Octopus

If you think animals with a good diet taste better...   Octopus is for you!


The octopus is a cephalopod with around 300 different species. Like many lizards that can loose and grow back their tales, the octopus can detach and regrow their arms. They can also change colors to match their environment like a chameleon. Another unique defense they use is the projection of ink to cloud the water for an escape from predators. The octopus is a very smart animal. They are able to distinguish between real and mirrored images as well knowing their shapes and colors. These magnificent animals also are able to show emotion. Enough about their defences and brains, we are here for food. I am jealous of the octopuses diet. They feed like kings. Although they dine on fish, snails, shellfish, crustaceans, turtles and other octopus they still live short lives. Many live only to be between six months and five years old. That is with out humans killing them for food. Here is a recipe for an octopus appetizer for you who have your very own octopus.

Tender Pressure-Cooked

Octopus

10-15   Baby or Small Octopus

1   Clementine

3tbl.   Sesame Oil

46oz.   Coconut Milk

1tbl.   Olive Oil

1tsp.   Red Pepper Flakes

to cover   H2O

Saffron flavored rice

Spinach

Chili Sauce (your favorite kind)

- Add the first seven ingredients to a pressure-cooker

- Cover and cook for 15-20min.

- Place Spinach on plate and top with Saffron Rice

- Top the rice with the Octopus and garnish with Chili Sauce

Pig Head

Head Cheese...     Nope. Sorry. Too obvious!

Here is a head duo. The head has some of the most tender, juicy and flavorful parts, of the body. It can be used and cooked in almost any way you can cook other parts of an animal. Every part must be used! The head needs the hair removed first. I was going to use a butane torch to burn it off until a glass-blower friend of mine handed me a nice sized propane blow torch that cut my burning time in half. I recommend the blow torch over a small, crappy, butane torch. Jowls are a great part on their own. Then there are the ears, snout, neck, tongue, face and skull. The meat on the head can be cooked as well as the head itself. The teeth should be removed and the skull and remaining fat and meat can be boiled down into a great stock for soups or sauces.

SLOW COOKED PIG'S HEAD

1     Pig's Head

1     Apple

1     Cinnamon Stick

2     Garlic Cloves

1tbl.     Red Pepper Flakes

1     Bay Leaf

2C.     H2O

1shot     Dark Beer

- Add all ingredients into a crock pot

- Cook on low for 12 hours

- Remove from heat and shred the meat

PIG'S HEAD SOUP

1     Pig's Head (trimmed)

1batch     Slow Cooked Pig's Head

1gal.     H2O

2-3tbl.     Cooking Oil

2     Carrots

4ribs     Celery

1     White Onion

1     Apple

 S&P

- Saute Carrots, Celery, Onion & Apple in Oil until tender

- Add Pig's Head, Water and Seasonings

- Simmer & Reduce by about half

- Remove the Head and add shredded Head Meat

- Simmer for 10min.

- Cool overnight

- Remove fat from the top of the soup

- Re-heat and enjoy

Pig Jowl

If you love tender, juicy pork...     Stuff your cheeks with these jowls!

The jowls are just as good as and can be cooked similar to pulled pork. Most people would never think of eating the head of a pig, but honestly I think it has some of the most flavorful and tender meat. Yes it has eyes and may seem to be staring at you but it's dead, it died for your pleasure, and should be honored by using every part. Pigs have huge heads and strong jaws, thus they have a large chunk of meat in the jowl area. The meat is tender, juicy and full of porky goodness. For spectacular, tender jowl meat use this recipe and I guarantee, if you love the pig and all it has to offer, you'll enjoy this. Oink!

SHREDDED PIG JOWL

1     Pig Jowl

1lg.     Carrot

1/2     White Onion

2sprigs     Rosemary

3tbl.     Oregano

2tbl.     Thyme

2tbl.     Sage

1bottle     Beer (lager or a lighter ale)

4C.     Water (or enough to cover the jowl)

           S&P

-Add all ingredients to a stock pot or crock pot

- Turn on low heat

- Cook for 9 hours

- Remove the jowl meat from the pot

- Remove most of the large fat chunks from the meat

PIG JOWL SANDWICHES

2 WAYS

2     Wheat Rolls

1/4C.     Shredded Pig Jowl

2slices     Pickled Cherry Peppers

     Chili Sauce

     Yellow Mustard

     Blue Cheese

- Smear Yellow Mustard on the bottom of one Roll and Chili Sauce on the other

- Top each Roll with half of the Jowl meat

- Top the Mustard Roll with a chunk of Blue Cheese and top the Chili Roll with Peppers

- Pig out!

