Salo is a great piece of pork charcuterie that I found out about from one of the members of Hank Shaws great Facebook Group Hunt Gather Cook when I asked for some ideas for interesting pork cuts to take out of 2 pandemic pigs I butchered. I love cultural specialties and the rabbit holes that…
Charcuterie
Charcuterie is the art and craft of curing meats, and it's a passion of mine. I've cured thousands of pounds of meat for all kinds of projects over the course of my career, and my skill working with various odds and ends is something I pride myself on.
Here you'll find recipes for things to make out of trim and scrap, as well as intensive, show-stopping projects like headcheese, homemade sausages, fancy French terrines, and simpler things like venison bacon.
How to Make Traditional English Bacon
If you make your own bacon, or process your own hogs, you likely know how incredible homemade bacon is. A while ago, during the pandemic when hogs were a dime a dozen, I got the chance to butcher two whole pigs with my father and some friends, and before I did, I made sure to…
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…
Dried Ramp Leaf Venison Jerky
I make sure to dehydrate plenty of ramp leaves when I can during the spring so I can use them in whatever I want during the year–if you have access to them, there just isn’t a reason not to. They’re mild, less aggressive than something like garlic powder, but still have enough kick to flavor…
Middle Eastern Confit (Qawarma)
As I’ve worked with the lamb and goat farm for the past few years, I’ve loved researching every and all traditional recipes using lamb and goat around the world. Qawarma, or small pieces of lamb cooked in it’s own fat, is one of the most interesting I’ve found–essentially French confits attractive Arabic cousin. It all…
Smoked Venison Shanks
Do you grind up your venison shanks? Feed them to the dog? Wonder what could ever make them taste good? No more. Smoked venison shanks (and lots of other smoked deer parts) are a great thing to keep around. Cure, Smoke, and Freeze for later The basic idea is this: right after I butcher an…
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…
Venison Pancetta
Say the words venison bacon or venison pancetta to a hunter and they’re likely to tell you how much they like it. Unfortunately, the venison bacon so many people like is a mocked-up, sort of salty meatloaf injected with liquid smoke and pork fat to make it palatable. Like I talked about in my basic…
