YAY !!! We got 1 day of sun !!!! Even so, if you check the horizon, rain is most certainly a moment away. The inspiration comes up on you like a warm fluffy frieght train. All of a sudden you care that your kitchen repairs need to be completed. That you could race home and get some garden chores done before dinner needs to be started. Ideas to improve the garage come and go every 20 minutes, it’s great. Then you realize you’re out of mesquite and priorities need to be laid. One reminder of that was today’s Fatted Calf Newsletter. I’m out of fresh meat! I’ll have to head over to Rick the Butcher for today, but for tomorrow, it’s Team Fatted Calf I’ll be looking for.
The special this week is Little Lamb Leg Roasts stuffed with Olive Tapenade. These are good no matter what time of the year it is, even if you’re not quite sure what season this is. FC’s lamb is so darned fresh, no gammy flavors. The tapenade is something they make themselves out of special ingredients. When roasted, braised, grilled or smoked, you and yours will smile from toe to toe.
Next up we find some happy Pork Crepinettes with Greens, Pine Nuts & Lemon. I’m a huge fan of the citrus and can only imagine the brightness it brings to the fancy pork and stuffin’s. These really should be grilled outside, the added layer of fire really dials it in tight. If you don’t have the outside fire, pan fry them on your range. Use a cast iron, copper or stainless if you have it. Non-stick if that’s all you have, just don’t brown that well in those things. Cook these lightly and carefully, pull when done. Don’t cook all the fat out, that’s bad. Crepinettes are perfect for breakfast, lunch and supper. Good on a bun, good on a plate, even better on my fork.
OH LOOK, right below is the Duck Sausage with Kirsch. MmMmM, duck. Duck is an excellent fowl to eat, for sure. And the Kirsch is no slouch either. It’s an excellent brandy distilled from cherry juice and pits, oh man. How could this possibly be wrong? Get the duck.
Oh dear, they’ve got Rabbit Pate with Chives! YAY !!! mMmmmm, rabbit & chives.
Okay, I’m losing my mind, it’s wandered off somewheres. It’s headed off on a meat adventure without me, how rude.
If you’re smart, you’ll be heading out to the Berkeley Farmer’s Market this coming Saturday for some treats. I saw some green garlic last week and some wonderful salad greens. Grab yer cloth sack and follow me, happy shopping!
Please read on to Fatted Calf’s Newsletter not written by me.
Author Archives: Biggles
Beautiful Meat Photograph – Sirloin Goat Steaks
Isn’t goat beautiful? Look at that marbling, notice the rich pinkness of the flesh. How clean it is, glistenny in the glow of my floods. Kinda tough to see the breed, that’d be cashmere for those who have an interest. These goats are grazed on natural range and irrigated pastures. They’ve never even remotely seen a feedlot, that makes me feel better right there. No antibiotics, pesticides, GMO’s, synthetic hormones (what about natural ones?), herbicides, chemical fertilizers … you get the idea.
Isn’t goat beautiful?
Ted of Highland Hills Farm thinks so.
Meathenge catches the flu – The flu really sucks
I never want to go through that again. However, if I or anyone plans to maintain an internet presence, having breakdowns will occur and I will most likely be going through this again at some point in the future. Shudder.
You see, I woke up Sunday morning and found that I wasn’t able to post to Meathenge. You know, you get errors an junk. I did the typical work arounds and lookie looks. Check your internet connection, recheck your configs, try deleting the last post, rebuidling the archives one at a time. That kind of stuff. I wound up in the forms checking and searching. I emailed my sister to see if she had any ideas.
Nothing.
Monday morning I realized that my comment section is not only hosed, but every last comment in Meathenge was gone. At this point I broke out in a cold sweat.
Sure I backed up, but it was too long ago. Sure it could be something simple, but I could lose a lot just the same. I didn’t know.
My sister pointed me towards the support for Movable Type and off I went. 4 phone calls and 2 days later we are back online. I think. The system could still be lacking and/or unstable. So, if you encounter something out of the ordinary, please say something. My email address is located on the left-hand side there some place.
