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FORAGER | CHEF

Award-winning chef, author and forager Alan Bergo. Food is all around you.

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Rabbit “Wings”

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rabbit wingsI 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 very frustrated about some hiccup during restaurant service, so I resigned myself to chopping turtle meat for an hour or two to make sure I didn’t say anything I’d regret.

Getting to the rabbits though, I was going through the motions of butchering them: remove both hindlegs, repeat with forelegs, save carcasses for stock. After I’d gone through a couple rabbits, I noticed something. Inspecting a limb-less carcass, I noticed was that there was a couple nice hunks of meat left on the backbone.

After a second or two I realized I was looking at the oysters-a sort of secret treat known by grandmothers and other people who occasionally roast whole poultry, the go-to example being Thanksgiving turkey.

butchering rabbit

You can get two “wings” from each carcass.

I’d cut up plenty of rabbits before, but for some reason this time a little voice said to me:

“Those are rabbit oysters. You’ve never eaten those. You need to eat those.”

I didn’t know what I was going to do with them, but I brought a bunch home to play with in my spare time. The next day I pulled the rabbit carcasses out and got to work. I knew I wasn’t going to just cook a rabbit spine and ribcage and gnaw on it, so I brought out the trusty meat cleaver and chopped off the parts of the bunny I didn’t need.

What I ended up with was pretty interesting: a little hunk of bone, with meat attached to it. It reminded me of a chicken wing, kind of.

rabbit wings

Rabbit “wings”

From there I got to work, with the goal of making a crispy, spicy niblet. Poultry, and things with deep frying in their future like to be in buttermilk for a while, so I gave the bunny pieces a little bath overnight.

I like chicken wings with a dry rub too, so I dug in the pantry and put together something. As far as dry rubs go, in my opinion, if you have a little paprika laying around, you’re as good as gold. There’s just something about what happens to paprika when it hits melting fat that’s magical.

Like plenty of things (dried mushrooms are a great example) gentle exposure to heat and fat tends to soften and enrich flavors, as well as taming bitterness in some ingredients.

What I ended up doing was removing the rabbit pieces, drying them, rolling them in the seasoning and frying them in lard in a cast iron skillet. It was like eating chicken wings from another dimension. To my surprise, there was plenty of meat to eat on the rabbit wings, and I pecked around, biding my time until I got the the prize: the oyster on each one.

spicy rabbit

It’s important to not crowd the pan, which would inhibit proper browning.

  1. rabbit wings
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    Rabbit Wings

    "Wings" crafted from the helicopter bones of a rabbit where the leg meets the spine.
    Prep Time12 hrs
    Cook Time30 mins
    Course: Appetizer
    Cuisine: American
    Keyword: Rabbit

    Ingredients

    • Prepared helicopter bones of rabbit or other suitable small game about 3 per person as an appetizer
    • Sea salt to taste
    • Fresh ground black pepper to taste
    • Buttermilk as needed
    • A spicy rub I made up in Nov 2014 recipe follows
    • Rendered animal fat for sauteing (Cooking oil can be substituted)

    Instructions

    • Soak the rabbit pieces in buttermilk overnight.
    • The next day, thoroughly dry the pieces, season with salt and pepper, then dredge in the spice mixture, toss lightly to remove excess, then fry in the lard, ensuring there is 1/2in-1 in of space between each piece of meat in the pan, to ensure proper caramelization of the spices and meat. Cook the meat until browned thoroughly on medium-high heat, turning occasionally to flip each piece only once throughout the cooking process.
    • When the rabbit pieces are cooked through, transfer them to towel to soak up excess lard for a second, then transfer to a plate and serve immediately.

    Notes

    It will take a bunch of animals to make something like this for a group of people, but if you buy a bunch of small, small cornish game hens or poussin, you could easily come up with something similar. You could easily deep-fry this too.
rabbit wings

They didn’t suck, that’s for sure.

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A Rub I Made Up In Nov, 2014

These proportions will season a batch of wings for a couple people. It's spicy.

Ingredients

  • 1.5 Tbsp cayenne pepper
  • 1 Tbsp toasted ground white pepper
  • 1 Tbsp toasted ground cumin
  • 3 Tbsp paprika
  • 1 tsp toasted ground whole allspice
  • 1.5 Tbsp dried thyme
  • 1.5 Tbsp dried oregano
  • 2 Tbsp toasted ground fennel seeds

Instructions

  • Combine all the ingredients, label, date, and reserve until needed.

