food: border grill las vegas
28 May 2012 2 Comments
in booze & other drinkables, food & cooking, restaurants & dinning out, travel Tags: booze, food, las vegas, mexican food, pig, pork
border grill in mandalay bay has been my favourite place to dine in las vegas since my husband (then – boyfriend) stumbled across it on our very first trip to las vegas.
we were walking to the shark reef and saw the cantina and decided on a whim to stop in for a margarita. we started noming on chips and salsa and realized we were kind of hungry, so we ordered tortilla soup.
not just any tortilla soup… the best one i’ve ever had in my life.
and an obsession was born.
this restaurant is owned by Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger who i knew from their cooking show Two Hot Tamales. (side note – remember when the food network used to have actual cooking shows? i miss that)
since then, susan feniger has made appearances on top chef all stars, doing quite well for herself. and its no surprise, her cooking is masterful.
the restaurant itself has two lovely outdoor areas. one upstairs that is covered and i’ve dined in a few times, and also the downstairs outdoor patio that housed my wedding reception. outdoor areas for dining are a rarity in vegas, so i always make note of them for my lists, as i love al fresco dining.
this is where we had lunch on my latest visit… the downstairs outdoors…
as if the regular menu choices don’t cause me enough distress with all the yummy options, their specials menu gets offered to me.
oh my… what to do…
well, obviously the pineapple strawberry sangria needs to get in my mouth.
my mom went with the patron silver margarita, and said she preferred the one at hussong’s because it was simple. of course, she ordered one with blood orange and other stuff, so its obviously not comparing apples to apples.
while we were waiting for lunch, we enjoyed the chips and salsa… i love their salsa. all 3 of them.
they haven’t changed the recipes in years and i love them for it. its perfect. not to be messed with.
for the meal, we both decided on tacos, since it was lunch time and we were hungry, but not starved and wanted something kind of light since we were headed back to the pool.
i went with the carnitas with no onions. because it was supposed to have guacamole on it which contained onions, they just put avocado slices on it for me. which worked perfectly.
you have the option of pinto beans or black beans and i went pinto.
my tacos were delicious and the pork cooked to perfection, although they were a little greasy. they could have been drained a little better before going on the tortillas.
but in terms of flavour, preperation, tenderness, ect, top notch.
my mom went with the shrimp creole tacos and they were WOW.
she had black beans, also good, but i still stand by my pinto bean decision.
my mom’s shrimp was cooked to perfection and the slaw on top was crunchy and provided a great contrast for the rest of the taco.
we agreed that these were the superior choice between mine and hers.
stuffed to the brim, we headed back to pool for a lay down.
thanks for yet another amazing meal border grill. i’ll see you next time.
cheers!
food: 7-spice pork tenderloin & bok choy
23 Nov 2011 2 Comments
in food & cooking Tags: pig, pork, recipes, whats for dinner
this meal had a few inspirations… first of all, it’s a house favourite. my husband makes a homemade spice blend that he fouls up my coffee grinder with, but it is damn tasty.
it includes the following:
cinnamon stick
star anise
ground ginger
corriander seed
fennel seed
chili flake
brown sugar
we call it “tyler 7 spice” in my house… and it’s a delight. sometimes, time permitting, the whole spices will get pan toasted before hitting the grinder, but it’s not necessary.
he then takes most of the spice rub and coats a pork tenderloin with it… and the remainder goes into a sauce containing various things, based on current whims.
this week’s sauce included soy, fish sauce, sugar, sesame oil, orange juice and maybe a few other things he forgot to tell me about. it happens.
so, first things first, you have to sear off that pork tenderloin. tenderloin is best cooked, IMO, to medium well. just a hint of pink in the very centre, but done on the edges. to achieve this, i seared it on a reasonably high (let’s say on 7/10) on all sides for a couple minutes and then turned it down to 4, put a lid on it and roasted it until the internal temp read 140. then i removed it, tented it and let it rest up to 150. it was perfect.
