Charcuterie

Fromage de Tete

Fromage de tete. Coppa di testa. Presskopf. Brawn. Anything but "head cheese." Only that's what this is. This is the head of a wild boar I shot, cooked and pressed into a terrine pan. It's actually damn good. No, really.

Fish

Smoked Sturgeon

It's sturgeon time here in the West, and whether you catch your own or buy farm-raised fish, smoked sturgeon is one of the great smoked fish of the world. Here's how I make it.

Charcuterie

Sweet Italian Sausage

Why it's taken me years to post a recipe for sweet Italian sausage is beyond me. I make this sausage all the time, too. Maybe it's just because I thought it too basic for HAGC? Whatever. Here it is, my version of the classic Italian favorite.

Charcuterie

Hungarian Paprika Salami

Hungarians like their paprika. They put it in everything, even salami. I happen to love this salami: Tangy, zippy with paprika and garlic but not overly spicy. Normally this is a pork salami, but I've done it with duck here. Most meats will work.

Recipe

German Bockwurst

Germany is the land of 1,000 sausages, and this is a good one. Actually, my bockwurst recipe is definitely more German-American than traditional. Here in the US, bockwurst isn't smoked very often, and it is a softish sausage that has cream, eggs, parsley and chives. This recipe works with any meat, but I did it with snow geese.

Pheasant, Grouse, Quail

Pheasant Confit

Most of us know about duck confit -- where you salt duck legs, then slow cook them in duck fat until they are meltingly tender, then you crisp them up in a hot oven? Yeah, that's confit. There's a reason it's all over restaurant menus, but check it: This process works great with pheasant and other upland game birds, too!

Salmon and Trout

Smoked Candied Salmon

Salmon candy is a special kind of smoked salmon that's been cut into strips, dry cured with sugar and salt, painted with birch or maple syrup, then heavily smoked almost to the point of jerky. It's one of the more addictive trail foods ever made by humankind.

Charcuterie

Goose Leg Ham, Prosciutto D’Oca

Lots of people made duck or goose "prosciutto" with the breast. But the real magic is in this Northern Italian ham made with the goose's leg and thigh. Unlike the breast, this can hang for the better part of a year. Let it age that long and it tastes like eating silk.

Salmon and Trout

Salmon Rillettes

One of the cool things about salmon is that it is rich enough to make rillettes with, especially when you use belly meat and the trim from around the bones. This is a pretty classic version, with both smoked and fresh salmon or steelhead trout.

Recipe

Homemade Polish Kielbasa

Few sausages are as iconic as Polish kielbasa. There are as many variations as there are cooks -- even an official government-approved recipe, which I used as my inspiration. This one is pure smoky awesomeness.

Recipe

Kabanos, the World’s Greatest Slim Jim

I could eat these all day long. Tangy, smoky and addicting, kabanosy, a Polish smoked meat stick, is what a Slim Jim dreams about when it sleeps at night. You want to make these. Now.

Featured

The Imperative of Protein

My life is governed by the near-constant need to process, butcher and store the fish and game we bring home. This is the Imperative of Protein, and while it is indeed hard work, I would not choose to live any other way.