I’m Chris, videographer, photographer, recipe developer and creator of Don’t Go Bacon My Heart. Otherwise known as ‘The Guy Behind The Bacon’. Hi 🙂
Don’t Go Bacon My Heart is a blog totally dedicated to comfort food.
It breaks my heart (excuse the pun) when I hear people say that cooking is boring or stressful, because I truly believe it doesn’t have to be. I’m a firm believer that food can be fun and bring endless amounts of joy and comfort. As such, I made it my mission to spread the love by creating hearty, comforting, flavour-loaded and approachable recipes that you’ll make time and time again.
A little about me…
I grew up in Weston-Super-Mare, a town in the South-West of England. I left for university at 18 to study psychology at Cardiff Uni, but if I’m honest, I had little intention of being a psychologist from the get-go. I was just absolutely dying to go to experience university life!
During uni, I spent a couple of Summers abroad working in the USA at Summer camps for kids with mental and physical special needs. It was incredibly demanding work, but it offered me a huge amount of life experience and left me with some of my most cherished memories.
From there, and after graduating from uni with a degree I still didn’t want to use, I prolonged reality a little longer and travelled Australia for a couple of years where I worked at Melbourne Zoo! Fast forward to now, I live in Edinburgh and work full-time on Don’t Go Bacon My Heart (see, I knew I never needed that degree! )
So how did you end up here?
I don’t want to start with the cliche ‘I’ve always loved food’, but it really is true.
I was brought up on comfort food such as Cottage Pie and Lasagne and also loved cooking as a child. I had my very own kids cookbook which I’d use to make homemade pizzas and Victoria sponge cake. I studied D&T Food at school and spent many evenings after school creating various different pasta sauce combinations for dinner!
Strangely enough, I never saw food as a career. The idea of working in a kitchen made me sweat just thinking about it, and since I had no formal training my options were somewhat limited.
In 2015 it all changed for me. I had just graduated from university and was saving money to go to Australia. It’s funny, I guess you can pin everything down to a photo I uploaded to Instagram. It was just a photo of my incredibly average dinner that evening. I have it buried away on my private account still, but since you’re here, I’ll show you the photo in question
With 16 likes, at that moment I felt like a Michelin star chef destined to be a world-famous food blogger! But in all seriousness, that’s all it took. A little nudge from some friends gave me a tiny bit of confidence and I took it and ran with it. I kept posting my dinners and little by little, more and more people started to take notice.
From there, I made a separate Instagram dedicated to food. Mainly just to stop annoying my friends and family with my food photos. But also because I became obsessed with trying to create the most delicious and creative dinners I could. After that, I decided to create a blog so I could start writing up the recipes alongside the dinners I was posting.
Every minute of every day I spent thinking about my next recipe. Even as I travelled Australia I kept the blog going, uploading recipes where and when I could. Be it in a campervan in the outback or in an Airbnb kitchen, you’d find me working on the blog.
When I got back from Australia (with a degree I didn’t want to use and a prolonged crisis of not knowing what I was doing with my future) I knew if I was going to make something of the blog it had to be now. As such, I moved back in with my Dad, set up a very make-shift studio in his garage and spent hours upon hours desperately trying to turn the blog into a business. And, well, here we are!
In reality though I’m still uploading my dinners, still creating various different pasta sauce combinations and still beyond obsessed with all things food
What are you serving up on the blog?
I like to call the food I make ‘happy food’. You know, the food you really wanna eat. From Creamy Garlic Mushroom Chicken and Cottage Pie Baked Potatoes to Tomato Butter Pasta and Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad, you name it, I’ll cook it. Hey, that’s a fun game!
You’ll find recipes that are often carby, always comforting but never trendy recipes that fall flat. I was brought up on hearty comfort food recipes that hit the spot every single time, and that’s exactly the kind of food I share!
With all recipes, I provide a quick step-by-step video and step-by-step photos. I also include detailed notes to help you get the best result possible. I test each recipe numerous times and never upload anything I haven’t personally tried, tested and loved myself!
Check out my recipes by Category and by Ingredient. There’s also a search bar at the right hand side of every page if you’re after something specific.
Comfy Cookbook
On 26th October 2023 I also had the absolute joy of releasing my debut cookbook ‘Comfy’. This book is a love letter to comfort food and contains a collection of my very best dinners for any occasion, any day of the week.
You can check out my info and order a copy right here: Comfy Cookbook.
Press
Okay, time for some trumpet blowing
Alongside winning in the culinary category at the UK Blog Awards in 2019, I’ve also been featured in the Vuelio Top 10 Food Blogs in both 2021 and 2022. I’ve had the opportunity to work with brands such as Iceland & Sainsbury’s and have also increased my profile state-side with features on Buzzfeed, Parade Magazine, RightThisMinute and Good Morning America.
Towards the end of 2019, I ended up stepping out from behind the blog and actually found myself on a TV show.
I’ve always said I’d never in a million years go on TV, but when the offer going on Netflix’s brand new show Crazy Delicious to serve food to Heston Blumenthal on a completely edible set was put in front of me, I couldn’t resist!
How can I get in touch?
You can find me on social media – Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest | Twitter. Got a burning question? Checkout out my Contact page and drop me a message. Also, be sure to check out my FAQ Page!
Right, that’s all from me for now! I hope you stick around to find your new favourite meal and thanks so much for stopping by and making it this far!
See you again soon 🙂
Chris xx
(Love a sandwich? Check out my sandwich blog – Something About Sandwiches.)
Recipes look amazing and simple… looking forward to trying to learn to cook some of these…
My question is what should I have in my store room cupboard to get started…
I’d just dive right into the recipes! You’ll soon naturally start building up store cupboard essentials like herbs, spices, sauces etc 🙂
Hi Chris.
