Bear Sirloin of Panda & Chinese Broccoli

For those looking for more exotic game meats, here's something for you: grilled sirloin of panda, served with Chinese broccoli from Xing Wang in Buenos Aires. The meat is similar to what you get from typical bear meat in that it has a greasy texture to it. But with the animals diet being bamboo, you can taste the differences compared to say, black north american bear meat. Much like tasting the difference between grass and corn fed beef. The meat is cut up and tossed in a sauce and served upon chinese broccoli. It's very expensive since the Chinese government only allows a few pandas to be shipped worldwide for consumption.

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BBQ Wild Boar Ribs (Ribs de Jabali)

I love wild boar. I love BBQ ribs. So let's have them both.

Rather than having to hunt down Jabali meat, luckily BBQ Wild Boar Ribs are an option at Oro & Cándido  in Palermo. In general with boar, the quality all depends on where it comes from. Feral Swine can be very good when hunted naturally and can be equal when farm raised. And of course, there is poorer quality when the jabali feeds on less natural foods in human population rich places.

With the Ribs de Jabali option at Oro & Cándido, you do run into a familiar problem with the menus in Buenos Aires. The actual menu listing is "ribs de jabali". But the use of the English word "ribs" can at times be a problem. "Ribs" on any English menu in North America would likely mean exactly what you are used to: either standard, long ribs or baby back ribs. But at times in Buenos Aires, you'll see the word "rib" used, but the cut is actually not what you'd expect. At Oro & Cándido, the "Ribs de Jabali" aren't a rack of ribs. They are instead costillas de jabali, more like a rack of lamb in the cut of meat.

So the primary letdown is that when ordering "Ribs de Jabali", you aren't actually getting ribs that you're expect.

Once you get past that, you can try to appreciate it. The meat however, is less than great. In smothering with BBQ sauce, you can dress up this pig a bit.

I've had better jabali at a number of places. Not great, not bad at Oro & Cándido. But I'm not sure I would recommend at this particular restaurant.  

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Empanadas de Yacaré, Ñandú y Jabali (Caimen Crocodile, Ostrich, Wild Boar)

Here's a dish for a partially-ambitious carnivore. It's an empanada sampler from Oro & Cándido  in Palermo with (3) empanadas: Crocodile, Ostrich and Wild Boar. So you get to sample some game meats, while enjoying a more familiar style.

All three are similar in preperation: the meat is ground for all three, with some onion and seasoning, and made into an empanada, each with a unique casing.

The Jabali is a more tender white meat, full of juices in the blue corn casing. The flavor is good and it went well with a small side of BBQ sauce I had requested.

As someone that has eaten ample Ostrich in his lifetime, I'm used to the distinct taste of the meat. But they do a good job with the flavor and it tastes similar to a traditional carne empanada.

The Yacaré Crocodile is in the darker whole wheat casing. It's actually the first time I've eaten Yacaré and it did taste quite different that all the alligator I've eaten while living in the United States. I has not a fan as I found the flavor to be similar to what a person smells like after 3 days at Cochella.

But if you're in BA and looking to try something different, give it a whirl. It's only $21AR and is an appetizer, so even if it doesn't satisfy your palate, you'll always have the entrée to follow.

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BBQ Gnocchi & Pulled Pork

This recipe will likely be what I'm ultimately remembered for. Any other accomplishment will likely be shadowed by the pairing of American BBQ with the tasty gnocchi ;). Give it a try and let me know if you like it!

BBQ Gnocchi with Pulled Pork

BBQ Gnocchi as a side dish with maque choux and BBQ chicken

Two months ago, I wrote about a dish I enjoy, BBQ Spaghetti. Many in the south know about it, mostly in the Memphis and northern Mississippi region. But it hasn't really picked up as much in the rest of the country. In fact, I can't recall seeing it on a regular menu at a BBQ joint outside that region, only as a special on occasion.

Whether I'm cooking BBQ on my own, or visiting a BBQ joint, I always prefer some sort of potato side dish. At home, that always means roasted garlic red mashed potatoes, along with a vegetable as the second side (grilled zucchini). At times, it might be a bean dish of some sort as the second side.

But my interest in BBQ Spaghetti got me to think of perhaps an even better pairing...



By swapping spaghetti for gnocchi, I could have my cake and eat it too: a potato pasta!




So here are two different ways to enjoy this tasty dish:


Pulled Pork & BBQ Gnocchi:

BBQ Gnocchi with Pulled Pork

Here's I used sweet and tender rib meat, but traditional pork shoulder used for pulled pork will work just as well.

