I actually agree. We have a commercial bison farm not far from my wife’s office (ironically enough located between BUFFALO and Blue Grass Iowa) and it is so lean it is super difficult to prepare and keep it juicy.
Post a culinary specialty from your city or region . . .
- Thread starter torbee
- Start date
I’ve had bison burgers in Colorado and in Jackson Hole.
Pretty tasty.
Growing up in Brooksville Florida which was a relatively small, very traditional Southern city for Florida it didn’t have too many specialties of its own. But we were surrounded in an easy 10 min to an hour drive by other cities of relatively unique cultures, primarily the Greeks in Tarpon Springs; Czechs in Masaryktown; the huge number of Philly, Long Island and NYC Italian Americans transplants in Spring Hill; the Cubans in Tampa and the Amish in Sarasota (this was about 1 hour and 15 mins or so but my mom loved it so we went maybe every two or three months for a dinner or lunch on the weekend). So while I ate a lot of typical “Floribbean”/“Southern“ dishes like fried grouper sandwiches, smoked mullet dip, boiled peanuts, Fat Boys “Florida” style BBQ, etc…. I ate just as many cabbage rolls, goulash, rizek/schnitzel and sauerkraut soup from Czech diners in Masaryktown and Media Noches, Tampa style Devilled Crab, ropa vieja and fried Yucca and plantains from Tampa restaurants and sandwich shops. At least once a week we would get pizza or simple red sauce “Italian” dishes in Spring Hill and the surrounds that rival NYC and Philly in quality because they were all run by “retired” restauranteurs from there who knew exactly what they were doing.
So between the above exposure (plus access to one of Florida’s first brewpubs in Dunedin along with its Scottish and Canadian culture and a tiny bit of Mexican-American culture in microscopic San Antonio Florida) and growing up with a Four Seasons pass to Epcot and an easy one hour drive, I got to try Japansee, Norwegian, Mexican, British pub food, Chinese, French and Moroccan food regularly. Since we had the annual pass, it was easy to pop over and grab some unusual food and catch some fireworks Or a ride or two.
That’s why I’m such a foodie/gourmand now, I grew up exposed to tons of different foods. I guess if Brooksville itself had any specialties it would be the big local Florida avocado half (not the tiny California Hass avocados) stuffed with either shrimp salad, fried chicken salad or tuna salad, as well as the fried grouper sandwich, strawberry shortcake using biscuits and localesque Plant CiTy strawberries, fresh Meyer Lemon Meringue, Kunquat or Sour Orange Pies using local fruit and Tangerine cakes as an homage to when there were still a lot of Tangerine groves in the area.
So between the above exposure (plus access to one of Florida’s first brewpubs in Dunedin along with its Scottish and Canadian culture and a tiny bit of Mexican-American culture in microscopic San Antonio Florida) and growing up with a Four Seasons pass to Epcot and an easy one hour drive, I got to try Japansee, Norwegian, Mexican, British pub food, Chinese, French and Moroccan food regularly. Since we had the annual pass, it was easy to pop over and grab some unusual food and catch some fireworks Or a ride or two.
That’s why I’m such a foodie/gourmand now, I grew up exposed to tons of different foods. I guess if Brooksville itself had any specialties it would be the big local Florida avocado half (not the tiny California Hass avocados) stuffed with either shrimp salad, fried chicken salad or tuna salad, as well as the fried grouper sandwich, strawberry shortcake using biscuits and localesque Plant CiTy strawberries, fresh Meyer Lemon Meringue, Kunquat or Sour Orange Pies using local fruit and Tangerine cakes as an homage to when there were still a lot of Tangerine groves in the area.
You must like your meat medium or further along then. For people like myself who loves meat Pittsburg blue, rare or at most medium rare, bison meat is better than beef. The low intracellular fat doesn’t need to be rendered out unlike a fatty Angus steak.
Since I like my red meat bloody, my actual favorites are:
Red Kangaroo
Nilgai Antelope
Elk
Reindeer/Caribou
Kudu Antelope
Oryx
Bison
Blackbuck Gazelle
Yak
Beef/Cow
space bar space bar
moose
ostrich
Water buffalo
gnu
spacebar spacebar
whitetail deer and other smaller American deers and American pronghorn antelopes
When in Canada, don't get a bison burger. I ordered one on a layover in Calgary. Asked for medium and was told they have to cook it well done per law. It was dry and terrible. Didn't even finish it.
