Joining me on my quest to prematurely clog the arteries  and double my cholesterol were good friends Bobby Burdette (@bobbyburdette) and Derek Kalinosky (@dkalinosky). My main goal was to see what the masses would make of the Pittsburgh Penetrator. Bobby and Derek cared less about that and more about all out BaconComa^©. Having put myself on a diet after the Grill Around the Globe… I managed some measure of self-control and didn’t over eat.

What did you eat, Greg?

Excellent question. The Harris Grill, which serves bacon every Tuesday night FOR FREE, set up a nice little buffet area for all the wonderful dishes available to sample. Lets go to the lineup:

• Country Fried Bacon
• Bacon Perogies
• Bacon wrapped Shrimp
• Bacon Sushi
• and for desert… a Bacon Cupcake.

First up, the Country Fried Bacon. Now its probably not fair for me to judge this dish since I have such an unfavoring love for the Six Penn Tempura Bacon. Still, I found the breading a little heavy which prevents the bacon from really getting the kind of crisp you’d expect. It tasted good – but also very, very unhealthy. I could almost feel it coat the inside of my heart with a thin layer of slick grease. Definitely couldn’t manage more than one slice.

The Bacon Perogies were very nice. The bacon shared the spotlight with perfectly cooked onions. I believe there was bacon both in the onions and inside the perogie. Very understated presence but definitely there. The Bacon Wrapped Shrimp were outstanding. Seafood that sits in a chaffing dish can run the risk of ending up overcooked and tough but no chance here. Probably due to the shrimp not spending much time resting. They were gone in a flash. The Bacon Sushi, as I understand it, came in two varieties. I only had a chance to sample the Philadelphia – which had a nice cream cheese element that played really well with the bacon. It was by far the most… interesting dish I tried. And I’ll leave it at that.

The Bacon Cupcake was, in a word… redonkulous. Plain and simple. Candied bacon chip on top of what I think was a maple cream cheese frosting. I didn’t eat the actual cake so i can’t say much there. I can only assume it was good based on how quickly the cupcakes were flying off the serving trays.

There was beer too, right?

Local home-brewers club, Three Rivers Underground Brewers, were on hand with several styles. Three on tap included a nice Pale Ale, a curious Applewood Cider brew and the star of the day – an incredible Maple E.S.B. which is so good I have to believe someone somewhere is going to get rich off it. It was that good. Poured a somewhat cloudy tan with a slight head. Perhaps due to a combination of the portable tap system and the tiny little plastic cup they provided.

The aroma bore a strong scent of maple yet didn’t invade the taste of a tastefully hopped beer. At first I was a little confused by the mouthfeel. The typical crispness of a bitter was gone and in its place was a well-balanced, pitch-perfect beer. Bobby’s best guess is that the sweetness of the maple tipped the scales to even. The tiny little plastic cup wasn’t the only reason I went back for thirds, fourths, AND fifths. It was that damn good.

So what’s this about a Pittsburgh Penetrator?

One of my big goals for the day was to introduce my variation of the world famous Bacon Explosion – The Pittsburgh Penetrator. The premise is simple one. Add a little Pittsburgh flavor to what is already a fantastic dish. Construction is easy. Its a Bacon Explosion wrapped around a fresh kielbasa, the casing removed to allow smoke to penetrate fully. No pun intended. Ok. I lie… it was intentional.

I need to make sure I give credit where credit is due… the idea came from my boss. Several months ago he attended a party in Upstate New York and wanted to bring something special. Being an avid sport shooter, he described to me a type of ammunition known as a penetration round. The general idea is that the core contains a solid rod designed to punch through… things. Here we punch through your taste buds.

I was very happy with the overall reception. However, there seemed to be a bit of confusion around what it was exactly. I read one account in a blog that thought it was a pork tenderloin, which I totally don’t understand. I think some folks didn’t realize that it wasn’t a standard BE.

I didn’t get around to taking many photos when I made the Pittsburgh Penetrator but here are just a few. Also only snapped a few pictures from the event. My hands were too full of beer and bacon.