Adapted from an Emeril Lagasse recipe out of
Every Day's a Party: Louisiana Recipes
For Celebrating With Family And Friends
4 slices of bacon, chopped
4 cups of White Lily all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
10 turns of the pepper grinder
2 cups of buttermilk
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Spray a round cake pan with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.
In a separate skillet, cook the bacon slightly just to render out some of the fat, but remove it from the heat before it gets crisp. Set skillet aside.
Whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt and pepper. Stir in the buttermilk until mixed well and dough is shaggy. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and pat the dough gently into a small square shape. Make folds with the dough, bringing the dough in from the outside toward the middle, all the way around all sides of the dough. Shape the dough into a round disk and place it into the prepared cake pan. Pat the dough down gently to fill the pan. Cut two slits in the top of the dough to form a cross. Using a slotted spoon, remove the bacon and just a bit of the fat from the skillet and scatter the bacon on top of the bread.
Bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes. Reduce to 400 degrees and bake another 25 minutes or until nicely browned. Using a wide spatula, remove the bread from the cake pan and transfer to a wire rack to cool. Cool before slicing.
