Help From You

So… You thought this was a just for missionary training, well we found out that we can use it to bribe our Sunday school kids to bring friends too. That’s right if our Sunday schools bring in a combined total of 50 first time visitors in the month of May, I will be eating something of questionable taste! Shhhhhhh… don’t tell them I do this all the time, that may ruin it.

Today out of both services we had 15 first time visitors. Praise God! As it stands now if we get 50 first time visitors I will be eating an entire tin of anchovies …ewww ….groooosssss! (Hey… I gotta keep my game face on)

My question for the few people who read this is…Can you think of something else? If you were a SS kid what would you consider the grossest food? Please I need your help!

Some boundaries – It has to be purchased at Wegman’s (No flying worms in from Africa ..OK Juliemom?), it also has to be food that is eaten by people. (No one besides Oscar the Grouch eats anchovy ice cream) and if it’s going to make me …you know…probably not a good idea for SS.

Some suggestions – Anchovies, Sardines, Gefilte Fish, Smoked Oysters, Pig’s Feet, Potted Meat, you know along those lines…

Let me know what you come up with.

In sharing foods of questionable taste a key is going far enough so that it is a stretch, but not going so far that you are the only one stuck eating it.

That was my lesson learned from this snack…Raw Clams! Oddly enough this was served with some friends at a party not at HBS, perhaps they could have eaten some, but no one was eating raw clams at this party.

So after scrubbing the clam violently under freezing cold water, and making sure they were all clean, I loaded them into a tub half filled with crushed ice. I made some special sauces for people to try, but as already noted no one was up for it.

To eat them you have to have a towel and a clam/oyster knife. Holding the clam in the towel you put the tip of the knife right in the hinge of the clam and twist it. I know it sounds mean considering that the clams are technically alive when you do this…as well as when you eat them. You want to make sure you’re holding the clam as to not spill the clam juice that is inside the clam. Then you cut away (man…I’m feeling bad about this) where it is attached to the shell so it sits in there all loose with it’s juices, then you spoon either some sauce or squeeze some lemon on it and slurp it down.

Sounds good right?
Apparently no one else thought so. Perhaps I took it just a little to far that time.

A New York Breakfast

In honor of my trip to NYC, we decided to have a go at Bagels and Lox. I was in the famous H&H Bagel and they have this nice poster showing a picture similar to what you see here except open-face so you can see the lox. I also went to Zaro’s and the guy behind me ordered a bagel and lox for breakfast. Though we are all familiar with the bagel, I would venture to guess that fewer of us know anything about lox. Lox is a salmon fillet that has cured in a mild brine, cold smoked, and sliced very thin. Who ever decided that this was breakfast food was a bit touched!

So on my way home from work I dropped by our NYC bagel place…ok Brueggers is as close as we got in Brockport. I got six nice everything bagels and a tub of cream cheese, I then headed to Wegmans and picked up some Nova Lox, an onion, and a tomato.

Once I got home I just began to build the sandwiches. I put cream cheese on both sides of a sliced bagel, and then layered it with thin slices of tomato and onion. I intentionally left the lox for last because I had no idea how bad they would smell. I then opened up the lox to find that they didn’t smell at all. I mean there was no fishy smell to them, they actually smelled good. I arranged them on the sandwiches and made my little bagel and lox sandwiches. Jen said what she always says “Do you really think anyone is going to eat that?” I can’t believe she still says that. Almost everything I’ve made has been eaten up. Notice I didn’t say enjoyed, but it was eaten.

Well after our Bible Study ended we got to try bagels and lox for the first time. Rachel V is usually the first to dive into any of my weird food, and this was no different. I barely took the plastic wrap off the tray and she had a sandwich in her hand. I didn’t get much reaction from these, but I think that was because they didn’t taste weird enough. I hardly knew I was eating cured fish. The sandwich was good, except it was very messy to eat. It was like as you took a bite the fish was swimming out the other side. You really had to hold it together to eat it. I would try these again, and plan to on my next trip to NYC, but I think it will be more of a lunch thing. Cured fish for breakfast has nothing on bacon and eggs.

It’s Menudo!

...And NO not the Mexican boy band from the 80’s

Menudo is a delicious Mexican stew made with trip (cow’s stomach) hominy, and all sorts of spice in a tomato base…and that it entirely true except the “delicious” part.

Menudo is gross! Plain and simple! I found out later that it is used to cure hangovers, and that must be the only way to get someone to eat it. (*Note my fool proof hangover cure at the end of this review.)

I’ve never liked tripe, and every time I say that someone says “you’ve just not had it cooked right.” That’s hogwash! I’ve had it many times, in different ways, and each time it taste like a rubbery piece of unwashed gym sock. It’s disgusting, and I have no idea who though hominy would make it better. Hominy is dried corn that has been treated with lye-water. It’s hard little flavorless nuggets that really add only another bad texture to an already bad stew.

The only way you can get this stuff down is that the spices cover up the offensive flavors to some degree. I had a bowl of it because I had to, but this was probably the least enjoyed of all my foods of questionable taste. There was no question about it.

