I am horribly slow at posting photos and rarely have the forethought to have each of my events photographed. Here's are some images from the last few events, the launch of BCN/PDX Fridays and our first event at the new space. Lots of tasty meaty goodness is the theme here.
Don't forget to sign up for BCN/PDX Fridays this month for freebies!
Last weekend I made a nice drive down to Deck Family Farms in Junction City, OR. The reason for the trip was threefold. First, I've been curing bacon for Deck for a few months now, so it was time to get more bellies. Second, I wanted to see the farm and a family friend of theirs wanted a butchery lesson, so we made plans for a big dinner. Third, I had with me Marissa Guggiana, the writer of 'Primal Cuts'. She came along to see just how I play the game of meat. The book features the country's top 50 butchers, Joel Salatin, Tom Mylan and Tia Harrison are also in the book, I am more than honored to be included.
Just as my previous farm visits, the day took be to an overwhelmingly bucolic landscape. The day also started with a surprise. I had been planning on a butchery lesson, but I did not expect the animals we'd be cutting to be waiting, cluck-clucking away. This would be the day I had been waiting for, my first slaughter. I realize this is something that doesn't get many people excited, but it was an elusive next step in getting closer to taking full responsibility for my meat consumption. I was nervous, but ready to learn. I jumped right in, placing a rooster in the killing cone as directed, then stood back to watch John Deck do the first two. Ready to take the plunge I took the knife and went for the third rooster. I took a moment and made my move, quickly, and then it was over. Humane slaughter is an idea that gets many people up in arms. Let's think a little about what that really means.
It would be ridiculous to say that these animals enjoyed dying or felt great about being upside down for the last seconds of life. What it means to me is that in addition to having the best life possible before said slaughter, every step is taken to ensure the last few minutes are as free of stress and fear as possible and that the slaughter itself is fast and fleeting. What I saw that day were animals who were treated well up until their last breath. They weren't thrown around like ragdolls and the horrors of the more gruesome methods of chicken slaughter were avoided as the killing cone is agreed to be the most humane method. Essentially a traffic cone turned upside down with an enlarged hole at the tip, the killing cone does a few things to speed up the process. The shape of the cone cradles the birds in a way that calms them and just like when you do a headstand, the blood rushes to their head and makes them a bit woozy. Once they are in the cones and calm, the fatal cut is made and they are gone in seconds. Just like that.
Several people have asked how I felt. Was I scared? Nervous? I was definitely a bit of both. However, in that moment, it was not my place to be fearful or anxious. I wasn't the one to be concerned about and letting my fear become hesitation would only hurt the rooster. It would be unfair to pretend that moment was hard for me. I don't think that this was an experience that every omnivore must have to rightfully eat meat, some people can't handle looking at a scraped knee. What we all must reconcile is the fact that a life was lost for our meal. Know it, respect it and be thankful for it. One of my butcher's pet peeves is people that don't want to think or talk about the fact that their burger once walked around, (hopefully) grazing fields and chewing cud. This is what The Ethical Butcher is all about for me, challenging myself to truly take full accountability for every part of the the journey from farm to table. I am a butcher and chef, so I won't likely have a part in the slaughter of every animal I serve. However, after every farm visit I feel like I have gotten closer to what life is all about.
After our big dinner we headed out for a tour of the farm as the family performed their evening duties. We brought the goats back from the far end of their 320-acre farm and watched as the beef cattle were moved from one paddock to another. We then followed the goats back up the gravel road that traverses the property, toward the house and barns. Just as we rounded the bend near their home, two of the Deck daughters came running, shouting that two calves had just been born. Born to two different heifers, the calves apparently weren't expected for another 1 and 2 weeks, respectively. We eagerly set out for the opposite side of the property, a trail of us farmers and farm visitors alike, trudging across the farm in search of new life. We had to take the shortcut through the pigs and stopped to give a few back scratches along the way. Durocs and Hamps snorting and rooting, doing their piggy business. One followed noisily us as we left the barn and began to cross the field. With moms and babies finally in sight we were all walking with purpose, until a muddy bog attempted to foil our plans. The pig grew tired of our sojourn at this point and turned back. We, on the other hand, had a goal. The caravan forged ahead and our muddy shoes and soggy socks would soon prove no match for wait awaited us.
