Category: Food & Drink (Page 68 of 82)

Review: High Plains Bison

August 12, 2011 / Mike Farley

Chef Jim I’ll be honest –I love food, but my adventurous palate tends to be more adventurous to things like extra spicy fare or exotic cheeses or vegetables. But when it comes to meat, I lean toward beef, chicken, turkey or pork. I might eat lamb or veal once in a blue moon. Same with seafood. So when it comes to game such as venison, duck or rabbit, you would probably catch me sneaking out the back door before sitting down for dinner.

That said, I try to have an open mind—within reason, of course. And when I was pitched to review bison from a company called High Plains Bison, I had even more of an open mind because it was pitched as an alternative and much healthier cousin of beef. And if you see the photos in the brochure or on their website, it sure does look like beef. But the numbers are staggering when you compare the fat and calories—107 calories to 243 calories for beef in a 100-gram serving. And yet, it tastes remarkably like beef, and not at all like food that is low in fat and calories.

Chef Jim The package they sent was a sampler of ribeye, ground bison, and hickory smoked sausage. The ground bison was the first one I tried, and it was very much like beef, but maybe a bit milder. The ribeye steaks were delicious too and not anywhere near as fatty as a beef ribeye but without sacrificing a ton of flavor. And then the sausages were quite honestly some of the best sausage I’ve ever tasted. These, however, had 23 grams of fat per link, but they were big links, and if it tastes that good, I don’t mind spending some fat calories. The hickory flavor was really delicious.

If you are looking for an alternative to beef, you really should consider bison. If you have an open mind already, you will love it. If you didn’t have an open mind, trust me when I say that you will be converted.

For more information, visit the High Plains Bison website

Food & Drink, Stuff to Buy

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Drink of the Week: The Pimm’s Cup

August 5, 2011 / Bob Westal

Pimm's Cup Like Campari, Sambuca, and the like, Pimm’s Cup #1 is a bottle you’ll see at a lot of bars but which, at least here in the States, no bartender ever seems to open and which most barfolk will tend to discourage you from trying. They have their reasons because, on its own, it’s definitely not for everyone. It’s a concoction of gin and various herbs that has a nicely sweet but also fairly bitter flavor. It’s somewhere between a liqueur and Angostura.

It may be a little harsh straight, but it can mix very accessibly. A popular cocktail classic in the UK that has been referenced on both “Mad Men” and “Boardwalk Empire,” Pimm’s Cup, the cocktail, combines this relatively low alcohol (50 proof) base spirit with various types of soda and fruit and vegetable garnishes.

In my experiments, I avoided some of the very elaborate recipes which are more like very large and very wet fruit salads and eventually settled on the simple recipe below, adapted freely from the method used by Minneapolis mixologist D.J. Kukielka. It’s a winner — a tasty refreshment for lightweights with discerning palettes.

The Pimm’s Cup

2 ounces Pimm’s Cup #1
4 ounces (approximately) ginger beer or ginger ale
Cut-up cucumber (to taste)
Cucumber slice (garnish)
Lemon slice (garnish)

Place cucumbers in cocktail shaker and muddle. (Having an actual muddler on hand is a real help here, and essential if you want a truly well-stocked bar.) Add Pimm’s Cup #1 and ice. Shake very vigorously and strain into a Tom Collins glass over ice (preferably crushed). Top off with ginger ale and garnishes. Stir with swizzle stick or barspoon.

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I’m barely exaggerating when I say that there are a million recipes for this beverage on line, and they’re all pretty different from each other, which I suppose befits a drink that is something like the British equivalent of sangria. I get the impression that you could pretty much throw any fruit you can think of in, if you want. Still, I had by far the best luck with the recipe above and, though it’s more expensive, ginger beer does work slightly better than good old Canada Dry.

If you want to be really authentic, however, be aware that the original recipes often call for lemonade. The confusion here is that what the British call lemonade and what we Yanks call it are two different things. UK lemonade is a lemon soda which some compare to 7-Up — and many online recipes specially call for American-style lemon-lime soda — but Brits inform us that true British lemon soda tastes fairly different than our uncolas. If you’re lucky enough to live in a city like Los Angeles with a large British ex-pat population and specialty stores to go with it, or want to go online and don’t mind spending a little extra cash, I bet you can find some and go full Brit.

Food & Drink, Lifestyle

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Drink of the Week: The Whiskey Sour

July 29, 2011 / Bob Westal

Sours are an entire family of cocktail which mostly utilize some combination of lemon juice and sugar. (The sour mix used by many bartenders is, in my experience, slightly revolting.). The Latin American favorite, the pisco sour, is probably a better known drink in many quarters these days, but the whiskey sour has been one of the standard cocktails since cocktails have become popular. Oddly enough, it’s possible that both of these cocktail favorites actually began in Peru.

The Whiskey Sour

2 ounces whiskey (bourbon, rye, Canadian, etc.)
1/2-1 ounce fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon superfine sugar
About 1/2 of an egg white (semi-optional)
Maraschino cherry or orange slice (optional garnishes)

Dissolve sugar in whiskey and lemon juice and add egg white. Shake vigorously. You should see a light froth on top of the liquid.

Note that I haven’t mentioned ice at this point. It is important to keep the whiskey, lemon juice and egg white at near room temperature in order for the egg to properly emulsify. Once you’ve shaken the liquid thoroughly, however, it is time to add ice and shake again very vigorously. Strain into a chilled martini, rocks or, if you’re really serious about it, a sour glass. Add garnishes if you’ve got them.

