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Odd Bits
How to Cook the Rest
of the Animal
Jennifer McLagan
Photography by Leigh Beisch

TEN SPEED PRESS

Berkeley

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Disclaimer: Some of the recipes in this book include

raw eggs, meat, or fish. When these foods are consumed raw, there is always the risk that bacteria, which
is killed by proper cooking, may be present. For this
reason, when serving these foods raw, always buy certified salmonella-free eggs and the freshest meat and
fish available from a reliable grocer, storing them in the
refrigerator until they are served. Because of the health
risks associated with the consumption of bacteria that
can be present in raw eggs, meat, and fish, these foods
should not be consumed by infants, small children,
pregnant women, the elderly, or any persons who may
be immunocompromised. The author and publisher
expressly disclaim responsibility for any adverse effects
that may result from the use or application of the recipes and information contained in this book.

Ten Speed Press and the Ten Speed Press colophon are
registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
McLagan, Jennifer.
Oddbits : how to cook the rest of the animal /
by Jennifer McLagan.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-58008-334-8
1. Cooking (Variety meats) I. Title.
TX749.5.V37M35 2011
641.3'6dc22
2011011575
ISBN 978-1-58008-334-8

Copyright 2011 by Jennifer McLagan

Photographs copyright 2011 by Leigh Beisch

Printed in China

All rights reserved.

Published in the United States by Ten Speed Press,
an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division
of Random House, Inc., New York.
www.crownpublishing.com
www.tenspeed.com

Cover and text design by Betsy Stromberg

Food styling by Dan Becker
Food styling assistance by Emily Garland
Prop styling by Sara Slavin

Published in Canada by HarperCollins Canada

First Edition

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Rillons, Rillettes from COLLECTED POEMS

19432004, copyright 2004 by Richard Wilbur,
reprinted by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Publishing Company.

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A Bit of Tail

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Oxtail Ravioli
Serves 6

With oxtail, you often end up with lots of small pieces

Coarse sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

of tail that are not large enough to serve. Sometimes I

2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley

use them for stock, but often I cook them with the larger

6 lasagna sheets, preferably egg pasta

pieces and then take the meat off the bone to make

1 cup / 250 ml Beef Stock (page 232)

this ravioli. You will need about 1 pound / 450 g for this
recipe. If you have a little more or less, dont worry; this

1 cup / 41/2 ounces / 130 g shelled peas, blanched

and refreshed

recipe is very flexible. If peas arent in season, use good

1 cup / 15 g chervil sprigs

quality frozen ones, and if it is fava season use them

instead of peas. Just over 1 pound / 450 g of peas in the
pod should yield enough shelled peas.
As for the pasta, you could make your own, but I
prefer to use good quality dried Italian egg pasta sheets.
This is not a traditional ravioli. Instead I place a cooked
lasagna noodle in the dish, add the filling, and fold the
noodle over.
This recipe can be prepared ahead, even the pasta.
Drain the cooked pasta well and then brush the sheets
lightly with olive oil to keep the sheets from sticking
together; keep the peas in a bowl of cold water. Reheat
the sauce, adding a little extra wine or water if it starts
to stick, drop the cooked pasta into boiling water to
reheat, and add the drained peas to the reserved sauce
to reheat.
2 tablespoons fat from cooking oxtail or beef
dripping
1 onion, finely chopped
1 stalk celery with leaves, finely chopped
1/2

carrot, peeled and finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

About 1 pound / 450 g deboned, cooked oxtail,
shredded

1/2

cup / 125 ml red wine

Alternatives: Cooked beef cheek, shoulder,

or shank

1 tablespoon tomato paste

the back end

1/2 cup / 125 ml sauce from Spring Tails

(page 201)

In a large frying pan over medium heat, melt the

fat. When the fat is hot, add the onion, celery,
and carrot and cook, stirring from time to time,
until the vegetables begin to caramelize. Add the
garlic, shredded oxtail, and the sauce and wine,
and stir in the tomato paste; season with salt and
pepper. Let the sauce simmer, uncovered, for
30 minutes. Stir in the parsley.
Meanwhile, bring a large saucepan of water
to a boil over high heat. Add some salt and the
lasagna sheets, stir, and return to a boil. Adjust
the heat so the water boils gently, and cook for
10 to 12 minutes, or until the lasagna is tender.
Drain well.
Heat the stock in a frying pan over medium
heat, check the seasoning, stir in the peas, and
cook until heated through, then stir in the chervil
sprigs.
Place 1 drained lasagna sheet on each of
6 warm shallow pasta bowls, top with the oxtail
mixture, then fold the sheet over to enclose the
mixture. Spoon over the pea sauce and serve
immediately.

