I love bacon. I'm not shy about this fact of life. I. Love. Bacon. I have for as long as I can remember. In grade school, I once ordered a BLT hold the T at a restaurant. The waitress told me it wasn't a very healthy choice. I didn't care, because the T got in the way of the BACON so why in the world would I want it on the sandwich?
Now, I can appreciate tomatoes. But I'll admit that bacon often makes decisions for me. Out for lunch and deciding between two sandwiches? Which one has bacon? CHOOSE THAT ONE. Oh, that breakfast special you're eyeballing doesn't come with bacon? FORGET IT. Or, order it as a SIDE. Excuse me, Steve, did a hostess ask YOU to cook the bacon as we help out with the meal? STEP ASIDE. No, seriously, back away from the bacon.
I have sharing issues when it comes to bacon. Maybe it's unhealthy for my relationships and my heart, but I love bacon and that's the unequivocal truth.
On Sunday, Steve and I went to a bourbon tasting dinner at Newstead Tower Public House, where each course was accompanied with a different bourbon and a bourbon cocktail. It was one of the best meals that we've had in St. Louis, and the chef came out to talk to each table individually at the end of the night, which made us feel very special. More notably, my obsession with bacon has risen to new heights because of this meal. We ate a beef stew filled with the most delicious, thick-cut, tender-fatty bacon I have ever tasted. Glorious. Also, we enjoyed Newstead's version of a Maple Leaf Cocktail: Bourbon, maple syrup, lemon juice, served in a bacon and pepper rimmed martini glass with an entire strip of bacon as a swizzle stick.
The evening was a bacon revelation. Only my second bacon revelation, the first being on our honeymoon in Portland when Steve and I consumed a maple-bacon donut at Voodoo Doughnuts. I know it sounds unusual, but please, for your own good, don't dismiss it. Once you try it, a fiery passion for bacon will be awoken in you that will never ever extinguish.
Then again, I was bacon crazed before I tried any of the aforementioned delights. Perhaps I am slightly, very slightly, biased.
According to sources--i haven't been there myself to check--Cacao has chocolate covered bacon (or some near equivalent). Just fyi.
ReplyDeleteBacon is what keeps me from being a vegetarian. I wouldn't miss anything else (well, bacon keeps me away and the lure of free protein from deer season...because I'm cheap as well).
Hinkebein's bacon? have you tried? wonderful.