Avoid Menudo, both the 80’s boy band, and the stew, and you will do well.

Shannon’s Foolproof Hang-Over Prevention – Abstain from any beverage containing any amount of alcohol. This will work every time! I’ve got almost 7 years of personal experience, and I can say with all certainty that I have never had a hang-over from a night of not drinking : )

I heard they make good cigars...

…But they make great salads

OK…if nothing else this has to win for “Best Picture I’ve Ever Taken of Food” Oh…man I get hungry all over again looking at that.

This is a Cuban Salad that I found on www.epicurious.com . It was so simple it’s almost embarrassing! First I cut up different colored bell peppers, and sliced up some Mayan Sweet onions. I dumped 4 cans of drained Garbanzo Beans in a bowl, next 3 cans of Goya Octopus in garlic sauce, added the onions and peppers, and a little rice wine vinegar. I seasoned with some red pepper flakes, coarse salt, and freshly ground pepper, then I squeezed a half a lime over it, and garnished with slices of the other half of the lime. This has to be mixed up periodically to keep the juices from settling on the bottom, and is best if made the night before.

I brought this to Bible Study a few weeks before this blog started, and I was disappointed that I didn’t get a picture. My “re-make” came when they asked us to bring a dish to pass to work for our pot-luck.

This salad is not for people who are afraid that their seafood will actually taste like seafood. Canned octopus has a very pleasant taste that flavors the whole salad, but is not for the “fishy sissy”. The salad looks wonderful when it’s served. It’s colorful, and it has many textures that make it not only delicious, but very fun to present to those who are not afraid of new tastes.

For the most part I got pretty good reactions to the salad. One person didn’t realize that there was octopus in the salad, and didn’t appreciate the surprise too well, but I got many compliments. Although I love the taste of this salad, to me it is all about the textures that it combines. Between the starchy garbanzo beans, the crisp onions and peppers, and the chewy octopus, this salad is one of my favorite recipes of questionable taste.

If you tried it I’d like to hear what you thought…

Here's to you Mr. VanOrmer

I'm always happy when it's time to try some new, weird meat that has been hiding right under my nose for years and years. I found this delicacy right at the local Supermarket, I'll bet you can find it too.

It was tenth grade I think when my Social Studies teacher Mr. VanOrmer told us of his love for Scrapple. No one in the class had ever seen or heard of it, but he warned us that we would think of him when we did finally meet up with this strange meat. He was right, and I in honor of my tenth...and twelth (if memory serves) grade Social Studies teacher and in the name of questionable taste did find, buy, and eat Scrapple....

Scrapple come in a little brown loaf that you cut into slices, and fry on a hot griddle. When we asked Mr. VanOrmer what Scrapple was he replied that it was "breakfast food made from every part of the pig, but the squeal." doesn't that sound delicious? Well...the actual ingredients sound even less appetizing.

Scrapple is - Pork Stock, Pork, Pork Skins, Corn Meal, Pork Livers, Wheat Flour, Pork Fat, Pork Hearts, Salt, and Spices...I wonder why they call it Scrapple...

Anyhow, I browned up a few slices if this stuff, and had it for dinner tonight. Cooking it was a challenge, because it is so soft that if you dont let it get crispy, it falls all apart. Once it finally got crispy (read that "almost burnt") you flip it and let it crisp up on the other side. It is crispy outside and mushy inside, and it taste like sausage flavored pork rinds. Now you may be saying yuck, but I actually liked it. I slapped it on a plate with some eggs, and hashbrowns, and then poured some warm maple syrup over the Scrapple.

All in all I liked it, but seriously Mr. VanOrmer...why eat Scrapple? Haven't you ever heard of Bacon!

Did You Want An End Cut?

Well this is as far “end” as it gets!

I made this Ox Tail Stew Thursday night and cooked it almost all day Friday. I started off by seasoning four pounds of Ox Tails with coarse ground pepper, and sea salt. These were placed in a hot pan and seared on all sides until they were nice and brown, and placed in my crock-pot. In the same pan I threw a bunch of carrots, onion, and celery, and cooked them up in the residual ox tail grease. When they had a head start I put them in with the ox tails. I sprinkled with some thyme, parsley, a couple of crushed bay leaves, and a quart of beef stock. After cooking all day it was thickened with cornstarch, and warmed up to serve after Bible Study.

This by far was the easiest snack “of questionable taste” to eat. It was as comforting as mom’s meatloaf and as satisfying as dinner at grandma’s house. It tasted very much like a rich beef stew. The richness certainly came from the high fat content, that is characteristic of ox tail, and I had trimmed mine down quite a bit. The texture of the meat was where a squeamish person may have trouble because there were some pieces that were so fatty that they were almost gelatinous. I would make this again on a Saturday night to have after church Sunday afternoon, but next time I will be a little lighter on the sea salt, and I would add some Yukon Gold potato cubes to make it into a meal, and serve it with some crusty Italian bread to sop up the gravy.

If you have a comment or recipe, or story about Ox Tail, please feel free. If you tried my dish please, let me know what you thought.