Two calves were up and testing their legs as their mothers munched grass. They weren't the least bit wary of us as we approached, a good feeling when you are near two tons of mommy cow. It was getting late and the sun was almost behind the ridge, Christine Deck said we had to get the new additions into the barn right away. Now we were really going to see what life on a farm entailed. It took three times as long to cross the muddy bog with two tired heifers and two new brand new calves. Christine even carried each of the calves for some time. I was in awe as she carried one up the final hill before the gravel road.
With everyone safe and sound in the barn, we finished the tour by meeting lots of turkey and chicken chicks. The decks then loaded us down with duck and chicken eggs, raw cream, honey and many other treats before we made the drive back to Portland. The duck eggs are perhaps my favorite thing of all. Ah, I love my job.
Many thanks to Deck Family Farm! Check them out at farmer's markets from Newport to Portland, and tell them The Ethical Butcher sent you!
Below is a slideshow of my visit. If you've read this post, it should be clear that some images may be considered graphic. There are lots of pictures of cute animals, too. It's all a give-and-take...
As anyone that has ever started their own business knows, plans always change. Always. Sometimes for the better and unfortunately, other times for the worse. This is thankfully a time that nearly every change in my plan is an improvement.
As I announced last week, Tressa and I have found a new space. We will be located in Northwest Portland as of May 1st, in a converted house with two kitchens. It is perfect for us, with tons of space for both of our businesses to grow as well as encourage the collaboration we both value so much. We have space for holding intimate dinners and a huge backyard for bigger events. We have wrangled, pruned, rototilled and will soon plant a garden to surround the solid wood picnic tables we built. The wood of the tables and raised beds is a perfect match for the glowing hazelnut shells we laid down. I am going to dig an Imu, a Hawaiian-style roasting pit, for use in events and dinners all year. It will, of course need a Northwestern addition, rain shelter. In our four garden beds, we'll be able to grow much of the food we cook with. We've also got a roof that is accessible and perfectly pitched toward the sun, an ideal place for lying drying mats for herbs, tomatoes and sprouting seeds.
My partnership and on a personal level, friendship with Tressa has been instrumental in my growth. We are both on similar paths with the philosophies that drive our practices in the food world. The move to a new space together solidifies that connection. Salt, Fire & Time and The Ethical Butcher will be under one roof, bringing good, honest, local food to the table and building momentum for change. Forget the labels, it is time for the proof in the proverbial pudding. A sticker only says so much-meet a real farmer, taste ripe strawberries and wild salmon in June, not December and cook at home once in a while. It is all pretty normal stuff when you get down to it. Would someone have eaten this 100 years ago? A "no" is dubious, but not not the end I tried to leave absolutes behind with my vegetarianism. Life is just to bleeping good to waste it killing your body with bad food, but it isn't worth it to hold yourself back from the pleasures of life. The changes don't have to be extravagant or expensive, and the elitism around "sustainable" food does more harm than good. Tressa and I look to be open sources of information and delicious and healthy food that makes no concessions on flavor, ingredients or sourcing.
I am so overjoyed with where this year has taken me. The Ethical Butcher blog has turned into my business, one that will hopefully soon be more than off the ground. I hope to change the discourse into one that is more relaxed, personal and approachable. The dinners have been a great tool for talking with folks about these ideas. The exchanges are always wonderful and I notice on many occasions diners trading cards and numbers after dinner. Farmers and writers sit next to artists and schoolteachers. The conversation is lively and the food and wine keep it going. The new space has potential to be even more dynamic, so I look forward this summer! The dinners have also been a fun way to introduce many of my bacon flavors before they were available for purchase. It has been 4 months of many unexpected hurdles, but I am finally in a space where it is possible!!
As I said in a previous post, The Ethical Butcher Bacon Gospel has a new face for BCN/PDX!
