Offal Good

Offal and Meat Consumption in the News

With all the recent books on meat such as “The compassionate carnivore” and “The shameless carnivore: A manifesto for meat lovers” and the recent USDA debacle in chino, I have been getting alot of calls about my beliefs on animal husbandry as well as my fondness for offal cookery. Here are two articles about meat and offal consumption that I have recently been interviewed for.

Respecting the meat you eat.

Haute cuisine, head to tail

Both of these articles are showing the growing interest in properly raised animals as well as offal cookery. Its amazing how people are changing their tune, do to the effects of mass factory farming leaving a huge foot print as well as its disrespect to the animals.

Its great to see that people want to turn the clock back and save these cuts as well as return to proper farming techniques. This is a breath of fresh air, which I look forward to seeing more of. Continue reading Offal and Meat Consumption in the News…

Brains and Eggs Music To My Ears?

My brother in law Michael Hearst and band mate Joshua Camp of One Ring Zero have written a great song for me based on a recipe that I wrote. This is a new project they are working on, taking chefs recipes and turning them into songs. This a bit similar to ” As Smart As We Are” where he worked with authors who’s writings became the lyrics and basis for his music threw the whole album. I have included the recipe below, follow along to the song and then make yourself some dinner.

A little back ground on the dish. On the south side of Chicago was the largest livestock market and meat processing center in the world Approximately one mile square, it served the nation’s great meat packing companies and many smaller ones located in the surrounding area. A dish that became very common among the butchers was brains and eggs, this came to be know as the butchers treat.

Click the title below to here the song.

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Brains and Eggs “The butchers treat”

serves 4

2 calves brains

1 tsp salt

1 Tbsp lemon juice

1 Tbsp white wine

5 eggs

2 Tbsp cream

1 Tbsp butter

1 tsp chopped chives

1 tsp chopped tarragon

4 slices of rustic country bread

2 tsp extra virgin olive oil

Salt to taste

Black pepper t taste

To poach the brains, fill a large pot with water and add the salt, lemon juice, and white wine. Bring the water to a boil and then turn it down to a simmer, so the water is lightly bubbling. Gently place the brains into the water and simmer them for 5 minutes. Remove the brains from the water with a perforated spoon and place on a plate. Put the plate in the refrigerator to cool for about 15 minutes.

In a mixing bowl, combine the eggs, cream and herbs and beat with a whisk until light. Season with salt and black pepper. Set in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Once the brain is cold and firm, dice it. Heat the butter in a sauté pan over high heat until it starts to brown. Then add the cubed brain pieces and gently stir until golden brown. Turn the heat down to medium. Pour in the egg mixture and fold the brains and eggs together with a rubber spatula until it’s all cooked; it will be light and fluffy.

While the eggs are cooking, grill or toast the bread so it will be warm when the eggs are finished. Serve the brains on warm plates with a piece of buttered toast. Continue reading Brains and Eggs Music To My Ears?…

Chefs Fantasy dinner & auction

The Ritz Carlton Cleveland, Ohio is hosting a fund raiser for Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. There will be a whole slew of great chefs from Cleveland each preparing a course. And for some reason they invited me to be a part of this event and I am honored. I cant wait to check out Cleveland and hang out with Symon and Ruhlman in there own town. The best part is we are all cooking for a great cause an end to Cystic Fibrosis. Continue reading Chefs Fantasy dinner & auction…

Closer to the bone sweeter is the meat!!

Speaking of using fish guts heres a dish that I prepared for the chefs of Sebo when they came in for dinner on Monday night. Here is a step by step on how I use tuna spines as a great dish. It was great to cook them a dish that is based around food they work with everyday. One chefs trash is another chefs dish.

Continue reading Closer to the bone sweeter is the meat!!…

Must go Sebo

I know this site is where you all come to learn or hear about bits and bobbles, well I love fish more then you know. So I wanted to share my favorite place to go for Japanese take a look and see. They also do izakaya  Japanese bar food on sunday nights which always has some great dishes I have never seen before. In April we are cooking together for a special dinner using all of the fish guts and all, with sake pairings from beau at true sake. I look forward to seeing you there cause thats where I will be on my days off for dinner, come see what you are missing.

Continue reading Must go Sebo…

Incantos Annual Head to Tail

The date you have all been waiting for. The good news is we have decided to extend this special event for 1 more day. I look forward to seeing you there. Continue reading Incantos Annual Head to Tail…

Offal Good Q&A

The Astor center in NYC is holding a Q&A with yours truly. You can get all the details here, at Astor Center NYC. Continue reading Offal Good Q&A…

Honolulu Fish Auction at 5am

I just came back from Hawaii and I had the opportunity to go to a 5am fish auction. This was a fast paced fish buying frenzy. I couldn’t keep up with the dollars until the fish was sold. The fish were laid out and had a slice of tail cut and a core punch so they could judge the quality of the fish. It was a beautiful range of super gorgeous fish, wish there was a sushi bar there, because there was only shitty coffee.

Continue reading Honolulu Fish Auction at 5am…

This is Cheap Meat !!!

Recently the article written by Mark Bittman, “Rethinking the meat guzzler”, in the New York Times last week and the article “Chefs new Goal: looking dinner in the eye”, also in the New York Times the week before have created a huge stir around the consumption of meat. There was an onslaught of people complaining, and writing letters to the Times, that no matter how the animal is raised killing it for food is still murder. A few months back I did a photo documentation of my experience of a humane animal practice and slaughter and I caught a bunch of shit when Ruhlman posted it on his site.

Here is a Washington post article that I received Wednesday morning from a friend in D.C. Just to top it all, the company that is treating these animals like this have the national school lunch program account. Trust me, my child won’t be eating this meat. This gives you a reason to find out where your animals are coming from. Well, for all of those who really don’t fucking get it, here is a very graphic video to open your blind eye to what we as chefs are trying to prevent.

I am no fucking saint. Yes, I slaughter animals, but I fully believe that the animal should be treated humanely, see the light of day and roam freely all the way to the end. Call me what you may but I would never treat any animal like this. At the restaurant we serve animals raised under Certified Humane standards.

Remember you asked for cheap meat this is how you are all getting to enjoy that fucking $1.00 hamburger, eat up and watch this. Continue reading This is Cheap Meat !!!…