Truffle Mutt

What's your Beef?

What could be better than a medium rare, succulent, perfectly seasoned piece of beef?  A medium rare, succulent, perfectly seasoned piece of bison - that's what.

I don't know for sure when we started eating bison, probably when we lived in the condo and shopped at the seedy 24 hour IGA in Lakeview (I think it's finally morphed into a Sobey's).  For some reason you could buy fresh bison there when no where else in Calgary seemed to carry it.  Who knew?

Now-a-days though, I buy my bison from Glengary Bison out in Airdrie.  Cynthia and Gary are great and you can buy direct at their farm, or have them deliver your order right into town.  The bison is naturally raised, which is as close to organic as you can get without the certification and the flavor is amazing.  Some of the other bison producers I've tried seem to have a gamier tasting product, but Glengary is right in the middle.  You can tell it's not beef, but the taste won't overwhelm you either.  The biggest difference between beef & bison for me is in the tenderloin.  With beef it can be hard to find a tenderloin with a lot of flavor.  It might be tender and melt in your mouth good, but at the same time leave your taste buds hoping for something more.  Here's where I think that bison saves the day.  It can have that same tenderness with a bolder meaty taste.

I pan seared this tenderloin roast and then finished it in the oven, served with a shallot and sherry reduction.

Opinionated eh?

Well here's some food for thought.  I was surfing the net today and on a whim decided to Goggle trufflemutt.  Little did I know that I would stumble upon this little nugget of goodness (heavy on the sarcasm).  

Sure, when you first land on this link you may not understand why I've sent you here, but look down a little further and you'll soon see what's got me in a tizzy.  Scroll down to Truffle Mutt and read the description for this blog.  Well, come on did you SEE it?

In Webster's dictionary terms this comment can be translated to:

–adjective obstinate or conceited with regard to the merit of one's own opinions; conceitedly dogmatic.

Really?!  Seriously?!  Fine, if that's how it's going to be, then in my less-than-humble opinion you're opinion is irrelevant. 

If you don't like what's posted here, I hope you find yourself a blog loaded with sugar plum fairies and skies filled with endless rainbows.  A virtual foodies paradise where where dinner is always on time, restaurants always provide perfect service, souffles never collapse, husbands are never picky and every single recipe, published or otherwise yields flawless results. 

And for anyone else that would rather read about what really goes on in my kitchen (which is incredibly far from the above), please you are welcome to keep reading.

Coriander & Cilantro

I love this recipe from Fine Cooking Magazine.  A think juicy pork chop, crusted in a pungent coriander spice mix, fried until crispy and drizzled with a citrus-y hoisin sauce and the sweet heat of peppadews.  Served with sesame sauteed cabbage. Yum.

And who knew I'd love coriander seed so much?  It's nothing like it's evil fresh relative - the dreaded cilantro.  The flavor is earthy, sweet and somewhat peppery.  As opposed to cilantro, which (at least to me) is akin to sucking liquid hand soap through a straw.  

Kale Chips

About a year ago I was putting on a dinner for Jason's vegan Aunt and Uncle and I found this gem of a recipe.  It's always a challenge to make dinner when they come into town, but it's a challenge I eagerly await.  It's fun looking for new and exciting things to turn vegan and as a result we've had lots of good vegan dishes, but these chips have to go down in the history books.  Believe it or not even Mr Meat & Cheese was grazing on these greens. 

I suppose you could make them with almost any spices you want.  I've made them with olive oil & sea salt and olive oil, chili powder & garlic.  I think a mix of cumin and coriander seed would be worth trying too, but my favorite is still plain sea salt and olive oil.  The recipe on Epicurious specifically calls for Tuscan kale, but I've used a few different kinds and they've all turned out well.  The only thing that might change is the baking time as one bunch of kale can be soggier than the next and may take longer to dry out.  Be warned - do not take it out too early, or you'll be chewing on a rubbery, grassy leaf.