Yes, any bison steak or burger taken to well is going to be awful regardless of what seasoning or other prep you’re doing to it. It needs to be medium rare at most and Pittsburg blue for the best.
I’ve had them in Canada, Colorado and California and all were dry and lacking the flavor of a beef burger. One was cooked medium rare and it was still too dry.
We have a friend who makes a gooey pound cake that sounds very similar. It's outstanding!
I will start it off with a post about Quad City Style pizza. For those of you who don't know (which is probably many Floridians) the Quad Cities are a metro area of around 400,000 people straddling the Mississippi River between Iowa and Illinois with Davenport, Iowa being the largest city.
The Quad Cities culinary claim to fame (other than being the birthplace of sliced bread and taco pizza) is the aforementioned Quad City Style pie (one of your board regulars, @FSUTribe76 actually made one from scratch!)
Unique characteristics of this pie are: cut into rectangles with giant kitchen shears rather than sliced into triangles, a chewy crust with a hint of molasses, toppings like meat, veggies etc. always go UNDER the cheese, a spicy tomato sauce but used in very small quantities, utilizes very finely ground sausage that is spiced with fennel, fresh white mozzarella typically procured locally). Here is a more definitive article on the style if curious from Food & Wine magazine.
Here is a pic from my favorite QC Style pizza place, called Uncle Bill's"
Here is a pie from what most claim is the original QC Style parlor, Frank's Napoli:
If you are ever in our neck of the woods (or in Chicago, where several QC Style places have opened) make sure to grab yourself a pie and enjoy a unique regional pizza varietal!
I am anxious to see/read about your city or region's specialties.
Bon Appetit!
Western NC and other Appalachian areas looked to the woods for sustenance long before the day of fresh produce year round. The lack of fresh vegetables thru the long Winter is broken by the earliest woodland edibles, which is referred to as a Spring Tonic.
Branch lettuce shows up in the early Spring along creek banks. It is bitter, but provides “greens” to it’s proponents. Locals like it “kilt” with hot bacon grease.
Another favorite, which shows up in Manhattan restaurants and other urban areas, is the famed ramp. A member of the Allium family it is a curious mix of garlic and wild onion.
Allium tricoccum - Wikipedia
We look for the smallest bulbs possible, as the potency grows with the size of the ramp. Using a small hand spade or other tool, you loosen the ground around a small “bunch” and tug them out of ground. We cut the root ends off and bury them to help keep the species viable. I love several raw, but mostly we dice them and the leafy tops to scramble with eggs. They are powerful and the smell is often with you for days depending upon how much is ingested. Schools used to literally send kids home if they were too “ripe”.
They are historically relevant to the indigenous populations…
Chicago received its name from a dense growth of ramps near Lake Michigan in Illinois Country observed in the 17th century. The Chicago River was referred to by the plant's indigenous name, according to explorer Robert Cavelier, sieur de La Salle, and by his comrade, the naturalist and diarist Henri Joutel.[25] The plant, called shikaakwa (chicagou) in the Miami-Illinois languagespoken by the local indigenous Miami people, was once thought to be Allium cernuum, the nodding wild onion, but research in the early 1990s showed the correct plant was the ramp.[25][41][42][
The ramp has strong associations with the folklore of the central Appalachian Mountains. Fascination and humor have fixated on the plant's extreme pungency. Jim Comstock, editor and co-owner of the Richwood News Leader, introduced ramp juice into the printer's ink of one issue as a practical joke,[44] invoking the ire of the U.S. Postmaster General.[45]
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Ramps at Whitefish Island, Batchewana First Nation of Ojibways
Cuisine[edit]
The Menominee,[47] Cherokee,[48][49][50] Iroquois,[51] Potawatomi[52] and Ojibwa[52] all consume the plant in their traditional cuisines.Medicinal use[edit]
The Cherokee also eat the plant as a spring tonic, for colds and for croup. They also use the warm juice for earaches.[49] The Ojibwa use a decoction as a quick-acting emetic.[53]The Iroquois also use a decoction of the root to treat worms in children, and they also use the decoction as a spring tonic to "clean you out".[54] Some Native Americans also used juice from the crushed bulbs to treat insect stings.[
The inhabitants of Appalachia have long celebrated spring with the arrival of the ramp, believing it to be a tonic capable of warding off many winter ailments. Indeed, ramp's vitamin and mineral content did bolster the health of people who went without many green vegetables during the winter.[46]
I can't believe I forgot Tampa Deviled Crab
Ybor City Style Deviled Crab | The perfect portable crab cake
Seabreeze's deviled crabs
When discussing Ybor City, do not fail to mention their Stuffed Potatoes.
