Five of us went to a restaurant this past week.  The menu was mostly uninspired, but one appetizer stood out:  Chicken-fried Bacon.Me being my typical self asked the waitress if this was an error, if it should have read Bacon Fried Chicken (otherwise known as Maryland Fried Chicken) where batter-dipped chicken is fried in bacon fat.  I love chicken fried this way.

She said the menu was correct.  It was 4 strips of sugar-cured double-cut bacon which was batter-dipped and deep fried.  Granted my cholesterol is great and my triglycerides are healthy, but both of them whispered to my brain an emphatic No!

Somebody at the table ordered it anyhow to share.

deep fried bacon

About 1/2 a slice of this intense creation was enough.  Bacon holds a strong flavor as is. Because the batter collects flavor through the rendered fat, the appetizer had an excessively strong bacon taste.  It also had an intensity of salt that seemed like it could be toxic and enough grease to make me worry about my tummy.  The batter-dipping is nothing more than a gimmick.

I am going to steal the conclusion from one of my favorite blogs:  TheBittenPath

Roy, the owner of the site, always finishes his post with a Fear Factor and a Taste Test.  So here we go:

Fear Factor – For me, a 4 due to grease.  For someone with heart disease or hypertension it would be a 10 due to probable death.

Taste Test – 3.  Sometimes too much of a good thing is a bad thing.