December 12, 2011

Balut Egg & Okinawan Sweet Potato

I went for the Asian breakfast this morning. Balut egg is a popular treat in the Phillipines, and is, quite simply, a hard-boiled fertilized duck egg. You read that correctly: there is an aborted duck fetus inside these things. After boiling, it all sort of congeals into this gross mass, and tastes similar to chicken hearts. You're supposed to crack the top shell off and fill it with hot sauce and spices. I tried it straight, to judge the duck-bortion...and quickly reached for the red pepper flakes and Louisiana hot sauce. I've got three more of these things, so I better learn to spice them correctly. As a side, I baked half of an Okinawan sweet potato: its purple with white flesh...tastes a little less sweet than a regular sweet potato, but there wasn't anything weird about it. I ate the other half after my workout, with a cup of Greek Yogurt.

Grilled Pig Heart

I'm a big fan of bovine heart, and when I saw four of the porcine variety for $5, I couldn't resist. I didn't have a lot of time for lunch, so I chopped it up and grilled with some butter and garlic. Unfortunately, I'm not a very articulate foodie, so forgive me for the simplicity of my analysis: Pig heart tastes very similar to beef heart, with a noticeable hint of that salty-pork accent.

I look forward to using the other three creatively. (Braised, stew, and inside of a face.) I don't like to fix the same old thing each time; that's just boring. Speaking of which....

Oven baked Wild Boar with Rutabaga Fries

Today was my day to "pig" out. I had four medallions of wild boar, and thankfully had someone to share with. I figured boar tasted similar to pork (it does), so I was a bit more creatively with the seasoning: two with garlic and olive oil, two with basil and oregano. Insanity, I know. I wrapped each medallion in aluminum foil (which held the delicious salty juices very nicely), and baked on medium heat. For whatever reason, one of my medallions came out like a pork loin (tough, salty), and the other came out like a fine steak (very tender, moist). The latter bore into my taste buds (pun intended) with a magnificence that actually surprised me.

While the meat was cooking, I roasted broccoli and finished the plate with broiled rutabaga steak fries. This was probably my favorite meal of the weekend. I don't eat pork very often (you wouldn't know that by looking at my menu for the rest of the week), so it was nice to try the wild cousin: the boar.