1) Prepare the pork as you see fit, either rib meat or pork shoulder. If you have the many hours to smoke the meat correctly, go for it.
Shortcut: If you're using left-over pork, that will work fine too.



2) Make the gnocchi.

Gnocchi is an easy pasta to make on your own.
- Just take 1 pound of potatoes and boil until soft.
- in a separate pot, boil enough water to eventually cook the gnocchi
- Once the potatoes are complete, peel and set aside.
- Mash the potatoes
- in a mixing bowl or on a pasta board, combine the potatoes with 1/2 cup of flour.
- Add a pinch of salt, pinch of onion powder, pinch of garlic powder, small pinch of cayenne
- add about half an egg to the mix/pasta well
- knead until you have a dough ball
- cut pieces and form into the desired shapes, roughly 1/2 inch to an inch in size
- set aside

Shortcut: if you don't feel like making the gnocchi from scratch, you can always just buy pre-made gnocchi.

Alternative: sweet potato gnocchi is a perfect alternative...perhaps even the preferred choice.


3) Make your gnocchi sauce:

This will be a combination of ingredients to make along with your BBQ sauce choice. I'll pass on providing a BBQ sauce recipe and just assume most people trying this at home will be using a bottled sauce. No judgement will be passed if you opt to do that ;).

- Dice 1 cup of onion, 1 cup of red bell pepper, 1 cup of green pepper
- mince 4-5 garlic cloves to give you about a tablespoon of garlic. You can also opt to roast the 5 cloves of garlic and add them later in the process.
- in a sauce pan, heat up 1 tablespoon of oil and sauté the garlic and onion.
- add the peppers to the sauce pan
- add a teaspoon of salt, and ground black pepper to taste
- reduce the heat and cover so that the onions start to caramelize and the peppers soften.


4) Finishing the Sauce:
Whether you've prepared your own BBQ sauce or using a bottled sauce, follow the same steps.
- remove the diced and sautéed mixture from heat
- add about a cup of BBQ sauce for starters
- mix all ingredients in the pan, cover, and let sit.


5) Cooking the Gnocchi:
At this time, you'll want to add the gnocchi to the boiling water. Cook for about a minute and place in an ice bath.


6) Putting it all together:
- In the empty pot you used to boil the gnochi, you can now add the completed sauce from the sauce pan.
- Now add the meat and the gnocchi and gently mix as to not damage the gnocchi, but to be sure to complete cover each one with sauce.
- If the gnocchi and BBQ pork mixture is too lightly covered in BBQ sauce, you can always add more BBQ sauce from your own recipe or bottle you're using.



Plate, eat, and enjoy.



BBQ Chicken with BBQ Gnocchi and Marque Choux

In addition to the recipe above where the primary meal is the BBQ Gnocchi, you can also enjoy it as a side dish. Just follow the same steps above to prepare the gnocchi and the sauce. Then just add it as a side dish to whatever BBQ meal you have in mind. Below is an example with a BBQ chicken breast along with maque choux as a side dish.

The 3 item combination might have been even better with collard greens, green beans or grilled zuchinni to add a little green to the dish.

And prepared on it's own, it's a vegetarian BBQ option too.

BBQ gnocchi as a side dish with BBQ chicken and marque choux

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BBQ Baby Back Ribs from Kansas

There aren't too many options for fall-off-the-bone BBQ ribs in Buenos Aires. For all the great meat dishes in the country, so much of the meat options require strict grilling. The idea of slow smoking meat for 6 hours seems alien to many chefs, almost sacreligious. 

I can't count the number of times I sought out places for BBQ ribs (pechito de cerdo) and even found locations that announce them as "BBQ". But most of the time, they aren't. 

Take La Carranzita in Palermo for example. They just take a rack of ribs, throw them on the grill, and put some kind of sauce on them. You can imagine how tough they area: chewy in the middle, burnt on the outside, and just too much work to even get any meat of of them. Even worse is when these same restaurants refuse to use a real barbacoa sauce and instead tries to make their own. And that's what they do at La Carranzita...they  seem to just take a bottle of ketchup, add some sugar and call is "BBQ sauce". 

Luckily, when a rib lover need a BBQ fix and doesn't want to put in an entire day to smoke them, there is Kansas in Palermo. 

I figured it was finally time to take some photogs of their ribs.

The ribs they offer are only baby back, which to me are like the Southwest Airlines of BBQ ribs. But they fall off the bone and don't taste like they've been pre-boiled to be tender. They have a nice smoky flavor and the sauce is excellent as well. Sides are french fries and coleslaw, but I swapped them out for candied batatas and grilled zucchini. 