for the bok choy, i threw the sauce mixture in the pan, loaded the bok choy on top, slapped the lid on and left it for 5 minutes. then removed the lid & continued to stir until it was at desired doneness.
i plated it and cut the pork while the remaining pan sauced reduced a little more into a sweet salts glaze. added some toasted sesame seeds and sauced the plate and voila!
now, when i say there were a few inspirations, the other one is my friend christa who is doing the paleo diet with her husband. she’s been blogging it here: http://christaleecarr.tumblr.com
she’s already lost 30lbs, which i find inspiring and amazing! (go girl!) but i’m also really enjoying her pics of meals that follow the paleo diet.
as someone that is totally addicted to white bread (or really, any bread) this scares me. no, seriously, i’m actually eating 2 pieces of white bread toast RIGHT NOW while typing this, lol. but i know that it’s not good for me… but like smoking and drinking, i do it anyways, because the enjoyment factor is high.
i can, however, change my mindset if i BELIEVE the logic behind something. like when i went vegetarian for a few years… and when i decided to eat local… and when i stopped buying prepackaged preservative filled convenience crap that masquerades as food.
and this paleo diet intrigues me. i have no doubt that you would drop a ton of weight by following it and that your body could live and function happily on it. and giving up dairy would be doable, sugar the easiest i think… but that devil wheat. in fact, no grains at all! see, i may be able to survive if i could still eat rice and quinoa and those other yummy things… but no grains at all is very scary.
so basically i’m just trying to phase them out a bit. more veg, less grain. and trying to keep breads out of the house. because i am powerless against them and clearly should not be trusted.
in any event, i enjoy reading about this stuff, so it’s been a good exercise in learning.
food: ham and other pig products
12 Nov 2011 Leave a Comment
in food & cooking Tags: organic, pig, pork, recipes
as part of our pig bounty from the butchery class, we had a ham.
a raw, uncured, cut fresh off the carcass ham. so… more like a ham-shaped piece of pig than an actual ham.
task #1… figure out how to cure a ham and make it a ham.
we did loads of internet research and the results were… mixed, to say the least.
traditional methods involved using “pink salt” which is what gives commercial hams their pinky-hue. but it also apparently is a cocktail of chemicals, many of which are NOT good for you at all. its other function is to kill botulism.
now, this ham came off a fresh pig and straight into our freezer. i think it was handled appropriately and so scary food borne illness wasn’t something that i was particularly worried about.
so we decided to brine this guy for 3 days without the pink salt.
we created a brine based loosely on this recipe – http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/anne-burrell/brined-fresh-ham-recipe/index.html
ours was more like this:
Brine:
- 1 cup kosher salt
- 1 cup sugar
- 4 bay leaves
- 1/4 cup fennel seeds
- 1/4 cup mustard seeds
- 2 tablespoons crushed red pepper flakes
- 10 bruised garlic cloves
- 1/2 large onion, coarsely chopped
- 1 gallon water
- 1 (3-pound) fresh ham
we let it hang out it the fridge – covered, with a dinner plate on top to sink it into the brine – for 3 whole days.
when it was done, it looked like this:
sadly, that’s the only picture i took. no finished results – food blogger fail.
so after brining, we rinsed it off, patted it dry and roasted it in the oven at 325 for about 2 hours.
i made a “glaze” of sorts with cola, maple syrup and some mustard, but the ham gave off so much liquid that it didn’t really glaze as i had pictured.
at the end of it all, we had a damn fine meal. it was kind of weird because it tasted like ham & had the right consistency, but it looked like a pork roast. it’s funny how we’re so conditioned into seeing that bright pink ham colour.
anyways, it was great and i definitely recommend trying this yourself. in fact, just taking the time to brine any meat makes a huge difference.
also on the pork note, we had a bunch of bones left over from our class as well that we’d been meaning to make stock from… and we finally got to it yesterday. we just did a basic stock, bones, water, an onion, some celery, bay leaves, peppercorns, salt & thyme. let it boil for a couple hours, then strain it and skim the fat off. cheesecloth was definitely necessary for this task… there was a decent amount of “scum” on the liquid.
