Archives for January 2015

It’s all about the balls…

January 31, 2015 by Convivial Boar Leave a Comment

bacon-wrapped, fowl meatballs glazed in cranberry chutney served with cheesy mashed potatoes

Time to celebrate football and food —that’s right, it’s Super Bowl weekend! And this year all of the talk is about the balls—must be rather deflating for the superstar players to be upstaged by a couple pounds of air.

Nevertheless, you know the story: the talking television heads are crying foul over the Patriots’ deflated balls. Apparently, deflation is contagious as I found myself less than inspired for this year’s Super Bowl. Luckily, the Daughter-of-Boar rallied my spirits and insisted that we create and eat —timeless remedy for deflation and many other ailments.

Embracing the spirit of this year’s Super Bowl, let’s celebrate the balls —fowl meatballs!

Now, let me say the idea of the fowl meatballs was not solely inspired by the cheesy pun (foul and fowl), for the Boar (like nearly everyone else this time of year) is working hard to lose a few extra pounds —but not so much as to lose my convivial image. Of course, in keeping with my convivial nature I wrapped the meatballs in bacon —healthy eating is certainly enhanced by a crispy layer of pleasure. Similarly, hitting the gym isn’t so bad if you stick to the steam room and hot tub —don’t bet against me this year, my friend, I may keep this up through the spring.

Bacon-Wrapped, Fowl Meatballs Glazed in Spicy Cranberry Chutney

Ingredients:

Ground turkey and chicken breast (I used about a pound of chicken and half pound of turkey because that was what was available at the store)
Red bell pepper (about half, diced finely)
Sweet onion (about half, diced finely)
Garlic (four to six cloves, diced finely)
Panko garlic and parmesan bread crumbs (half cup)
Eggs (two, beaten)
Oil (I used about two tablespoons of avocado oil)
Fresh sage (chopped finely)
Italian parsley (chopped finely)
Fresh thyme leaves
Kosher salt
Fresh black pepper
Chili powder (about two tablespoons)
Applewood bacon (slices cut in half)

Directions:

Mix everything together by hand making sure to incorporate all of the ingredients. Then shape into balls (about the size of a golf ball). Wrap each ball with a half slice of bacon using a toothpick or small skewer to secure.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Add enough oil to cover the bottom of a sauté pan and heat to medium-high. Working in batches brown the meatballs (mostly the bacon). Reserve the droppings in the sauté pan for the sauce. Place the browned meatballs on a baking sheet and bake until done through (about forty minutes).

fowl meatballs browning

While the meatballs are cooking, make the Cranberry Chutney Glaze:

Ingredients:

Prepared cranberry chutney (I wanted to use fresh cranberries, but alas none were available at the market —even for ready money. Name that movie reference and receive accolades from the Boar).
Chicken broth
Red pepper flakes
Ground cloves
Ground ginger
Citrus zest (I used a clementine)

Directions:

Add the prepared cranberry chutney to the sauté pan used for browning the meatballs (you may want to remove some of the grease and droppings first, but keep enough to help flavor the sauce). Heat over medium. Add enough chicken broth to thin the chutney and whisk it together to incorporate. Season with the red pepper flakes (I used about a tablespoon, but if you like it spicy add more), ground cloves, ground ginger and the citrus zest.

Bring the sauce to a low simmer and allow it to reduce to desired thickness. I simmered my sauce for about thirty minutes.

Remove the meatballs from the oven. Carefully remove the toothpicks and add the meatballs to the cranberry glaze rolling each several times to fully coat the meatballs.

I served the glazed meatballs with cheesy mashed potatoes and spooned additional glaze on top.

omelet featuring diced fowl meatball

Morning After Omelet

Alas! I ended up with more meatballs than would fit in my sauté pan (yet another Champagne problem, my friend–anybody keeping count of these?). I left the extra meatballs unglazed and the next morning I diced them as a featured omelet ingredient.

diced fowl meatball ready for omelet

Even if the game is a little flat this season, embrace the power of creating and eating.

Rally against deflation, my friend.

Creating in prose

January 13, 2015 by Convivial Boar Leave a Comment

the road ahead

In this time of year, looking to the road ahead is paramount, but let’s also ponder, “why are we on this path?”

In an earlier post we traipsed through the intertwining of boars, philosophy, and feasting to explain why a boar, of all creatures, would be leading this journey. And after reading it, I’m confident that you share my modest conclusion, it is as though the part was written for the Convivial Boar. We also touched on the importance of giving our feasts a story —now, let’s turn our attention to the use of stories in this blog.