in years gone by, my immediate area was known for citrus. Much of the area was citrus groves - mostly types of citrus that were ideal for juicing; the largest juice processing plant was here.
Most of the citrus industry is now gone, but the area is still the largest kumquat producing area in the world. The local brewery makes a damn good kumquat-infused wheat ale.
Most of the citrus industry is now gone, but the area is still the largest kumquat producing area in the world. The local brewery makes a damn good kumquat-infused wheat ale.
Which brewery? Is this it? Little Gem by Dade City Brew House?
Little Gem - Dade City Brew House - Untappd
Little Gem by Dade City Brew House is a Wheat Beer - Other which has a rating of 3.8 out of 5, with 150 ratings and reviews on Untappd.
untappd.com
I never knew about this
Stuffed potatoes Ball ( PAPAS RELLENAS) recipe - from the Tampa Bay Cuban Recipes Family Cookbook
Stuffed potatoes Ball ( PAPAS RELLENAS) recipe is from Tampa Bay Cuban Recipes, one of the cookbooks created at FamilyCookbookProject.com. Family cookbooks are an important way to preserve our mealtime traditions for future generations with individual printed recipes or your own professionally...
www.familycookbookproject.com
Stuffed potatoes deserve a bake
The poor old potato takes the blame for all of the calories that come from the fats routinely served with it or in which it is often cooked. In fact, potatoes are an excellent and inexpensive...
I never knew about this
Stuffed potatoes Ball ( PAPAS RELLENAS) recipe - from the Tampa Bay Cuban Recipes Family Cookbook
Stuffed potatoes Ball ( PAPAS RELLENAS) recipe is from Tampa Bay Cuban Recipes, one of the cookbooks created at FamilyCookbookProject.com. Family cookbooks are an important way to preserve our mealtime traditions for future generations with individual printed recipes or your own professionally...www.familycookbookproject.com
Stuffed potatoes deserve a bake
The poor old potato takes the blame for all of the calories that come from the fats routinely served with it or in which it is often cooked. In fact, potatoes are an excellent and inexpensive...www.tampabay.com
It’s fantastic. Two weeks ago I stopped off at the Cuban Sandwich Shop on Florida Avenue one of my favorite cheap Cuban places in Tampa and one that’s older than me. I split a small Cubano sandwich, a Palomilla sandwich, a devilled crab and a stuffed potato with my wife. Those two are my favorite Cuban apps and they compliment themselves well.
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Damn things are addictive, I assure you.I never knew about this
Stuffed potatoes Ball ( PAPAS RELLENAS) recipe - from the Tampa Bay Cuban Recipes Family Cookbook
Stuffed potatoes Ball ( PAPAS RELLENAS) recipe is from Tampa Bay Cuban Recipes, one of the cookbooks created at FamilyCookbookProject.com. Family cookbooks are an important way to preserve our mealtime traditions for future generations with individual printed recipes or your own professionally...www.familycookbookproject.com
Stuffed potatoes deserve a bake
The poor old potato takes the blame for all of the calories that come from the fats routinely served with it or in which it is often cooked. In fact, potatoes are an excellent and inexpensive...
We got a little bag of kumquats from a friend for Christmas. Pow!! What a taste sensation. It has been years since we had any.
Pops had uncles in Brooksvlle and Arcadia who both had small groves. A favorite treat was Key Limes from Uncle Richard’s trees in Arcadia and pink grapefruit from Uncle Perry in Brooksville.
Which brewery? Is this it? Little Gem by Dade City Brew House?
Little Gem - Dade City Brew House - Untappd
Little Gem by Dade City Brew House is a Wheat Beer - Other which has a rating of 3.8 out of 5, with 150 ratings and reviews on Untappd.