    



Pig Slaughter & Butchering

The slaughtering starts with a pig and a bullet. This step is not for the squeemish. It takes a lot of "guts" to procede with the kill and cleaning. The pig must be skinned, gutted, cleaned and halved.

The next step is butchering. Butchering consists of cutting the carcass into steaks, roasts, loins, ribs and all types of delectable edibles. Every part must be used! Do not throw away anything! Yes, dog-food is a legetimate reason to throw some of the parts that you don't want on the floor.

Now that you have seen where your pork chop comes from, I give you some recipes so that you can enjoy your swine to the fullest.

Quail Eggs

What came first...     The Quail or the Egg?

Quail Eggs are a great food to eat for nutritional value and sustaining good health. These beautiful freckled shells are full of protein, iron, potassium, phosphorus, calcium and vitamins A, B1 and B2. They contain plenty of HDL cholesterol. "Yes, that's the good cholesterol!" Quail Eggs are non allergenic and are immune to salmonella as well as harmful bacteria because of its increased content of lysozyme, which kills the bacteria. These delicious eggs can be consumed raw or cooked any way you would cook a chicken egg.

BOILED QUAIL EGGS

- Set Egg in boiling water

- Soft Boiled = 1 minute

- Hard Boiled = 3 minutes

- Peel shell and eat

RAW QUAIL EGGS

- Make a line around the top of the shell with a very sharp knife

- Following that line, make a small incision and follow the original line until top comes off

- Set upright on Wasabi or a Soft Cheese, top with Sea Salt and a dash of fresh cracked Pepper

Sweetbreads

If you like the flavor of veal and the texture of grilled beef fat...  

Try these Sweetbreads!

There are two types of Sweetbreads. One is stomach Sweetbreads and the other is thalmus gland Sweetbreads. They both come from cows, pigs or lamb and are very flavorful. They taste just like good veal and have a creamy texture that lies somewhere in between grilled beef fat and an extremely tender fillet mignon. The flavor lasts long the meat has been chewed and swallowed, so pair it with something that will help finish the flavors in the mouth instead of letting them linger. Lemon and capers, egg or even a simple salad will pair nicely with Sweetbreads. They can be prepared almost any way you like and are hard to overcook but the best, according to me, is either grilled or sauteed in butter.

SAUTEED SWEETBREADS & EGGS

1/2lb.     Sweetbreads

1-2C.     Buttermilk

1/4C.     AP Flour

1 1/2tbl.     Butter

1     Egg

1tsp.     Chili Sauce

1     Heirloom Tomato

     Olive Oil

     Balsamic Vinegar

     S&P

- If there is a membrane on the Sweetbreads, peel it off

- Cut the Sweetbreads into 2 inch sections

- Soak the Sweetbreads in Buttermilk for a couple of hours

- Dredge the Sweetbreads in the Flour seasoned with S&P

- Get two saute pans hot

- Add 1tbl. Butter to one pan and the other 1/2tbl. to the other pan

- In the pan with 1tbl. Butter, saute the Sweetbreads until they are nice and golden-brown

- In the other pan cook the egg andy way you like. (I prefer basted or over easy)

- Slice the Tomato, place on a plate, drizzle with a little Olive Oil & Balsamic Vinegar

- Plate the Sweetbreads & Egg next to the Tomatoes

- Add a few drops of Chili Sauce and serve

Chicken Feet

For those who cut their nails and wash their feet before cooking...  

Taste these Chicken Feet.

Don't run for the hills because these chickens won't chase you. Chicken Feet are a tasty part of an animal that, here in America, we don't take very good care of. Though many chickens that are bred, in America for food, can not walk, their feet are certainly a delectable appendage. On the contrary, the best chicken feet come from healthy, heavy, chickens who have large, muscular feet to hold those heavy bodies. Many countries serve chicken feet as a regular, every day meal. Although the Chinese take the cake, or should I say take the toe, on regular feet feeding, there are many other cultures that enjoy this wrinkly, jointed delight. Other countries that like their feet on a plate include Jamaica, The Philippines, Brazil, South Africa and many members of the Jewish community. Chicken Feet are cooked in a variety of ways. They can be marinated, boiled, grilled, fried and pretty much prepared any way you like. Most often they are used in soups, stews, spiced and grilled or simply boiled. If you're worried about someone at the office eating your lunch out of the community refrigerator, fill your lunchbox with feet and you won't have to worry! On that note, next time you drive by an Asian market, do yourself a big favor, stop in and grab a bag of chicken feet for whatever meal awaits you.

