Savory Wild Boar Sausage with Fried Sage, Two-Corn Polenta

Freshly-ground wild boar from the Texas Hill Country is mixed with chopped yellow onions, Italian sweet chili powder, fresh garlic, sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper.  Formed into patties, then fried in sage brown butter and served over two-corn polenta (fresh kernel corn and stone-ground yellow flint corn) with sweet peppers and fresh chives..

Savory Wild Boar Sausage with Fried Sage, Two-Corn Polenta

Pan-roasted Quail with Black Fig/Bacon Demi-glace over Piccolo Farrotto

Pastured quail from Bandera, Texas are dry-brined with sea salt containing sage, rosemary and black pepper, then allowed to air dry in the refrigerator for two hours.  The quail is quickly pan-roasted in a small spoonful each of rendered bacon fat and rendered chicken fat until the skin is crisp and the flesh is slightly pink.  Served over a bed of stock-simmered farro with roasted vegetables, and topped with a chicken demi-glace with black figs, bacon and roasted spring onion..

Pan-roasted Quail with Black Fig/Bacon Demi-glace over Piccolo Farrotto

For the Sauce (about 1 cup)

1-1/2 cups rich, homemade chicken stock, divided
2 tablespoons roasted chicken demi-glace
1/3 cup black figs, trimmed and quartered
4 pieces thick cut, smoked bacon
roasted spring onions (from the Farro recipe), coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon pan drippings (from the quail)
1 small sprig fresh rosemary, stripped and bruised

Heat the chicken stock in a skillet over medium-low heat until simmering.  Add the demi-glace, stir to combine and simmer until reduced and thickened, about 20 minutes.  Meanwhile, cut bacon into 1/2 inch pieces and cook until nicely browned.  Transfer bacon to the side to drain, reserving the bacon fat for the next recipe.

Just before service, add the bacon, figs, rosemary and onion and allow to heat through, about 5 minutes.

For the Piccolo Farrotto (adapted from a recipe by Anson Mills)

1 cup farro piccolo
1 quart rich, homemade chicken stock
2-1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large shallot, minced
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 fresh bay leaf
2 stalks fresh celery
4 small, fresh carrots, trimmed
2 small spring onions, trimmed (reserved)
fine sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Roast the carrots, celery and onion in a 375 degree oven until browned, about 45 minutes. Set aside.

Turn the farro into a food processor and give it ten 1-second pulses to crack some of the bran that encases the grains. Transfer it to a small bowl.

Bring the chicken stock to a simmer in a heavy-bottomed 2-quart saucepan over medium heat. Reduce the heat to low, cover the pan, and keep the stock just below a simmer as you cook the farro.

Melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed 3- or 4-quart saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the minced shallots and cook, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the farro, increase the heat to medium, and stir until the grains are hot and coated with butter, about 1 minute. Stir in the wine and simmer until reduced to a glaze. Add the bay leaf and 1 cup of hot chicken stock and stir once to make sure the grains are covered with liquid. Cook the farro uncovered at the barest simmer; when the liquid has been almost entirely absorbed and the farro begins to look dry, add about 1/2 cup of hot stock, stir once, and simmer until the liquid is absorbed and the farro once again begins to look dry. Continue to cook the farro in this fashion for 1 hour. Coarsley chop and stir in the celery and carrot and continue to cook, adding stock as needed, until the grains have expanded and are tender throughout, without hard, starchy centers, about 20 minutes longer.

Stir in the salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. The farrotto should look creamy, not wet or soupy. Taste for seasoning, stir in the parsley, and serve immediately.

For the Quail (serves 4-6)

12 skin-on, boneless quail breasts
2 tablespoons more-or-less sea salt, black pepper and aromatics such as rosemary and sage
2 tablespoons rendered bacon fat
2 tablespoons rendered chicken fat

Season the quail on all sides with the salt mixture then place skin-side up on a plate and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.  Remove from refrigerator and allow to stand 20 minutes at room temperature.

Heat the bacon and chicken fats over medium in a large, heavy skillet over medium heat until shimmering.  Blot the quail breasts dry, then place into the skillet skin-side down without crowding. You may need to do this in batches.  Allow to cook until nicely browned, then turn and cook until almost medium doneness.

To assemble

Spoon piccolo farroto onto dinner plates and arrange quail breasts on top (2-3 per person, depending).  Spoon demi-glace over the top, garnish with a piece of rosemary and serve piping hot.

Tuna Tartare with a Texas Twist

Fresh jalapeños, scallions, sea salt and a touch of sesame oil is sandwiched between layers of pole-caught ahi tuna (1/4-inch dice) combined with  olive oil, fresh grapefruit juice, sea salt, black pepper and freshly-ground coriander.

