This is a great video from Anthony Bourdain and No Reservations.

Again PETA is throwing money at the wrong thing offering someone the grand prize of $10,000 and their name for ever tied to this abomination vegetarian faux gras.  Don’t get me wrong i love vegetables, but this is just to much. I have attached the rules and regulations to the contest, seeing as its such a great opportunity to stop such a tasty historical food from existing. The only people who should be able to tell you what you cant eat is the religion you choose.  So stay the fuck out of my stomach. Don’t worry folks the poor bastard who puts their name on this Faux Gras will go down in infamy.

Worldwide Challenge to Find the Perfect Humane Alternative to a Cruel Dish

For Immediate Release:
January 5, 2009

Contact:
Nicole Matthews 757-622-7382

The traditions of French food date back hundreds of years to a time long before legendary chef Georges Auguste Escoffier brought new life to the rich cuisine. Many of these recipes have long included ingredients that are obtained from animals. Many people, however, don’t eat these ingredients but still like to enjoy traditional dishes. And that’s exactly why we need you.

PETA is looking for the chef who can create the best recipe for purely vegetarian foie gras in our Fine Faux Foie Gras Challenge. The winner will be going home with a $10,000 award.

Foie gras, French for “fatty liver,” is made from the enlarged livers of male ducks and geese.

Fine-dining patrons around the world have chosen to forgo real foie gras because of the cruelty to animals that results from force-feedings as well as the poor living conditions and environmental concerns that stem from foie gras production. And many restaurants have pulled the product from their menus entirely.

But just because gourmets choose to skip this “delicacy of despair” doesn’t mean they want to miss out on traditional French food. That’s why we are calling on chefs around the world to use their skills to create the first gourmet, purely vegetarian faux foie gras.

PETA is offering a $10,000 prize to the chef who is best at creating a purely vegetarian foie gras that is as close as possible in taste, texture, and form to real foie gras. The winning recipe must be featured on a fine-dining menu.

A judging panel chosen by PETA will assess the prepared recipes based on palatability as well as similarity in taste and texture to real foie gras. Submissions will receive scores on a scale of 0 to 10 (0 denoting an unpalatable item that tastes nothing like foie gras and 10 denoting a delicious item that is indistinguishable from foie gras).

All techniques are acceptable for creating the dish. It can come from a page of Larousse Gastronomique or from a page in the molecular gastronomy playbook of Grant Achatz and Wylie Dufresne. Anything goes as long as it’s 100 percent vegetarian.

And don’t forget to take credit for your delicious dish! Think “Waldorf Salad,” and name the recipe after yourself or your restaurant.

The grand prize of $10,000 will be awarded to one winner at an internationally publicized event, and two runners-up with the second- and third-highest scores will each receive $1,000 in kitchen equipment.

Read the complete rules and then submit your original recipe now

If these are a must for you go to the shop and pick yourself up a few.

To see more click below

Frying pigs ears

splitting a pigs skull

cooking brains and eggs

Eating porchetta di testa

click on the sausage to see the video.

This January issue of Outside magazine has a feature on winter comfort food, and they also put together a video with me cooking a recipe. I have included the recipe here after the break for those who cant find it online.

Boccalone sausage and beans

Serves 4

Note; This recipe calls for preparing dried beans. You can substitute steps 1 and 2 in the recipe by using 4 15-ounce cans of beans, rinsed and drained.

Beans
1 lb dried cannellini beans
3 qts pork stock
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 whole carrot peeled

1 whole fennel bulb split

4 each canned plum tomatoes, chopped
1 whole peeled onion
Salt

Beans with sausage
5 Tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 pounds Boccalone sausage links

4-5 fresh sage leaves
4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
Salt (about 2 teaspoons) and freshly ground black pepper

1. Sort through the beans, removing any stones. Rinse the beans under cold running water. Place beans in a large pot and cover by at least a couple of inches with cold water. Let soak for at least 4 hours.

