Order in

Bacon friends, all the Thanksgiving Dinner 'to go' orders are in, cut off time is over.
Thank you all for letting us prep your feast. We're already cooking like mad folks to get all the goodness ready for you to pick up on Wednesday.

Butcher will be closed on Thursday, as we'll be celebrating Turkey Day with our families. We will be back open for regular business on Friday, 10am sharp.
Have a great Thanksgiving, y'all!

Butcher's Thanksgiving 'to go'

This Turkey Day, let us do the work: Choose your favorites, give us 48 hours + pick up your meal. Bird, gravy'n all.

Specialty meats
brined whole turkey $4/lb
brined turkey breast $8/lb
stuffed turkey $5/lb
crown roast $17/lb
lamb rack $28/lb
cooked whole ham $10/lb
boudin $5/lb
stuffed chicken $18/each
whole hogs market price
bbq pork $8/lb
smoked beef brisket $9/lb
meat loaf - ready to cook $16/each
foie torchon $6/oz
foie gras terrine $8/oz

Sides
mirliton- shrimp casserole $8/pint, $16/quart
oyster + corn bread dressing $8/pint, $16/quart
broccoli + rice casserole $6/pint, $12/quart
green bean casserole $6/pint, $12/quart
cauliflower gratin $7/pint, $14/quart
smothered greens $6/pint, $12/quart
potato salad $5/pint, $10/quart
cole slaw $4/pint, $8/quart
baked beans $6/pint, $12/quart
potatoes au gratin $9/pint, $18/quart

Soup, gravy + bread
cranberry satsuma sauce $8/pint
giblet gravy $10/quart
chicken + sausage gumbo $18/quart
Cochon dinner rolls - par baked $4/dozen

Sweet stuff
pecan pie $16
sweet potato pie $16
two crusted apple pie $16
pumpkin pie $16
cookie tray $30/25 pcs
cup cakes $25/10 pcs

Call us at 504.588.7675 or come by: 930 Tchoupitoulas, NOLA 70130

Mortadella di Anatra

Salumiere Kris just added another jewel to the meat case: Mortadella di Anatra, a variation of a classic Italian cold cut, usually made from pork only. But not this one: Anatra is Italian for duck and yes, this baby is made with duck as well as pork.
The method: The meat is finely ground + then mashed into a paste. In the old days, this was done with mortar + pestle; it's possible that this salami got its name from the Italian word for 'mortar'. Before getting stuffed into a case, the pork-duck paste is seasoned with black pepper + orange zest. Following the traditional way, it's also studded with pork fat + flavored with whole pistachios. It's what gives the Mortadella it's unique green + white freckled look when cut. Once cased, the sausage gets slowly cooked for a couple of hours. When it's cooled, it's ready to go.
Mortadella - the classic as well as the 'Anatra' one - needs to be kept in the fridge, but stays for a couple of months. Traditionally it is served thinly sliced as part of a charcuterie plate. It makes fabulous sandwiches as well. But you can also cut it in chunks + serve it as an appetizer along with some parmesan cubes, some cured, green olives + of course, a refreshing glass of Arneis, a Chianti or a nice, cool Pinot noir.

Of lard + lardo

Sister Cochon Restaurant just came out with their new T-Shirt line. And there it is, a picture of a big ol' pig + the following: IN LARD WE TRUST. Just like that. Love it!
But as you might imagine, it's not just a sassy slogan, neither for Cochon Restaurant nor for the Butcher. We DO trust in lard. Which is rendered pig fat, that has been used for cooking + baking for centuries. These days, it's kind of out of fashion as it is perceived as more unhealthy than butter or shortening. However, at the Butcher, we make lard + also lardo (the cured pork fat back), we use it, we sell it.
Lard makes rocking pie crust + super flaky biscuits. You can go 'old fashion' + use it wherever you'd use butter or other cooking fat: for sauteing veggies for example, or frying up some eggs. If you choose to use the fatty pork goodness more like a treat, head for lardo: warm up a fresh foccacia, while you cut it into super thin slices - you want to keep it cool while you handle lard + lardo, as it starts to melt at about 79 degrees. Lay the lardo slices on the warm bread, it will melt right away + taste like a "butter bread supreme'!
If you're ready to turn it up a notch, Butcher's Kris suggests a sinfully tasty alternative: 'Gras Pista'. Here is his take on this traditional Italian mix of pork fat + seasonings: Get a good chunk of lardo + grind it up with the smallest grinder your kitchen machine offers, keeping the surrounding as cool as possible. Flavor the ground pork fat with chile flakes, pulverized bay leaf, salt + black pepper. Now whip it! Using the paddle of your kitchen machine, whip the seasoned lardo for a couple of minutes. Last step: Add just 2 or 3 drops of truffle oil. 'The earthyness of the truffle works really well with the pork flavor", says Kris. Done.
Use 'Gras Pista' in your 'risotto con funghi'. Stir it into plain, cooked spaghetti + top it with freshly grated parmesan cheese. Flavor your polenta or grits with it. Spread it on warm bread. Play with the seasoning, leaving out the truffle oil, adding basil + parsley for a pesto-like 'Gras Pista' (FYI: the herbs will turn it green). Your taste is the limit.