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Get a Head

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Wine-Braised Beef Cheeks

Serves 6

A simple beef stew that allows the cheeks to be the star. I

always cook an extra cheek so I can make ravioli or Salad
of Beef Cheeks (page 34). The sauce is velvety thanks to
the calfs foot; but this is optional, so if you cant buy a
calfs foot, dont let it stop you from making the recipe
it will still be good.
I add the diced cooked foot back into the dish for
another layer of texture, but its an optional step. Serve
this with pureed potatoes and/or celery root (celeriac).
3 cups / 750 ml red wine
1 onion, halved and sliced
2 carrots, peeled and diced
2 stalks celery with leaves, sliced
4 cloves garlic, germ removed
2 fresh bay leaves
1 large sprig rosemary
1/4

teaspoon black peppercorns

2 to 3 beef cheeks, about 3 pounds / 1.4 kg total,

trimmed (see page 29)
Coarse sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons beef dripping or lard
1/2 calfs foot, about 1 pound / 450 g, prepared
(see page 100) (optional)

2 teaspoons red wine vinegar

1/4

cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

Alternatives: Oxtail, beef shoulder, or shank

Cheek by Jowl

Pour the wine into a large saucepan and bring

it to a boil. Reduce the heat so the wine bubbles
gently. Tip the saucepan slightly away from you
and, using a long match, light the wine. Once the
flames die out, light it again, and keep lighting it
until it no longer flames. Pour the wine into a large
bowl (there should be about 21/2 cups / 625 ml).
Add the onion, carrots, celery, garlic, bay leaves,
rosemary, and peppercorns. Set aside to cool.
Cut the beef cheeks into 2 or 3 pieces so that
all the pieces are the same size. Place in the mari-

nade, cover, and refrigerate overnight, turning a

couple of times if possible.
Remove the cheeks from the marinade, pat
them dry, and season with salt and pepper. Strain
the marinade, keeping the liquid and the solids
separate.
Preheat the oven to 300F / 150C.
In a heavy flameproof casserole or Dutch oven,
melt half the fat over medium-high heat. When
the fat is hot, add the cheeks in batches and brown.
Transfer the cheeks to a plate. Lower the heat,
add the vegetables, herbs, and peppercorns from
the marinade, and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes, or
until they soften.
Pour in the reserved marinade liquid and
bring to a boil. Return the cheeks with any juices
to the pan, add the calf s foot, and return to a boil.
Cover the meat with a piece of wet parchment
paper and the lid, transfer to the oven, and cook
for 3 to 4 hours, or until the cheeks are very tender.
Transfer the cheeks and the foot to a plate.
Strain the cooking liquid through a sieve into a
bowl, pressing on the vegetables to extract all the
juice; discard the solids. Let the cooking liquid
stand for 5 minutes, then skim off the fat and set
the fat aside for another use.
Return the cooking liquid to the pan and
bring to a boil. Continue to boil until the liquid
coats the back of a spoon. Meanwhile, cut the
meat and skin from the calf s foot into small dice;
discard the bones. Return the cheeks and diced
foot to the reduced sauce and reheat gently. Add
the vinegar and taste, adding more salt, pepper,
and/or vinegar if necessary. Sprinkle with the
parsley and serve.

