Halloweiner IV: Quad Damage

This was our fourth year hosting Halloweiner, and I think we're really perfecting this party. Although we definitely got way too much meet this year. So much that I barely remember all the things we ate. And I was so busy cutting and serving it to our 30+ guests that I didn't even attempt to take pictures. So I'm relying on the help of my friends for this particular blog post, in terms of the list of meats and pictures of said meats. Our friend Alyssa takes far better pictures than I ever could, anyway.

We started the day by braising a pig's foot to be grilled later. We also set out some cured meats to snack on. I managed to get pictures of both of these things (with my crappy iPad camera) because no guests had arrived yet.

Pig foot! It's already been braising for an hour or so at this point

Cured Meats. Some of these were spicy, some were fatty. They were all delicious.

 

 

Like always, we had a rabbit. Although the popularity of this seems to be declining. Bunnies aren't large, but most of this one was put in a quesadilla a couple of days after the party. The stuffing went really quickly, though.

Mmmmm, bunny

We also got a lot more seafood this year than in the past, including this catfish that was prepared three ways (and also went mostly uneaten).

Catfish with a spice rub, a lemon-pepper rub, and unseasoned. I think there's also some conch meat in that pan.

We also got a Mako shark steak at the Eastern Market. The verdict? This basically tastes like swordfish.

Shark steak!

But the real star of the night was the cow heart. Everyone was pretty excited about this. Unfortunately it took a really long time to cook and didn't make it to the table until everyone had already stuffed themselves. It was still fun to try a bite are pretend I was khaleesi.

Zach is ready to demolish the heart

Heart halved and cooking. Most of it is still in my fridge

Rather than talk about everything we cooked and tasted, I'll leave you with this list that Alex recorded through the night:

• Kangaroo loin
• Wild boar loin
• Mysterious fish (something flounder?) 
• Chorizo sausage
• Lamb & herb sausage
• Squid
• Octopus
• Rock fish
• Wild boar sausage 
• Pig foot 
• Roast bunny
• Ostrich loin
• Asian barbecue sausage
• Mako shark
• Ox tail
• Bunny sausage
• Elk medallion
• Duck duck brandy (sausage)
• Conch
• Catfish
• Pulled pork
• Cow heart!
• Russo sausage
• Orata (fish)
• Calatrese sausage
• Heart sausage
• Eel (dry)
• Venison saddle
• Tofu bunny
• Octopus
• Venison pork cherry sausage
• Eel (wet)
• Cow tail
• Camel burger
• Salted jellyfish

The ostrich was a real winner. It was super tender and rich, more like beef than a bird, but still delicious. And as expected from previous years, I loved the kangaroo and duck, duck, brandy sausages. I didn't try the jellyfish, because almost everyone made the same look of disgust immediately upon eating some. Word is it tasted like salt and nothing else.

I'm looking forward to next year, when we will hopefully buy a little less meat. I'm not too fond of the leftovers that are currently (still) sitting in my fridge.