Butcher goes fancy

The man who's in charge of the salami making at Butcher, now + then whips up some unexpectedly delicate, decadent goodies: This time around, Salumiere Kris fancies us with a Pâté moulée . It's basically a meat filled puff pastry. But this certainly doesn't do justice to the french delicacy: Grilled + ground pork gets seasoned with mace, black pepper, salt + thyme. Then hand made puff pastry gets neatly wrapped around the stuffing, leaving a small vent for the steam to escape. Then the Pate is backed off.
While the meat is baking in its wrap, it shrinks a bit. As it's volume decreases, it's leaving an empty space between meat + pastry dough. To fill the gap, you pour aspic (= basically pork jello, says Kris) through the vent in the pastry. Then you let it sit in the fridge over night.
The next day, you cut into this loaf of goodness. Open up a fancy bottle of wine, down load a couple of French songs from itune or let Pandora.com do 'le mix', get the cornichons out, slice up the Pâté moulée + go at it!

"Brilliant for grilling!"

We're working on the grilling goods, the fixings + condiments for Labor Day. The meat case gets filled with the usual suspects: Steaks, house made all beef hot dogs, burgers, all kinds of sausages. Baked beans, slaw, potato salad, BBQ sauces + such will be ready to go for the 'Good Bye Summer' weekend as well.
And there's a really exciting newbie in the case as well: It's a Natural Piedmontese Beef Rib Eye. This type of cattle has been bred in the northern Italian region of Piedmont for centuries. It's unique beef is a traditional favorite in authentic Italian kitchens + is now also raised in the US. According to Butcher's Chef Warren, it's truly a fine meat: "The Piedmontese Rib Eye has a bigger beef flavor than your regular steak + is appropriately marbled, but less fatty. It is just brilliant for grilling!"
And grill we will, this coming weekend. What a blessing that we will get to spend it at home in New Orleans, this year; in our back yards, with friends + family. Not on hurrrication, like last year.

It's for good luck!

It's way to early for Holiday + New Year's Eve talk. So I thought. But not in Butcher world: Kris just made 'Cotechino', an Italian specialty sausage, traditionally served in Italy with green lentil & polenta around new year. The lentils symbolize coins = money, the dish is eaten to hopefully receive lots of it - and good luck in general. In New Orleans, we eat black-eyed peas on New Year's day for that same reason.
'Cotechino' is a thick, fatty pork sauage, seasoned with warm spices like clove, nutmeg + cinnamon. Butcher's Kris says it's best served hot to really bring out its creamy texture. Traditionally the sausage is either slow cooked in water over small heat for a couple of hours or cut in chunks + cooked together with lentils, soup or stew. Butcher's Kris likes to cut it in think slices + pan sear them for a nice crunch.
2010 is not around the corner quite yet, but hey, I'll eat a hearty lentil stew with some tasty 'cotechino' any day. If some good luck comes with it, I'll take that too.

Coniglio arrotolata

You take a bunch of lardo strips + lay them out on a plastic foil. You bone out two whole rabbits. One is laid out on top of the lardo, the other one is coarsely ground + seasoned with salt, black, white + cayenne papper + savory. The ground up meat is then spread in a thick layer on top of the rabbit, the whole thing get's rolled up into a big, fat sausage + cooked.
The result of this process is called 'Coniglio arrotolata' or rolled rabbit. Slice the roll open + there it is, a beautiful looking cold cut: you can make out the loins, even the heart! If done right, 'coniglio arrotolata' is seasoned only subtly to let the natural rabbit flavot shine. It's best eaten as is, just with some mustard, some cornichons + a fresh, crusty bread.
It goes into our meat case as we speak.

Chorizo!!!

