On most menus this would probably have been called Liver & Onions, and I've wanted to blog a good version of this for some time. I got my chance today at a country cafe where the liver was superb and cost half of what I would have paid elsewhere. The liver was cornmeal encrusted, which gave the exterior a nice crunch, and it was obviously grilled on a flattop. I got two generous slices, with plenty of grilled onion, and the flavor was quite possibly the best I've had. I took the choice of sliced fresh tomatoes instead of potatoes, and for my bread I chose the cornbread which came with honey-flavored butter. A vegetable was also included which, in my case, was carrot slices with melted butter and honey. The carrots and honey added sweetness to the savory liver, and the tomato slices added freshness and a touch of sour. The staff were extremely friendly, and so were the other customers, many of whom showed up with their dogs (we all ate outside). This was a noteworthy liver and onions experience.
Location: Flo's Country Cafe, 10140 Beaumont Avenue, Cherry Valley, California. Date: June 10, 2023.
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Garrobo is a spiny tailed iguana which is part of the mountain meat category on some Nicaraguan menus. Desmenuzado means crumbled in English, and the meat was basically shredded but still had some remnants of bone in it. I could also have had the iguana grilled or fried on a flat top, but I took the waiter's suggestion. The little pieces of meat were served as a stew with slices of still crunchy onion and green pepper with some tomato pieces in a light but salty tomato broth. It came with rice, corn tortilla, and spicy pickled onion. The meat didn't taste like much, but it wasn't as tough as I thought it might be. Frankly, the vegetables the meat came with were more enjoyable than the meat itself; nevertheless, I'm glad I got to try it.
Location: Don Pepe, Teatro Municipal ½ c al sur, Leon, Nicaragua. Date: February 24, 2023. This was two young duck legs with thigh served on top of yam hash and braised sweet and sour red cabbage, with seasonal vegetables and a side of bing cherry sauce. The duck skin was crispy, but I thought the meat itself was a touch dry; however, for me the meat was really just a vehicle for the delicious cherry sauce. The sauce, which featured whole cooked cherries, wasn't too sweet, and I was told that it had port wine in it. I thought that the duck meat really benefited from the sweet components on the plate. The dish was garnished with a sprig of fresh rosemary that I bit into every once in a while.
Location: Miro's, 1555 South Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs, California. Date: February 25, 2022. This amazing burger came, apart from the medium rare venison patty, with hardwood smoked bacon, wine poached pear, and mushrooms, and on the top bun there was lettuce, tomato, and whipped cream with plum jelly. I kid you not. There was a lot of sweet going on with the pear and the whipped cream and the jelly, but it was balanced by the savory venison patty, the bacon, and the mushrooms. Then there was the freshness of the lettuce and tomato. Deer has less fat than beef, but the patty wasn't too dry, and the rest of the burger was quite juicy. The whipped cream melted when I put the two halves of the bun together, but it was visually interesting before that. There was a sweet spice in the pear that I couldn't quite put my finger on, and overall this was a delicious and very unique burger.
Location: Crazee Burger, 3993 30th Street, San Diego, California. Date: July 27, 2021. Meat is like fish in that it stays tender and moist as long as you don't cook it. That was my experience this afternoon with my raw bison. The finely chopped meat was seasoned with shallots, capers, and parsley, and it was served with grilled scallion aioli and bread crisps. The whole dish was garnished with very thinly grated parmesan cheese. The bread crisps were three extremely thin slices of bread that were toasted. The soft but still slightly chewy meat went well with the crisp bread. The parmesan was the real deal and added umami, but none of the flavors overpowered the delicate flavor of the meat. When I got to the restaurant, I found that Rabbit Sausage was on the happy hour menu, so I ordered one of those and together with my bison appetizer, I had a whole meal. The sausage came with pickled red onion, whole grain mustard, and warmed up French bread that was soft on the inside but with a somewhat crunchy crust. The sour flavors of the pickle and mustard went very well with the savory sausage. Yes, rabbit does remind you of chicken, but I can't remember having a chicken sausage as good as this one.
