Name: Lamb Bacon
Yield: Makes 1 to 1 1/2 pounds
Ingredients: 5 tablespoons Diamond Crystal kosher salt; 2 teaspoons pink curing salt; 3 tablespoons (packed) dark brown sugar; 4 dried bay leaves, crushed; 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper; 1 1 1/2- to 2-pound boneless lamb breast, with silver skin intact; Cherry wood chips, apple wood chips, or other fruit wood chips

Noah: We're always looking for alternatives to pork at Mile End, and this dry-cured lamb breast was an amazing meat discovery for me. You can use lamb bacon in pretty much any dish you'd use standard bacon or pancetta for: Italian peasant soups, potato salads, meat braises, pasta dishes, whatever. We finish our lamb bacon in a smoker, though at home I've cooked it in the oven and gotten great results; it just has a milder flavor. You can store the bacon in the fridge for many weeks.

Note:

If you'd prefer to use an oven, preheat to 200°F and cook for 3 hours.

Recipe notes

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Dulce de Leche

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An ex-boyfriend’s mom—who emigrated from Colombia—made the best meat sauce—she would fry sofrito for the base and simply add cooked ground beef, sazón, and jarred tomato sauce. My version is a bit more bougie—it calls for caramelized tomato paste and white wine—but the result is just as good.