Mebbe I’ll get some rest tonight? I could sure use it. If I knew yoga, I’d be using that too.
For today, Meathenge rolls on.
Biggles
The Itty Bitty Kitchen Handbook by Justin Spring – A book review
I was sitting there, in my recliner, minding my own business, when a little package arrived with my name on it. I didn’t remember ordering anything, but it had my name on it. So, I opened it. Made sense, since it did have my name on it. I turned it over a few times, looking for the word Nikon or All-clad on it, somewhere, anywhere.
Nope, it was a book. “Oh great.” I thought, “a book.” Hmmm, says Itty Bitty Kitchen Handbook. Well, our kitchen is pretty darned small, let’s see what Mr. Justin Spring has to say.
Uncle Frank’s BBQ – Mt. View CA – Part #2 in our 2nd Meat Adventure
As I sit down to write, Chilebrown is on his way from California to Idaho stopping at every damn smokehouse in his way. He said he only took 2 coolers, I mentioned he may want to consider getting another 2, dang an junk. The results of this trip should be pretty insane.
This makes up the second and last entry for our 2nd Meat Adventure. If you missed the fist part, please visit the 1st part and get yourself aquainted.
By the time we arrived at Uncle Franks, literally around the corner from Dittmer’s, we were ready for food and drink. Both CB and I were on a high from scoring so hugely at Dittmer’s, we absolutely couldn’t believe our luck. As we walked up to Uncle Frank’s, it said, No One Under 21 Allowed. Cool! The front part of the building is nice Old Man’s bar with 2 pool tables, ahhh time to relax. CB ordered a draft and I the same with a shot of bourbon. The bartender wanted to know what kind? It’s been over 3 years since I’ve been in a bar (I do my drinkin’ at the smoker at home) and I couldn’t remember what to say, so I just stood there looking blank. The kind of blank that said, “Uh, er, uh, you know? The brown liquidy bourbon that stings my lips and makes me say, NICK NICK and doesn’t cost too much.” I think it’s called a Well Drink, whatever. CB and I sat at the bar for a moment, he watched basketball on the tv and I kinda stared blankly at everything. I realized in about 5 minutes that my drinks were gone and I was still hungry. Time to go sit down in a booth and place our order.
Lamb Crepinettes with Cumin, Persian Mint and Orange – Fatted Calf Newsletter
Ah yes, here comes the Porchetta and this time it’s fancy Berkshire Pig from Newman Farm. I haven’t had a lot of the Newman Farm product, but what I have had has been rich and tasty. A little redder than one might have guessed, so nice. Remember, cook this cutie no more than 138 degrees F, then pull and let stand for a bit. If you have a smoker or grill, this is most certainly the way it likes it the best. Or you can roast it in the oven with some veggies or just by itself. I usually roast it by itself, this way I get the pure roasting sensation. Not all mucked up with vegetables making a damned steam bath, ick. I like my skin & fat all caramelly.
If the Porchetta isn’t enough, they’ve whipped up a badass crepinette for this week. Lamb Crepinettes with Cumin, Persian Mint and Orange, you can read that again if’n you’d like. I’m not convinced I’ve seen these before, that orange and mint sound too good to pass up. Crepinettes are so good for breakfast!
ooOOooo, look. Rabbit Pate with Chives. Oh man, the rabbit has such a nice mild sweet flavor and the chives melt right in making it a great dinner in itself. But of course we’d never indulge that far, would we? I would.
The menu looks really good this week and you’d be missing out if you didn’t at least stop by for a gander.
If you’d like to pre-order your roast so it will be waiting for you, please visit their order page now. I use it on a frequent basis, it’s nice to have the security of your meat with your name on it.
I look forward to seeing you at the market in Berkeley Saturday morning, rain or shine.
Please continue on to read the real Fatted Calf Newsletter written by them, not me.
Dittmer’s Wurst Haus – Part 1 of 2 in a Meat Adventure
A month ago Rworange and I were swapping emails, talking about hot dogs and other meat related news. I said while I really enjoyed a good dog, I really don’t keep track of who made what dog for what restaurant and where these people might be. Using a fair amount of zeal, RW mentioned Dittmer’s down in Mt. View. I put it on my list of todo’s and thought it sounded like a good Meat Adventure.
