Thanks to the poster who suggested peameal bacon!

For the past few days I've been curing my first batch of *real* Canadian
bacon aka peameal bacon. This bacon gets its name from the ground peas
that provide an outer coating. It is very easy to make but it takes 5
days to cure. Peameal bacon is healthier for you because it is leaner.
We often have it for dinner in the winter. It is more expensive than
regular bacon but more filling so you use less. The stores here seldom
put it on special because it is so popular. Making at home will be
about 1/2 the cost of store bought or less when I can get the pork
tenderloin on sale. Recipe included as per day what I did.

Day 1 - Mix 1 tbsp Morton's Tender Quick (curing salt) with 1 tsp sugar
for each 1 lb pork tenderloin. Here's a pic of the tenderloin that was
almost 1 lb along with the mixed salt & sugar. The mix was rubbed into
the pork tenderloin then the pork was sealed in a ziploc and put in the
fridge. That's it for 5 days.
http://tinypic.com/eq6vcw.jpg - what's needed to make peameal bacon.
This is a really small pork tenderloin but will do nicely for experimenting.


Today - I added the coating then sliced to fry some up to try. Here's a
couple of pics. Note this was a very small pork tenderloin because I
was experimenting so the slices are smaller than normal. Peameal is
great fried or baked. A small tenderloin like this one would likely be
enough servings for at least 2 people with left overs and peameal bacon
sandwiches are really good.
http://tinypic.com/eq6sts.jpg - coating added
http://tinypic.com/eq6uq9.jpg - sliced

End result - I'm more than please with the results. At 1/2 the price &
great taste peameal bacon will find its way onto our table more often!
In the winter this served along with mashed potatoes topped with chili
sauce makes wonderful comfort food.
http://tinypic.com/eq6w02.jpg