BCN/PDX Fridays is the best way to enjoy the wealth of variety in bacon flavors! It will be a new twist on the bacon-of-the-month club, using only local, heritage meats in a choice of monthly flavors. Folks can sign up for a year, six months or buy on BCN/PDX Lazy Fridays, when extra slabs will be sold on the spot. Doing the project like this helps me buy the best heritage breed meat, as I can buy from the smaller farms that can't sell a few pounds of meat at a time. One pig gives enough belly for 12-15 slabs of my bacon. Having a predictable base of customers to use that amount ensures that waste will not drive my prices higher than I want to. While BCN/PDX Lazy Fridays will be a way to buy without commitment, market prices will reflect the true cost of this product. The savings for members of BCN/PDX Fridays over what I need to charge for retail is considerable. At the $10 per pound for the year membership, specialty cured heritage breed pork, handmade locally is available at for the same or less than the commercially made bacon at natural food stores. The added bonus is that many of the farms I use are too small to sell to stores or restaurants. This is a product that isn't available in any meat department, regardless of price.
Now it is time to celebrate both the move and launch of BCN/PDX Fridays! It has been a long time coming and The Ethical Butcher is showing thanks for all the support with a big bacon party!
BCN/PDX Fridays Launch Party will be Friday April 30th. All sorts of tasty vittels and 3 flavors of bacon will be available for tasting. Chat it up with other bacon fans and be the first to join BCN/PDX Fridays! The flavors for the first BCN/PDX will be announced and those who sign up that night will get a very special added bonus!
No reservations needed this time around.
$10 at the door, guests invited to provide their own beverages.
No, I am not leaving Portland. Tressa and I are moving to a new space! A space that has the potential to fulfill all of the goals we have set for our respective businesses. I am so grateful for the space I have been using for my dinners, but was having problems getting the kitchen certified for retail sales of meat. This new space is much better suited to meet the strict guidelines of both the Oregon Dept. of Agriculture and the USDA, so I will FINALLY be able to sell my bacon!!
The space is at 1902 NW 24th in Portland, OR. It is a beautiful, big house that has been converted with 2 kitchens, a wine cellar, dining area, backyard complete with raised beds and more. There's space for dinners and classes, which we'll start having several times a week, and lots of room for us to mold and change the space as our businesses grow. Absolute perfection! We'll be putting lots of work into the space in the next few weeks and I can't wait to announce the first event. This summer promises to be more than busy!
I have received emails from folks who are looking for me at the Portland Farmer's Market without success. Though it was my original goal, I decided back in January not to apply for the market. It just didn't feel like the best fit for me right now. There were many reasons for that choice that I won't get into in this forum, but I wanted to wait until I had a plan B before making that announcement. Now that such a plan has been found, I am happy to say that my bacon will be available for sale in mid-May!
Inspired by a customer's recent request for a great birthday present for her husband, I will be selling my bacon through a sort of bacon subscription, BCN/PDX will become more of a "bacon-of-the-month club", if you will. There will be two cycles going, with bacon available on the first and third Fridays of the month. Folks will be able to buy in for the year, 6 months and one month, with obvious savings the longer the commitment. There will be a choice of 2 monthly flavors reflecting what is available seasonally and custom requests will always be taken. Lamb bacon will also be available in season only, which is Spring and Fall. Many of Oregon's wonderful small farms will be represented. Much of the meat I use comes from farms too small to sell to restaurants or stores, so it will truly be a unique experience every time. More information will available in the coming weeks as I settle into the new space and hammer out details. Your wait for specialty cured bacon is almost over!
I am also proud to reveal the dates for my yet-to-be-named tour. Here's the basic itinerary for my travels this year. More details will be forthcoming and there's still room for a few more cities. I'd specifically like to include DC or Durham, NC in October and Atlanta,GA, New Orleans, LA or Memphis,TN in August. All of my projects will be making an appearance, so there's a chance to see it all! If you think there's a place for The Ethical Butcher to add, please send an email!
Reservation info and menus will be available just before each private, ticketed event.
June 11th at Magruder Ranch in Mendocino Valley, CA
Heritage Breed Supper Club - a 6-course dinner featuring Lovers Lane Farm Honey and Magruder Ranch pastured vitellino and wild boar/heritage cross
June 18th at Avedano's Holly Park Market in San Francisco, CA
Fish is Fish for Dinner - a sustainable seafood dinner and lecture
June 24th at Queer Arts Festival in San Francisco, CA
Reading at Spot of T
August 28th at Farmer's Fair in Cincinnati, OH
Sept 23rd – Oct 4that Wheelbarrow Farm in Sunderland,ON
exact dates TBA-
2 days of pork butchery workshops at Wheelbarrow Farm
2 dinners in Toronto, ON and 1 dinner at Wheelbarrow Farm using heritage pork from butchery workshops.