Location: The Lion's Share, 629 Kettner Blvd, San Diego, California. Date: July 25, 2021. The owner of Smokin' Burgers brought back some moose meat from Alaska, and Chef Tony, our local celebrity chef, created a moose fettuccine dish with it, and I was gifted a takeout container of the delectable creation. The moose meat was very tender; I'll have to ask Chef Tony how he did it. The meat was featured in a cream sauce with button mushrooms that was ladled over the perfectly cooked pasta. The dish was so savory and delicious that I'll have to push for Alaskan moose to be on the Smokin' menu alongside the wild Alaskan salmon. The well-seasoned moose meat was definitely the star of this noteworthy dish.
Location: Smokin' Burgers, 1775 E Palm Canyon Drive, Ste 220, Palm Springs, California. Date: November 19, 2020. This roughly minced and tender wild boar does taste wild, but in a good way. It's flavored with lots of lemongrass which is chopped fine so you can easily eat it. The red pepper is mild; the heat does build a little as you eat, but it's never too much. This seems to be a stir fried dish with red and green bell pepper and peanuts. It's garnished with delicate green leaves that taste like lemongrass, but they certainly don't look like lemongrass leaves. The dish showed up with an impressive toasted rice cracker with black sesame seeds in it. I was told to break some of the cracker off and spoon some meat onto it. The resulting morsels were delicious. The meat appeared to have been flavored with some soy sauce and maybe some turmeric (there was a definite yellow color). Even though this was a lemongrass forward dish, I could still enjoy the taste of the wild boar.
Location: Que Huong Restaurant, 4134 University Avenue, San Diego, California. Date: August 7, 2019. My friend Jacky introduced me to a homeless man, Pepe, who invited us to his camp in the woods, close to the sea, for lunch. We parked the car by the road, and walked for about forty minutes on a muddy trail to reach the site. When we got there, Pepe took us into the woods an showed us, hanging from a tree branch, the carcass of the wild goat that he had caught. While Jacky and I went on a walk by the sea, Pepe prepared the goat and cooked it. When we got back, there was a table set in a clearing in the woods, complete with tablecloth and wine glasses. Jacky had brought wine and bread, and while we were drinking Pepe suddenly jumped up, grabbed a wine bottle, and ran over to the goat that was cooking over a wood fire. When he came back, he said that the goat had called out to him and asked for wine! The goat arrived on the table well cooked and quite delicious. Soaking up the olive oil and wine sauce with the bread was, as is often the case with me, my favorite part of the meal. After we ate, Pepe invited us for coffee and liqueur tasting. He brewed decent coffee, and the home made herbal liqueurs were given to him by the man who made them. Pepe, who'd been living at his little campsite for over thirty years, gave me a most memorable culinary experience to say the least. Location: Private Campsite on Menorca, Spain. Date: December 14, 2018. After I ordered, the friend who took me to this excellent restaurant in a small town in Catalunya, blurted out, “You're going to eat Bambi!” This seasonal deer dish was served with three different kinds of mushrooms, Port wine demi-glace flambe, and a cream sauce for contrast. After the meal I got to meet Chef Silvino Gonzalez who told me that I was the only patron who had ordered that dish today. It was hard to believe as the dish was sweet, salty, savory, and had the wow factor. I've eaten raw deer in Japan, but this was the best cooked deer I've ever had.
Location: Ca la Manyana, Av. Verge de Montserrat 38, Sant Julia de Vilatorta, Spain. Date: December 1, 2018. County Line BBQ looks like a junkyard out in the countryside literally in the middle of nowhere; one would never guess, driving past, that it's a gourmet wild game grill. I stopped here finally, after driving past a number of times on my way from the desert to San Diego via the mountain route, and I enjoyed this plate with two sausages I selected from the extensive menu: wild boar is in the foreground, and the other one is pheasant. The pheasant was actually the more distinctive of the two, and it's the one I would order again first. The dipping sauce was a tangy honey mustard affair. I enjoyed my lunch al fresco, and I'd stop here again in a heartbeat. Location: County Line BBQ on the Riverside and San Diego county line, Hwy 79, California. Date: January 31, 2014. |
AuthorChef Roland has been a legal resident of seven countries and has travelled in over thirty, documenting food along the way. He currently resides in the desert in Southern California. Categories
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