I mentioned it to Chilebrown, we mulled it. Turns out Uncle Franks BBQ is right around the corner, so we set a date to visit both places.
Are you ready for a Meat Adventure that left a warm homey feeling that I feel even 3 days after? Can you handle it?
Fatted Calf Newsletter (with rambling from Biggles)- Little Lamb Leg Roasts stuffed with Olive Tapenade
Ya know, after last week’s market and dropping a healthy bankroll at Fatted Calf, I figured maybe this week go light. A petite sec and crepinette, that’ll do me.
I may not make it. FC’s stuffed lamb legs are one of my many guilty pleasures. Why? Because years ago I lost the taste for lamb. Just wasn’t doing it for me, gack. Too much gam and too much gam fat, that’s a no can do, sir.
Turns out I wasn’t savvy and didn’t get really fresh fancy lamb.
This week’s stuffed lamb leg has Biggles stamped all over the damned thing. I can hardly wait.
If you feel the need to lay down some crepinettes? This week is the Pork Crepinettes with Orange, Pimenton, and Currants. Let me check, pork, orange, pimenton, currants. Nope, nothing I don’t like there, all perfectly fine.
OoOOoO, I just got the tickle for something smooth and tasty. I haven’t had their Mortadella in quite some time, maybe it’s time to have another look.
Speaking of having another look. A few weeks ago I bought a little loaf of the Guinea Hen Pate. One of my favorites next to the duck & rabbit, heh. I remember over a year ago Taylor was perfecting the recipe and it was still in process. A while later he handed me a portion and smiled & said, “This time, I nailed it.” I figured, “Well, consider it nailed and done.”
Nope, here we are a year later and the darned recipe is still moving along. I don’t know enough about the specifics of pate, but this was certainly not the stuff I’d had even 4 months ago. This right here is Meat Innovation and it’s happening in your back yard. So, if you’re smart you’ll come back to your old favorites at Fatted Calf and see how things are going from time to time. I know I do.
Please read on to their newsletter and I’ll be seeing you at the market this coming Saturday.
Biggles
ps – Remember, if you’d like to make sure you get what you need, please place your order.
ANDREAS VIASTAD IS RETURNING !!! New Scandinavian Cooking Show 3rd Season
Or at least that’s the unconfirmed rumor I’m starting (keep reading, no really). I just received a comment in one of the posts I did about Tina Nordstrom. And if you’ve done any googlin’ on Tina or Andreas in the last year and a half, Meathenge is either beat out scandcook.com or is at least #2. Not bad, eh? In any case, here’s the comment:
We’re glad you like the shows — we do to! You’ll be glad to know that Andreas will be back with a third season of “New Scandinavian Cooking with Andreas Viestad” in September 2006. Let your local PBS station know that you want more! Tina just had a baby, so a second season with Tina is a little further off. We’ll let you know when it’s confirmed. American Public Television distributors of “New Scandinavian Cooking”
As far as rumors go, this sounds as solid as any. Tina just had a baby and Andreas will do a season, then Tina comes back and does another one. YAY !!!
If you haven’t heard of or seen New Scandinavian Cooking with either Tina or Andreas, you’re missing out. Rarely do I enjoy a cooking show this much. It’s a total package deal, from the passion, cinematography, production, editing and commercials. It’s all outstanding.
Have you flipped through Andreas’ Kitchen of Light cookbook? The photography is better than most fine art photography books let alone a dumb cookbook. How is this possible?
It was Andreas’ first season that inspired me to even remotely consider visiting Norway. Not because I thought Norway sucked, but because the passion this man has for his country and cuisine is that inspiring.
So, while this is an unconfirmed rumor, scandcook still bears Andreas’ likeness on their first page and it’s too good to let it pass without saying something.
Meathenge Labs will most certainly be hosting a small party to view the season premier of New Scandinavian Cooking with Andreas Viastad.
