Silky Chicken Liver Parfait Tart
Tuesday, September 17, 2024It's easy and totally delicious to turn the luxuriously silky chicken liver parfait into a beautiful tart served with some greens dressed with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, toasted hazelnuts and sweet ripe figs. I used keto pork rind crust, but you can use regular pastry or even a store-bought crust for the recipe. If you are making keto crust, add 1-2 teaspoons of fresh thyme leaves to the mixture. Instead of macadamia nuts, walnuts, pecans or hazelnuts can be used to make the crust. A side not on prepping the chicken liver. There are sinew and greenish bits on the chicken livers, you will have to remove and discard them before cooking as they will make the parfait taste bitter if left on and the tart will be ruined.
Chicken Liver Parfait with Rosemary and Barberries
Friday, June 02, 2023Parfait is pretty much the same as pate, but it's always smooth, where pate can be more chunky. It's well worth passing the pureed liver through a sieve for an extra velvety texture. Opt for paler chicken livers which tend to have a richer flavour than the deep red ones. You can serve the parfait as soon as it's set, but it’s even better if the flavours are left to develop for overnight. The parfait will keep, refrigerated for up to 2 weeks if the clarified butter seal is not broken. Otherwise, it shall be consumed in a week. Alternatively, freeze the parfait for up to 2 months and defrost overnight in the fridge, removing it from the fridge about 30 minutes before serving.
Crispy Pig Ears with Chilli Sauce
Tuesday, April 11, 2023Evenly thin sliced strips of pig ears are first slow cooked in a pot water with garlic, peppercorns and herb, then fried in ghee until crispy and served with chilli sauce. Don’t fear the pigs' ear. People all over the world eat them and they are considered a delicacy in some parts of the world. It’s putting the whole pig to good use and more sustainable, less wasteful and they are less expensive too. In China, pig's ears are braised with innards and served as an appetizer. In Japen, they are pickled or sauteed with vegetables. Europeans also like pig ears boiled, stewed, smoked or roasted. The crunchy cartilage along with the chewy gelatinous skin and meat...you really have to try it to know the taste.
Pig ears contain lots of collagen, so they must be cooked low and slow. Cover the pig ears in water and cook until tender (2.5-3 hours) before frying them.
Tripe with Harissa Sauce
Wednesday, May 25, 2022Beef Tripe / Kalb Pansen | Lamb Tripe / Lamm Pansen |
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Embracing nose-to-tail eating can be daunting for those who didn't grow up eating offal. Heart, liver, tripe, tongue… there are so many options on offer when it comes to choosing what to eat or cook. In my grandparents’ generation all parts of an animal were valued and eating offal was as normal as eating mince. Offal isn't awful at all, on the contrary, it's very delicious if prepared right and highly nutritious. We waste massive quantities of food every single day and by using the whole animal, which helps reduce food waste, we are eating more mindfully and thoughtfully while ensuring that animal is fully appreciated.
Tripe is a type of organ meat that comes from the stomach lining of cow, sheep, goat or pig. Aside from being low in calories and fat, tripe is an excellent, healthy, and affordable source of lean protein and it’s also loaded with vitamins and minerals (zinc, choline, iron, potassium, magnesium, and calcium).
According to Healthline, there are four different kinds of beef tripe, classified depending on which stomach chamber the product was made from. The four types include:
- Blanket or flat tripe. This type is made from the first stomach chamber of cows. This smooth tripe is considered the least desirable.
- Honeycomb tripe. This variety stems from the second stomach chamber and resembles a honeycomb. It’s more tender than blanket tripe and has a more palatable flavor.
- Omasum or book tripe. Coming from the third stomach chamber, this type of tripe is described as a mix between blanket and honeycomb tripe.
- Abomasum or reed tripe. This variety is from the fourth stomach chamber. Its taste varies from strong to mild.
You either hate it or love it because of its distinctive aroma, bland flavour and chewy texture, it's often strongly spiced and most commonly prepared in dishes like soups and stews, or deep-fried as a snack. Although it isn’t as desirable as other cuts of meat, tripe remains very popular in the traditional cuisines of many cultures around the world.
The tripe fresh from the farm requires quite a bit of cleaning, the one you can purchase from the stores (I ordered mine here, where you can purchase all kinds of offal, from brain, spleen to testicles) are usually washed / bleached and parboiled. However, it still needs to be further prepared to soften the texture before it's ready for consumption.
Beef Liver Salad with Arugula, Gooseberries and Apricots
Friday, July 09, 2021The beef liver is cooked to be really tender, wonderfully succulent and pairs perfectly with the arugula and fruit salad. The liver is really fantastic for you and filled with essential vitamins and minerals (Vitamin B12, Vitamin A, Iron, Copper and Choline) your body needs. If you aren’t a big fan of nutrient-dense superfood-beef liver like me, try lamb or chicken liver. They are milder in taste and have a softer texture. You can also soak beef liver in milk overnight to make the flavour milder.
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- Clean beef liver and cut roughly into 2-inch segments. Heat the ghee in a skillet over high heat until hot. Add the liver, garlic, and ginger and stir-fry until browned but interior is still pinkish, about 2 minutes. Add in pepper flakes, coriander powder and Brandy or Sherry. Stir everything together and cook for a minute. Season with salt.
- Place arugula, apricot wedges and gooseberries in two serving plates. Top with beef liver. Sprinkle some chopped parsley and pink peppercorns over.