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at the front

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Lamb Cobbler
Serves 6

Red wine, white wine, stock, and beer all work with lamb.
It is a sweet meat, and parsnips, also called for in this
recipe, are sweet too, so I like to balance them with the
bitterness of beer. Although I am Australian, Id much
rather cook with beer than drink it, and my compatriots
seem to be following suit: a recent survey revealed that
wine is now Australians favorite beverage.
The cooked lamb is turned into a simple pie by
adding a cobbler or tea biscuit topping or, as my Aussie
friends would say, a scone dough. You could make a more
traditional pie using the Leaf Lard Pastry (page 87) for
the top crust, or simply leave it as a stew with no topping
at all. However, the biscuits are a great addition because
they soak up some of the sauce as they bake. You can
cook the lamb ahead of time, then reheat it and top with
the biscuits. Serve this with a green vegetable.
3 pounds / 1.4 kg boneless lamb shoulder, cut into
2-inch / 5-cm pieces
Coarse sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons rendered lamb fat or lard
2 onions, chopped
1 carrot, peeled and chopped
2 stalks celery with leaves, sliced
4 cloves garlic, germ removed, finely chopped
2 large sprigs rosemary
2 fresh bay leaves
3 cups / 750 ml dark beer
4 parsnips, peeled and cut into 1-inch / 2.5-cm pieces
Cobbler Dough
2 cups / 83/4 ounces / 250 g flour
1/2

teaspoon fine sea salt

1 tablespoon rosemary leaves, finely chopped

1/2 cup / 4 ounces / 115 g cold unsalted butter, diced

1 egg, beaten
3/4

cup / 175 ml whole milk

continued

A Shoulder to Lean On

1 tablespoon baking powder

Preheat the oven to 325F / 160C.

Pat the lamb pieces dry and season with salt
and pepper.
In a heavy flameproof casserole or Dutch
oven, heat 2 tablespoons of the fat over mediumhigh heat and brown the lamb pieces, adding more
fat if necessary. As they brown, transfer the pieces
to a plate. Add the onions, carrot, and celery
to the pan, stirring well, and cook, stirring and
scraping the bottom of the panthe moisture
from the vegetables will deglaze the pan. Continue to cook, stirring from time to time, until
the moisture from the vegetables has evaporated
and they begin to stick to the pan.
Add the garlic, rosemary sprigs, and bay
leaves, then pour in the beer and bring to a boil,
deglazing the pan again by scraping up the
browned bits from the bottom. Continue to boil
for 5 minutes, then return the lamb and any juices
to the pan, and cover the lamb with a piece of
wet parchment paper and the lid. Transfer to the
oven and cook for 1 hour.
Uncover, remove the parchment paper, and
stir in the parsnips. Return to the oven, and cook,
uncovered, for another hour, or until the lamb
is tender. Discard the rosemary sprigs and bay
leaves and transfer the lamb, vegetables, and
sauce into a 9 by 12-inch / 23 by 30-cm baking
dish; check the seasoning.
At this point you can leave the lamb to cool
completely, then refrigerate, covered, for up to
4 days before proceeding with the recipe. This
way you can remove any excess fat off the lamb if
you wish. Before continuing, reheat the lamb in a
325F / 160C oven until warm in the center.

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Increase the oven temperature to 425F /

220C.
Combine the flour, baking powder, fine salt,
and rosemary leaves in a food processor. Add
the cold butter and pulse until the mixture has
coarse lumps of fat about the size of small peas.
Transfer the mixture to a bowl. Set 2 teaspoons
of the beaten egg aside and mix the remaining
egg with the milk. Stir in enough of the milk and
egg mixture into the bowl to make a soft, slightly
sticky dough. Turn the dough onto a floured
surface and knead gently just until the dough
comes together.

Pat the dough into a disk 1/2 inch / 1 cm thick

and, using a floured 21/2-inch / 6-cm biscuit cutter, cut out rounds. Knead any leftover dough
together, pat into a disk again, and cut out additional biscuits until all the dough is used up.
Place the baking dish on a baking sheet and
then arrange the biscuits on top of the lamb
stew and brush the tops of the biscuits with the
reserved 2 teaspoons of beaten egg. Bake in the
oven until the biscuits are puffed and browned
and the lamb is bubbling, about 25 minutes.
Alternatives: Beef or goat shoulder