Yes, Little Gem. Won a silver medal at one of the big American craft beer competitions this summer.
They make good brew - the brewmaster was previously at Wicked Weed in Ashville
You serious Clark? I love pizza, and I love St Louis but St Louis style is the most disgusting pizza I've ever had. I'll take QC style over St Louis style every day and I don't particularly like QC styleAnother one from STL. And this incites some people to riot. St. Louis style pizza. Some refuse to believe it’s pizza. Cracker thin crust with something called Provel cheese, which some refuse to believe is cheese! It’s a blend of cheddar, Swiss and provolone. Think white Velveeta. Great melting characteristics.
I have a place in Marco Island. Great restaurants in Goodland for fresh seafood! Crabby Lady’s scallops are awesome!
Local place here in Iowa serves New Haven style. Consistently finishes at the top of best pizza in town lists. It's good and I would never turn it down, but it's a tad over hyped IMO
That's good to know. Thanks for sharing!
From all your BoneFish Friends. Happy New Year! Yes!
Another one from STL. And this incites some people to riot. St. Louis style pizza. Some refuse to believe it’s pizza. Cracker thin crust with something called Provel cheese, which some refuse to believe is cheese! It’s a blend of cheddar, Swiss and provolone. Think white Velveeta. Great melting characteristics.
As a kid in the 80s growing up eating Pizza Hut thin pizzas 2-4x a month, I am A-OK with the cracker thin crust. My personal favorite Pizzas are thin but chewy pizzas like New Haven apizza, NYC “pizza pies”, Trenton “tomato pies”, California style pizza and Neopolitan pizza. But the cracker thin and crunchy style like in Chicago thin/Milwaukee thin, the East Coast bar style (not to be confused with Midwest tavern style with a thin bit chewier crust cut into squares), Pizza Hut thin n crispy are all quite tasty to me. The reasons why St Louis Style Pizza is hot garbage to me and my absolute least favorite style of pizza that I’ve had is 1) the nauseating cheese and 2) the ultra sweet sauce.
As far as the cheese goes, I’m not someone who ONLY likes mozzarella. Certain cheese blends work well and I am a fan of the brick cheese used in Detroit style. But somehow that Provel cheese just absolutely ruins the pizza. And I don’t know why. Supposedly Provel is a mix of cheddar, Swiss and provolone but I guarantee you if you personally mixed all three cheeses it would be nowhere as horrific as actual Provel. That %*%+ is nasty.
But it’s not just the cheese that’s nasty it’s the sauce. It tastes like a 50-50 blend of Heinz ketchup and CFA Polynesian sauce. Way too ultrasweet to be on a pizza. The Punxsutawney style pizza is a crust midway between a NYC style and an East Coast bar pizza/cracker crust (so similar to a Chicago thin/Milwaukee style crust). But it has a similar sickeningly sauce as the St Louis style it just uses Mozzerella or a Mozz/Cheddar blend in place of the gross Provel cheese. But it’s still inedible just because of the sauce.
I said at the beginning this would incite some to riot! Point taken with the sauce, seems more a sweet marinara that goes better with toasted ravioli (another local Hill thing). Apparently, the sweetness is a Sicilian influence. I’m more agnostic about the Provel. Where it can really go off the rails is when they screw up the crust by underbaking it. If it’s not crisp and sturdy, the cheese makes it really soggy and gross. I’ll get IMO’s when I go home for nostalgia, but it’s much better from a real restaurant.
I like a GOOD New York style but they’re not all created equal even in New York. I have no time for deep dish, way to bready. Only one I liked was from a place called Gino’s East in Chicago.
I like a GOOD New York style but they’re not all created equal even in New York. I have no time for deep dish, way to bready. Only one I liked was from a place called Gino’s East in Chicago.
I like pound cake, but gooey butter doesn’t crumble. At all! Don’t know if you’re familiar with Jim Gaffigan, but look up him eating St. Louis pizza. He also eats toasted ravioli and gooey butter cake. It’s really funny. He wonders if you can get diabetes in mid bite😎In the South, we call that pound cake.
I go to Pepe's whenever I'm in that area and that clam pizza is really good. The style is similar to Neapolitan pizza in Italy which is also some of the best anywhere IMO.
Hot off the press from America's Test Kitchen
The Best Tampa-Style Cuban Sandwiches
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