Bacon Heart Attack Dinner (5) – Bacon Beef Heart Confit

Bacon Beef Heart Confit

Beef Heart Confit over Hobbs’ Bacon, Lentils, Onion Flowers

The fifth course of Dissident Chef’s Subculture Dining “Bacon Heart Attack Dinner” was a serious boost; another great dish with more complexity than the Spam (which was awesome). The beef heart confit flayed like a welcoming, flickering Maori tongue atop  green garlic, Hobbs’ bacon, and lentils.

Visually, there’s an erotic play happening as well, with the phallic onion flowers atop the open, flattened beef heart confit. 

The flavors have stepped up, especially bolstered by the big red swathe of house-made sriracha, the red chile pepper sauce popular throughout Southeast Asia.  The Dissident Chef painted a big sriracha swoop across the plate and that hot pepper infuses the lentils and beef heart confit to just the kind of heat that keeps you aware of mild fire in the mouth. Just enough to enjoy the burn.

Then reach for that cooling glass of wine.

(To get Hobb’s bacon or Hobbs’ smoked meats, try Golden Gate Meat Company)

Bacon Heart Attack Dinner, Course 5 Pairing: Chateau Guiot Rose´

The Chateau Guiot Rose´has three varietals: mostly grenache and syrah, with some cinsault. The pink is dark-hearted, and the fruit initially bold (strawberry, raspberry) but pretty dry through the finish. It was a great pairing to the rich spiciness of the bacon beef heart confit dish, and would be a great summer wine for anything you might barbecue.

Chateau Guiot Rose (grenache/syrah) from House of Wines SF

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Bacon Heart Attack Dinner (4) – Beef & Bacon Spam

House-made Beef + Bacon Spam, bacon broth 

House-made Beef & Bacon Spam, bacon broth

Bacon Heart Attack Dinner Course 4:

Home-made Spam with cippolini onions, fingerling potatoes, bacon broth

In square bowls came a lovely little spam and broth, to be sopped up with great bread. I felt like a character in a Dickens novel, wanting some more, but probably slurped more graciously in my broth-swigging.

The spam was made by the Dissident Chef by combining various meat parts into a mixture that included bacon and odd parts like trotters. The texture was indeed Spam-like, or perhaps like a softer, more robustly flavored sausage. The fingerling potatoes were the country cousins who didn’t add much to the party and were probably embarrassed to even be there. Another nice surprise; another amazing little taste mob. Really a small but great dish.

Bacon Heart Attack Dinner (3) – Hobbs’ Bacon-wrapped Halibut Filet

Hobbs’ Smoked Bacon-Wrapped Halibut

Bacon Heart Attack Dinner, Course 3: Hobbs’ bacon-wrapped halibut filet, braised fennel, edible wildflower, marjoram butter sauce

Course three of the Bacon Heart Attack Dinner had a flurry of flavors, but the richness suggested by bacon and marjoram butter sauce were little mouthfuls of subtleties. (Especially compared to the later, richer, and more piquant dishes that followed.) The small halibut was wrapped in Hobbs’ Applewood Smoked Bacon. Braised fennel and a tiny edible flower bisect the plate; the marjoram-butter sauce convenes the flavor-clashes together in a truly sumptuous manner.

The pairing for this dish was house-made rice wine from the Dissident Chef and crew (no bottle shown).

Hobbs' Bacon-Wrapped Halibut Filet, Braised Fennel

Bacon Heart Attack Dinner (2) – Bacon & Sous Vide Egg

Bacon, Sous Vide Egg, Foie-Bacon Vinaigrette

Dissident Chef Plating a special Bacon & Egg Dish

Bacon Heart Attack Dinner, Course 2:

Fatted Calf Bacon Cup with Egg Sous Vide, Frisee, and Fois-Bacon Vinaigrette

The sous vide egg, cooked for 47 minutes at 47 C (116.6 F), has a marvelous soft and creamy texture, unlike any egg I’ve ever tasted. For texture and taste, the egg comes nearest to a custard, and the addition of a little fois gras-bacon vinaigrette over frisee transformed a simple breakfast staple into a little wonder. The egg sits inside a wrap of Fatted Calf bacon with a wicked crunch. The rough crunch vs. the silky custard, plus the greens and unique vinaigrette made this a crowd favorite.

Sous Vide Egg, Fatted Calf Bacon, Foie-Bacon Vinaigrette

Below is a shot of this dish prior to plating, which looks like a den of snakes. The bacon coils tightly, wound like an asp protecting its nest.

Bacon Heart Attack, course 2: Snakes of Bacon

Course 2 Pairing: Kung Fu Girl, Reisling

Light, softly crisp, and easygoing, I didn’t feel much of the Kung Fu Girl’s punch. Punching came later. Nicely balanced wine paired with our breakfast-at-dinnertime special of bacon & sous vide egg. The Kung Fu Girl wine comes from Columbia Valley, Washington.

Kung Fu Girl Reisling, Columbia Valley, WA

Bacon Heart Attack Dinner (1) – Wild Boar Bacon

Chicken-Fried Wild Boar Bacon

For course 1 of Subculture Dining’s “Bacon Heart Attack Dinner,” the Dissident Chef served little chicken-fried wild boar bacon balls, paired with escarole,   The wild boar bacon’s chewiness and rough smokiness tastes not unlike a softer, more palatable form of jerky. The quick chicken fried style added a bit of texture to the fatty boar, which visually counterplayed the brilliant green salad of escarole and wild sugar snap peas. The slight bitterness of the escarole and the bright, mildly sweet peas were a great contrast against the fatty, smoky wild boar bacon ball. A great opening dish.

Chicken Fried Wild Boar - Bacon Heart Attack Dinner

Bacon Heart Attack Dinner Pairing, Course 1: Chateau Calabre´ Bergerac Rose´

The Bergerac Rose is a combination of merlot, cabernet franc, and cabernet sauvignon. Soft fruit tones here, a nice opening taste that brightens up the dark smokiness of the wild boar. In the glass, it’s a bright, zippy pink. And against the bright plated greens, it’s a pairing made in Laura Ashley / Ralph Lauren / prep school heaven. A visual feast, and great sipping with the escarole, wild snap peas and boar bacon ball.

 

Course 1 Pairing: Chateau Calabre - Bergerac Rose