Oct 8th & 9th atLe Pick Up Depanneur in Montreal, QC
Heritage Breed Supper Club and Bacon a Montreal - 2 dinners featuring heritage pork from TBD farm in Quebec.
October 21st & 22nd at Collect Pond in Brooklyn, NY
Heritage Breed Supper Club and Bacon for Brooklyn - 2 dinners using heritage breed meats from Upstate NY farms.
There are still 2 spaces available for the Icelandic Lamb Butchery!! Reservation info in previous post. This is a very special chance to take the sweetest, most delicious lamb home! Dolce Farms lamb isn't available anywhere else until Fall.
Haha! Had you thinking of children brandishing boning knives, right? Well, sorry to disappoint, but I am talking about goat!
Next Friday, Tressa and I will be doing a menu featuring Cabrito (young goat) from SuDan Farm, just south of us in Canby. I am ecstatic to share this menu with you! As I am always pushing for more responsible consumption of meat, reducing our dependence on beef as the main red meat is central to that goal. We have to branch out from the American trifecta of Chicken-Beef-Pork. I talk a lot about going back to heritage breeds of those species for many reasons, but trying other meats is helpful too. The more our market demand is spread across local rabbit, venison, goat, ostrich, alligator and other sources for meat, the less we have to depend on the industrial varieties to provide our meat. Who decided that those were the three to go with anyway?
We are a very large country with many ecosystems to provide different sources for food. Here in Oregon, alligator may not be the most local choice; but if you live in Louisiana for instance, it is a much better choice than say, shipping wild salmon from Washington or Alaska. These are the seemingly small decisions that will make huge differences. Though the industrial food system has made it so that we can eat the same foods all around the country at any time of the year, this is not a win-win situation. Going back to regional and local sourcing is what needs to happen. The popularity of farmer's markets shows that people are starting to understand that when it comes to produce. Unfortunately, we are far from the folks making the same choices when it comes to their meat and fish. You want grass-fed beef in Vegas or oysters in Kansas?
Better wonder where it is coming from, but I digress...
This goat dinner may the first taste many will have of this meat, which is strange considering goat is the most commonly eaten red meat in the world. Nutritionally goat surpasses all other meat sources, it has a high protein to fat ratio, due to the goat's natural weight distribution. While most mammals store fat between and inside muscular tissues, nearly all of the fat on a goat is stored in a layer on top of its muscles. Translation: when you remove the skin from a goat, you remove almost all of the fat, resulting in a super lean meat, more tender and lighter in texture than lamb but very similar. Goat is a traditional meat in France, Spain, Latin America, West Indies, Africa and elsewhere. We're just a little late on the jump. It is time to give the goat its dues and rightful place on our menus and kitchen tables.
This whole animal dinner will be a bit more special for me. Not only will I be heading straight to SuDan Farms to pick it up, but I'll be present for the slaughter. Now, I know this isn't something that would get most people very excited, but if you've been reading this blog for a while, you know this is one of those moments I've been waiting for. I am very interested to share my thoughts afterwards in a later post.
Our menu will be themed around West Indian flavors, which makes me long for my Crown Heights days back in Brooklyn. I'll be doing a jerk goat, there will be lots of Rum and beautiful spices throughout this menu. The recent return of the rains has gotten us into a summer-or-bust sort of mood. We are ignoring the clouds and grilling up sunny flavors. The menu is posted below, please, put your reservations behind you, bring an open mind and adventurous friend and join us for CABRITO!!!
Bacon & Papaya over Coconut Braised Greens ---
'Mt.Gay' rum, fresh and crystallized ginger, allspice, clove
Jerk Cabrito with Rice, Housemade Cucumber Pickles, Roti
Fifty Licks Rum and Nutmeg Ice Cream with Chocolate-Honey Cookies
West Indian Cabrito Dinner $28/person, 2 for $50. Guests invited to provide personal beverages. Reservation info below. April 9th, 7pm
609 SE Ankeny St, Unit A
I am also very happy to announce another, and last, chance at Icelandic Lamb butchery!
