Melba's Jammin' wrote:

> In article >, Bob Pastorio
> > wrote:
> (sip)
>
>>One of our codes was "old family recipe" and it meant that we were
>>about to invent a dish for a customer who wanted something not on the
>>menu. Or if they wanted something that we'd already sold out of for
>>the day. Then we'd ask them questions about what they liked and
>>disliked and go back and invent. That's how our rib steak stuffed with
>>shrimp and mushrooms that were poached in demi-glace came to be. And
>>our butterflied duck breast with a venison forcemeat filling
>>re-wrapped in venison bacon and its own skin and coated with
>>wonderfully seasoned crumbs and then baked.
>>Pastorio
>>
> Row-behr-to, did you always just happen to have some duck skin, venison
> forcemeat and venison bacon around, or was it a game-theme restaurant?
> Inquiring Mind Wants To Know. I mean, really . . . . .

No. It was what we had on hand that day. Duck breasts with skin on (we
often had them on hand - very popular specials). Venison forcemeat
takes about 4 minutes when you have the meat, breadcrumbs, eggs,
veggies, and seasoning ingredients on hand. The venison bacon was an
experiment that we had no idea what to do with since none of us had
ever seen it before. We made it as an experiment and it was good. We
made it from a boned and butterflied venison left ham that we larded,
dry-cured and smoked. Major nuisance but wonderfully tasty. Very, very
different than pork bacon. Almost no fat. We had to add it.

We did sell a lot of game meats. American and imported. Lion, hippo,
bear, boar, llama, elk, venison and others. Birds and sea critters,
too. Along with worlds of prime rib, roast beef, steaks, pastas,
seafood, poultry, vegetarian dishes and specialty items I or my people
invented. Worked that way in all my restaurants. When the troops
invented a dish, they got to name it.

Pastorio