I’ve had a jar of fermented nasturtium capers burning a hole in my fridge from the 2018 growing season for a while, waiting for the perfect partner. This past week, the partner showed up in some fresh lamb sweetbreads. Sweetbreads can be a hard sell, and I get it, but in the scheme of organ…
Offal
Smoked Lamb and Goat Tongues
I’m in the middle of shooting a video series for Shepard’s Song Farm, mostly based around organ meats. There’s currently 10 lbs of tongues in my fridge, and more showing up in a few days. For the series I did a version based on my favorite Argentinian style marinade, but I had a few extra…
Pickled Lamb Tongues
My first time cooking with tongue was at Heartland, along with most of the other organs I learned how to cook. Usually I remember us cooking them and serving them as a small plate, tossed in a salad, or maybe warm mixed with a little pasta. I learned about pickled tongues when Lenny had us…
Corned Venison Heart
At Thanksgiving this year, I was wandering around my girlfriend’s family farm in Wisconsin. I went outside to check on someone when I spotted something sitting on the grill outside (it’s cold enough at thanksgiving to refrigerate things outdoors, as most people who’ve brined a turkey in the Midwest know). Sitting on the grill was…
Winter Greens With Lentils, Chicken Heart Confit and Hedgehog Mushrooms
As the head of purchasing for the restaurant I have plenty of local purveyors I buy food from but there’s one that stands out from the others. He isn’t technically local, but he might as well be. His name is George Weppler, and in the Twin Cities there’s plenty of restaurants that would like to…
Peacock Neck Sausage
American culture has a predilection for looking at exotic food from safe distances. We want to watch shows about eating bugs and snakes, but the majority of us would balk if someone tried to feed them to us. We’re fascinated by foods we deem strange, but that fascination is strictly for the value of the…
Duck Liver-Crab Apple Mousse, With Elderberry Jelly
If you’re a hunter of wild things, there’s a natural habit you get into: you keep going back to the places you know where things grow you like, since you can count on it. If you’re like me, your time is precious, and you want to make the most of it. This year, I didn’t…
Shad Roe With Pickled Morels And Bacon
Want to impress your friends with a little known Spring delicacy? Well here you go, It’s shad roe. Basically this is the egg filled ovary of a fish related to herring, it’s a Spring treat, and one of the forgotten treasures of our American culinary heritage. It was eaten seasonally by the Native Americans,…
Steak and Morels en Crepinette, with Nettles and Grains
Before the Salt Cellar opened, I was looking through books for ideas on “old school” French food I could put a spin on for the menu. Crepinettes were one thing I thought of, but decided to put them on the back-burner to keep the saute stations a little easier to work, for the time being….
Rabbit “Wings”
I pride myself on the ways I find to use scrap and trim. These rabbit “wings” are a perfect example of that. Chopping animals into pieces is a bit of a meditative process for me. It might sound macabre, but the repetition can be calming in a way. Just the other day I found myself…
Partridge with Pears and Pickled Ramp Glace
Here’s something fun I’ve been saving just for the holiday season, and it’s as unusual as they come, not to mention delicious. It also happens to be inspired by the classic Christmas song “Twelve days of Christmas”. If you’re an avid reader of this blog, you’ll know that I occasionally try to poke fun at…
Bacon Fat-Turkey Gizzard Confit
Smoked pork fat. Is there anything it can’t make delicious? I don’t think so. Bacon has been on my mind lately, since at the new restaurant we’ll be going through a lot of the stuff. I don’t know how much yet, but it will be a lot. 3-4 whole pork bellies, or more a week…
Herb Gnocchi with Cockscombs and Red Chanterelles
So far, my favorite way to enjoy cockscombs has been with pasta. There’s just something about the soft texture of cockscombs that begs to be in a juicy ragu. When you throw a couple tasty mushrooms and some cured pork in the mix, it’s an excellent dish. I made some gnocchi here that are great,…