We were recently talking about chaurize, and its origins. Well, here it is, the father of the creole version: the spanish chorizo. You can get it cured, but the one we just put into Butcher's meat case is fresh.
We tasted it straight out of the oven, sizzling hot + oh so good. It's savory with a hint of sweet flavor, just the right amount of spicy heat, a hint of smoke from the smoked spanish paprika or pimentón. A foodie's mind starts spinning thinking of all the dishes one can make with chorizo... Think swapping ground beef with chorizo for your classic Spaghetti Bolognese. Make fried eggs + chorizo with some grated provolone for breakfast. Or have this late, late at night after going out...

Fresh. Spicy. Italian.

This week's newbie in the meat case is a fresh Italian sausage. It's an all pork sausage, seasoned with red pepper, fennel seeds, chili flakes, black pepper + Cochon hot sauce - a sweet, yet spicy link that really doesn't need much company to shine. Salumiere Kris served a taste of it today 'as is', just rubbed with olive oil + stuck in the oven until nicely browned. Cut up in pieces, served with some whole grain mustard, it will make for a great, straight forward appetizer.
Kris also suggests to use the fresh Italian sausage for the classic southern treat 'sausage + peppers': We served a hot sausage with bell pepper sauté as a sandwich at the Butcher, but the combo is also great as an entrée, served over stone ground grits. Or think breakfast burrito: take the sausage out of it's casing (or not, you can eat the casing, it's all natural), brown it + then scramble some farmer's market eggs right in that meaty goodness. Season with S+P and add some hot sauce to taste. When done, wrap the egg-sausage mix with grated sharp cheddar in one of those giant tortilla. place the burrito back into the pan just for a minute or two on both sides until the cheese is melted + serve it with salsa. Ooh yeah,the day can now begin.

What is.... Chaurice?

Salumiere Kris made chaurice this week. Wondering what it is? Same here. This is what I learned: The newest addition to the Butcher case is a fresh, spicy, all pork sausage. Chaurice is the creole take on the Spanish chorizo - which most people know as a cured, dried sausage, but it's actually also made + eaten fresh. But we'll talk about chorizo next week.
The chaurice is flavored with some classic southern ingredients: green onions, onions, celery + garlic. There's also some fresh parsley, black, white + cayenne pepper, salt, dry thyme + paprika in it which makes for quite some spicy heat. And then there's all natural pork, of course.
The chaurize is, similar to an andouille, mostly used as seasoning sausage rather that eaten as is, like a brat. It's known to be the traditional Red Beans & Rice sausage: cut it in chunks + add it to the beans. Or pan fry it, before adding it to a hearty root vegetable stew. Use it when you make a lentil soup with carrots, onion, celery + garlic this fall. Or take it out of its casing, brown it in a saute pan + add it to your tomato based pasta sauce. Go ahead, be creative. By the way, there's nothing wrong with the casing we use. It's all natural, you can eat it or not. Voila.

Heads up, home cooks!

We love our meats, our condiments + jarred veggies. We love to cook with them + we want to motivate you to do the same. That's why we will share Butcher recipes with you now and then. Here we go, No. 1 is our Jambalaya - we stuff Chicken with it, but it's a fine dish as is.

Butcher's Jambalaya

6 each Bay leaves

1 ½ teaspoons Salt

1 ½ teaspoons White pepper

1 ½ teaspoons Dry mustard

1 ½ teaspoons Cayenne

1 teaspoon Black pepper

1 teaspoon Thyme

4 ounces Butter, unsalted

2 pounds Andouille

1 ½ pounds Tasso

3 cups Onion

3 cups Celery

2 cups Bell pepper

1 tablespoon Tomato paste

3 teaspoons Garlic

4 cups Rice

9 cups Chicken stock


MOP:

Combine Bay leaves, salt, white pepper, dry mustard, Cayenne, black pepper and thyme.
Melt butter in a large stock pot, add andouille + tasso, sauté for 5 minutes.
Add the Trinity, seasoning + garlic, sauté for 15 minutes.
Add rice + cook for 5 minutes. Add stock + cook until rice is tender.

Vive la France!

