may be known for its crab cakes and soft shell crabs, but it’s also a great place to get a burger, and there are two places that lead the debate over which burger is the city’s best: Hamilton Tavern and the Abbey Burger Bistro.

Hamilton Tavern, named after the northeast Baltimore neighborhood in which it’s located, isn’t a burger joint per se. In fact, there’s only one burger on their menu, but it’s so spectacular that it was named “Best Hamburger” in the Baltimore City Paper’s “Best of Baltimore” issue this year.  It’s called the “Crosstown Burger”, and in its standard form, it boasts locally-raised Black Angus beef, shredded iceberg lettuce, tomato, red onion, and a tangy horseradish cheddar.  That’s a pretty good burger so far, but the kicker is the add-ons:  For an extra dollar each, you can add a fried egg…or their unique sticky-spicy bacon, treated with brown sugar and some sort of hot pepper.  Those who know what they’re doing add both options.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the city, in the popular southern neighborhood known as Federal Hill, there’s a newcomer in town that instantly built a huge following, and it’s known as the Abbey Burger Bistro.  Since this place obviously specializes in burgers, you’d expect them to come guns a-blazin’…and that’s exactly they do.  You can order one of their specialty creations or build one of your own, and the variety of meats and breads and toppings go on and on, from the usual suspects to items like white truffle oil and spicy crème fraiche.  But the signature burger that first got everyone’s attention is simply known as the “Peanut Butter Burger”: locally-raised Black Angus, smoked bacon, and creamy peanut butter.  A burger with bacon and peanut butter? Does that really work?  You’d better believe it.  You can taste the beef, the bacon and the peanut butter individually, while at the same time, they complement each other perfectly.

So how do you choose between two bacon burgers as spectacular as these?  You don’t.  You have one for lunch, and one for dinner.