when we had achieved beautiful tasty clear-ish stock, we cooked some dried white beans in it and added this ham hock that we smoked ourselves (also from the butchery class)
here’s a picture of it from the summer when we smoked it…
anyways, so into the stock went the hock, dried beans and leeks that had been sauteed in butter. we added a few things… spices and whatnot… and after an hour or two we shredded the meat off the hock and had a ridiculously rich and delicious ham soup. which i also do not have a picture of, lol.
the husband and i were pretty proud of our work… a complete meal, farm to table, as it were. the only things in the meal that i couldn’t place would be the dried beans… no idea where they came from. but the ham we knew and the leeks were from a local farm up the road.
the mileage that we’ve gotten out of our butchery class is impressive… but we’re down to the last bits. we have our 16lb bone in pork shoulder, which one day will make fabulous pulled pork… and a few odds & ends like jowl meat and pork belly. the fatty bits that i’m not super keen on. but the end is definitely near… might be time to start thinking about getting access to another pig soon. man, i need a deep freeze.
food: maple, mustard & riesling roast pork
05 Oct 2011 1 Comment
in food & cooking Tags: pig, pork, recipes, whats for dinner
last night, i’m not sure how i got so lucky, but i came home to a feast courtesy of my husband.
my canadian living cover picture was singing a siren song to him in the form of maple, mustard & riesling pork roast.
even the name sounds drool worthy.
here was the finished product – served with roast potatoes & butternut squash with my favourite brussels sprouts recipe (with bacon & pecans) on the side.
i wish the photo wasn’t blurry, but i was too excited to eat to play photographer.
Recipe, courtesy of canadian living
Ingredients
- 1 cup riesling wine
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 3 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp grainy mustard
- 2 cloves garlic , minced
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 3 lb boneless pork loin centre roast
- 8 oz shallots , (about 8 large)
Preparation
In dish large enough to hold roast or in large resealable bag, mix together 3/4 cup of the wine, maple syrup, Dijon mustard, oil, grainy mustard, garlic and pepper. Add pork; turn to coat. Cover and refrigerate, turning once, for 1 hour. (Make-ahead: Refrigerate for up to 12 hours.)
Cut shallots into 1/2-inch (1 cm) thick pieces; place in roasting pan. Top with pork; drizzle with remaining marinade. Roast in 325°F (160°C) oven, basting 2 or 3 times with pan juices, until juices run clear when pork is pierced and just a hint of pink remains inside, or meat thermometer registers 160°F (71°C), about 2 hours.
Reserving pan juices, transfer pork and shallots to serving platter; tent with foil and let stand for 10 minutes before slicing pork thinly.
Place pan over medium heat; bring juices to boil. Add remaining wine; cook, stirring and scraping up any brown bits on bottom of pan, for 2 minutes.
Mix carving juices into pan juices; spoon some over pork slices. Serve remainder on the side.
butchery class
29 Sep 2011 3 Comments
in adventures with moonbeam bouvier, food & cooking, vancouver Tags: butchery, pig, pork, vancouver
lots of people have asked about the butchery class that we did a few month ago.
basically there were 2 responses from friends & twitter lovers. either: a) why? that sounds gross. or b) cool! how did you do that?
well, to be honest, it was a bit of a whim.
it was nothing i’d ever considered, but when the opportunity presented itself, it really seemed to easily fall in line with my dedication to really KNOWING what i was eating and focusing on local, whole ingredients.
plus, i’m a total whore for knowledge. my brain craves being filled with as much random knowledge as possible. its how i become such a know-it-all.
so a few months ago a groupon appeared for butchery classes at Big Lou’s Butcher Shop.
i had been looking for something fun to do with my husband ~ you know, like a hobby or some junk, and my pal moonbeam (of metal & muffins fame) is always down for some pig handling, so it really just all seemed to make sense.
