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

Advertisement

Grilled Lamb Heart (Coco 500, SF)

Lamb Heart  – Grilled Lamb Heart Salad

Unless you grow up in a culture that appreciates the many wonderful parts of animals and how to prepare and cook them properly, you might cringe a bit when reading a menu that offers lamb heart. But in the hands of Coco 500 Chef Mike Morrison, this is one of the best lamb dishes you might ever eat.

The heart slices are layered across the long, narrow plate and delicately decorated with arugula, generous smatterings of super-soft cheese, and a sprinkling of fennel pollen.  The fennel pollen is wondrously subtle and plays out as one of those rare, unique ingredients that can integrate various tones and flavors into a harmonious dish.

But the heart is the, uh, heart of the dish.  It is awesome and should be on more menus., if only more people would put their adventure mouth on when dining out.

Grilling Lamb Heart – Flatiron

An entire lamb heart itself is brined, sliced into thirds, flatiron-grilled to a lovely warm rare, and has a fantastic flavor with simple sea salt, ground pepper, and extra virgin olive oil. Lamb heart tastes much like a steak-foie gras hybrid with an earthy hint of liver. The meat has wonderful tones, is absurdly tender, and would be a conversation starter for anyone who can get out of their own prejudices to try it. The foie gras taste is less rich and overwhelming, and the liver is there ever so slightly; heart’s just a great meat. 

The Grade: Awesome / Exceptional (my highest grade)

The Skinny: Coco 500  – 500 Brannan St, San Francisco CA

Phone: (415) 543-2222

Website: http://www.coco500.com

Chef: Michael Morrison