Candied Bacon.

Strange, but true. I ran across this one in "A Love Affair with Southern Cooking" recently. This is a wonderful cookbook, by the way. This is really very good, and very different. An excellent appetizer.........

Candied Bacon

3/4 cup light brown sugar, not packed
2 TSP dry mustard
1/2 TSP black pepper
1 pound thickly sliced bacon, each slice halved crosswise

Preheat oven to 325. Lay a large baking rack (preferably with a cross-hatch grid) on top of an ungreased 15X10X1 jelly roll pan. Spritz the rack well with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.

Combine the brown sugar, mustard, & pepper in a pie pan, whisking out any lumps. Dredge each piece of bacon on both sides in the sugar mixture until thickly coated.

Arrange the bacon on the rack, preferably not touching, and sprinkle generously with the remaining sugar mixture.

Slide the pan onto the middle oven rack and back uncovered for 50-60 minutes or until the bacon is richly browned and crisp. No need to turn the bacon as it cooks.

Cool the candied bacon to room temp and serve with cocktails.