Wild Boar-a perfect meal for the Winter season

   When one mentions the word 'wild boar', one conjures up images of barbarians chasing down angry swine with coarse long hair and sharp snapping tusks that gore through thick brush armed with spears and lots of mead fueled courage.  And the question of who would kill who was up in the air.  This is still true today where wild feral pigs roam the brush lands all across the country and are hunted with handguns, the spears only used by a select few.  Either way, they are the food of kings, knights and modern gourmets who understand that the slightly gamey pork flavor is just, well, simply delicious!  Fortunately you don't have to take your life in your hands to get wild boar anymore, you can simply go to your local specialty store or go online and buy it.  It makes matters far simpler and much safer.

    Mythology has it that originally some 20 Russian Wild Boars were brought over to the United States to provide an exotic animal to hunt on a preserve.  And some of this is true.  The First "Pure Russian" wild boars were brought into the US by an Austin Corbin. They were released into a 20,000 acre enclosure in Sullivan County New Hampshire in 1890.  As prolific breeders, their numbers soon expanded and some got loose where they bred with feral swine and the rest is history.  And they are still being imported to provide game preserves the thrill of a mideval hunt.  In the last fifteen years, there have been at least four different blood lines brought into North America:  The Kalden, San Diego, Bzikot, and Andreas bloodlines.  The Kalden bloodline traces its roots to Poland as does the Bzikot lines.  The Andreas bloodline hails from the Stockholm Zoo.  The San Diego bloodline actually has its ancestry in the Black Forest of Germany and the Chechnyan Republic.  What the Russian Boar added to the genetic mix of local feral hogs is an intelligence and fierceness that is quite formidable.  The Russian wild boars also known as the Razorback are quite different from the normal pigs. They have very thick hair all over their entire body. Another difference is that they grow tusks which, in most cases, can measure up to several inches and are used for self-defense and foraging. 

   So where do you get wild boar if you don't want to hunt them?  Online, here are 2 places where you can buy wild boar.  The first one is Broken Arrow Ranch.  The also have high quality free-range venison and antelope.  http://www.brokenarrowranch.com/?gclid=CKaax5jYyKwCFQoaQgodrnVmqw  The other is D'Artagnon, from which you can get wild boar sausage and prosciutto.  http://www.dartagnan.com/Search.aspx?npp=16&key=wild+boar&CMCID=SEM_G_WildGame_WildBoar&gclid=CPyD5uzYyKwCFQRuhwodfjq0fQ  You can also buy it at Sprouts Farmers Markets.

   Wild boar is also served in fine resturants in all the Urban cities across the country.    

   Try wild boar.  For the Winter season, it adds a Medieval presence to the table that evokes visions of the Black Forest in Germany where kings and knights toasted ladies wrapped in furs before a roaring fire.

                                                       Ground Wild Boar 

I package ground wild boar

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1 cup mushrooms

1 cup red wine

1/2 stick butter

salt

   Make into 2 patties and cook over medium heat on pan, preferably cast iron, with enough olive oil to cover the bottom.  Cook to an internal temp of 160-170.  If you don't have a meat thermometer, cook until the juice runs clear.  

   Set aside and deglaze pan with wine.  Add butter, salt to taste, mushrooms and simmer on medium heat for aprox 10 minutes.  Add cranberries and continue simmering until a reduction is reached and the sauce has thickened.  Serve over the meat and serve with baked yams, sweet potatoes or baked potato and choice of vegetable.  Enjoy a small trip back in time!  

The Chimney Starter

   Now that Fall is here one needs to ask is grilling season over.  Well, maybe in Alaska, but certainly not in Southern California.  Grilling season here could arguably be all year long but to be fair, lets say Indian Summer is still fair game.  One of the tools of the trade that I discovered this year is the Chimney Starter.  A Chimney Starter is a BBQ tool that is used to ignite charcoal or wood prior to putting it into the grill or smoker.  It is made out of steel with holes cut into it and an insulated handle to grasp when pouring the coals or briquettes into the grill or smoker box.  

   Back 'in the day', I like most people, would simply pour my Kingsford briquettes into my Webber Grill, usually the matchlight type, light it, and wait.  Or if using non-matchlight, pour copious amounts of lighter fluid on a pile of said briquettes, throw a match on the pile, run from the ensuing explosion, and call that 'grilling'.  How wrong I was!  For years I thought gasoline was a natural taste of grilled meats.  

   Then came my interest in the art and science of smoking, and by extension, grilling.  

   A Chimney starter as previously stated, is a metal cylinder that has holes cut into it to facilitate airflow.  The bottom is an inverted cone.  The starter is turned upside down and newspaper is wadded up and placed into the cone.  Then it is turned right side up and filled with lump.  Now lump is the correct medium to use for two reasons.  One, it burns hotter than conventional briquettes and two, it burns cleaner.  In other words, no more gasoline flavored steaks!  

