So, I went a little wild with weird meats this weekend. I had some ground buffalo that I bought at Whole Foods, and was looking for a recipe to use it in. I decided to go with a bolognese, and poked around the web for some variants. Epicurious had one with bison, which I figured was close enough. That recipe also called for antelope and/or venison. So I went out to Savenor's to see what I could find... and I found elk burgers. Close enough, mark 2? Why not.
Did that on Friday night, and it was really tasty! The buffalo is probably too close to beef to tell the difference in a tomato heavy sauce like this bolognese. But the elk definitely made the whole thing a little gamey. Which is good for me, but I was worried the husband wouldn't like it. In the end, I'm not sure he noticed.
I've got some of that left over, but it's going to have to wait... because today I'm doing python for lunch (also from Savenor's). Crazy, eh?!? Also, crazy expensive, but let's not worry about that. I'll post later with the results.
Oh, and I had the remaining elk burgers for lunch yesterday. I think they're TOO gamey to do that way. Tasty, but a bit overpowering. Ridiculously filling considering it was only ~ 1/3 pound.
So. The python. Can we post photos here? They're up on FB anyway.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I had no idea what to do with it. It came in two flat fillets about a quarter of an inch thick. White... reminds me of a meaty fish in texture and appearance pre-cooking. Poked around the web and found a chowhounds recommendation to "simmer it quickly with soy, garlic, fish sauce and rice wine". So I did that, with a little added lime-cilantro butter and a sprinkle of cayenne. But how quickly is quickly? I sliced it into cubeybits and did ~4 minutes a side on a decent heat.
It was really tasty! Of course, a lot of that was that the cooking liquid was great. The meat itself has a subtle flavor that I probably clobbered. I liked it. Reminded me of alligator - probably shouldn't be surprising.
Texturally, it was strange. Some bits were REALLY chewy, most weren't. It didn't seem to scale with size. The annoying thing is, I don't know if that comes from over- or under-cooking it.
Fun experiment, glad I did it, but not worth the money, really.
And then we did whole branzino on the grill tonight. Tasty good, but lots and lots of fiddly bones. hmm. Mixed reviews by me. I definitely prefer boneless. I'm going to back to the tuna/swordfish/shark family next time. Or salmon... I can handle the pin bones...
ReplyDeleteSo, bottom line... If you want bang for your exotic meat buck, elk is the way to go. Just don't use it as a burger, because it's more game than you want.
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