Tattooed Moose

137 Morrison Drive
Charleston, SC 29403
(843) 277-2990
Website

The Moose came highly recommended from a number of people as a dive-y beer bar with great duck. That was good enough for me and so after I got my rental car, checked in to my super saweet AirBnB cottage, I wasted no time and was on my way.

A variety of taxidermy animals surround the inside, which was quite cool. However, I didn't see any tats on the moose, but honestly, I didn't really look too hard.

The duck club was a "must try" per the instructions I'd received so my choice was already made before I'd sat down. From the menu: A triple decker filled with duck confit, applewood smoked bacon, & hickory smoked cheddar topped with garlic aioli, lettuce, tomato, & red onion on sweet Hawaiian bread.

There was certainly a LOT going on with this sandwich. The duck confit was delicious, rich and rendered to water fowl perfection. However there was just too much other shit in the sandwich to truly appreciate the duck as served. You can see the bread and ingredient ratio is a bit overwhelming below. Now, I understand that duck is not the kind of protein you heap on, but I just felt like this could have been better served not as a club. It was still a great sandwich full of fresh, quality ingredients, but it was just not a perfect cohesive package.

The house pickled sweet and spicy green tomatoes were amazing, and the garlic dills were another favorite. Also, those fries.

The duck fat fries with duck gravy were amazing. Shatteringly crisp, with a salt punch, the gravy was not even necessary. When I saw the size of the order, I said aloud "wow, I will never finish those". I am betting you can guess how this ended. Clean plate club indeed.

And although I did like that side of duck gravy, it was too roux-y and was missing that deep, dark, rich and fatty meat flavor that I expect out of poutine-impersonators – but as it goes, I ate it anyway.

Definitely a great stop in Charleston for some great beer and good food. A cool bar all around.

Sam's Butcher Shop (Round 3)

322 N. Main Street
Moscow, PA 18444
(570) 842-7392
Website

As you may already know, I frequent an online meat delivery service (samsbutchershop.com) based out of Northeastern PA and every once in a while, Sam the butcher hooks me up with some new products to try out.

This holiday season, he's got whole smoked ducks, smoked hams (bone-in), smoked salmon, smoked kielbasa rings, smoked breakfast sausage links and rendered duck fat by the pound. I received my package neatly wrapped just in time for my post-Thanksgiving turkey hangover blues.

The extra bonus was seeing the duck fat right on top, a nice surprise to get the unpacking started. Since the duck was number one coming out of the box, it was to be my first victim on my smoked meat journey last week.

Weighing in at just under 3 lbs. after its smoking, this beautiful bird was ready for some serious slicing and pulling. At this size, the meat could probably feed 3-4 people as a main course, but for me, it fed just 2 of us for one meal. I shouldn't have to explain my oversize appetite by now...

Slicing into the breast was like slicing through butter. Just look at the color and the tender meat encased in the glossy layer of fat just beneath the golden skin. A perfectly smoked specimen.

I couldn't help my craving for Peking duck when I began the breakdown and so I proceeded with my plans for a high heat dry fry on the pulled meat and I'd glaze it with my homemade orange-soy-ginger sauce. (I know it's not "Peking" in the traditional sense, but for my purposes, it works.)

After hitting the wok with some grapeseed oil for a bit of crisping up, I added my mixture of fresh squeezed orange juice (& microplaned peel), soy sauce, mirin, sugar, sriracha and hoisin to coat and let it caramelize on the shredded duck for a few minutes before serving over rice and stir-fried veggies.

It was incredible. The texture of the duck held up through my secondary cooking process and its flavor was an amazing blend of smoky, sweet and spicy with the most delicious bits of crisped ends for added complexity.

Second out of the box was the smoked ham, and this was another thing of beauty right off the bat.

It had the perfectly smoked finish, with the deep pink interior and the penetrating outer glaze. It smelled so good, I couldn't wait to try it and was eating every other slice while preparing for my grilled ham & cheese sandwiches.

It was smooth, silky and melted like butter in my mouth; sweet and salty with a smack of smoke.

It was incredible on white bread with yellow Cooper Sharp melting through the layers. One of my more simple indulgences.

With most of the leftover meat, I had planned on making split pea & ham soup (jumping off of Ina Garten's recipe) so I chopped it up into smaller, spoon size pieces. I used the bone to flavor my stock while the dry peas simmered for about 60 minutes, pulled it out and then added the ham to warm up in the soup for another 20 minutes.

I recommend letting the soup cool for at least an hour and then warming up again, the flavors improve ten-fold if you give it the extra time. The ham is crucial to a split pea soup recipe in my mind and Sam's ham is some of the best I've had. Even after my soup was full of ham, I still had a pile left and decided to make ham salad for my lunches.

I minced it up (just over 2 cups) and mixed it with 2 chopped hard boiled eggs; 3 diced celery stalks; 1/4 of a sweet onion, minced; 1 tsp. chopped fresh parsley; 2-3 heaping tbsp. mayo; 1 tbsp. dijon; 1 tbsp. sweet relish; 1 tsp. hoagie spread; and salt & pepper.