Overall, they probably aren't much better than baby back ribs you'd get at an American Chili's. But for BA, it's the best of the best. 

The menu has a ton of other great options and specials. When I went this past Sunday, they had grilled swordfish on the menu...and that's a fish I rarely find here. 

They also have a killer dessert menu. Below you'll find their New York style cheesecake, in a frutilla sauce and topped with white chocolate shavings. Good stuff. 

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Pizza at Siamo nel Forno

Siamo nel Forno

Costa Rica 5886, Palermo Hollywood, Buenos Aires

Always earns it's rep as best pizza in the city.

The best of the best. Siamo nel Forno is considered by many to be the best pizza in Buenos Aires, and I concur. The crust is cripsy on the outside, chewy in the middle. The cheese selected is real mozzarella, and not the lower quality cheese you get used to finding on pizza in BA. If you order a pizza margherita (see image), you'll get just a light amount of quality tomatoe, muzzarella y albahaca.

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Sushi Sasabune

Sushi and seafood top the list of food's I miss while living in Buenos Aires. So if you can only eat so much when coming back for a visit, Sasabune is the my choice. I had good sushi in San Francisco, but none tops the omakase at Sasabune in Los Angeles for me. 

The photo above is something I can't seem to get in BA: good albacore sashimi. It's the starter everytime and is perfect. It melts in your mouth like butter and preps you for the next 6-7 plates that come your way. Perfect.

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Xiao Long Bao (Soup Dumplings) from Yank Sing

After Suppenküche, my other food "must" in San Francisco are the Yank Sing soup dumpling. These little morsels of heaven are too hard to find elsewhere at their level of quality. Cold broccoli with oyster sauce is always a good pairing. For all my trips there, this was the 1st when I was with J Abromovitz

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Memphis Minnie's BBQ Joint in San Francisco

Virgil's BBQ in New York was a nice change from typical Argentinian parilla's. But I went to Virgil's my first day in the United States...and I'm here for 3 weeks. So I had to try some new places this trip.

Upon a recommendation, I went to Memphis Minnie's BBQ joint on Haight St. Couldn't ask for a better meal. I ordered the St. Louis Ribs and Memphis meat combo. So the ribs were smoked with dry rub and bare for whatever sauce I wanted. The meat was slow cooked/smoked pork shoulder that was juicy and had the perfect texture. Their side dish options are solid, with big chunks of sweet potato and smoked beans as my choices...and the included cornbread.

The photo does not do the quality of the meal any justice.

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Memphis BBQ Ribs from Virgil's

I've been to well over 100 BBQ joints in the United States over the years. In the past, I'd hop in the car and go on month long road trips with my pre-cell phone, paper directory of BBQ locations. Once I had a cell phone and 7 years later and iPhone, it made it that much easier to go on BBQ exploration.

So it's at times embarrassing when I tell people I meet in places like Memphis and Arkansas, that my favorite Memphis style rib, or any BBQ, is in fact in New York City. Even worse, is that it is in Time's Square. In my defense, Virgil's has been a landmark and was in Time's Square back before the drugs and prostitutes were replaced by Disney plays and corporate chains.

I often go out of my way to get to Virgil's. Sometimes it's just a random trip from California to New York to go there. Other times, it's planning a 2 day stop in New York before heading to Europe. Or last week, I opted to fly to New York first from my home in Buenos Aires, before heading to California for 2 weeks. When it comes to Virgil's, it's worth it.


There are a number of items on the menu that you won't regret getting.

But the gauge of a good BBQ joint is in the ribs. You can dress up pulled pork with different sauces, but a good rib will prove itself without the need for sauce.

Through my many excursions there, I was told by the staff to try their chicken wings. They marinate them for 3-4 days, are smoked, and the staff prides themselves that it' all about the flavor, not just splashing a ton of hot sauce on them. I knew I didn't have any room in my stomach for a full rack of ribs, mashed potatoes, grilled vegetables and cornbread AND the wings, so I didn't order them. But the staff still brought me a plate free of charge just so I would try them. Can't beat that service.

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Suppenküche

Suckling Pig in Bier Sauce &Venison Medallions with Potato Pancakes

Just like pizza, pastrami and Virgil's BBQ are necessary components of every New York trip I go on, Suppenküche is the key to my trips to San Francisco.

I always try to plan a SF trip with a Saturday involved, since it's the only say they serve their special Suckling Pig in Bier Sauce. I've posted about this perfect meal before. Here's my most recent Saturday Suppenküche trip from 1/8/11.