Just in time for today’s Bastille Day – the French National Holiday – Butcher’s Salumiere Kris Doll had the Jambon Persillée ready. A specialty of the French region of Burgundy, this parsley seasoned ham terrine is simple country food. It’s salty and bold in flavor and tastes great as part of a charcuterie plate or sliced with mustard and pickled pearl onion on a baguette, with a glass of crisp white wine.
But how do you actually make such a ham in parslied aspic? Kris Doll explains the process: You brine ham hocks for 2 days, and then braise the hocks with a basic mirepoix (onion, celery + carrots) + clove for about 3 hours. The cooked meat is then picked off the bone; the cooking liquid strained a couple of times to get a glass clear broth. The last step before the ‘big layering’ begins, is combining part of the meat with lots of fresh parsley, garlic + shallots in a food processor with some of the strained cooking liquid to form a coarse paste.
Now the art begins: Spread the bottom of the terrine (= the classic rectangular shaped ceramic or cast iron mold) with the ‘ham paste’, add a layer of the loose, picked meat and the some cooking liquid. Repeat this process, finishing off with a layer of paste. Then you pour more cooking liquid over the ‘meat lasagne’ to make sure all the gaps between the loose meat get filled and the terrine will hold together nicely.
The cooking liquid by the way is enriched with gelatin to support the naturally occurring collagen and form a firm aspic, once the terrine is chilled.
Last but not least the terrine is covered and baked in a water bath at 275 degrees for about 45 minutes. You uncover it and stick it in the fridge over night. Et voilà, le jambon persillée!

Retro on your plate

Chow-Chow is kind of old school. Not the dog, that is, the food with the same name. Some call it a retro food that’s back in fashion. In Cajun country it’s definitely a tradition. Chow-chow is a crunchy, savory condiment made of chopped + pickled vegetables. There are probably as many recipes for it as there are cooks who make it, but cabbage is usually one of the main ingredients as well as onions + peppers. Butcher’s chow chows recipe also asks for celery, green tomatoes + carrots. Sister Restaurant Cochon’s chow-chow sports cauliflower as well.

The condiment is appreciated by gardeners as a way of preserving veggies without cooking them to death. Cooks like it because it adds crunch to a plate as well as some tangy, savory, sweet + spicy flavors. At the Butcher, we love + make it, because it tastes great with meat. “Our chow-chow has a nice, developed acidity which works great with a grilled pork chop or a chicken breast, for example”, says Butcher’s Chef Warren Stephens. Use it as a topping of a juicy hamburger or slap it on a hot dog. Eat it with a bowl of pinto beans + corn bread. Top grilled gulf shrimp with it, like they serve it over at Cochon. If you like chopped pickles in your potato salad, substitute a couple of spoons of chow-chow for a change or pep up your mixed green salad with it.

Happy 4th

Traditional Independence Day foods are grilled hamburgers + hot dogs, steaks, potato salad, slaw, baked beans + apple pie. Food for a relaxing, fun day outdoors with family, friends, a keg, and a BBQ pit. All American classics, simple, and good. Just like the grilling goodies and sides the Butcher crew got in and worked on this week.

For the grill:

House Made All Beef Hot Dogs
All Natural Beef Hamburgers
Baby Back Ribs
House Smoked Baby Back Ribs
Brined Pork Chops
All natural Steaks: N.Y. Strip, Hanger, Skirt, Filet

The side dishes – all house made:

Bacon Molasses Baked Beans
Potato Salad
Cole Slaw
Pimento Cheese

The condiments - all house made:

House Made BBQ Sauce to go with those Ribs
Chimichurri Compound Butter + Ancho Chipotle Compound Butter to go with the Steaks
Cochon’s Hot Sauce
Chow Chow
Pickled Banana Peppers

Good grillin' and a very happy 4th!

BTW: We're closing this weekend to do our own share of grilling! We'll be back up and running on Monday, 10am.

Heat + Meat

We’re hitting record temperatures in New Orleans. The A/C is our best friend, turning on the stove to cook dinner, or even grilling, when there’s a heat advisory in effect is just not appealing. So why not do what the Mediterraneans do so well? Dish out a charcuterie plate. It’s simple, it’s good and it doesn’t involve any cooking.

A classic spread includes a combination of cured and cooked meats. Butcher’s Chef Warren Stephens suggests two to three different hard salamis: a spicy picante or a soppressata, a sweet coppa dulce, a lucchese with coriander and mace, a Spanish lomo or a nostrano with warm spices. As for the cooked meats, Stephens mentions duck rillette, salami cotto – the cooked, not cured sausage – some Cajun head cheese or pork rillon to complete the meat spread. Add some acidic foods to the selection to counter balance the fatty meats. Chef Stephens likes to garnish his charcuterie plate with cured olives, the French like to put cornichons on theirs and so does Butcher’s Salumiere Chris Doll, but really any pickled vegetable works. Try okra and banana peppers for a change.
Add a fresh baguette to your charcuterie to make it a meal; get some artisan cheese at St. James Cheese Company to make it a dinner feast. Garnish the cheese plate with grapes, dried figs or dried, tart cherries, pour a cool rustic red wine or a refreshing vino verde and you’re set for a great evening with friends.

