Wondering what to do with venison fat? Oh do I have a treat for you! There’s a huge misconception about venison/deer fat and it’s use in cooking. Basically, people think it tastes like chapstick, it’s gamey and horrible, too rich, or some other common unfortunate misunderstanding. If you’re here, you’re probably bambi fat-curious, so know…
Offal
Sicilian Venison Heart Sandwiches (Vastedda Palermitana)
Italian street food is truly some of the coolest out there, case in point: la Vastedda Palermitana. Also known as pani ca muesa or pane con la milza, this sandwich has a few names, all of which are probably more attractive than a descriptive English one. Why? Well, to be blunt, the Vastedda is a…
Tuscan Fettucine with Squirrel Giblets
Here’s a great recipe for an evening after a squirrel or rabbit hunt, especially if you have nice fat grey squirrels around like I do. When I butcher a deer or lamb, I usually save some offal, but, with limited freezer space I do have to pick and choose, and I don’t usually keep every…
Smoked Rams Head Posole
Some people might say an image of an animal head is unappealing, down right spooky. What I think is unnerving is the fact that we’re disconnected from where our meat comes from. More and more, and I feel like most Americans just can’t deal with the fact that the meat they eat had a life,…
Spring Venison Terrine with Ramp Leaves
When things are starting to pop up in the spring, my first instinct is to go out and start putting things up and preserving. If you’re like me, you probably have some other things that need to get cleaned out of the freezer too, first. Enter pates, terrines, and all the glorious charcuterie that you…
Scrapple
Do you like bacon? Pancakes? Crispy, browned things cooked on a griddle? Maple syrup? Of course you do, so fasten your seatbelt and come aboard Alan’s organ train, because we’re traveling to scrapple country. if you like offal, shoot, even if you don’t partake in the finer parts (sucks air through teeth) if you’ve never…
Liver Ketchup
Liver ketchup is another piece of history I came across doing research on lamb and goat in an old Scottish book by An Comunn Gaidhealach (a seriously legit Scottish name) first published in 1907 under the title of The Feill Cookery Book. Like most of the old books I have, a lot of the recipes…
Venison Braunshweiger Dumplings
I’m always looking out for interesting ways to serve liver to people that don’t think they like offal, and these traditional German dumplings are a great way to do that. Liver and kidneys, especially from ruminants like deer, lamb and goat, are some of the hardest to get people to like, and alot of times…
Smoked Rocky Mountain Oysters
Fries, rocky mountain oysters, eggs, cowboy oysters, balls, or gonads, whatever you call them, the technical name is testicles, and if you’re here, you’re probably looking for a way to eat them. Congratulations, because this is hands-down the best recipe for rocky mountain oysters I’ve ever had–and I’ve eaten plenty. The first ones I had…
Wild Rice Blood Sausage
Black pudding, mutura, kaszanka, boudin rouge, zungenwurst, blutvurst, biroldo, morcilla, sanguinaccio. Across cultures, historical preparations for blood sausage will be found just about anywhere animals are harvested. And those are just sausage, don’t even get me started on the legion of other sanguine-devoted cultural specialties. Like most meat eaters, I love homemade sausage, and, once…
How to Prepare Rocky Mountain Oysters (Testicles)
The first testicle I ever ate would be the last one I ate for nearly a decade. I was still at St. Pauls Heartland Restaurant, which was a nose-to-tail palace of Midwestern Cuisine the likes of which will probably never be seen again. We cooked with only whole animals, and everything was used. Everything. Well,…
Cibreo: Renaissance Chicken Livers on Toast
Cibreo, also known as everything-but-the-cluck stew, is an interesting Italian sauce off the beaten path of the usual tomato sauces, ragus, sugos, and things you might associate with Italian cooking. It’s a literal, visceral celebration of chicken, and speaks to a time when nothing was wasted. Not. A. Thing. This version is basically a little…
Venison Heart Bolognese
I love coming up with creative ways to introduce people to eating offal, and venison heart Bolognese is one of my new favorites. Many recipes don’t, especially those designed for Americans, gut my Bolognese (as I was taught by my chef from Rome, Angelo) always incorporates a little bit of offal, typically chicken liver, but…