The dish is plated with fresh Texas grapefruit pieces tossed with raw coconut aminos (think soy-free soy sauce), mirin and cilantro.  Toasted hemp seeds top the raw tuna..

Tuna Tartare with a Texas Twist

When eating raw tuna, take care to ensure that it is exceedingly fresh and that you keep it well chilled at all times.  I cut the tuna into steaks and place them in the freezer just until they begin to firm up, then dice, season and serve as quickly as possible.

Please don’t use any threatened species of tuna or those caught in an environmentally destructive manner!

Wild Rice with Smoked Turkey, Lingonberries, Wild Onions and Fried Sage

A densely nutritious meal from the Boreal forest, true Northern wild rice is cooked in roasted fowl stock with fresh lingonberries, then tossed with torn pieces of pan-fried smoked turkey, wild onions, fresh sage and rosemary.  Drizzled with hot stock and pan drippings..

Wild Rice with Smoked Turkey, Lingonberries,Wild Onions and Fried Sage

1 wild rice (if the instructions on the package call for less than 1 hour of cooking, it probably isn’t true wild rice)
2-3/4 cups homemade fowl or vegetable stock, boiling
1/2 cup fresh lingonberries, stemmed, rinsed and picked over (substitute cranberries)
1 tablespoon rendered turkey or chicken fat
pinch of sea salt

1 smoked turkey leg, skinned, pulled and torn into bite-size pieces
1/2 cup wild onions (both green and white sections), trimmed and cut into to 1/8-inch thick slices
12 whole, fresh sage leaves, stemmed
1 heaping tablespoon fresh rosemary needles
2 tablespoons rendered turkey or chicken fat
freshly-cracked black pepper

Heat 1 tablespoon rendered turkey or chicken fat in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat.  Add wild rice and stir to coat.  Continue cooking and stirring for 5 minutes until each grain is coated and glossy.

Add 2-1/2 cups boiling stock and berries and stir to separate rice.  Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer until just tender, about 1 hour.  Salt to taste.

Heat 1-1/2 tablespoons rendered turkey or chicken fat in a heavy skillet over medium-high heat.  Add turkey and onions and quickly sear.  Add sage and rosemary and cook until herbs are crisp, about 2-3 minutes.

To serve, combine rice and turkey in warm soup bowls.  Stir the reserved stock and pan drippings together and drizzle over the top.  Season with freshly-cracked black pepper.

The species of wild rice most commonly harvested is the annual Zizania palustris.  Native Americans and non-Indians harvest wild rice by canoeing into a stand of plants, and bending the ripe grain heads with wooden sticks called knockers, so as to thresh the seeds into the canoe.

The size of the knockers, as well as other details, are prescribed in state and tribal law.  By Minnesota statute, knockers must be at most 1 inch in diameter, 30 inches long, and one pound in weight.  The plants are not beaten with the knockers but require only a gentle brushing to dislodge the mature grain.  The Ojibwa people call this plant manoomin meaning “good berry”.   Some seeds fall to the muddy bottom and germinate later in the year.

Several Native American cultures, such as the Ojibwa, consider wild rice to be a sacred component in their culture.  The rice is harvested with a canoe: one person vans (or “knocks”) rice into the canoe with two small poles (called “knockers” or “flails”) while the other paddles slowly or uses a push pole.  For these groups, this harvest is an important cultural (and often economic) event. –Wikipedia

Crispy Wild Halibut with Fried Jamón Serrano, Dijon and Green Peppercorn Sauce

Fresh filets of wild Alaskan halibut are lightly seasoned with sea salt and freshly-ground pepper, then quickly seared in clarified butter over high heat until the skin is crisp and brown and the fish is moist and flaky.

Served over a sauce of Pinot gris, shallots, green peppercorns,  and Dijon mustard, finished with cold, cultured butter and brightened with a little fresh parsley.  Accompanied with some bits of fried jamón serrano for flavor and texture..

Crispy Wild Halibut with Fried Jamón Serrano, Dijon and Green Peppercorn Sauce

The North Pacific commercial halibut fishery dates to the late 19th century and today is one of the region’s largest and most lucrative.  In Canadian and U.S. waters, longline predominates, using chunks of octopus (“devilfish”) or other bait on circle hooks attached at regular intervals to a weighted line that can extend for several miles across the bottom.

Halibut have been an important food source to Native Americans and Canadian First Nations for thousands of years and continue to be a key element to many coastal subsistence economies. Accommodating the competing interests of commercial, sport, and subsistence users remains a difficult challenge. -Wikipedia