Bonjour!
Lamb. Duck. Liver.
3 things that all sound far too complicated to tackle, right? Wrong! In Chef Janon’s Courageous Carnivore class she breaks down 6 recipes that seem daunting but come together in no time at all with the right tools and techniques. With her butcher experience, Chef Janon is able to give you all the tips you need from disassembling a rack of lamb to working with Foie Gras. So, let’s get started. In this class we learn how to make:
- Pan Seared Duck Breast with Cherry Glaze
- Glazed Lamb Lollypops
- Southern Style Liver & Onions
- Lamb Meatballs with Romesco Sauce (Yummo!)
- Charred Foie Gras
- Duck Fat Potato Wedges
Whew, adventurous isn’t it? Plenty of people think so too and are trying something new because both classes were sold out! Our morning class was even a bit of a family reunion with 7 of the 8 all being related, so fun. (Hi Uncle Bob!)
Be sure to keep an eye on the class calendar as we are always updating it with new in-person and virtual classes. They can fill up months in advance, so it’s best to book as soon as you see something you like.
Of all the classes aside from perhaps Beyond Knife Skills, this is one of the most informative classes Chef does. It’s not a surprise when you consider that not many people work with ‘out of the way’ proteins – so there’s plenty of knowledge to pass on to you. Personally I couldn’t say I was a fan of liver and onions but that’s BECAUSE I didn’t know how to make it properly. Even without the onions, this beef liver recipe didn’t have that overwhelming iron-y taste that can be off-putting for some. Now, I won’t make it every week but I can confidently say I’m a convert! Sometimes you can be afraid to try something new only because you had a bad experience with it once. Give it another chance and Chef Janon can help extend your culinary reach beyond regular beef, pork, and chicken.
One recipe I was very excited for was the Duck Breast with Cherry Glaze. Just the name is enough to get the tastebuds going. If you have someone that doesn’t want to be too courageous with their dinner choices, duck can be a good entry into trying less mainstream proteins. It has the benefit of being similar to chicken while introducing some other great qualities.
Duck meat has a higher fat content than typical chicken breasts too. This means it can hold up to being braised without drying out as quick white meat. The taste profile is closer to a red meat and much richer than chicken that relies on seasonings and marinades to develop rich flavor. Not to mention, with the fatty skin you get more rendered fat to use for pan frying! Look at how perfect these little breasts came out today..
All that flavor packed into one tiny piece of meat. Who knew!
Some head-to-head meatball rollin’
We had a bit of a contest with the meatballs as well. If you search online you’ll probably find endless versions of meatball recipes with varying ingredients, cooking methods, etc. Everyone has their own family recipes too with additional ingredients and it can be hard to narrow down. One thing that always varies between them is the technique of actually making the ball itself.
We decided to put a celebrity chef’s method up against our own. We had one half of the meatballs rolled by hand and the others using a scoop to observe the texture and crust differences.
A gently scooped meatball tends to give a bit more rustic look and is less compacted than a hand-rolled one. Those stray, crispy edges also serve as an excellent surface for sauce to cling to.
Honestly though, the winner were the students because the meatballs were delicious both ways. Guess you’ll have to come to class to find out which actually came out on top though!
We had several TFK first timers come to the evening class and it was such a blast introducing them to what we do here. My request today is to simply tell a friend. It’s amazing how large an impact word of mouth can be for a small business so spread the word. We love what we do and want to keep seeing all these new faces! An evening cooking together and sharing a glass of wine with a friend sounds pretttty good to me.
Au revoir for now folks!