This appetizer comes from the forthcoming "Cooking the Cowboy Way: Recipes Inspired by Campfires, Chuck Wagons and Ranch Kitchens" by Grady Spears with June Naylor (Andrews McMeel, $29.99). Maybe goat cheese doesn't sound so cowboy-y, but the Texas restaurateur says he rustled these up for a Calgary, Alberta, Canada rancher couple's housewarming party "and their guests went crazy over it."

-- Bob Batz Jr.

• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon coarsely ground black pepper
• 20 strips good-quality, thick-cut slab bacon
• 1/2 cup goat cheese at room temperature

In a medium bowl, combine the sugars with the pepper, mixing until well blended. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper or quick-release foil and spread the sugar mixture over the sheets. Press one strip of bacon at a time into the sugar mixture, then flip it over to coat the other side. Place the bacon strips side by side on the sugar as you finish, to form a single layer in the pan.

Repeat with the remaining bacon on the other cookie sheet. Set aside at room temperature for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the cookie sheets in the oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the bacon is darkened and cooked through. Remove sheets from oven and let cool for 5 to 7 minutes.

Once the bacon has cooled and hardened, cut the strips in half and top each with a dollop of goat cheese.

Serves 20.

-- "Cooking the Cowboy Way" by Grady Spears with June Naylor (Andrews McMeel,($29.99)