I received some unsolicted venison from a boyfriend of a friend "for Christmas." I thought to myself, "Why are you handing me raw meat when I'm 250 miles and 3 days from my home?" After an awkward, "uh, thanks?" 500 miles and four days later, I set out to make a meal out of this huge hunk of meat with little knowledge of how to cook it and no knowledge of how it was hunted and butchered (that knowledge would have been very unsolicited).
I took a "patient poll" to see if anyone has cooked venison before-this being Missouri and all-and I got blank stares and one "you need to make sure it doesn't taste gamey." I've heard this expression before, but if one has never eaten 'game' then how do you know something is 'gamey?' I consulted my "Joy of Cooking" (not to be confused with the Joy of Sex) and after being sidetracked on how to cook my muskrat, I was left as confused as when I started.
I actually converted a beef slow cooker recipe for "Italian Pot Roast" and inserted "venison roast" where it said "beef roast." It turned out quite well. The trick to venison is the bbq pit masters mantra "low and slow." I served this over polenta which was an unnecessary, but low cost, addition.
I added massive quantities of cayenne pepper to the tomato/venison mix and converted the pot roast into ropa vieja and froze for a lazy day.
Never turn your nose up to free meat.
Monday, December 28, 2009
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Poopy's
Did I say Poopy's? Freudian slip. The restaurant being reviewed her is PAPPY's. Pappy's Smokehouse. There is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING AT THIS BARBEQUE SPOT THAT MAKES YOU POOP. Pappy specializes in "Memphis Style BBQ," which after taking a blogspot Wiki break, learned that is involves ribs and some sauce (leaning toward the sweet). Apparently, at sometime (and currently, according to Wikipedia) there is this phenomenon known as "St Louis Style BBQ." My question to you is: if there is St Louis style BBQ, why would this uber-popular place call itself Memphis style? Ponder that one for awhile.
Rumor and Travel Channel proof demonstrates the popularity of this place, which "sells out before they even open" or something like that. They have ribs, pulled pork, brisket, and pulled chicken (this is what's left at 5 PM-who the hell eats this at a BBQ joint?) They received a timely opening-year boost from Man vs. Food on the Travel Channel, they now offer the ridiculous Adam Bomb, which is a 6-pound medley of pulled pork, beef brisket, chicken, loin ribs, and four sides with a frito pie. Adam didn't actually eat this-he had some Crown Candy regurgitation to unveil- but looking around at our 10:57 AM fellow patrons, they have.
Foregoing the Adam Bomb for something more economical (38 bucks vs. 12) we opted to split a platter with pulled pork (his fav) and brisket (my fav). Sweet potato fries, with cinnamon sugar and baked beans rounded out a perfectly portioned meal for two. For 16 bucks. This is less than Bread Company. They offer three bbq sauces, of which the original was my fav for the meat, but the sweet baby pairs interestingly with the sweet potato fries dipped into it.
Go early, go often. They do sell out. It's all right to take the early bird special of not having to wait for a table.
www.pappyssmokehouse.com
Rumor and Travel Channel proof demonstrates the popularity of this place, which "sells out before they even open" or something like that. They have ribs, pulled pork, brisket, and pulled chicken (this is what's left at 5 PM-who the hell eats this at a BBQ joint?) They received a timely opening-year boost from Man vs. Food on the Travel Channel, they now offer the ridiculous Adam Bomb, which is a 6-pound medley of pulled pork, beef brisket, chicken, loin ribs, and four sides with a frito pie. Adam didn't actually eat this-he had some Crown Candy regurgitation to unveil- but looking around at our 10:57 AM fellow patrons, they have.
Foregoing the Adam Bomb for something more economical (38 bucks vs. 12) we opted to split a platter with pulled pork (his fav) and brisket (my fav). Sweet potato fries, with cinnamon sugar and baked beans rounded out a perfectly portioned meal for two. For 16 bucks. This is less than Bread Company. They offer three bbq sauces, of which the original was my fav for the meat, but the sweet baby pairs interestingly with the sweet potato fries dipped into it.
Go early, go often. They do sell out. It's all right to take the early bird special of not having to wait for a table.
www.pappyssmokehouse.com
Sidney Street Cafe
Watching my fiance's eyes glaze over as the waitress provided lengthly descriptions of the chalkboard menu kicked off an evening of the 'surprise' Christmas gift for him. Apparently, the Ghost of Christmas Girlsfriends Past alluded to the notion that taking your male sig. other out for a fancy restaurant is not, in fact, something that constitutes a gift for him, but yet another gift for yourself . So I kept this one a surprise until 2 hours before our departure when he dropped the bomb (literally) that a well-intentioned lunch at Taco Bell may have taken a turn for the worse.
"I have no idea what sweatbreads are." "You don't want them." It's always funny that he asks these questions because he wants one of two things: 1. steak 2. bacon-wrapped-blank. Since there was a filet offering for an entree and bacon wrapped shrimp app, he elected to have each. I of course, took the special which included (brace yourself) bacon wrapped shashimi-grade tuna. Well, there are things that bacon probably shouldn't be wrapped in, and I will tell you raw tuna is one of them. It was an interesting thought, and probably should have been kept just a thought. Filet was outstanding. In addition to the bacon wrapped shrimp, we had the oyster poorboy, lobster turnover, and the down south roll as appetizers. The poorboy and the roll were the best with the other two just average.
Our waitress was, as far as I could tell, was one of the best at the place. She rattled off the memorized menu with gusto and without a fumble; I looked over during our meal at a table nearby and the waitress was staring somewhere between the ceiling and my head as she described the menu.
All-in-all, it took us awhile to get into this place (think four-ish weeks for a Saturday dinner), and we're glad we went. Our final bill was around 150 dollars (with tip) and we will have to work a few more shifts to come back here again.
http://www.sidneystreetcafe.com/
"I have no idea what sweatbreads are." "You don't want them." It's always funny that he asks these questions because he wants one of two things: 1. steak 2. bacon-wrapped-blank. Since there was a filet offering for an entree and bacon wrapped shrimp app, he elected to have each. I of course, took the special which included (brace yourself) bacon wrapped shashimi-grade tuna. Well, there are things that bacon probably shouldn't be wrapped in, and I will tell you raw tuna is one of them. It was an interesting thought, and probably should have been kept just a thought. Filet was outstanding. In addition to the bacon wrapped shrimp, we had the oyster poorboy, lobster turnover, and the down south roll as appetizers. The poorboy and the roll were the best with the other two just average.
Our waitress was, as far as I could tell, was one of the best at the place. She rattled off the memorized menu with gusto and without a fumble; I looked over during our meal at a table nearby and the waitress was staring somewhere between the ceiling and my head as she described the menu.
All-in-all, it took us awhile to get into this place (think four-ish weeks for a Saturday dinner), and we're glad we went. Our final bill was around 150 dollars (with tip) and we will have to work a few more shifts to come back here again.
http://www.sidneystreetcafe.com/
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