so we each paid $100 in exchange for a class that lasted a few hours and a take home of 20lbs of pork each. give or take.
a pretty solid deal IMO, since 20lbs of organic local pork would probably have been in that price range anyways.
the class itself was quite informative. good class size – 6 of us and the instructor moved things along at a good pace so it kept it interesting.
we started with this:
basically it’s half a pig. or a pig cut in half. depending on if you’re a glass half full person or not 
after being shown all the parts (ie – this is where the bacon comes from… this is a ham…) then our instructor started breaking it down.
and then it was our turn…
my husband was pretty eager to get in there and make the magic happen. me & moonbeam took a backseat for a bit, but don’t fear, we made our mark.
here’s my husband removing the pork tenderloin. the delicious delicious tenderloin.
and then he got to do the real fun stuff… because all men like taking a saw to a carcass. essentially he’s separating the ham from the midsection where the ribs will come from.
now, here’s a few shots of me cleaning up a piece of the piggie… for the life of me, i can’t remember what i’m doing from these pictures, so… you know, just make up something good.
(but my hair looks fabulous)
there you have it. our butchery class highlight reel.
it was pretty awesome and i would definitely do it again and recommend it.
i really enjoyed the understanding that i gained about the process that generally happens behind closed doors. and i genuinely felt like i acquired some life skills that not everyone has.
our instructor mentioned that they will be doing game classes, and indeed, i see them on the web site now.
http://biglousbutchershop.com/bouchery_classes.html
as much as i would be totally into learning how to do a whole deer, the $250 price point is a bit high for me. $500 for both me & my husband to go? eeesch, that’s half a trip to vegas.
so i’m going to keep my eye out for a future groupon or deal and maybe something awesome will happen. for me, the $100 class was just right and i felt happy paying it. even $125 i might have done.
anyways, this experience also left me with an amazing amount of pork. 40lbs between my husband & i. the big prize was a 16lb bone in shoulder. it’s going to make magical pulled pork. i just need to find some pig eaters to help me with the sexy results. *currently accepting applications*
slow roasted pork belly
29 Sep 2011 1 Comment
in food & cooking Tags: pig, pork, recipes, whats for dinner
i’ve eaten a lot of pork in my day…
and pork belly is definitely the new trend. it’s basically the new bacon.
meaning that everywhere on a menu that you used to see bacon, it’s now replaced with pork belly.
what’s the difference? well, in terms of the meat, not much. but it’s the preparation that makes it different.
bacon, essentially is pork belly. but it’s been cured and/or smoked or otherwise prepared.
pork belly is the real, raw deal.
now, we got our pork belly direct from our butchery class. so i can vouch for it being not only fresh and organic and local and all that good stuff, but my husband actually carved it off the whole pig himself. awesome, non?
anyways. we’d been taking ideas for how to prepare this cut. it was something that we’ve eaten, but had not prepared.
on our first try, we fried it, expecting it to behave like bacon and render out its fat. it did not.
so for round two, we decided to follow the majority of the advice and slow roast it.
we started with an asian inspired marinade including soy sauce, sesame oil, a homemade 5-spice and some dark beer.
after marinading overnight, we put it in the oven at 200 degrees (basically as low as the oven would go) in a dutch oven to braise in the marinade. after about 2 hours, we checked the progress and it looked done. a quick double check with the meat thermometer confirmed it.
plus the smell was making us mental. so we had to eat.
we pulled it out and heated up a fry pan on med-high and seared the outside to brown it. we removed it from the pan to rest while we prepared the “bed” for it.
into the fry pan goes some shredded green cabbage and some of the marinade/braising liquid too.
topped with toasted sesame seeds and we have our finished product:
so… how was it?
delicious, definitely.
the flavours from the marinade really turned out to be something special and the cabbage complimented it well. but in all honesty, it was too much fat for me.
i trimmed off the top part and discarded it, but i wished i had done that before cooking so that i could have had more marinade contact. my husband, however thought it was perfect as is, so i’d say it’s personal taste.
