Dress Your Food In Bacon And Bacon Fat

First, an apology: Vegetarians, there is nothing here for you this week. Sorry. And it definitely goes without saying that none of these recipes are kosher or halal. But, for everyone else, this week's Recipe SWAT Team is sure to elicit squeals of excitement, like from a pig jumping for joy. That's because this week's theme is bacon-wrapped.

Click here to see the Dress Your Food in Bacon and Bacon Fat Slideshow

When cooked perfectly, pork — good pork — is already a very exciting treat. But bacon is something truly special — in it, all of the hallowed properties of pork are concentrated and amplified. If you have good bacon, the meat tastes extra porky, and the fat is extra rich. And don't get us started on the aroma.

So unsurprisingly, a great many of our favorite foods are greatly improved with the simple addition of a few pieces (or a bunch) of bacon wrapped around the outside (or in the case of one recipe, the inside and outside).

This week's mix of recipes is pretty well-rounded — there's something for those who just want meat wrapped in more meat, a couple of dressed up sides, and then the rest just sort of go off the deep end, which, in this case, is a good thing. A very, very good thing.

We certainly don't want to spoil everything, but we would like to give a shout out to this week's winner. It was tough deciding on the best recipe this week, but in the end, we caved and gave in to our basest desires. Congratulations to Anne Dolce, Cook editor, for her winning recipe, Bacon-Wrapped String Cheese Puffs.

And don't forget — after trying out one of these recipes, make sure to save the bacon fat for making salad dressing, frying eggs, and sautéing. After all, how does that old culinary school mantra go? Oh that's right — fat equals flavor. And when it comes to fat, bacon fat is king.

Click here to see Recipe SWAT Teams From the Past

Will Budiaman is the Recipe Editor at The Daily Meal. Follow him on Twitter @WillBudiaman.