What I've been working on.

[merkaba93]

Some wild foods. Some not.

Pork tenderloin, with butternut squash puree, rosemary brown butter chanterelles with preserved lemon. I've been trying to solidify my bread game. Got sourdoughs down, but working on baguettes and brioche buns now (gonna be some venison burgers in my future). So did some baguettes with some pickled huckleberries and some marscapone and blue cheese spread.

Then had some fun with dehydrated wild mushrooms, king trumpets and scallops. Did scallops with a mushroom sauce and the king trumpet stem with a scallop foam.

Also did some gizzards n grits. With some homemade apple cider vinegar to make the collard greens. I didn't have enough wild bird gizzards, so I got some really good quality chicken gizzards.

[huntnfmly]

Looks great
I'm on my way😆

[Timberstalker]

Could you give us the rundown on each dish?
Looks phenomenal by the way.

[merkaba93]

Gizzards n grits:

Take 1 lb cleaned gizzards and cut into halves or quarters. Cover with two quarts chicken stock with one quartered onion, one bulb garlic and 2 bay leaves. Bring to a boil and simmer for 1 hour covered

Remove gizzards and allow to cool. Strain stock with cheese cloth. Wipe down pot. Heat 1 tbs bacon fat with 1 tbs veg oil over med high heat. Add one diced yellow onion and 6 diced cloves garlic. Saute for 6 min. Add stock back and 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar and 1/2 cup red wine vinegar. Bring to boil and add 2 bunches chopped collard greens. Add one lemon cut in half and a small bunch of oregano. Simmer for 2 hours. At the end remove lemon and oregano and add 1 tbs molasses.

After gizzards are cool add 1 cup or more buttermilk to cover. Add 1 tbs hot sauce (CJs from Columbia Missouri is my Fav).
Let sit in the refrigerator while cooking collard greens.

Mix one cup medium grind corn meal, 3/4 cup flour, 1 1/2 tbs sea salt, 1 tbs pepper, 2 tsp onion powder, 2 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp cayenne, 2 tsp paprika for your dredge.

Heat oil to 350. Dredge gizzards. Fry for 3 min, doing a handful at a time. Keep warm in the oven at 200 degrees.

To make the grits bring 2 cups water and 2 cups milk to a boil. Add 1 cup corn meal and 2 tsp salt. Whisk. Reduce to low and cook for 15-20 min. Then add 4 tbs butter and 1/2 cup cheddar.

Plate grits with gizzards, collards on the side or within the dish. Dealers choice.

Music and Drink Pairings
Fool for Your Face by Coves
Everybody's Brewing Local Logger Lager

[Widgeondeke]

Amazing. 

[kckrawler]

That scallop dish 

[JimmyHoffa]

   food artist

[KillerBeee]

Always an inspiration! Thanks for sharing.

[pianoman9701]

Great looking food, Merk. Very inspirational. I did a 24-hour sous vide glazed lamb shank last weekend. Mom liked it so much she's invited two friends over for dinner this weekend. Also going to be doing oysters Rockefeller with some Cape Neddick xsm Maine oysters. I'll take some picks if I remember. Thanks, as always, for sharing your stuff. You've got some chops, man.

[daddysprad]

I love scallops, can you give the recipe for the rice/mushrooms?  Thank you

[merkaba93]

Simple Mushroom Risotto

Buy some dried mushrooms or dehydrate your own to use throughout the year, Morel or Porcini. Heat a handful of dried mushrooms in 4 cups of chicken broth in a stock pot for about 30 min, do not bring to a full simmer. When mushrooms are hydrated remove from stock and dice if the pieces are large. Keep the infused mushroom stock warm. Then in a wide bottom pan with a lot of surface area heat 1 tbs olive oil and sauté 2-3 diced shallots until soft over med high heat. Then add and toast 1 cup arborio rice for about 2 min. Add 1 cup dry white wine (preferably a Sauv Blanc from Washington). Stir constantly until absorbed. Slightly turn down heat. Start timer and add  stock one ladle at a time making sure it's absorbed before adding the next pour. Stirring at all times. Do this over 15-20 min. Taste test at about 15 min. When it's finished add 2 TBS butter, 2 TBS parmesan cheese, 1 TBS diced sage or thyme (or rosemary, chives, tarragon or whatever you want. Dealers choice), 1 teaspoon lemon zest, 1 teaspoon smoked salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper and the reserved mushrooms. Stir until well mixed.

Serves 2. Feel free to double the recipe.


Pairings for Music and Wine:
I Know How to Speak by Manchester Orchestra
Hogue Cellars Sauvignon Blanc

[merkaba93]

So for the mushroom sauce for the scallops I took about 2 shallots and sauted with some olive oil for about 4 min over med high heat. Then added some scraps of the king trumpet that didn't cut well, then added some dried hedgehog and dried morel mushrooms to it. Added 2-3 sprigs thyme and then about a cup of chicken stock. Brough to a boil then reduced. When it was down to about 1/4 of a cup I strained out the solids. Reduced heat to low then whisked in 2 tbs butter to thicken.

If I was to make this dish again I'd just sear scallops, make above sauce, and make a mushroom risotto.

[KillerBeee]

My buddy and I did a New Years Day throw down with some game action. He did a simmered upper deer rear leg with just a small portion of the meat left on after boning the rear quarters. His recipe called for seasoning and browning the pieces still on the bone and simmering in a wine, deer bone broth, spices and crushed tomato liquid for several hours until tender. When tender, we took the meat off the bone, and took a portion of the cooking stock and reduced it, then thickened with a quick corn starch for a topping sauce.
   The risotto started out with a wild duck stock that was left from my mom's recipe called Shanghai Duck. Soy sauce, green onion, orange peel, star anise,  and lots of shiitake mushrooms. When we cooked the duck, with the wild birds, they were decidedly tough. Farmed birds are better suited for this recipe. I took the leftovers of 3 ducks and pressure cooked them for a couple hours. Saved the stock and used it in place of chicken stock. The star anise added a delightful dimension to the risotto. Otherwise, the risotto was done just like Merk's recipe.

[Skyvalhunter]

That's too nice looking to eat

[merkaba93]

My buddy and I did a New Years Day throw down with some game action. He did a simmered upper deer rear leg with just a small portion of the meat left on after boning the rear quarters. His recipe called for seasoning and browning the pieces still on the bone and simmering in a wine, deer bone broth, spices and crushed tomato liquid for several hours until tender. When tender, we took the meat off the bone, and took a portion of the cooking stock and reduced it, then thickened with a quick corn starch for a topping sauce.
   The risotto started out with a wild duck stock that was left from my mom's recipe called Shanghai Duck. Soy sauce, green onion, orange peel, star anise,  and lots of shiitake mushrooms. When we cooked the duck, with the wild birds, they were decidedly tough. Farmed birds are better suited for this recipe. I took the leftovers of 3 ducks and pressure cooked them for a couple hours. Saved the stock and used it in place of chicken stock. The star anise added a delightful dimension to the risotto. Otherwise, the risotto was done just like Merk's recipe.

An Asian spin on risotto. Sounds good to me.

[merkaba93]

Great looking food, Merk. Very inspirational. I did a 24-hour sous vide glazed lamb shank last weekend. Mom liked it so much she's invited two friends over for dinner this weekend. Also going to be doing oysters Rockefeller with some Cape Neddick xsm Maine oysters. I'll take some picks if I remember. Thanks, as always, for sharing your stuff. You've got some chops, man.

Oysters Rockefeller is a great dish, I bet you'll kill it.