I have reserved Dolce Farm and Orchards' last lamb of the season. This will be a strictly butchery event, very, very limited in size. With a small group of folks, I'll be demonstrating technique for breaking down a whole lamb. Participants will be able to take their portion of the lamb home, but not before choosing from a number of marinade recipes. This is a rare breed of lamb you will not find in stores, by many accounts the best tasting lamb around! I'll be helping folks french, bone and tie their cuts (if you don't know what those things mean now, you will after the class!). Again this group will be extremely small, as in 5 people. Reserve right away if you are interested!
Icelandic Lamb Butchery
$120/person, includes meat to take home and ingredients for marinades. Reserve below.
April 23rd, 6pm
609 SE Ankeny St, Unit A
For reservations for either the West Indian Goat Dinner or Icelandic Lamb Butchery, please click on the link below and enter: theethicalbutcher@gmail.com
On April 19th I'll be helping out with a dinner to benefit FRESH, a new movie screening
April 25th-29th at Hollywood Theater. Many local farms will be represented by their delectable products, prepared by myself and Tressa. The two courses I'll be adding are using meat from Deck Family Farms and Dolce Farm and Orchards and lavender from Lilla Farms.
'Iberian' Bacon over Finocchio con Latte al Forno and Cippolline in Agrodolce
port, fig and anise lamb bacon over milk-braised fennel and balsamic roasted cippolline onions
Lavender Petit Sele with Bitter Greens
lavender salt pork over dandelion, arugula and baby bok choy
$45/person, includes dinner and voucher to screening.
Last but not least. I can't help but tease. There will be a very, very big announcement coming in a few weeks. Bacon dreams are coming true and all the planning and hoop-jumping is finally coming to fruition! That's all for now....I am the worst bean spiller!
I have a few really great things to share with you all!
First off, I am proud to announce that The Ethical Butcher has been nominated for Treehugger.com's Best of Green Awards! Please go to the site and vote (you can do so daily), you'll find it in the Food and Health section of the ballot. This nomination totally took me by surprise and I am honored to be considered with established sites like Post Punk Kitchen.
Second great thing is, I'll be presenting at a trade show next week! The Energy Trust Better Living Show is free to the public and an awesome way to see all the fun and innovative ways that folks are working to make many aspects of our lives more responsible and less destructive. I will be doing a cooking demo and talking a bit about my projects next Saturday, March 27th at 3pm. More info about the show in the link below. I'll be preparing and handing out samples of some beautiful Icelandic lamb from Dolce Farm and Orchards. Please come, check it out and taste some delicious local lamb!
Third, I am working on setting dates for a yet-to-be-named East Coast tour this Fall. I already have dates set for Toronto, Montreal and Brooklyn and am looking to add either Philly or DC to the list. On the left coast, I'll be hitting San Fransisco, LA and Ukiah and of course more events in Seattle, Tacoma and Portland. Keep posted, I will do more detailed calendar of dates soon.
Last, but not at all least, I have joined PBS in a timely, important and hopefully momentous project. On April 21st, the popular PBS show, POV, will be screening Food, Inc. nationally. As part of their 'Host a Potluck' project, they are encouraging families and friends across the country to come together, share healthful food, watch the film and discuss the issues. POV has selected a few sustainable food blogs to provide recipes and is holding a contest for the readers of each blog. Host your potluck and then fill out the form on POV's site to be entered to win lots of fun prizes!
I have included my recipes below and invite you all to take part in this nationwide event. This is really the first time the entire country will get a chance to get some sense of the reality of the damage that our food system has caused to the earth, animals and people. I will hosting a potluck myself this weekend and will post photos and video as inspiration. The evening of April 21st, 2010 can be a turning point in the minds of many Americans. The problems are real and we must begin to address them together to make any real changes. This may be the first step.
Here are the recipes I have sent in to POV, please feel free to tweak them to your liking. Comfortability and confidence in the kitchen are invaluable. Few recipes are written in stone, experiment and find out what works for you. You will see that I have included recipes for pork, lamb, chicken and two great sustainable seafood choices.
