Two Kangaroo Dishes

I bought a pound of ground kangaroo meat at Jungle Jim's, and honestly didn't know what to expect. I've been around the block a few times with unconventional ground meats, mainly turkey and bison, but kangaroo is by fair the most "exotic". And I was quite impressed. The meat is extremely lean and lacks the "gamey" taste you'd expect from the marsupial. It isn't as dry as turkey, but it definitely helps to add some extra fat (olive oil, in these two dishes).

The first thing to do with ground meat is a good ole fashioned burger. I mixed in extra virgin olive oil, parmasean cheese, basil, garlic, a little hot sauce and basalmic vinegar. It was De-licious. I served it grilled onions, tomatoes, and a spring/spinach salad with zucchini.

The second dish I made was a basic stir fry with olive oil, hot chili powder, garlic, broccoli, and

cauliflower. This, again, was delicious. I'm sorry I can't articulate the flavor more than " it wuz good". If you can get your hands on some kangaroo, I highly recommend giving it a try. Its a little expensive (10-12 bucks per lbs), but well worth the experience.

Hearty Deer Stew (with homemade broth)

I loved making this dish. I made the broth with some leftover steak bones, an old marrow bone I

had cleaned out, and the old ham bone from the pork heart stew. I boiled 'em with some onion, garlic, and celery greens for a light but delicious soup. Not bad for scraps. I had a 3 lbs deer roast in the freezer from my cousin (he's a hunter). I had deer burger a few weeks ago, but I was excited to try to a good chunk of the animal.

I marinated the roast in beer overnight, and then set the crock pot on low for about 12 hours. Tossed in some onions, garlic, peppercorn, and carrots with the broth and beer, and the meat was falling apart when I got home for dinner. What I liked best about this dish was that twice, with the broth and the actual stew, I got to throw a bunch of stuff together, let it sit for a few hours, and then discover the product.

I can definitely see myself later in adulthood setting the crock pot on low before I go to work, and fidget with excitement at my desk, daydreaming about the wonderful creation I have waiting. Hopefully I'll have someone to share it with. If not....LEFTOVERS!

A GODDAMN PIG'S FACE

Yeah, you read that right. I ate a pig's face. I cured a split pig snout for 7 days with salt, sugar, garlic, thyme, and lemon. I cooked it, and served half cold and half hot. I'm not entirely sure of the anatomical components of pig's freakin' face, but I'm pretty sure its 95%+ fat, and not the good kind that makes bacon delicious. The consistency, once you get through the rough skin, is gelatinous. Not as a disgusting as slow cooked trotter, but pretty bad. I think the proper seasoning and different cooking method could have saved this dish (a boat load of cajun spices and a crisp roast over a fire, for example). This was my first time doing this, and I'd really like to talk to a real chef to know where I went wrong. At least the mustard and lager were good. ;)

In life, it doesn't matter if you have a good experience or a bad experience. It all pays off if you

have a good story to tell afterwards. And dear baby Jesus, this is one of my weirder ones.

December 14, 2011

Baked Porcine Heart & Boniato Potato

You've seen the former before, and the latter is a Caribbean sweet potato. Brown skin, cream-white insides. Both were brushed with olive oil and baked for about an hour while I did other shit. Topped the potato with garlic butter and walnuts. Dipped the heart in regular goddamn mustard. It was okay. 

Acorn Squash Soup (with homemade duck broth)

I had 5 duck heads that I used to make a nice broth (along with carrots, onions, thyme, and assorted spices.) I filled an acorn squash with duck broth and set it in a pot to let it swim in the leftover liquid. Baked for a good four hours. It was delicious. I liked it on its own, but it would have gone nicely with some shredded chicken or perhaps some ground beef.

December 13, 2011

Poached Balut with Baked Taro Root

I tried my hand at poaching a balut egg this morning. I had boiled the previous one, and had expected the fetus to sort of drop out of the shell easily. Nope. Anyway, the poached product didn't taste much better. I seasoned with garlic salt and drizzled with Kerrygold garlic and herb butter. I also baked a taro root, which is a SE Asian tuber that is toxic raw: a fact that subconsciously made me cook it for too long.

Similar to a potato, taro roots have a very nutty flavor. If I could find out a way to cook it properly, I think it would be one of my favorite tubers. There's always next time I suppose....

Roasted Bone Marrow and Roasted Duck Head

Pretty self explanatory: I bought a soup bone for a buck, and some duck heads. I used 5 to make broth (for squash soup tomorrow), and threw the rest in the oven. There isn't much meat on the head, but the brains and stuff-inside-bird-bones is pretty delicious. The bone marrow was delectable, as always. And I'm going to use the "leftovers" for another stew next week.

I'm quite proud of this plating, for its simplicity, smooth flavor, and visual beauty.

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.

December 11, 2011

Ground deer with sweet potato hash

I had half of my deer burger left over from last night, so I threw together a quick breakfast hash with sweet potato cubes, red pepper, jalapeno, and tomato. Very simple, and very very filling. I wasn't hungry again until dinner.

Shark steak with malanga root, broccoli, and preserved egg

I went to Jungle Jim's today and picked up a number of wonderful treats. If you check in throughout this week you'll see all sorts of odd foodstuffs. Believe me, you'll either be impressed or disgusted with my haul. I'm going to keep the recipes simple, as you can see from this dish. Its a simple shark streak grilled with Kerrygold herb garlic butter, served with steamed broccoli. I also threw in two preserved eggs (an Asian treat consisting of an egg that has been soaked in salt and tea) and a small malanga root.

The eggs were not good; the "preservation" process destroys all egg flavor and replaces it with his bland gelatinous taste. I barely finished one, and I've got 3 more left. I may just end up throwing those babies out.

Malanga is a nutrient-dense root vegetable common in Cuba dishes, but the taste is pretty bland. I just baked it like a potato and then crisped it with some oil, salt, and pepper. It was pretty boring, and the skin left a strange after taste. I had to "hot sauce" it after a few bites.

The shark, however, was great. Much like mahi mahi, shark is a very "meaty" fish, and I really appreciate how well it holds up on its own. A little garlic butter, salt, and pepper, and I was set.