"This is my favorite recipe," hit songwriter Chris Tompkins tells Taste of Country of his wife's family recipe, affectionately known as Alabama Sushi. "My wife's aunt passed this on to us, and we have been making it for years. Everyone freaks over it. I love Alabama Sushi, mainly because it's pure awesomeness, and after a long day of writing, there is nothing better than this appetizer to go with an ice cold beer," he insists.

"At any party, they are always the requested dishes I bring, and this is the first thing to go. The best part is it's only three ingredients," Tompkins adds. "It's pure awesomeness makes me think about the four 'F's' -- football, fishing, family and freakin' beer."

Alabama Sushi With Caramelized Bacon Recipe Ingredients:

1 pack of lil' smokies (preferably the pork kind but beef also works)
1 package of Bryan bacon
1 heaping cup of light brown sugar

Alabama Sushi With Caramelized Bacon Recipe Directions:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. Line a cookie sheet with foil (this makes for easy clean up).
3. Take the bacon strips out of package and slice twice through the pack, making each strip into three equal pieces.
4. Wrap each lil smokie with a piece of bacon and stick a toothpick through it.
5. Place them on a cookie sheet and sprinkle each very generously with the brown sugar.
6. Bake for approximately one hour or until the bacon is brown and caramelized.
7. Remove from cookie sheet with tongs and place in a serving dish (It's important that the brown sugar is caramelized. Just make sure it's dark brown and the bacon looks done.)

About Chris Tompkins:

Named Breakthrough Songwriter of the Year in 2007 by Music Row, Chris Tompkins has quickly become one of Nashville's most sought-after songwriters. The Muscle Shoals, Ala. native was honored in recent years by the Alabama Music Hall of Fame and has picked up multiple country awards and nominations for a little ditty he wrote for Carrie Underwood called 'Before He Cheats.' The song topped the country singles chart in 2007 and remained there for a total of five weeks and picked up awards for Best Country Song at the 2007 People’s Choice Awards, ASCAP’s Song of the Year in 2007 and was honored as Country Song of the Year at the 2008 Grammy ceremony.

Tompkins' next No. 1 single came in 2011 with Chris Young's hit 'Voices.' In addition, Tompkins has had singles released by Kenny Chesney ('Ain't Back Yet'), Jimmy Buffett ('Bama Breeze'), Steel Magnolia ('Bulletproof'), Blake Wise ('Cornfields'), Little Big Town ('Shut Up Train'), Gary Allan ('Kiss Me When I'm Down'), Chuck Wicks ('Old School'), Jack Ingram ('Seein' Stars,' featuring Patty Griffin), Whitney Duncan ('Skinny Dippin''), Hank Williams, Jr. ('That's How We Do It in Dixie') and Scotty McCreery ('The Trouble With Girls').

The hit songwriter has also had his fair share of album cuts for many country artists such as Trace Adkins, Jake Owen, Martina McBride, Blake Shelton, Rodney Atkins, Bucky Covington, Randy Montana, Rascal Flatts, Bo Bice, Dierks Bentley and Kellie Pickler, as well as artists outside the country music genre -- like Katherine McPhee, Hinder, Three Days Grace, Jamie Lynn Spears, Uncle Kracker, Daughtry, Nickelback and Plain White T's.

Tompkin's latest hits on the rise include Luke Bryan's current single, 'Drunk on You' and the new Kenny Chesney/Tim McGraw duet, 'Feel Like a Rock Star,' both of which he co-wrote along with Rodney Clawson.


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