I give you this recipe because, honestly, I believe that the best part of Chicken Feet is the skin. Well, its almost the only part once you get past the bone and tendons.

CRISPY CHICKEN FEET

4     Chicken Feet

1-2     Garlic Cloves (crushed and minced)

2tbl.     Olive Oil

3tbl.     Clairified Butter

             Salt & Pepper

- Mince Garlic

- Marinate (overnight) Chicken Feet in Garlic, S&P and just enough Olive Oil to coat the feet

- Boil the Chicken Feet and Marinade in water for about 15-20 minutes

- Remove the Feet from the Water

- Get a sautee pan hot, add Butter, S&P and Chicken Feet

- Saute until the skin gets crispy

- Remove from pan, season with a little more S&P or your favorite seasoning/dry rub

- Plate & Serve

(for extra crispy Chicken Feet they can be deep fried)

Lutefisk

For those who enjoy odiferous edibles...
Welcome Lutefisk to your holiday menu.

Lutefisk or lye-fish is air dried and salted cod whose origin goes back as far as the 15th century. With it's firm yet gelatinous texture lutefisk smells terrible but, like a fine cheese, tastes great. This translucent delight was not invented by the Norwegian or Swedish because they loved the taste and smell, but because there was no way to refrigerate food in the day of it's invention. Salted and air dried fish were made to preserve the meat for long periods of time for travel or long winters. The lye or caustic soda, which is often used in the making of soap, comes into play after the fish is salted and dried. It is used to re-hydrate the fish for consumption. After the fish is re-hydrated in the lye, which takes several days, it is baked, broiled or steamed and served with salt and pepper along with a butter, mustard or cream sauce. Traditionally this dish is served toward the end of the year over the holidays, such as Thanksgiving and Christmas. Long ago it was eaten during times of fasting because of its high protein content. For many Swedes, Norwegians and true mid-westerners, lutefisk takes the place of a Thanksgiving turkey or Christmas ham. Lutefisk is usually accompanied by whipped potatoes, peas and lefse (Swedish potato flatbread) and sometimes goat cheese. Although lutefisk has migrated from Sweden and Norway to America, there is a town in Minnesota called Madison that claims to be the lutefisk capital of the world.

LUTEFISK

&

GOAT CHEESE POTATOES

1lb.     Lutefisk

1/4C.  Butter

1/2C.  Green Peas

1C.     Whipped Potatoes (make your favorite way)

2tbl.    Goat Cheese

2pcs.   Lefse

           S&P

- Soak fish in cold water overnight (changing the water a few times)

- Season and cover fish with foil and bake @ 400degrees for aprox. 20min.

- Melt Butter

- Steam Peas

- Heat Whipped Potatoes

- Warm the Lefse

- Top Lutefisk with Melted Butter

- Top Potatoes with Goat Cheese

- Plate all ingredients

- Try not to sniff the fish and eat

Braunschweiger

For those who are liver lovers...  Welcome braunschweiger to your diet.

Braunschweig is a city in Germany where braunschweiger is a general term for liver sausage and is the culprit for creating this delicious, brownish-pale delight. Braunschweiger, liverwurst or liver sausage is a cured or smoked sausage made traditionally of pork livers and hearts. Tripe, pig's feet, jowls, skin and even chicken livers are often used alongside the pork. Other liverwurst are made of beef, veal, bison or goose, though almost any liver can be used with the exception of overly gamey meats, which most people simply do not like the flavor of.


Here is one of my personal favorite ways to eat braunschweiger. Enjoy!

BRAUNSCHWEIGER SANDWICH

2slices     Home-Made Rye Bread

4slices     Braunschweiger

1tbl.        Yellow Mustard

1-2tbl.     Blue Cheese

1tbl.        Grape Compote or Jelly

-  Lightly toast Bread

-  Smear one slice of toast with Mustard and the other slice with the Grape Jelly

-  Top the toast with the Braunschweiger and the Blue Cheese

-  Put together and enjoy

What do you want to eat?

Here is a list of what some of the featured foods will be. If you have an odd or unique food that you would like to see an episode about just leave a comment and it will be added to the list and considered for an episode and recipe. 
                              
- Rocky Mt. Oysters                   
- Pigeon                                     
- Limpets                                   
- Blood Sausage  
- Geoduck                        
- Kangaroo     
- Brains                             
- Sea Urchin                             
- Scorpions
- Razor Clams
- Iguana
- Snake
- Crickets
- Alligator
- Tendon & Tripe
- Sweetbreads
- Bile