   At this point, the starter is placed on the bowl of a grill such as a Webber, or a piece of metal or cement.  A match is inserted into one of the holes where the paper is and set on fire.  The reason it must be placed on something fireproof or the grill itself, is because as the coals burn they will drop embers.  For my purpose, I have a smoker with a side firebox, so a piece of metal is used.  The fire will burn hot and the lump will catch very quickly and slowly burn upwards.  At this point, thick smoke will come out the top and the holes and it will seem that something is wrong.  Not to fear!  This is normal.  The smoke will slowly subside.  The coals are done when there is a fine white ash powdering the top.  I like to start smoking early, so this is a good excuse to drink a hot cup of coffee on a crisp morning next to a hot fire outside and pretend that I'm camping.  

   When the coals are done, a grill mitt or glove is used, and the Chimney Starter's contents are dumped into the grill or smoker box.  For smoking, a few coals can be left in the starter and fresh ones poured on top so a constant supply of hot coals can be added every hour or so.  The reason a starter is used is because it will add an evenly lit pile of coals immediately to a firebox, a fully lit pile.  

   In my opinion the best Chimney Starter is the Webber.  Its sturdy, its big and it has two handles to facilitate the removal of the coals.  http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000WEOQV8/thevirtualweberb

   As I mentioned smoking is an art AND a science and to make truly great grilled cuisine, attention to detail must be maintained from start to finish.

   Now here is a terrific recipe that you can make now that you've got your chimney starter and a fresh, hot bed of coals smoldering in your grill.  Its very simple and very delicious!

                                                 Cedar Planked Salmon

One belly cut slice of Pacific Salmon

Mustard

Brown sugar

One soaked cedar plank

   Soak a cedar plank for at least an hour.  Bring salmon to room temperature and brush regular yellow mustard over the top.  Then sprinkle with brown sugar.  Place skin side down on the plank.  Put on the grill.  I have done this in a smoker where a small hardwood log is placed besides the lump to smolder and give up smoke.  This can be done in a regular grill as well, however care must be taken not to catch the log on fire.  You want smoke, not fire, as well as a temperature between 225-250.  Grill aprox. 35 minutes.  The salmon should be reddish pink, however, can be rare or well done, depending upon one's taste.  The salmon MUST be fresh.  Enjoy! 

Barbecue, no, not grilling, Q'ing

   This Summer I have ignited a new passion.  Barbecue, that is, smoking meat low and slow using a side-smoker.  

   Living in Southern California, Summer is grilling season.  We all pull out our Webers, throw on some 'fast light' Kingsford briquettes, put on some burgers or steaks and that is barbecue.  Well, as that other Southern Californian, John Wayne, would say, "not so fast pilgrim'!  

   As a chef and cooking aficionado, I have paid a lot of attention to the joys of Italian food and the complex nuance of French food and not paid much notice to barbeque.  Except when visiting Texas and then it was an instant transport to heaven, but always a mystery as to how it was accomplished.  However, having said that, it was always slightly looked down upon, the stuff sometimes being made in an old converted oil drum with tractor exhaust pipes sticking up at odd angles.  Something smoky, messy, "hillbilly", always somehow made by overweight rednecks sweating a bit too much and drinking long neck Budwisers, this was barbeque.  Little did I know that these guys talking with a drawl and always accompanied by a slow moving hound dog, were actually culinary masters.  Or in the parlance of the 'guild', Pitmasters.  Knights of the thin blue smoke.  And to be sure since giving it another look, I have garnered a new found respect for these 'redneck' good ol boys who knew all along what they had and didn't give a damn about what some 'haute cuisine' chef from New York City might think about them.  

   Why the change of heart and why the new found interest?  

   My old weber finally gave up the ghost.  So I found myself at Target buying a new Char Broil griller and thought, why not throw in the side smoker too?  So I took it home and put it together and became the proud owner of a pit.  And as a disclaimer, let me jump a bit forward and say not a very good pit, a starter level pit to be exact.  But that can be changed by mods, which I did, but which would require another article, so lets just say I have a pit.  

   This is what I have come to realize.  Barbequing is a joy, an art, a challenge and a science all rolled into one.  There are internet forums, 'brotherhoods', websites, cults, cliques and cultures all dedicated to the "Q".  Like The Brotherhood,  http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/forum/thread/101645/joining-the-brotherhood.  Oh, did I say its FUN?  It is!  

   So far I have smoked baby back ribs, kielbasa, Italian sausage, planked salmon and this last weekend 2 pork shoulders.  What has fascinated me about barbeque is the many facets of it.  It can be as complex as many French and Italian dishes.  Complexity disguised as simplicity.  You have the rubs, how to apply them, WHEN to apply them.  You have the different woods and charcoals you may use.  You have heat, types of smoke, humidity, mods, time: many different elements that you combine to create that delicious, delectable thing we call barbeque.

   Two problems I found right away were how to keep temperature stable and how to achieve and maintain the coveted 'thin blue smoke', the kind that gives the meat that delicious sweet flavor and does not impart bitterness or creosote.  After some research and experimentation I found a very good solution and I will pass on my humble information.  