Haraldss Chili
Serves 6

Why do men like cooking chili? Is it really any different

1 tablespoon ground cumin

from any other stew? Is it the macho attitude to pep-

1 tablespoon ground coriander

pers and heat? My husband, Haralds, has perfected his

1 cup / 250 ml dark beer

technique, and he loves to make this dish for our French

friends, to make them try something different. He is

11/4 cups / 8 ounces / 225 g black beans, soaked

overnight in cold water

adamant that his chili comes with the beans on the side,

1 teaspoon dried epazote or dried savory leaves

never mixed in with the meat. I mix them together on

my plate. At my Paris butchers, I was debating whether
to buy shoulder or shank for this recipe: my butcher
advised shoulder (not that he knew the first thing about
making chili), assuring me it was juicier. Im sure you can
make this chili with shank too, and remember you have
to soak the beans ahead of time.
3 ancho chiles, stems removed
1 cup / 250 ml boiling water
4 red bell peppers
2 serrano chiles
21/4 pounds / 1 kg boneless beef shoulder
Coarse sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/3

cup / 21/4 ounces / 65 g beef dripping or lard

at the front

4 onions

Using scissors, cut the ancho chiles into large

pieces, discarding the seeds. Toast the pieces in a
frying pan over medium heat, turning once, until
fragrant, about 2 minutes. Place the chile pieces
in a bowl and pour over the boiling water; let
steep for 30 minutes.
Remove and discard the stems and seeds
from the red peppers and chop the peppers finely.
Cut 3 of the onions in half and then slice them;
set the peppers and onions aside. Remove the
stem and seeds from 1 of the serrano chiles and
discard. Finely dice the chile and set it aside.
Remove the ancho chiles from the water and
chop finely. Discard the soaking water.
Preheat the oven to 300F /150C.

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Sweetbreads with Morels and Fresh Fava Beans

Serves 2 as a main course or 4 as an appetizer

Morels and favas are a classic spring combination and

two of my favorite foods to eat. They also match well
with rich, creamy sweetbreads. You could use fresh peas
if favas are unavailable. And dried morels or even regular
brown mushrooms would be fine. I like to keep my sweetbreads in larger pieces for this recipe. Use the liquid from
poaching the sweetbreads if you dont have any stock;
just remember to use a lighter hand with the salt. As a
rough guide about 111/2 ounces / 325 g of favas in the
pod will yield enough shelled beans for this recipe.
Coarse sea salt
3 1/2 ounces / 100 g shelled favas
111/2 ounces / 325 g sweetbreads, prepared
(see page 92)
Freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons flour
1/3

cup / 21/2 ounces / 75 g unsalted butter

1 shallot, finely diced

61/4 ounces / 175 g fresh morels, trimmed
1 tablespoon dry white wine or vermouth
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup / 250 ml Poultry Stock (page 233) or
sweetbreads cooking liquid

Alternatives: Brains

at the front

Bring a small saucepan of water to a boil over

high heat. Add some salt and the favas and cook
until just tender, about 2 minutes. Drain and
refresh the favas under cold running water. Now
slip the beans out of their outer skins by pinching
and squeezing. Place the favas in a small bowl of
cold water and set aside; discard the bitter skins.

Cut the sweetbreads into equal-sized pieces

and season well with salt and pepper. Next, toss
them in the flour to coat, shaking off any excess;
set aside the floured sweetbread pieces.
In a frying pan over medium heat, add 1 tablespoon of the butter. When the butter is foaming,
add the shallot and cook gently until soft. Add
the mushrooms, turn up the heat, and cook them
quickly until just tender. Add the white wine and
stir, then transfer the shallot and mushroom mixture to a bowl.
Wipe out the pan and add the remaining
butter and the olive oil and place over medium
heat. When the fat is hot, add the sweetbreads,
in batches if necessary, and cook until they are
golden and crispy on all sides, about 10 minutes.
Transfer to a plate lined with paper towels. Tip
out any remaining fat from the pan and discard.
Pour in the stock and bring to a boil, then
deglaze the pan, using a wooden spoon to scrape
up the browned bits from the bottom. Boil until
the liquid is reduced by half, then reduce the heat
and add the mushroom and fava mixture and
sweetbreads to the pan. Cook gently until heated
through. Check the seasoning and serve.

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Sweetbreads

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