Crisp, delicious and refreshing. Well, as refreshing as ham can be. The ham is well worth it, considering I made 3 very diverse meals that lasted me nearly a whole week! And when I ran out, I decided to have breakfast for dinner with Sam's b-fast sausages.

They were like smoked mini kielbasas with some early morning flavor. I sliced them in half lengthwise and got a good sear in some butter and served them over crispy hash browns and topped with cheesy scramble. What a delight.

Breakfast for dinner is too often forgotten, so my parting advice is do it more than you should and you will be happier for it. And hit Sam's Butcher Shop up for all of your BFD needs.

AG Catering by Alex Garfinkel

At The Sage Farmhouse After Dark
Prix Fixe Menu / Fall Event
AG Catering Website
The Sage Farmhouse Website

I am often invited to events, but rarely make it. Once in a while something really interesting comes up, and I just have to see what it's all about. This fall dinner that featured local apples at the Sage Farmhouse was one of those opportunities.

The space is a circa 1785 farmhouse located just outside of Media, PA that's used as a rental venue for dinner parties, weddings, showers, etc. and has picturesque indoor and outdoor areas.

The focus of the night, however, was on the AG catering event. AKA the food.

The dining room is small, but intimate.

The kitchen is very cool, and features an old farmhouse stove. How they were able to crank out the meal in this venue is beyond me. The kitchen is definitely small for the output, but I guess that's the sign of a good chef – one who can triumph over the adversity.

Local Philadelphia artisans created these awesomely geometric water pitchers. They have a shop in Port Richmond called Edgewood Made and if interested, you can check them out here.

The experience began with the starters being prepped and we got to watch a lot of the action. Here's the chive butter with micro greens and apple butter for each table.

All of the greens were very locally sourced and I couldn't wait to get this stuff onto some warm bread.

The menu was small like a book mark, but it did the trick.

I pulled out some good wine from the secret stash, as this was a BYO event. The cups were also provided by the same Phila-based ceramics studio and kept the rustic theme going.

The warm rolls made a perfect vessel for the sweet apple butter and that rich & creamy chive butter. They were probably not intended to be eaten together, but I rarely follow tradition. Delicious.

The chicken rilletes amuse bouche was something I was looking forward to, and something I'd never really had before. Here they are, pre-plating with their little bits of pomegranate seed in the mix.

Just screaming to be set atop the crispy fried chicken skins. Who wouldn't love one of these perfectly edible, naturally-sourced 'plates'?

The stripped bass carpacio on the left was a delicate bite, served on a last-of-the-season green tomato slice. The fish was so smooth and buttery, with just the right smack of acidity from the tomato.

The rillete was helped along by the fresh herbs which gently cut the rich, poultry flavored puree. Two very well composed, and very different bites to get us started.

Beets, pears, and tomatos were dressed prior to their ultimate role as salad support team. And what a team it was.

Again, all major ingredients are locally sourced and fresh from the farm. So colorful!

The salad was anchored by a fried manchego cheese bite that had some pomegranate reduction tucked in, and just enough pepper and dressing to keep it spicy and fresh. It was a truly delicious fall harvest salad.

Fresh sunchoke chips were prepared for what might have been my favorite dish of the evening.

Again with the colors! So creative.

Sunchoke and apple soup was served with brandied apples, arugula pudding, and roasted wild mushrooms. A couple of pomegrante seeds gave a splash of color, and helped to further diversify what was an already unbelievable exercise in textural variety.

The soup itself was poured table side. It has the airiness of whipped cream, with a little bit of foam action, and the consistency was reminiscent of velvet.

An incredible edible velvet.

The Hudson Valley duck was among the finest cooked duck I have ever eaten. Again, presentation and creativity were front and center here. The hint of pomegranate can be seen here as well.

Tender, juicy and flavorful, the duck breast was accompanied by a wide variety of components – every dish of the evening had been so complex in its composition – and included charred romanesco, broccoli, cauliflower puree, among others. Even with so many differing items on the plate, every bite was balanced and everything worked together in perfect harmony.

The dessert was almost Halloween-inspired, with actual rootbeer leaves (I didn't even know that was a thing!) as the base for sassafras and bourbon ice cream served with stickybun bread pudding.

Here is Chef Alex Garfinkel making the icecream with dry ice for the audience.

Another perfectly composed dish in front of me, I was quite full and unsure if I could put this one down too. I had literally eaten every morsel they'd put in front of me up to this point.

But of course, I powered through and enjoyed these last flavors of fall from Chef AG.

In the end, it was a fabulous meal and one that I'd have recommended to anyone. He's a young chef with a big vision and seems to know exactly how to express it. If you're into it, I highly suggest you check out his supper clubs and get a taste of his colorful compositions in any season.