   First of all, do not use packaged briquettes like Kingsford 'quick start' etc.  Use high quality lump.  I like Big Green Egg Lump,  http://biggreenegghead.com/beginners-guide/charcoal.  It burns hot, its all natural oak and you don't need to use a lot.  You should also start it in a chimney starter.  When your lump is ready, the fire has gone out and the charcoal has a clean white ash covering it, it is dumped into one side of the smoker box.  Then you place an aged HARDWOOD log on the side of the pile of coals and it will slowly smolder.  The temperature should be between 225-275.  This will give you the thin blue smoke.  As the day goes on, you add lump when the temp drops and another log when it finally burns down. I used pecan logs however, any fruit wood like apple or cherry will impart a nice sweet flavor.  You can use any kind of hardwood, hickory for instance is called the king of woods.  Oak is the queen.  But NEVER use pine or cedar etc, it contains resins that will spoil your meat and is dangerous to eat.  

   Those two tips alone can make the difference between 'ok' BBQ and a very frustrating experience and stellar "Q" and a very satisfying one where you too can crack open a beer, pet your dog and await culinary heaven.  Barbeque, a real challenge with a great reward waiting at the end!   

Poulet A La Creme A L'Estragon

That is Chicken with cream and tarragon in French.  Did the French invent haute cuisine?  No, probably the Chinese did, they invented everything else, but the French did refine it.  And really, to be fair, this dish is not hoity toity, its a simple peasant dish from Normandy.  Now Normandy is the place where the pristine cave paintings by prehistoric man were found in all their Paleolithic glory.  Paintings of cave bears, mammoths and giant deer lay sleeping for millenniums until liberated by astounded anthropologists.  Along with the paintings they discovered the remains of ancient fires where roasted meats were cooked by long gone ancestors.  Its doubtful that ancient French men cooked chicken and cream over fires in their caves but one can speculate.  But the tradition of good country French food goes back a long time.  Normandy lies in the Northwest part of France where the winters are cold and the English Channel sends its sea breeze over land.  It is the place where hearty chicken dishes are served, roasted and creamy, to warm the belly and the soul.

   This recipe is simple to make.  Roasted chicken is always hearty and filling, but the smooth cream sauce and the exquisite bright flavor of the herb tarragon adds a special scrupulousness to this dish.  Here's how to make it.  

1 chicken, about 3 1/2 lbs

salt

10 or so sprigs of fresh tarragon

1 oz butter

3/4 cup chicken stock, low sodium

3/4 cup heavy cream or creme fraiche

   Season the chicken inside and out with salt.  Put half the tarragon inside the cavity

Melt the butter in a pot like a Dutch Oven.  Brown the chicken on all sides fro about 10 minutes.  Remove from the pot and pour away the butter.  Pour in the stock and deglaze the pot, scraping up the browned bits with a wooden spoon.  Return the chicken to the pot, cover and cook over low heat for 1 hour and 20 minutes.   

   When its almost done, strip the leaves from the rest of the tarragon and chop finely.  Remove the cooked chicken from the pot and keep warm.  Reduce the juices after removing the bits of chicken, until it reaches a syrupy consistency, then add the cream and boil for 2 minutes or so longer.  Stir in the chopped tarragon.  

   Carve the chicken and put it on plates.  Spoon the sauce over.  

   There you go, Poulet A La Creme A L'Estragon.  Delicious!  Serve with a dry white wine to cut through the cream.  Enjoy!

Clafoutis. A delicious French cherry custard!

    This is a fantastic simple custard that takes about 40 minutes to make.  You can use cherries in June when they're fresh, or blackberries, raspberries and blueberries.  I would have to say the hardest part in the making of clafoutis is the pronunciation of its name!  Cla-foo-tee.  But that's French for you.  

   The first mention of this humble desert was in the 19 century and it hails from the Limousin region of France, which probably means nothing, except to say that its in the middle of the country where it gets cold in the winter.  And that is probably why, when the Spring and early Summer came, and the cherries were out, those that lived there created this desert to celebrate the event.  

   There are many ways of making Clafoutis, from the very elegant, with slices of pears arranged in rounds, to the rustic with cherries and berries placed willy-nilly.  Since I like rustic, that is the variety that this recipe describes.  Here's how to make it:

Enough berries/cherries, to cover the bottom of a medium sized cast iron pan or baking dish.

2 eggs

1 egg yoke

1/2 cup sugar

2 1/2 oz butter (about 3/4 a stick) melted

2/3 cup all purpose (plain) flour

1 cup milk

powdered sugar

*Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.  

*Butter your cast iron pan or bake ware and put the berries in a single layer.  Don't overfill.  Combine the eggs and yolk in a bowl.  I like to use a heavy ceramic one.  Add the sugar and whisk until the mixture is pale in color.  Whisk in the melted butter.  Sift in the flour and mix well, then mix in the milk.  Make sure you use a flour sifter, it really makes it better.  Continue beating until the batter is smooth, then pour over the berries.  Bake for 40 to 45 minutes.  Top with powdered sugar, eat warm.  Enjoy!