Recipes from The Ethical Butcher for PBS POV 'Host a Potluck' 2010
*all recipes for 8 people*
Tea and Plum Roasted Rack of Lamb and Spring Citrus Salad
1 tsp sichuan/szechuan peppers--berries of prickly ash
1 tsp. star anise
1/2 tsp cinnamon or cassia bark
1/2 tsp cloves
1 1/4 tsp fennel seed
1/4 tsp white pepper
For the best flavor, let this marinate for 4-12 hours. Sprinkle salt, tea leaves and 5-spice powder onto racks and rub in. Place racks and loose tea/spice mixture into shallow container. Cover and refrigerate.
When ready to prepare, set oven to 500 degrees F. Remove lamb from fridge. Pour on chutney and spread all over rack. Set racks bone side down on a baking sheet. Allow lamb to warm at room temp while oven preheats. In a small dish mix brewed tea and chutney, set aside. Once preheated, place sheet into oven for exactly 8 minutes. At that time, immediately turn oven down to 325 degrees F. Open oven and brush or pour about 1/3 of glaze on racks. Return to oven and allow racks to roast for 8 to 12 minutes. Check for desired temp:
rare-135 degrees
medium rare-140 to 150
medium-160
well done -165
Allow racks to rest a few minutes before cutting. Cut between every second rib bone, each rack should yield 4 of these double chops. Serve with a fresh and acidic side, like this Spring Citrus Salad.
salad- handful of spring salad mix (arugala, frisee, baby lettuces) 2 heads radicchio, julienned
4 heads baby bok choy, julienned
4-6 kumquats, very thinly sliced
1 cup very fresh snow or sugar snap peas, trimmed and bisected diagonally.
vinaigrette-
1 pink grapefruit, zest and juice of
1 blood orange, juice and pulp
1/4 c olive oil
2-3 tbsp. white wine vinegar
1 shallot, finely diced
1/2 tsp. ground white pepper
kosher salt as desired
In medium bowl, whisk together olive oil, vinegar and citrus juices. Once emulsified, add pepper, grapefruit zest and shallot, whisk to incorporate, adjust acidity to your liking by adding more vinegar then salt as desired. Place rinsed salad greens in large salad bowl. Add rest of ingredients and vinaigrette, toss.
Oysters with Pomegranate-Blood Orange Mignonette
16-24 local oysters, on the half-shell*
mignonette-
2-3 dried guajillo peppers
2 blood oranges, juice of
1 teaspoon pomegranate syrup, can sub pom juice
1 tablespoon kirschwasser
pepper to taste
Slice guajillos into 1/8th inch strips, put the slices of skin and seeds into a medium mixing bowl. Add pomegranate syrup, kirschwasser, juice and optionally, pulp of blood orange. Taste for balance and adjust to your liking. Pepper to taste, the oysters provide plenty of saltiness. Let mignonette sit for about an hour before serving. Spoon a small amount onto each oyster before eating.
Almond Grilled Rainbow Trout with Thai Coleslaw
fish-
4 farmed rainbow trout, boneless butterfly-cut*
almond rub-
2 tbs tamari
1/2 tsp grated ginger
1 clove garlic, minced
3/4 c ground almonds
1 tsp sriracha chili paste
2 tbs sesame chili oil
1 tsp. fresh ground black pepper
scallions, bias-cut
In a medium bowl, whisk together tamari, sesame oil and sriracha, add garlic, ginger and almonds, mix. Set aside. Pat fish dry, with fish closed, rub skin of entire fish in olive oil. Lay fish skin side down on a cutting board or baking sheet. Pat flesh dry. Spread mixture over flesh of each fish. Grill fish skin side down on medium-high for 7-9 minutes or until flesh is easily flaked with a fork. Serve with a slice of lime and scallions.
*Farmed Oysters and farmed Rainbow Trout are two of a few species on MBA Seafood Watch's "Super Green List". This distinction is given only to those species that are on MBA's "Best Choice" list for sustainability, high in Omega 3's and low in contaminants like PCB's. These are the fish we really want to eat!
Place julienned cabbage in large salad bowl. In medium bowl, whisk together vinegar and lime juice then add herbs and chili flakes, salt and pepper to taste. Toss dressing with cabbage.
Woodland Herb-roasted Pork Shoulder
with Pan-seared Brussels Sprouts
pork-
5-6 lbs bone-in pork shoulder
1 1/2 tsp. chopped pine needles, from the green tips of new growth.
