The Offal Cookoff

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As a prelude to Wise Traditions 2011, the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund sponsored a FundRAISER Dinner on Thursday evening, November 10. The event featured an “offal cookoff” with four delicious organ meat appetizers. The winner was Pork Bliss Terrine prepared by Becca Griffith, but all of them were delicious—and highly original. Three of the four chefs were kind enough to share their recipes with us.

TEAM 1: ORGAN MEAT RAGOUT

Representing Virginia and Maryland, Chef Pedro Matamoros of 8407 Kitchen Bar, Silver Spring, Maryland and Elaine Boland of Fields of Athenry Farm, Purcellville, Virginia prepared Chef Pedro’s & Elaine’s Ragout, “Down and Dirty Makes You Flirty – Pumped with Iron Helps You Run Your Siren!

Ingredients included beef heart and tongue, ox tail, beef liver, lamb liver, heart and kidneys, vegetables, tomato paste and herbs.

TEAM 2: FALSTER’S HACKEPETER

Representing Texas, Chef Nancy G. Falster, Southern Grace Personal Chef Service, Winnsboro, Texas and Karl E. Falster, Sr., Falster Farm and Miniature Cattle Ranch, Winnsboro, Texas, prepared a traditional German raw meat dish called Hackepeter. Falster Farm beef, liver and heart were being brought together in a delicious and natural concoction with rare German flair.

Nancy Falster of Falster Farm – Mini Cattle Ranch,
Winnsboro, Texas, not only prepared the delicious
Hackepeter, but also prepared sprouted cinnamon rolls,
and sprouted biscuits and sausage gravy for the Farmto-
Consumer Legal Defense Fund breakfast fundraiser.

INGREDIENTS

4 pounds grass finished, ground steak
2 pounds grass-fed beef liver, ground
2 pounds grass-fed beef heart, ground
4 whole farm fresh eggs lard or butter or 1/4 pound pancetta (to sauté veggies)
3 sweet onions, preferably organic
6 carrots, preferably organic
8 cloves garlic, preferably organic
1 cup spinach basil pesto (recipe follows)
1/2 cup chopped fresh oregano
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley sea salt and pepper to taste

For pesto:
2 cups organic baby spinach
2 cups organic basil leaves
6 cloves garlic
1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
sea salt and pepper to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

Mix the meats and let the blood drain. (Note: you can cut the liver in strips and soak it in lemon juice a couple of hours before grinding.) Keep meats in fridge, chilled.

Fine chop the veggies, by hand or with pulse on processor. Using the fats or pancetta, sauté the vegetables and the fresh chopped herbs gently to sweat. Add seasonings. Allow the vegetables to cool completely, draining through a colander to remove excess juices.

While vegetables cool, make your pesto: Using food processor chop spinach, basil leaves and garlic. Slowly add extra virgin olive oil to make a paste, adding additional olive oil if necessary to thin the paste. Add parmesan cheese and pulse until blended. Taste and adjust seasoning to your liking.

Mix the meats with eggs, cooled vegetables and pesto. Toss with clean hands to make sure to mix it really well. Press into a container (such as a ring mold or shallow bowl) to form the desired shape and chill until very cold. Use lettuce or parsley as decorative garnish and enjoy with any number of “picker-uppers,” such as endive leaves, sourdough toast or good quality crackers.

TEAM 3: CHICKEN LIVER PATÉ

Also representing Texas, Mike and Connie Hale of Windy Meadows Family Farm, Campbell, Texas presented Windy Meadows Pastured Chicken Liver Paté. The offering was dedicated to the memory of Mrs. Betty Williams, of Tyler, Texas, a very strong supporter of the Weston A. Price Foundation for many years.

INGREDIENTS

1 pound pastured chicken livers, trimmed of white fibers and cut into quarters
1 large onion, chopped
1 pound mushrooms, sliced
1 stick butter
1 teaspoon dill weed
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon finely crushed dried rosemary
1 large minced garlic clove
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2/3 cup white cooking wine
8 ounces cultured cream or cream cheese
sea salt to taste
cayenne pepper to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

Sauté livers, onion and mushrooms in butter in a pan until onions and mushrooms have softened and livers are no longer pink. Add dill, dry mustard, rosemary, garlic, lemon juice and white wine. Simmer until liquid is somewhat reduced, then remove from heat. Combine and blend with cultured cream or cream cheese until as smooth as possible in a blender, in smaller batches if necessary. Season to taste with sea salt and cayenne pepper.

Pour into a serving container or lined mold, cover and chill overnight. Paté will firm up when cooled. Unmold, smooth with a butter knife or offset spatula, garnish, and serve with red pepper wedges, cucumber slices, whole grain crackers or sourdough toast. The paté can be frozen, but may “weep” on defrosting.

Becca Griffith proudly displays her award
winning Mini Pork Bliss Terrines.

TEAM 4: PORK BLISS TERRINES

Representing Minnesota and Wisconsin Becca Griffith, Weston A. Price Foundation Member from Minneapolis, Minnesota and Randy and Lynn Anderson of Anderson Farm, Arkansaw, Wisconsin prepared the winning entry, Mini Pork Bliss Terrines, “Where every bite is offally hearty.”

INGREDIENTS

2 pounds ground pastured pork
2 pounds heart, kidney and livers
1/4 cup lard
1 egg
1 1/2 tablespoon coarse sea salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons apple powder*
1/4 cup crispy almonds, ground into a coarse flour
1 onion, minced
9 dates, minced
1 package gelatin (or 2 1/2 teaspoons), soaked in 1/4 cup water

SPICE MIX

Pinch of the following:
Allspice
Basil
Black Pepper, freshly cracked
Cayenne
Coriander
Fennel
Garlic Powder
Mustard, ground
Onion Powder
Oregano
Paprika, Smoked
Sage
Thyme

INSTRUCTIONS

In a small bowl, soak gelatin powder in water and set aside. In a food processor, blend organ meat mixture (note: it is better if you have more heart and kidney than liver) with a half portion of the ground pork, half of the spice blend, all of the lard, egg, nutmeg, salt, pepper, garlic and apple powder. Transfer contents from the food processor to a large bowl or bowl of an electric mixer and add remaining ground pork, ground crispy almonds, onion, dates and soaked gelatin powder and mix by hand or machine until well combined. Place into mini-muffin tins just to the rim. Cover each muffin tin pan with parchment paper. Bake at 320 degrees F for 20-22 minutes. Remove from oven, and cool for approximately one hour. Loosen each mini terrine, but keep in tins. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Serve chilled or at room temperature. These also freeze well.

*Note on apple powder: Dehydrate honeycrisp apples and then powder in a Vitamix. Chef Becca added the apple powder as an experiment, to serve as a binder after her first recipe modification had flopped. The apple powder seemed to change the texture and really enhance the flavor.

AWARD WINNING CONFERENCE FOOD
Voted Conference Menu of the year by the Journal of Living Food (http://journal.
http://journal.livingfood.us/2011/11/10/menu-of-the-year-award-live-feed-from-top-food-andhealth-conference-2/), the meals at the conference were delicious, as always. Pictured above, chef and food coordinator Monica Corrado. Below, traditional all-raw conference cheesecake and conference food was enjoyed by all ages.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This article appeared in Wise Traditions in Food, Farming and the Healing Arts, the quarterly magazine of the Weston A. Price Foundation, Winter 2011.

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