You can't go wrong with the rest of the items on the Suppenküche menu. 

When I'm fortunate enough to be in the Bay Area for a few days, I usually go there for the venison medallions for my second trip. Swapping out the spätzle for potato pancakes is a big win.

UPDATE: June 24, 2011

It's time for a new dish to be added to the Suppenkuche mix here. Behold: roast goose in bier sauce with potato pancake and red cabbage. This dish is perhaps even better than the suckling pig, which is saying a lot.

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Lobster Bisque covered in Puff Pastry

From Enterprise Fish Co. In Santa Monica. Best of the best.

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Filet of Sole Stuffed with Shrimp & Crab

One of the specialties at John's Grill in San Francisco, the dish is called the Lamplighter and is served in a white wine lemon butter sauce. Clam chowder is killer here too...big bowl at a good price. As for the fish, even better than the taste is that when you cut into it, the crab and shrimp jump out like a Tan Tan's innards.

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Wild Boar & Apple Sausage from Rosamunde Sausage Grill

Glad I found this place. I was looking for a change from the Chorizo and Morcilla of Buenos Aires. And sure enough, I randomly saw the Rosamunde Sausage Grill on Haight St., in San Francisco.

For my first trip, I went to the Mission St./24th location. I kept it simple with the Wild Boar & Apple grilled sausage on a perfect piece of French bread, soft to the touch. Perfect for the Köstritzer bier I ordered.

My second was a spicy Italian with grilled onions and peppers.

I took a photo of the menu...so many more options I wish I had time to try them all.

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Pan Seared Scallops in Ginger Cream Sauce

From the Hyde Street Seafood House. I went here based on a tip on their famous lobster bisque. I did get that as well and it lived up to the hype...sorry, no photo.

But I did also get the scallops and was pleased.

Hyde Street Seafood House And Raw Bar
1509 Hyde St
(b/t Jackson St)
Nob Hill
San Francisco, CA 94109
http://yelp.com/biz/dKa_kHlr8fzfgVSl64Mu5w

*Sent from my iPhone.

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Spicy Crab @ PPQ

Major yumz

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New England & California Clam Chowder

From the Blue Mermaid in San Francisco. California Clam Chowder is similar to New England, only with a hint of roasted red pepper pure and asparagus.

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BBQ Spaghetti

When most people think of American BBQ, it's usually just pulled pork, pork and beef ribs, brisket and perhaps chicken that come to memory. But as BBQ fans know, each region of the country has it's own style of preparation as well as sauces.

And in the Memphis region, BBQ has no limits.

Known primarily for it's preparation style for ribs (slow cooked, smoked, with a dry rub instead of sauce). But it's also the home to some unique takes on BBQ. In Memphis and northwest Mississippi, you will often see "BBQ Spaghetti" on the menu...something you will rarely see in other areas of the country.

There are a number of ways to prepare the dish. For my own version, I keep the sauce light, so the flavor of the spices comes out better.


Here's a basic recipe to use as a starting point:



This is a dish that for me best utilizes any left over BBQ pork from earlier in the day, or a day before.

* Prepare a small amount of your own spice mixture that you prefer with your BBQ. For me, this is my own dry rub I use to prepare ribs. No need to share secrets here...each person has their own method.

* Cook/heat the pork in your BBQ or an oven, preserving any juices that are retained. you can also do a quick reheat in a pan on the stove.

* Cook the spaghetti with the amount of salt you prefer during boiling (best if you make your own pasta rather than store bought)

* In a sauce pan, cook some diced onion in a light amount of cooking oil. For each pound of spaghetti you are cooking, you should have 1/2 cup of onion. So if cooking a 1 lb box of spaghetti, you'll want 1/2 cup of onion. Green and/or Red Bell Peppers are an optional ingredient you can include).

* When the onions start to caramelize, add sugar to taste (1/2 in size of the amount of onion you're using).

* Add your own pre-prepared BBQ sauce and any liquid smoke you want added.

* Strain the spaghetti and rinse off the startch

* Place the spaghetti in a mixing bowl

* For my own take, I then add the dry rub to the spaghetti, so that each piece of pasta has a nice dusting of the dry rub flavor

* Next add the sauce you prepared from the stove and mix with the spaghetti

* Strain and of the cooked pork juice in the mixing bowl and stir again

* Either serve and top with the cooked pork or add the pork in the mixing bowl, stir, and serve.



It's that easy. Enjoy!

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