1 tbs. lavender
1 tbs. juniper berries
2 tsp. chopped rosemary
1/2 tsp ground star anise
1 tbs fresh sage
1/3 c. maple syrup
1 tbs. kosher salt
white pepper
whiskey-maple glaze for basting-
1/3 c. maple syrup
2 tbs. whiskey
pinch lavender
pinch pepper
May be marinated up to 3 days, the longer the better. Place shoulder in large bowl or on large baking sheet. Pour maple syrup over entire shoulder, making sure to get in all crevices. In a small bowl, mix kosher salt and all other ingredients, rub on shoulder in same manner as maple syrup. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 12-36 hours.
Remove from fridge and allow to return to near room temp while oven heats to 350 degrees. Once shoulder has lost its chill, heat a large preferably cast-iron skillet. If you do not have a pan that can go from stove to oven, you'll need both a skillet and roasting pan.
Heat the skillet on medium-high and when hot, place shoulder in pan fat side down and sear to a dark caramel. Sear on both sides then place shoulder fat side up. Baste with small amount of glaze. Move skillet from the stove to the oven, or move to roasting pan and then oven if necessary. Roast to 175 degrees F, about 3 hours. During last hour of roasting, baste shoulder in glaze every 10-15 minutes. Baste with remainder of glaze immediately upon removing from oven. Let rest 10 minutes before carving.
brussels sprouts-
6 cups brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
3 tbsp. olive oil
salt
blk pepper
Blanch and drain brussels sprouts. Oil pan, add sprouts cut side down and heat to medium-high. Sear sprouts for 8-10 minutes until well-browned then add garlic. Toss sprouts and garlic, season to taste with salt and pepper. Cook for 2 minutes tossing frequently. Serve.
Fig-glazed Chicken
with Shaved Fennel and Apple Salad with Dukkah-Mint Vinaigrette
chicken-
2 whole chickens
16-20 dried figs-rehydrated in madeira or port
1 tbsp fresh chopped tarragon
2 cloves garlic slivered
1/4 c. balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp blk pepper
1/2 tsp salt
Preheat 350 degrees F. In large bowl whisk together vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper. Add figs and surrounding liquor as well as garlic, mix. Quarter both chickens, place in roasting dish and pour mixture over all pieces. Cover plan and roast for 30 minutes, remove top and continue to roast for 40-50 minutes. Let rest before carving.
salad-
1 fennel bulb, thinly sliced
2 apples, cored and thinly sliced
handful arugala
1 lemon, juice of
In large bowl combine sliced fennel and apple, toss in lemon juice. Add arugala, toss in mint vinaigrette and dukkah just before serving.
vinaigrette-
1 tbsp chopped fresh mint
1/4 cider vinegar
2 tbsp. olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Combine all ingredients, whisk. Adjust to taste.
dukkah-
2/3 cup hazelnuts 1/2 cup sesame seeds 2 tablespoons coriander seeds 2 tablespoons cumin seeds 2 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper 1 teaspoon flaked sea salt
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spread hazelnuts on ungreased baking sheet and roast for 10 minutes, allow to cool. In dry skillet, add sesame seeds, cumin and coriander to pan and toast on high for about 4 minutes, stirring or shaking pan almost constantly. Grind hazelnuts, toasted spices, salt and pepper in food processor until a paste is formed. Can be used as dip with olive oil added, sprinkled on salads, vegetables and meats.
Enjoy and let's make April 21st the day America got smarter about the production and consumption of food!
Berlin Reed is the butcher, chef and author behind the The Ethical Butcher. His practice is driven by community engagement, personal relationships with small local farmers, a deep love of food, respect for the animals we eat and the environment on which we depend. After training as a butcher in Brooklyn, he was based in Portland, OR for 2 years. He then began a life of continuous travel, bouncing around the continent as a community chef/butcher and learning about local food scenes everywhere. He has poured his experiences as a nomadic ex-vegetarian butcher and renegade chef into a food memoir titled 'The Ethical Butcher: How Thoughtful Eating Can Change Your World', out on Soft Skull in Spring 2013.
This blog is no longer active but serves as an archive of Berlin's early culinary work. To link up with his latest gastronomic adventures and food politix, check out his new site at: http://chefberlinreed.tumblr.com/
