A Man & His Meats

After a brief hiatus, the crew reconvened @ Adam's house on a Tuesday (for logistical purposes), for (guess?); MEAT! I nearly had a heart attack when the menu went out on Monday!


Here goes:


1- Braised Chicken Hearts w/Shallots & Red Wine Sauce.
2- Caramelized Fennel & Short Rib Ravioli w/Parmesan & Romano 'Chips'.
3- Beef Tenderloin w/Roasted Garlic, Carrots & Potatoes.
4- Sweet Potato & Golden Raisin Pasties & Coffee.

1- I was particularly excited by this opening dish as I'd never eaten heart (of any kind) & I wanted to know how they tasted. They'd been simmering away on the stove, so an amazing aroma greeted us as we arrived at Adam's.


I really enjoyed this dish, the hearts were very rich, lean & flavorful. They weren't stringy or tough as I had imagined they would be & the thick red wine sauce was amazing! I really commend Adam for having an adventurous spirit as I would never have thought to attempt this dish. Bravo!

2- After a bit of a break our next dish came out. Adam had let us nibble on some of the short ribs, so I knew the ravioli was going to be good. Adam did have some trouble getting these little nuggets of goodness sealed, but mine were all watertight. The short ribs were really well spiced (a bit salty maybe) & the fennel really complimented it well. The 'chips' added a whole new dimension to the dish. They were crunchy, cheesy & delicious.

3- On to the big ol' hunk of tenderloin! I thought I was going to cry as Adam began slicing the meat. Red, juicy, mesmerizing. Roasted Garlic (Adam roasted 4 heads) was spread in between the meat for added flavor. The roasting process really takes the spicy edge off of garlic & makes them have a subtle, sweet flavor which I really thought was a nice touch.

Not sure where Adam bought his meat from (Eagle Provisions (654 5th Avenue, Brooklyn) maybe?), but it was of the highest quality. Take that & add the fact that Adam is a wizard when cooking meats, then you have an excellent dish. The tenderloin was served on a bed of honey glazed veggies. Perhaps one of the funniest parts of the night was Grant's quote: "Masticating is back!"


4- Next up were the sweets. They didn't come out perfectly (visually-speaking), but they sure were tasty. You could tell that there was a hell of a lot of butter in these bad boys. They were flaky & sweet with a hint of savory. The raisins, however, were like molten lava, but well worth the pain!

Now here's where things get crazy; Jason (AKA Coffee Boy), Adam's roommate (not to be confused with me, JBoogie), fired up Gaggia, his monstrous coffee machine for some lattes. I'm not sure if it's the fact that the coffee machine is about the size of a small car, has an LCD screen & is quite obviously based on alien technology light years ahead of our own or Jason's skill as a barista that makes the coffee taste so good.


We literally sat there for 90 minutes forcing Jason to make more & more - in the end, I think Teddy had like 5 of them. You can imagine the state that we were in; 5 pissed up lads with full bellies bugged out on caffeine. Good Stuff!