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Two provisos. One — the “sour” in “whiskey sour” is a serious kind of sour and thus, this drink is not for tartphobes. Even as an increasingly hardy beverage connoisseur, I found the pucker factor on my whiskey sours to be a bit much, especially without the egg white.

Which brings us to the second proviso. I’m sure some reading this will react strongly against the use of raw egg whites, which can be a bit controversial because of the very small but not quite nonexistent risk of salmonella poisoning. If you’re especially concerned for whatever reason — and if your immune system is compromised or your health is generally shaky, I would be somewhat concerned — you might consider using pasteurized or powdered egg whites or just making the drink without it.

However, be aware that the risk of contaminated egg whites, especially if they are reasonably fresh and kept refrigerated, is actually fairly infinitesimal; whites are less vulnerable than yolks to bacteria and the overall incidence of salmonella has been going down. Also, though I can’t speak to the science of the point, bartenders argue that the alcohol and lemon juice will tend to kill any dangerous microscopic critters. In any case, I’ve been drinking this stuff all week and, aside from being extremely tired of the flavor of lemon juice, I’m doing just fine.

Food & Drink, Lifestyle, Vices

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Drink of the Week: The Negroni

July 22, 2011 / Bob Westal

It is with some shame that your humble writer admits that, until a few days ago, he had never tasted Campari. In case you don’t know, Campari is theoretically a very popular Italian apéritif — that’s “before dinner drink” to us English speaking barbarians — that’s essentially a drinkable variety of bitters. You see it consumed with soda in European films and every bar in the world seems to stock it but, classic spirit or not, nobody we know seems to drink it or anything made with it.

So it was with great curiousity that yours truly brought home a bottle of the stuff and broke the lifelong Campari drought. First, a surprising and delicious burst of orangey sweetness reminiscent of a really tasty Italian vermouth, then, a bracing bitterness. A bit strong and not 100% pleasant in the usual sense, but fascinating. Time for had another sip.

the Negroni Yep, it was good to take the bitter with the sweet. It was better to try the most famous cocktail made using Campari.

The Negroni

1 ounce Campari
1 ounce sweet vermouth
1 ounce dry gin
Twist of orange peel (garnish)

Shake like the dickens and serve in a chilled martini glass. Semi-optional final step: swirl the orange twist around the rim of the glass and “express” it (twist it) over the drink. Drop it in.

If the above seems a bit too sweet for you, feel free to increase the gin slightly and decrease the Campari and vermouth. (David Wondrich‘s version is 1.5 ounces gin to 3/4 ounce Campari and vermouth, and it works beautifully.)

*****

Folks, I’m going to drop the “royal we” I’ve been using and say in the first person that I really love the Negroni. It appeals to my sweet tooth while also being plenty refreshing on a warm summer day and offering a delicious complexity thanks to the one-two sweet-bitter punch of the Campari, softened by the sweet vermouth and with a terrific tang coming from the gin. For some reason, bartenders I’ve met are skittish about this drink and it has a somewhat “difficult” reputation. My take is that, if you can enjoy a Manhattan, you’re probably more than definitely ready for a Negroni and it’s a lot more accessible than a martini. I love this drink and think you will, too.

The Negroni is often served on the rocks, particularly in Europe, but I tried it that way and, like most “up” drinks served on the rocks, the results were not exciting, almost sickly sweet. It’s also often served anti-James Bond style, stirred and not shaken, on account of the bar worker’s lore that gin should only be shaken when non-alcoholic ingredients are present. I tried that too and decided that worrying about the gin here was complete balderdash. Negronis demand a good shaking.

Oh, and if you’re wondering where the name comes from, it’s simple enough. It seems that a turn-of-the-20th-century Italian count named Negroni was drinking another Campari-based cocktail, an Americano, (we’ll cover that some other time) and wanted a stronger version with some gin in it. That’s the whole story.

Food & Drink, Lifestyle

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The kings of hot roast beef play it cool this summer, and just in time

July 20, 2011 / David Medsker

Is it silly that we are offered all kinds of nifty perks in the entertainment field, yet the one thing that gets us really excited is when someone asks us to write about food. (There’s a statement in there somewhere about the declining importance of music and film in the lives of the drivers of present day pop culture, but that’s a conversation for another day.) Our latest subject happens to be a restaurant we frequent quite, um, frequently. Get your pirate accents ready, kids, because we’re going to Arrrrrrrrrby’s.

From the looks of things at the store, they do not need much help from us in promoting the Angus Cool Deli sandwich, because two of the three people in line after us ordered the same thing. Clearly, it’s catching on, and we can see why. It’s Angus beef – there’s just something about that word Angus that makes something that much more awesome – and with the Italian dressing and banana peppers, it definitely hits the spot, especially as temperatures soar across the country. For those looking to cut down on the fat count (hey, guys have to watch their carbs, too), if you get the Cool Deli Sandwich and hold the mayo, you’ll save 19 grams of fat. Strangely, you’ll only save 10 grams if you get the wrap. They must use less mayo on those.

Check back with Bullz-Eye for your chance to win a $20 gift card to Arby’s and try the Angus Cool Deli sandwich for yourself. Until then, we leave you with one of our favorite silly sketches from “Saturday Night Live”: the pirate convention. Enjoy.

Food & Drink

Angus Cool Deli Sandwich Arby's