McKenzie’s Own! I LOVE those guys!
Their Fiery Apricot Spread, just as it is out of the jar, makes an *outstanding *ham glaze.
Mmmmmmmmmm…Coffee and Butterscotch
The Indian restaurant near me does a fantastic Kashmiri naan, which is bread stuffed with dried fruits. I often get it with a really spicy curry and just rip the naaan into pieces and pour the curry over it. It is like eating the main course and dessert at the same time.
Man, that sounds great… but I, too, gave up meat quite some time ago.
I like to slice up a mango and mix it with rocket and some extra virgin olive oil and cracked pepper. Sweet peppery goodness.
On Anthony Bourdain’s latest show, he sampled a maple-iced doughnut topped with bacon. He’s known for tasting anything–but gobbled this right down. Picture here: http://voodoodoughnut.com/menu.html
A local favorite is the “Paté de France” sandwich at Spec’s Liquor Warehouse, near downtown (Houston)–paté, angus roast beef, coleslaw, dijon mustard, lettuce & tomato on rye. I request the Paté with Grand Marnier; the slight sweetness picks up the caraway seeds in the rye bread & contrasts with the richness of the other ingredients. (Sounds ritzy, but it’s $6.99!)
Actually, it’s more like the windshield wiper blade from a rusted out Chevy Nova that’s been driven around downtown Detroit in February.
My favorite strange combo is hot pepper jelly. The hotness of the peppers with the sweetness of the jelly is surprising yet completely satisfying.
Popcorn dipped in chocolate fondue.
Fig Newtons and scotch. They’re good for dunking.
Thin slices of sharp brick cheddar cheese dipped in caramel—BEYOND good!
When I was on Atkins long ago, I also loved thin slices of sharp cheddar dipped in peanut butter. Haven’t had that in quite some time, wonder if it would have the same delight for me as it once did?
It seems like caramel and maple flavors blend well with lots of salty items like meats, doesn’t it? Hence the popularity of that McD’s breakfast sammy with the maple pancake-biscuits holding it all together (at least in MY market, it is popular), and I think Aunt Jemima markets something similar (maple pancake sandwiches with sausage, bacon or ham) in the frozen foods case. Perhaps because those flavors contain a bit of salt themselves, they just seem to make a great partner for other salty delicacies.
I love sweet-hot too, and think that medium-dark chocolate with chilis or cayenne in it is a food of the gods. An ice-cream maker in my hometown makes a dark chocolate, heavy-fat ice cream with loads of chili and cinnamon in it, and it is soooo worth going home for–very smooth, and icy and burning at the same time. I want some right now!
–Beck
My dad’s favorite sandwich was what he called a “P.O.T.” – Peanut butter, Onion, and Tomato. Ick.
I’ve got a killer recipe for a jello-pretzel “salad.” Broken stick pretzels soaked in butter make the “crust,” then there are layers of strawberry jello mixed with pineapple juice, cream cheese, and I think Cool Whip. The buttery, saltiness just goes GREAT with the oversweet jello goo. Yum.
I, too, used to make “sandwiches” with slices of American “cheese” and peanut butter. Used to gross out my older brothers. But, hey, you can buy peanut butter-filled cheese crackers, right? What’s the diff?
Bacon dipped in maple syrup…yummy. I’d deliberately let my bacon mingle w/the run-off from the pancakes.
Speaking of pancakes, I grew up on pancakes that were 1st buttered, then slathered in peanut butter, then drizzled with (usually fake) maple syrup. I really miss the peanut butter on the pancakes when eating breakfast at a restaurant.
I see a peanut butter theme, here. Dad’s sure got a lot to answer for!
Yep, that’s my favorite sweet 'n salty combo too (pretzels and ice cream). I do enjoy B&J Chubby Hubby from time to time, but my preference is the thin pretzel sticks in ice cream. I also like to eat potato chips and cake, especially if the cake is a really sweet one.
laughs Now I want some pretzels and ice cream, and here it is, 6:50 AM! Shame on me. 