The norm in cooking blogs (if that is what this is) is to focus on recipes. So, the question arises why is our focus more on story? Much of the motivation for this blog, lies in the answer to that question —and that answer, not surprisingly, involves a story…or two…

Every third friday in April (usually right after Uncle Sam pays his annual visit) a feast rages on the banks of the Ouachita River —the Gar Gig. And for many years, one of the featured items of the feast was duck gumbo —created in the convivial manner. Each year, one particular feaster (let’s call him Freddie) would gush and gush (only modesty keeps me from filling the page here) about the gumbo. Repeatedly, he asked for my recipe, and just as repeatedly, I promised to provide it —only, I didn’t have one.

But how hard could it be just to write down the steps? Turns out that for me it was next to impossible. But why?

Ever hear, (or say),“I followed the recipe exactly but it didn’t turn out?” Perhaps the reason is that so much is left out of a basic recipe format. I find that I do not create by recipe or formula. I cannot tell you in bullet-points how I made something —and even if I could, I wouldn’t, for it would violate one of my sacred rules:

Convivial Boar Feast-Making Rule #4:

“Replication is an evil to be avoided at all cost.”

Indeed, I am only comfortable describing my creations in prose —because that’s how I make them.

Recipes have their place as a guide or reference point —but nothing more. Who am I to tell you that your creation needs exactly two cups of walnuts? I say make it as nutty as you like —and then some.

So, imagine my dilemma if (hypothetically) an enthusiastic feaster says to me, “this pork stew is not only the best stew I ever had but the best food I’ve ever eaten. I must have it again and again” —note how hypothetical folks are always so grand in their compliments —and follows, with “can I have the recipe?” I want to say, “yes!” But I know that I do not have a recipe —I also know that this stew will never exist again. So, I say, “yes, of course you can” —candor issues aside, it’s an effective response. Most of the time, the subject never comes up again —its like all of those things you intend to do but just never think of again like returning borrowed books.

But for those precious few persistent feasters, who aren’t satisfied to munch on empty words alone, my response goes like this:

My initial vision for the stew was formed around the notion of featuring ingredients harvested from this very land and serving it here. My father grows turnips for the deer on the farm, and he trapped a pig that was rooting up the patch. I decided that featuring the pig with the very turnips he sought to destroy had a certain ironic flavor…

Try replicating that! —some people struggle just to listen to it (my wife and children, to name a few).

In this blog, creations are described in prose so we can explore the vision, plan and methods. We are creators not replicators —we are Feast-Makers, empowered to make feasts of the moment!

That being yelled, I get a lot of ideas from recipes. I will research and review tens of recipes for a single creation. But I do not feel beholden to the recipe. I view them as fodder for ideas or at most, as a suggestion (anything that you see on this blog that resembles a recipe should receive the same treatment).

However, I am a strong believer in technique. For instance, in creating the stew described above, I researched and practiced French braising technique in preparing the pig. Not just the steps of how to do it, but why. Through understanding why a cooking technique is used, we are empowered to apply it to other creations.

We must also pay attention to ratios —especially in baking. Again, not just the math but why that ratio works.

Visions, techniques, ratios and methods empower the Feast-Maker to create unique feasts of the moment. Rigid formulaic recipes dictate robotic compliance in an attempt to replicate a dish from yesterday. And while it may taste good and fulfill an important need, it is not Feast-Making —at least not in the convivial manner.

Sadly, Freddie left this world before I was able to help empower him to create his own gumbo. Yet, he ignited the struggle that inspired this blog.

Create in prose, my friend.

The Boar has a new pan…

January 2, 2015 by Convivial Boar 3 Comments

venison and pheasant breakfast taco discada

Take three deep breaths, Christmas is over —and all that remains now is for the shops to peddle the unwanted trinkets of the season (before assaulting us with them again in a few short months) and for us to take store of our Christmas loot! On that note, the Boar has a new pan!

You know what this means (and if you don’t click here, here, here, and here to see what happened when the Boar acquired a paella pan). The new pan is a Blue Moon Disk manufactured in Little Rock, Arkansas and gifted to the Boar by a rather convivial accountant —rare sighting, I know (perhaps we can get some license plates like the ones for the ivory-billed woodpecker).