Dads + Steaks

This Sunday we’re honoring the men in our lives. For Chef Donald Link, Father’s Day is definitely grilling day: “It’s the one day you want to grill steaks,” he says. “Thick, big, ‘more-than-you-should-eat’-steaks.” Like a one pound rib eye. Link adds, smiling: “ …and you’re snacking on sausages while you wait for the steaks to be done.” Chef Links actually doesn’t mind doing all the grilling, even on Father’s day. “As long as someone else is cleaning up. That’s the deal!” he says.

Father’s day is about spending time with the family, with friends. It’s not about stressing over an elaborated meal. “Keep it simple”, says Chef Link. He suggests to simply grill some Zucchini and Squash along with the steaks, roast ores of corn in the husk. “Have your kids make a cucumber and tomato salad with fresh basil.” Add a fresh bread, like a crusty baguette to the spread, open a bottle of cool, light red wine, like a Rhone, a Burgundy or a Rosé and enjoy.

To all the Dads, Step-Dads and Grandpas: Happy Father’s Day!

Marinate it

The summer heat is well on the way and the grilling season in full swing. It’s time to talk about seasoning those grilling goodies. Dry spice rubs are used for BBQ, for meats that roast slowly over low heat. Brines are great to season poultry in general and turkey in particular. For grilling meat – high heat, little cooking time – we’re talking marinades.
Generally speaking, a marinade is a blend of acid and oil, herbs and spices. The acid – lemon juice, lime juice or vinegar – breaks down the tissue to tenderize and allow moisture to penetrate. Oil and spices enhance the flavor of the meat.
A common method of marinating meats is to combine all ingredients, pour the mixture in a ziplock bag, add the meat, squeeze all the air out and let it sit for a while. However, instead of having the marinade evenly spread all over your steak, you might end up with oil and acid separating and all the spices, salt and pepper on the bottom of the ziplock. On top of it, the oil in the marinade is creating a barrier, not allowing the seasoning to really permeate the meat.
Kris Doll, Butcher’s man of the meat, suggests this simple fix: Hold on to the seasoning at first and start with marinating in acid only. Marinate a steak with fresh lime juice. Add garlic, onion or cilantro if you wish as those aromatics release their aromas into the acid, flavoring the meat without having to stick to it. Either or, the ziplock method works fine. After about two hours, remove the meat from the lime juice marinade, pad it dry, brush it lightly with olive oil, season with salt and pepper – and any other spices you might fancy - and slap it on the grill.
Kris Doll likes to finish a grilled steak with an Argentinean chimichurri: Chop garlic and cook it in olive oil until golden brown. Combine garlic, oil and red wine vinegar (ratio 2:1 vinegar and oil), add fresh chopped oregano and parsley and chili flakes. As soon as the steak comes off the fire, pour the chimichurri over it and let it rest for about 5 minutes. Voila, enjoy.

Pancetta Arrotolata

A couple of days ago, Cochon Butcher’s salumiere Kris Doll - the man who makes all the meats + sausages at the Butcher – brought Pancetta Arrotolata out of the meat locker: It’s done doing it’s thing and ready to go. But what is it, really?

Pancetta Arrotolata is made from pork belly, just like bacon. However, it’s not smoked, but brined and then rubbed with black pepper and coriander. Once seasoned, the pancetta-to-be gets rolled; ‘arrotolata’ is Italian for ‘rolled’. The big, fat roll is then placed into a net and hung to dry for 2 weeks.

Like Pancetta tesa or flat Pancetta, Cochon Butcher’s Arrotolata can be used as an alternative to bacon. Where bacon lends food its smoky, salty flavors, pancetta – the flat as well as the rolled – brings herbal and peppery flavors to the table.

Salumiere Kris makes a simple Spaghetti Carbonara with it – “the original one”. Cook Spaghetti ‘al dente’ and toss the pasta with egg yolks, pecorino cheese and lightly fried, diced pancetta. Or fry up thinly sliced Arrotolata and serve it with scrambled eggs and biscuits for breakfast. How about a ‘PLT’ for lunch? Pancetta-lettuce-tomato sandwich sounds really tasty.