I like salty + sour, spicy + sour, savory + sour, bitter + sweet, sweet + sour spicy + sweet, and savory + sweet. I like grapefruit with some salt, or salty soft pretzels with yellow mustard. I like sharp cheddar with mustard too. I love lemon pepper, but I also like fresh squeezed lemon juice with corn chips. This past Christmas I discovered a good combination. Buttermilk biscuits, sharp cheddar, and dried apricot, pear or plum. (I didn’t much like the taste of the dried apples that came in the bag with the rest of the fruit, not even in a biscuit.) I had that for a light supper and it was good. I also like to mix the Spicy V8 and the Lemon V8 to get a spicy sour drink. I like General Tsao’s chicken, or whatever it’s called, the spicy sweet stuff. I’ve had other “Hunan” things along those lines that I loved too, but I don’t remember the names. One of my favorite bevarages is strawberry (or rasberry) lemonade. I also like limeade heavy on the lime. I love to have chicken cooked with sliced onions, slices of lemon, and some black peppercorns too. I’m fond of cappachino with a one of those good quality chocolate coins melted in it, or with a chocolate dipped biscotti. Bacon or sausage and maple syrup…yum!
I also love peanut butter and apple slices, especially with Granny Smiths.
When I was little, I used to dunk peanut butter sandwiches (my staple food) in milk. Seems kind of gross now, but I liked it.
I also liked to put Cool Ranch Doritos in my peanut butter sandwiches. That still seems like it’d be delicious, but I haven’t tried it in a long time.
Like others, I too dipped bacon in maple syrup, but I don’t eat bacon anymore (basically the only meat I miss).
I love salty french fries dipped in a vanilla shake.
Chubby Hubby is indeed excellent. And I love the malt. I used to pile on the malt powder whenever I had a bowl of ice cream and make sure each bite had a bunch of still-dry malt powder with it. Yum.
Salty preztels with chocolate/peanut butter/caramel is an excellent combination. One of my coworkers made little treats for Christmas that were basically this: pretzel, topped with a chocolate-covered caramel, topped with a pecan. That was one of the best-tasting things I’ve ever experienced.
In reading my post, I see a lot of "I used to"s. One of my more recent veg*an treats has been a tub of Soy Delicious Chocolate Peanut Butter and a jar of Real peanut butter. Cover half the spoon in peanut butter, half in ice “cream.” Super yummy.
As have many posters, I find cream cheese goes with just about anything. Particularly olives. My mother claims this is an Episcopalian delicacy but, not really being anythingian myself, I dunno.
However: Cream cheese on Oreos (or Hydrox, if that’s your bent) is DIVINE.
Well, most of mine have been covered, but here’s one I haven’t seen mentioned: chocolate and red wine. Of course, you don’t actually mix them together, but the way the flavors meld in your mouth is really nice. I “discovered” this one at Romano’s Macaroni Grill a few years back. I was asking which red wine he recommended to go with my steak, and he then suggested that I try the peppery Merlot (or Shiraz - I don’t remember) with their chocolate cake for dessert. I gave him a :dubious: kind of look, but went along with it. Boy oh boy was I happy that I did!
I love alot of the same salty/sweet or spicy/sweet themes already mentioned…but no one’s listed my favorites yet:
Take one bowl of vanilla ice cream, crush saltine crackers over the top, drizzle honey over the whole thing…
Hot buttered movie popcorn with one large box of Junior Mints sprinkled in.
Lynch BBQ also markets a ‘Boars Berry Blaster’ sauce which is a cominbation of peppers and rasberries IIRC…tastes awesome on lots of differnt things…
Espresso and vanilla gelato for me. Red wine and coffee for the Ms. Chocolate and chipotle.
Extra sharp cheddar atop a slice of HOT apple pie.
Peanut butter and tuna fish, and no, I’m not kidding. The salty tuna with the nutty goodness… Yum!
Joe
Homemade chocolate chocolate chunk cookies dipped in French onion dip. Mmmm. ::drools:: I’ve heard they’re good with red wine, too. A co-worker introduced me to peanut butter M&Ms and hot, buttered microwave popcorn. And then there’s a sushi restaurant that made a sweet & sour veggie tempura roll that I loved to dunk in wasabi with a dab of soy sauce. Yummy!