The Best (Bacon) Dessert Ever?
The never-ending battle between Coke vs. Pepsi just got an interesting new twist with Pepsi's recent debut of cane sugar-sweetened "Throwback." To do a side-by-side sipping sample between the two involves a search for Coca-Cola made in Mexico.
That South of the Border sweet stuff--which fans describe as crisp when compared alongside the soda spiked with high fructose corn syrup--is the not-so-secret ingredient in a dessert I'm madly in love with: a bacon-topped blue cheese panna cotta. I know it sounds crazy, but somehow it works. This wickedly tasty treat is on the menu at Tom Douglas's Palace Kitchen in Downtown Seattle, one of the country's first gastropubs, making its debut in 1996, long before the term gastropub became red-hot trendy thanks to New York City's Spotted Pig.
Pastry chef Garrett Melkonian whimsically nicknamed this creation "cheese and crackers" because a delicate house-baked saltine leans up against the cheesy custard made from Oregons' Rogue Creamery blue. That silky panna cotta is adorned by crumbled blue and chunky bits of bacon finished in a reduction of Mexican Coke made with cane sugar. But that's not all folks.
There's also slices of Pink Lady apple, cooked sous vide in a mix of bacon fat and butter for 12 hours, a whey caramel finished with a splash of sherry vinegar and a hint of black pepper. Holy moly! Sounds like a whole lot going on one plate, right? Yet no one component shouts too loud. They all get along and, if you can manage to get all the elements in one bite, it's like a salty, sweet, tangy party in your mouth.
I'm not even tempted to try making this at home. Not when I can go feel like a queen eating it at the Palace. (Which has its own Facebook page!) The bacon/Coke combo does inspire me to dig out an old recipe for soda-glazed ribs to inaugurate the summer grilling season. Anybody have good luck with that preparation? Or is Dr. Pepper the griller's go-to pop? Sounds like an excuse for a cook-off. In the meantime, check out this video recipe for the panna cotta:
--Leslie Kelly
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