Xo Xo
Meathenge and Khoolsville cross paths and we end up with the coolest art ever!
It wasn’t too long ago Sandra of Khoolsville and I crossed paths in our comment sections. Days passed and I’d left a comment about one of her drawings, a cat I believe. It went something like this, “If I were to draw a cat, it’d be clutching its meaty prey.” Or something along those lines. Time quickly flew by and I mentioned something about a Meat Fairy and Sandra said she’d love to draw this Meat Fairy . Neat!
Well, sooner showed up rather than later and above you see our Meat Fairy! Dang, she sports some good action on her pen, eh?
And here we have her cat clutching its meaty prey.
I’m glad she drew the cat and not me. I know what mines would have looked like and this most certainly would totally kick my cat’s ASS.
Thank you Sandra for a nice finish for today.
Biggles
Potter Family Meats – A Meathenge Adventure +3
Chilebrown sent me an email in late February about a new meat market opening in Moraga. C.B. wanted to know if I’d like to attend a ribbon cutting ceremony and have a Meat Adventure. Gee, I dunno. I considered it for about .0001 of a second and said, “YES”.
Heritage Pork Shoulder Pot Roast stuffed with chard & walnuts – Fatted Calf Newsletter
Heeyaw! OH man, check out this week’s special. Heritage Pork Shoulder Pot Roast stuffed with chard & walnuts. There’s nothing there I don’t like. And since it’s a nice shoulder portion, a long slow braise or roast is in order. I just love cooking meat for hours, love.
Remember, by eating heritage meats we’re saving a breed of animal that could very well drop from the face of the earth. These animals were bred many moons ago and fell to the wayside for breeds that grew faster, bred easier and yielded more meat per beast. So, save the heritage breeds by eating them on a regular basis, I do. Meathenge cares.
While the pork crepinettes look divine, my eyes dropped right down to the Boudin Blanc with braised chestnuts. These will have to be tried and applied, I can hardly wait. I did up a portion of the Guinea Hen Terrine last week, but don’t see it today. Awww, no sweet guinea. Maybe a Rillettes would be fine and this would want to be duck for sure.
All in all it looks like a fine week at Fatted Calf and if you want a roast, you must reserve it. Otherwise, they be gone by the time you arrive. Please reserve your roast or anything else you’d like HERE.
Take care and see you at the market!
Biggles
New Food mag- Edible East Bay or Biggles reads a magazine
A month ago or so I picked up the boys from my uncle’s place, it’d been Ralph’s Day.
See, one day a week the boys get to spend the majority of the day with my uncle doing everything they’re not supposed to. Candy, ice cream, sodas, pop corn, top ramen, canned soup and toys in huge quantities, all afternoon long, with no restriction.
While I was attempting to round up the boys (akin to bathing a wild salmon), Ralph mentioned that a close long-time friend of his Cheryl Koehler, is the editor of a new local publication, Edible East Bay.
I know, I know. I mentioned my complete and total lack for food magazines a few weeks ago, so why am I interested in this one? Edible East Bay isn’t about New York, it isn’t about Sidney, it isn’t about Portugal, it’s about my neighborhood. And as everyone knows, I’m all about me.
Roasted Turkey Breast – is it worth eating? Yes, with a little effort & love.
I hadn’t planned on posting this meal from last night. It’s a rehash of a few other posts I’ve done in the past, just search Meathenge for turkey breast. But goldangit! I just checked the snapshots to send to Kudzu, for show & tell and decided it needed to be SEEN !!! Awww, pretty meat.
Yes, yes, I know and have heard all the comments about how nasty and tasteless chicken & turkey are. I can still see Scott’s face spewing and contorting when confronted with the mere thought of a chicken breast. More for me is all I have to say about that. Wanna see how you can make it worth eating? I maarrrinated it in Italian coarse saallllt.
Thit Doi – Cured Pork Roll Sausage
Ha! Meathead gifted me this quite some time ago. More than a few months, but the product still looks good, I suppose. I don’t have what it takes to open it and sample and I’m sorry. Have you opened and had a little treat?
Do you have one in your fridge? Let me know what it’s like!