Turns out this gift was not just a pan but an education, as well. The pan is made from a reclaimed (anesthetic word for “used”) plow disk —that’s right an implement of husbandry (weird word for “farming”) pulling double-duty, helping to grow and cook the food (from the garden to the frying pan). Now, that’s a pretty literal application of the farm-to-table trend. The conversion involves filling in and welding the hole (or holes) in the center of the pan and adding handles (as an added bonus Blue Moon’s version welds horseshoes on for handles).

disks on a plow

The resulting pan is similar to a wok, for it is conical shaped with a small circular flat area in the middle. But the sides are not as steep as a typical wok, and the metal is much thicker.

Cooking in this fashion is known as “discada” (a Spanish word meaning “to cook in an agricultural disk or disco” —boy they stuffed a lot into that word). The disks are popular in Mexico for preparing street fare (meaning “the good stuff absent any pretense –not to mention tables, chairs, silverware, plates…”).

The disk works perfectly on a propane gas cooker but can also be used on a grill or stove (but why take something like this indoors?). Typical preparations involve sautéing ingredients in the center of the pan and then moving them to the outer areas of the pan to stay warm. Popular ingredients include, shrimp, strips of meat, sausage, sliced onions, peppers, squash, zucchini, potatoes, corn and fruits.

Boar in action with new pan

The key is to have all of your ingredients prepped and ready to cook when you start cooking so that you can layer them onto the pan in your desired order —dazzling your feasters with the tantalizing sizzle and aromas (as soon as the first potato began sautéing on my pan, the feasters took notice and started asking “what are you cooking over there?”).

I tried out my new pan with these creations:

venison and pheasant fajitas

Venison and Pheasant Fajitas with Spicy Potatoes

Main Ingredients:

Venison tenderloin cut into strips

Pheasant breasts cut into strips (I cooked the leg quarters also and served as a bonus to the fajitas)

Yukon gold potatoes (cut into small wedges)

Onion (sliced thinly)

Bell pepper (sliced into strips)

Flour tortillas

I marinated the venison and pheasant in a dark beer for about two hours before cooking. About thirty minutes before cooking, I removed the meat from the marinade and seasoned it generously with kosher salt, black pepper, and ground chipotle pepper. I then seasoned the potato wedges the same as the meat.

I placed the disk on a propane burner (fish cooker) and adjusted the flame to medium. I added olive oil to the center of the pan allowing it to heat until shimmering. I sautéd the potatoes with fresh rosemary. Once the potatoes had a nice brown crust, I moved them up the sides of the pan away from the center to continue cooking.

Next, I added the pheasant legs and browned them in the center of the disk (with fresh thyme). Once they were brown, I moved them away from the center and added the pheasant strips and then the venison strips. As they browned, I moved them to the outer area of the pan and added the onions and peppers.

Lastly, I covered the pan with flour tortillas allowing them to warm from the steam of the meats and vegetables on the disk.

The fajitas can be served straight from the pan.

Breakfast Taco Discada

The next morning (really early afternoon, but who can keep such things straight this time of year), I created breakfast tacos on the disk.

Main Ingredients:

Potatoes (diced)

Diced meat (I made use of the leftover venison and pheasant, but sausage, bacon, ham, or steak will work fine)

Eggs

Flour Tortillas (my preference for this dish is corn tortillas, but my feasters lobbied for flour).

Again, I started the cooking by adding a small amount of olive oil in the center of the disk. Once the oil was heated, I sautéed the potatoes until brown and crispy and moved them to the outer edge of the pan. Next, I quickly sautéed the venison and pheasant (just to crisp it a bit and warm it up as it was already cooked) and moved it to the outer edge of the pan.

I mixed the eggs with milk, pepper, salt and a dash of cumin (basic scrambled egg preparation with a little added seasoning). I added about a tablespoon of butter to the center of the disk and allowed it to sizzle. Then I poured the egg mixture into the center of the pan. Once the egg mixture began to set, I stirred the eggs and allowed them to set again. Stirred again. Set again. Stirred again. Just as the eggs were ready, I added shredded cheddar cheese and stirred it into the eggs. Lastly, I placed the tortillas over the pan and allowed them steam until soft.

Overall, I found the disk to be efficient, festive, and fun. I’m proud to bestow upon it the much-coveted Convivial Boar stamp of approval. And to my friend, the convivial accountant, I say thank you for opening my eyes to discada and the Blue Moon Disk.

For more information about the Blue Moon Disk click here.

May this year be filled with many new pans, my friend.

Archives for January 2015

Bacon-Wrapped, Fowl Meatballs Glazed in Spicy Cranberry Chutney

Morning After Omelet

Venison and Pheasant Fajitas with Spicy Potatoes

Breakfast Taco Discada

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