2. Drain the beans. Add 3 quarts of pork stock to the beans in the pot. Add the whole vegetables, and canned tomatoes. Cover, bring to a simmer on medium heat, and simmer beans for one hour. Lower the heat so that the beans are barely simmering. Cook for an additional 1 to 2 hours, or until beans are just tender. Note that the fresher the beans the shorter the cooking time, the older the beans the longer. Remove from heat and let cool in cooking liquid. Remove the whole vegetables.

3. Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in a large, heavy-bottomed skillet over medium heat. Add the sausage, links and crushed garlic cloves. Do crowd the pan, or the sausage won’t brown well, once the sausage is brown add the sage leaves let sizzle then add the reserved beans in there cooking liquid, stirring occasionally until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes.

4. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Simmer a few minutes longer, stirring gently, until sausage is cooked through and the sauce has thickened. Be careful not to break up the beans.

I have received a lot of questions about how to butcher a beef heart. I recently made a video to answer these questions. After the break you will find a recipe for beef heart tartare.

Beef Heart Tartare Puttanesca Style

Serves 8 as appetizer

1 Kip heart (approximately 2-3 lbs.), trimmed of sinew & gristle and cut into a small ¼ inch dice

2 each Cayenne Chili or Serranos sliced into very thin rings

1 Tablespoon red wine vinegar

2 Tablespoon small dice red onions

2 teaspoons rinsed salted capers (preferable small ones)

2 Tablespoon Pitted San Remo olives

1 teaspoon finely wrasped lemon zest

15 each cherry tomatoes cut into quarters (must be ripe)

4 teaspoons Julienne fresh basil

4 teaspoons Julienne fresh mint

Splash of extra-virgin olive oil

To taste Maldon sea salt

To taste Coarse ground black pepper

Garlic chips (see recipe below)

2 each Baked Foccacia crackers per person (see recipe below)

In mixing bowl, combine the heart with the capers, red onion, olives lemon zest, and tomatoes gently mix being careful not to break up the tomatoes, add the vinegar, oil and herbs mixing well. Season with the salt and fresh ground black pepper. Taste and adjust the seasoning. You’re looking for a nice balance of meat, to garnish and heat. Place on a plate off to the right side to make room for the crackers. Finish with extra virgin olive oil and garlic chips, then place 2 crackers next to the tartare and serve.

Garlic Chips

1/4 cup of thinly sliced garlic, 10 cloves of garlic

3 cups pure olive oil

Kosher salt

In a small non-reactive heat the olive oil up to 350 degrees using a candy thermometer to keep track. Put the sliced garlic in and fry until golden brown then remove using a slotted spoon and put onto a paper towel to remove any excess oil. Then season with salt and ground pepper then place on new dry paper towels until ready to use.

Foccacia Crackers

2 each 5” by 5” piece of foccacia (if unavailable use grilled sliced baguette)

Extra-virgin olive oil

Salt

Pepper

Take the foccacia pieces and slice as thin as possible being sure to keep fully intact squares. Once all is sliced place on a baking sheet and brush both sides with olive and season with salt and pepper. Bake at 350 degrees for about 3 minutes or until golden brown and crispy. Let cool and serve 2 per person with the tartare.

These pre formed eggs are a tasty treat that have been used for years but not normally seen in the US markets. I first had these eggs while on a trip to Asia and it was served to me in a rich heart warming soup. After the turkey slaughter I had a bunch so I made this soup with cauliflower mushrooms, pasta and spinach it was an instant hit.

This is a short video about sustainable pigs that was shot for NBC 11 here in the bay area.

What a great event give 5 chefs each a different breed of pig and see what they come up with. This was so much fun to be given a breed of pig I had never worked with before the mangalista. A crazy wooly pig with a ton of fat, and lots of flavor. One of the highlights of the event for me was to spend some time with a true master of pork Mr. Allen Benton, who was not only super fun but a true believer of educating the next generation of the proper use of the magical animal the pig.