Pigwiches: The Ultimate Oreo

Photo: Tasting Table with permission

I subscribe to Tasting Table because I love receiving "Food Culture Daily" in my inbox. Daily emails include recipes, reviews and news. Not all the emails are about chocolate, but there's more to life than chocolate!  Maybe. I subscribe to Tasting Table San Francisco, Tasting Table National, and twice a week I receive Tasting Table Chefs' Recipes. What a great site! Take your seat at Tasting Table today. Subscribe! It's free!

So today I really loved receiving this email because the featured recipe included several of my favorite food groups: cream, bacon fat and chocolate! Can't wait to try these PIGWICHES!

This recipe comes from Gerard Craft, Chef at the St. Louis small-plates spot, Taste. Yes, charcuterie and country ham feature prominently on his menu here but his most famous tribute to swine in my eyes is his Pigwich--a pair of milk-chocolate-shortbread cookies that hug a sugary, bacon-based cream, which he sells daily for $4. A steal! So, if you have any left over bacon fat from breakfast, here's a way to put it to use. Butter can be substituted for bacon fat in the recipe, but don't you think the cream filling is better with bacon fat?

I haven't made these yet, but I know I'll use dark cocoa.. because I really like dark chocolate. If that doesn't work out, I'll try 'regular' cocoa. But I won't really know if I got the recipe right until I visit Taste. Not planning on being in St. Louis until when Bouchercon, the World Mystery Convention, is held there September 15-18, 2011. My mystery & chocolate worlds collide again. Hope Pigwiches are still on the menu.

Pigwiches
Reprinted with permission Tasting Table

Ingredients
Cookies:
1½ sticks (12 tablespoons) butter, at room temperature
½ cup light brown sugar, packed
½ cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
6 ounces milk chocolate, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1¾ cup all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

Filling:
4 ounces rendered bacon fat
1/8 teaspoon salt
½ vanilla bean scraped, pod reserved for another use
1 teaspoon light brown sugar, packed
3½ cups confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons milk

Directions:
1. Make the cookies: Preheat the oven to 325˚. In the bowl of a standing mixer outfitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar and cocoa powder together at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the melted chocolate and vanilla extract and beat until combined.
2. In a bowl, whisk the flour with the baking soda and salt. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and beat at low speed until incorporated.
3. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and, using a floured rolling pin, roll it out until it is ⅛-inch thick. Using a 4-by-2-inch pig-shaped cookie cutter, punch out the cookies. Reroll the scraps and cut the rest of the cookies. (The dough may also be cut into 2-inch squares.)
4. Arrange the cookies on two parchment- or silicone-mat-lined baking sheets and bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until the cookies are set at the edges. Transfer the baking sheets to a cooling rack and let cool completely.
5. While the cookies cool, make the filling: Add the bacon fat, salt, vanilla seeds and brown sugar to a small saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Strain the mixture into a jar, cover and refrigerate until solid, about 2 hours.
6. After the bacon mixture has chilled, add it to the work bowl of a stand mixer outfitted with the whisk attachment and beat on medium speed until fluffy, about 30 seconds. Slowly add the confectioners' sugar and continue beating until fully incorporated. Add the milk and beat until the filling is the consistency of thick cake frosting.
7. To assemble the pigwiches, spread about 2 tablespoons of the filling on one cookie and top with another cookie; press lightly to seal. Repeat with the remaining cookies and filling. Serve immediately or store in a resealable container for up to one week.

"Heaven...I'm in pig heaven!"

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