Am really looking forward to trying out your recipes!
Am just part-cooking your Outrageously Delicious Greek Moussaka to eat for dinner tomorrow. My mouth is watering already!
Great instructions – thanks a million for making them so clear
All the very best!
Joy, hope the Moussaka went down well! Thanks so much for popping by and leaving a comment 🙂 C.
Hi Chris,
I was just diagnosed as prediabetic. Is it OK to substitute an artificial sweetener like Stevia in your recipes? My husband loves to cook & bake. We are trying to adapt recipes. Do you have suggestions of the best ways to substitute either for the sugar or use other
ingredients to take the place of sugar? I’m new to this site so I don’t know how I will receive your response.
Thanks,
Norma Howard
howardneh@comcast.net
Hi Norma! Happy to hear you’ve found the blog, hope you enjoy the recipes! I couldn’t offer advice on sugar replacements unfortunately, it’s not something I have any experience i’m afriad. Sorry!!
Hi, I’ve also been diagnosed as pre-diabetic and any artificial sweetener or natural sweetener substitute can be used, but you’ll need to experiment to see what’s right for you. I’m mostly using monkfruit with erythritol as me sugar substitute as it measures and tastes closest to sugar than anything else I’ve tried. Stevia leaves a strange aftertaste and gives me headaches while it gives my wife migraines. Sucralose is not much better. Good luck in your search.
Hi Norma,
Just found this site so just read your question – I hope my advice is still relevant to you.
I am diabetic and use Sucralose based sweetener in place of sugar, which 95% of the time is in my numerous daily cups of tea. The remaining 5% for cooking and baking. The advantage of Sucralose is that it is temperature-stabilised, so it can withstand the heat of an oven, etc. Other sugar substitutes, such as Aspartame and Stevia, don’t have this property and so are deemed less suitable. One thing you cannot use a sugar alternative for is where a recipe requires a property of sugar other than its sweetness – caramel, for instance.
I honestly cannot tell the difference between any non-sugar sweetener and the real thing, though many people claim they can. BTW, if you’re from the UK I recommend getting which every sweetener you decide to use from Aldi or Lidl; Their own-brand versions are many times cheaper than the rob-dog branded versions, such as Canderel.
Hope this helps.
Hi Chris…
I want to attempt your Bacon Turnover… It looks incredible!!!
I was wondering how done the bacon in the middle of the pastry gets ? If my family likes “crispy” bacon, would you recommend cooking the bacon a bit before baking?
Hey Val! It depends on the thickness of the bacon. Here I use streaky bacon which is fairly thin, so as you can see by the photos it gets nice and crispy. Definitely feel free to part-cook the bacon before if you want! 🙂
Hi Chris. I stumbled across your Coronation Chicken Curry. It might not be totally authentic but it is delicious. I was really impressed. I’m going to have a look through your recipes and hope to find some more fabulous dishes.
That’s awesome to hear! Glad it went down well! So happy to have you here, enjoy the next recipe and do let me know how you get on 🙂 Chris.
I absolutely love how you make the cooking, ingredients, process well organized. It is as if, I don’t even need to read, I could just scroll down and cook just from the picture. I love how you post the pictures in a way that shows the process. Very creative.
Wonderful job, please keep this site up.
Also, please make a twitter account only for your new recipes. It would help a lot to follow what you are cooking everyday.
Thanks so much for the feedback! Glad you’re enjoying the layout of the site 🙂
Aqui do Brasil… A primeira receita que vi sua foi o pão de alho assado.. Como aqui temos o hábito de fazer pão de alho como um dos acompanhamento do churrasco, resolvi fazê-lo pq aprecio muito fazer torradinhas com sabores. Fiz e ficou maravilhoso! Virei sua fã!!
Hey Rosilda, just had to do a bit of Google translating, sounds like you loved the Roasted Garlic Bread which is awesome! Thanks for stopping by and letting me know how you got on 🙂
I found you on Pinterest and was very pleasantly surprised to see your photo! Glad to see blokes giving it a go in this crazy internet world! Usually find the overseas sites confusing and hard to follow, measurements are different and don’t get me started on all the weird products other countries use. But you mate are on point, so easy to follow, and yes we have the same measurements and ingredients Down Under (Australia) . Looking forward to following you, just bought our first electric deep fryer so cant wait to try the wedges and popcorn chicken (so over KFC and their lack of quality these days!) … my partner thanks you, my family thanks you, my waistline is in 2 minds 🙂 … all the best Chris (omg just scrolled and saw the honey roasted carrots – shut the oven door!) take care xx
Hey Carol! Thanks so much for your lovely comment 🙂 I spent a couple of years in Australia, what a lucky duck you are to be from there!! My waistline is ALWAYS in 2 minds Thanks for stopping by hope you love the recipes as much as I enjoy making them! X
Hey Chris, I’ve been on your site many times, but am catching on some of the podcasts I try to keep up with, and just heard your interview with Elaine Benoit. So much fun! Love your food and your style and loved hearing your story. Keep up all of the fantastic work! 🙂
Hey Valentina! Thanks so much for dropping by, that podcast was so much fun!! Just checked out your blog, it’s so beautiful! Keep up the awesome work your end to 🙂 Catch you soon!
Just listened to podcast dishing with delicious and so here I am checking out your website. It’s awesome! I’m dairy free and damn it i want to eat cheese now 😀 I have a long way to go as a new blogger but it’s great to hear about other blogger’s journeys!
Hey Kristina! Thanks so much for stopping by and saying hello! I just checked out your blog, it’s so beautiful! Keep chugging away, blogging can be so rewarding. Also, if this is you as a new blogger, then you’re already miles ahead of me when I started!! 🙂 Catch you soon. Chris x