Pralines are the powerfully sweet confections crafted from pecans, sugar, butter and cream. They’re practically candy gospel in New Orleans, and almost always too sweet for my taste. However, I managed to find a version I liked in Portland. At Screen Door, a Southern restaurant from David Mouton and wife Nicole on the city’s East Side that’s wildly popular at brunch. The couple expertly melds praline and bacon with surprising results. The combination seemed grotesque in concept, but actually works well as an indulgent side dish or dessert at the high-energy Screen Door.

Strips of Screen Door Praline Bacon ($4.75) come coated with crushed pecans, cayenne, and brown sugar. The meaty, lacquered strips of cured pork belly strike the right balance of sweet and savory, with textural contrast that’s truly nutty on many levels.

Screen Door is also a restaurant that serves breakfast corndogs and a pile of chicken and waffles so imposing that it would probably make small dogs run for cover, so it’s no surprise the Moutons would deliver such an over the top side dish. They’re the right people for the job, and bacon’s just the vessel to do it.

Dose of Vitamin P spotlights my favorite pork dish from the previous week.