Notes

Take a glance at this, then just ad-lib and make your own, just remember using fresh spices is absolutely key. Rummaging in an old cupboard filled with 4 year old ground spices will make things taste, like 4 year old ground spices.

Related

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Comments

  1. Trish Hannah

    January 9, 2015 at 11:11 am

    anything rabbit, yes!

    BTW: I have to tell you it was a delight for you to take time and stop by the bar to introduce yourself. We enjoyed our evening at Salt Cellar and couldn’t have been more pleased with the service, drinks and food. The interior is stunning. Kudos! We’ll be back.

    Reply
    • Alan Bergo

      January 12, 2015 at 8:53 pm

      Thanks, it was nice to meet you too. We should be in contact about putting something together this year with your fly fishing school/class. There is tons of stuff that loves to grow around streams.

      Reply

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Alan Bergo
Milkweed buds are the second-best edible part of t Milkweed buds are the second-best edible part of the plant, besides the pods in my opinion. They need to be cooked to be edible. 

I only pick from common milkweed in areas where there’s very large colonies. 

I leave some buds to flower on each plant, I also avoid any tops that have insects or monarch caterpillars. Plenty of food to go around. 

#milkweedisafoodplant #foraging #milkweedbuds #asclepiassyriaca
HALP! I’ve been keeping an eye on two loaded mul HALP! I’ve been keeping an eye on two loaded mulberry trees and both got a bunch of fruit knocked down by the storms and wind. 

If anyone in West WI or around the Twin Cities knows of some trees, (ideally on private property but beggars can’t be choosers) that I could climb and shake with a tarp underneath, shoot me a DM and let’s pick some! 🤙😄

TIA

#throwadogabone #mansquirrel #beattlefruit #mulberries #shakintrees
Lampascioni, or edible hyacinth bulbs are one of t Lampascioni, or edible hyacinth bulbs are one of the more interesting things I’ve eaten. 

These are an ancient wild food traditionally harvested in Southern Italy, especially in Puglia and the Salentine Peninsula, as well as Greece and Crete. I’ve seen at least 6-7 different names for them. 

A couple different species are eaten, but Leopoldia comosa is probably the one I see mentioned the most. They also grow wild in North America. 

The bulbs are toxic raw, but edible after an extended boil. Traditionally they’re preserved in vinegar and oil, pickled, or preserves in other methods using acid and served as antipasti. (Two versions in pic 3). 

They’re one of the most heavily documented traditional wild foods I’ve seen. There’s a few shots of book excerpts here.

The Oxford companion to Italian Food says you can eat them raw-don’t do that. 

Even after pickling, the bulbs are aggressively extremely bitter. Definitely an acquired taste, but one that’s grown on me. 

#traditionalfoods #vampagioli #lampascione #cucinapovera #lampascioni #leopoldiacomosa #foraging
Went to some new spots yesterday looking for poke Went to some new spots yesterday looking for poke sallet and didn’t do too well (I’m at the tip of its range). I did see some feral horseradish though which I don’t see very often. 

Just like wild parsnip, this is the exact same plant you see in the store and garden-just escaped. 

During the growing season the leaves can be good when young. 

They have an aggressive taste bitter enough to scare your loved ones. Excellent in a blend of greens cooked until extra soft, preferably with bacon or similar. 

For reference, you don’t harvest the root while the plant is growing as they’ll be soft and unappealing-do that in the spring or fall. This is essentially the same as when people tell you to harvest in months that have an R in them. 

#amoraciarusticana #foraging #horseradishleaves #horseradish #bittergreens
In Italy chicken of the woods is known as “fungo In Italy chicken of the woods is known as “fungo del carrubo” (carob tree mushroom) as it’s one of the common tree hosts there. 

My favorite, and really the only traditional recipe I’ve found for them so far is simmered in a spicy tomato sauce with hot chile and capers, served with grilled bread. 

Here I add herbs too: fresh leaves of bee balm that are perfect for harvesting right now and have a flavor similar to oregano and thyme. 

Makes a really good side dish or app, especially if you shower it with a handful of pecorino before scooping it up with the bread. 

#chickenofthewoods #fungodelcarrubo #allthemushroomtags #traditionalfoods #beebalm
First of the year 😁. White-pored chicken of t First of the year 😁. 

White-pored chicken of the woods (Laetiporus cincinnatus) are my favorite chicken. 

Superior bug resistance, slightly better flavor + texture. They also stay tender longer compared to their more common yellow-pored cousins. Not a single bug in this guy. 

#treemeat #ifoundfood #foraging #laetiporuscincinnatus #chickenofthewoods
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