Fleischsalat aus Rinderzunge Beef Tongue Salad
Monday, May 31, 2021Fleischsalat is a classic German meat salad made with sausage, pickles and tossed with a mayonnaise dressing. They are often eaten with some German bread or Brötchen / buns. I am using the beef tongue instead as I enjoy organ meat and like to experiment with eating offal. Use mortadella or other ham instead if you don't eat organ meat. This special cut of beef is wonderfully flavourful and tender, and it's also surprisingly easy to make, esp. if you have a pressure cooker. You can't typically find many internal organs in supermarkets. I usually order the whole set of organs or 1/4 cow from the farmer or ask the butcher from the store to special order for me. I like organ meat because they are nutrient-dense and tasty. Plus, nose-to-tail eating is a responsible way for carnivores to consume meat. Eating just the steaks or other muscle meat of the animal is simply wasteful and irresponsible.
Stirfried Lamb Sweetbreads with Garlic and Rosemary
Friday, July 10, 2020Sweetbreads are the pancreas and thymus glands of veal, lamb and pork. The thymus gland has an elongated shape, while the pancreas is larger and has an oval shape. Both of them are velvety creamy, tender and moist. And unlike many other organ meats, like kidneys or liver, sweetbreads have a rather mild flavour. Traditionally, they are given a seasoned flour coating and fried until golden and crisp. For me, that's overkilling the delicate flavour of sweetbread. So I have opted to quick stirfry them instead. They taste the tenderest and best when they just start to colour all over, about 5 minutes.
Before cooking, it's advisable to soak them in water, or milk in advance to remove impurities, and enable the sinew and membranes to be removed easily. You should also change the water a couple times. To further remove impurities from sweetbreads, you might also want to blanch them shortly and shock in ice water before cooking. This time I skipped the step and didn't taste the difference.
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- Place the lamb sweetbreads in a bowl and cover with cold water. Drain the water and repeat one more time, then fill the bowl again with fresh water, leaving the sweetbreads to soak for an hour, then drain well.
- Finely chop rosemary and garlic. Set aside.
- Add the tallow to a pan, place over a moderate heat and add the chopped rosemary and garlic. Cook gently for 2 minutes until softened and aromatic. Add the sweetbreads and cook until they just start to colour all over, about 5 minutes. If you prefer them more caramelized and crisp, then continue to cook for a few more minutes.
- Once the sweetbreads are cooked to your liking, deglaze the pan with sherry vinegar and season well with black lava salt.
- To serve, arrange a bed of arugula salad on the plate. Top with the lamb sweetbreads, then crush some pink peppercorns over. Drizzle some pan sauce over.
Slow Cooker Veal Tongue with Bok Choy Pesto
Tuesday, July 16, 2019Veal, or beef tongue, when done right, is very tender, juicy and delicious. I served it with some homemade bok choy pesto, but you can use other pesto or even salsa verde.
Veal tongue is high in fat, and like other organ meats, it is very nutrient dense (an excellent source of vitamin B12, zinc, iron and selenium). It has a unique, but mild flavour, tastes like muscle meat, fleshy, firm, but so much more tender and succulent. The tongue has a thick, bumpy skin and once cooked, it must be peeled while it's still warm. Don't let the meat cool too much, as the skin will stick.
Bok Choy Arugula Pesto | |
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- In a food processor, combine the toasted pine nuts, garlic, arugula, bok choy leaves, Parmesan, and 1 tsp salt and pulse to blend. With the machine running, pour in the olive oil through the food tube in a slow, steady stream and process until smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Taste and adjust the seasonings.
- Rinse the veal tongue under running water until the water runs clear and there’s no blood. Place veal tongue, onion, broccoli, fennel stalks, bay leaves, juniper berries, and parsley stems in your slow cooker. Generously season with sea salt. Pour in enough water to cover the veal tongue.
- Cook on Low for 8 hours or on high for 4-5 hours. Transfer veal tongue to a work surface and cool slightly. Peel the thick outer layer of skin off the veal tongue while it is still warm.
- To serve, cut the veal tongue crosswise into thin slices, and arrange on a platter in a single layer. Spoon the pesto sauce over and top with some fresh herbs, a generous drizzle of olive oil and some crushed red peppercorns.
Beef Liver Paté with Pinenuts
Saturday, November 17, 2018This is a delicious way to get more nutrient-dense liver into your diet and a great addition to any party. Perfect for feeding a crowd with some crackers, or toasted French bread and seasonal fruit on the side. This recipe is gluten-free, low-carbs, and keto-friendly. If you want to make it dairy-free, just replace ghee with olive oil or coconut oil, and heavy cream with coconut cream.
Paté | Topping |
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- Gently rinse liver under cold water. Slice and place them in a large bowl, barely cover with water and add the juice of a lemon. Soak for an hour before cooking, drain and pat dry.
- Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add ghee and cook shallots and ginger for 5 minutes until aromatic.
- Add liver slices and cook until no longer pink inside, about 7 minutes. Stir in brandy if using. Remove from heat and cool for a few minutes, then transfer to a food processor. Add salt, peppers, nutmeg, sage, and heavy cream. Blend until smooth.
- Pack into small serving dishes, then cover and refrigerate for 15 minutes.
- Melt ghee or butter for the topping. Cool slightly and pour over pate. Top with pink peppercorns and pine nuts or hemp seeds.
- Once the butter sets, cover the pate with plastic wrap and place in the fridge overnight to set and develop the flavours. The pate can be stored for up to 5 days in the fridge.