Daniel Klein making pizza. Photo by Stephanie Watts

Over the course of the last year making episodes about food in Minnesota, of all the topics, foraging has been the most prominent. I suppose it is so with any subject, but the more you learn, the more wonderful and intriguing it becomes. A walk in the woods is not just beautiful, it is a shopping trip and a treasure hunt. So this time of year is the most exciting of all.

At this point in April when we (Minnesotans) have a few wild edibles popping out of the ground, you (Californians) have been eating them for months. But that doesn’t make them any less special. So, this last Saturday we had a pizza party in celebration of Spring. It was quite ironic as the temperature dropped into the 30′s that evening. Regardless, that morning we went foraging for the first of spring’s offerings. A ritual that I wish was part of every cooking job: first go harvest, then go cook.

We found garlic mustard, nettles, ramps, daylilies and dandelion greens. The nettles were small and purple in color. They aren’t woodsy or bitter at this point, more like spinach. We used these as a base for our pesto. The ramps were still a little young, so we didn’t over pick them. If you haven’t had a ramp yet, they are garlicky and delicious. I usually use the leaves for pesto while pickling the stems. The daylilies are shooting up all along the edge of my house, if you get them when they are young, they add a nice crunch with a very slight onion flavor. And dandelion greens — they are bitter of course, but add a taste that connects you to the earth.

Recipe: Ramp Pesto

Ingredients:
• 1 part ramp leaves
• 3 parts nettles
• 1 part garlic mustard
• 1 part dandelion greens
• 1/2 part Extra Virgin Olive oil (more if needed)
• Salt

Instructions:
Blanch the nettles in hot water followed by an ice bath. Wring out the water. Puree all the ingredients together. You can add nuts or Parmesan if you want, but we we’re going for more of a sauce type consistency. This could be used in pasta or as a sauce for more full flavored fish or a lighter meat. We used it on pizza, with a few dollops of chevre and cooked it in a wood-fired oven then garnished with some micro greens. A delicious spring.

Recipe: Pizza Dough

The pizza oven and the levain used in the dough were both created by Lisa Ringer of Two Pony Gardens. She spent the last year collecting large stones from her property to decorate the oven all the while managing her wild yeast “mother.” I used her levain to create my pizza dough, no commercial yeast added.

Ingredients:
• 1 Cup levain
• 3 Cups flour
• 1/2 Cup warm water
• 2 Tablespoons EVO
• 2 teaspoons sea salt

Instructions:
Because I was making dough for 150, I mixed the dough in a mixer. But for a small batch, do it in a bowl. Add a little extra water if necessary, you want the dough to be nice and wet. Once the dough is formed (as little mixing as possible, just knead until combined), I let it rise for a couple hours in the kitchen and then overnight in the fridge. The next morning, I divided it into small balls, covered with a damp towel and let it slowly rise again until i was ready to cook the pizzas. In the heat of a wood-fired oven they don’t take more than a minute.

Daniel Klein holding a chicken. Photo: Lars Swanson

For this new endeavor, I gave myself the challenge of creating a short documentary every week for a year about sustainable and adventurous food in Minnesota. The videos would be posted online for free, funding would come from the viewership and I would learn a lot about my home state. Forty-six episodes later, the project has been an inspiring and life changing experience. I’ve gained friends in the form of farmers, chefs, hunters and foragers and a new found appreciation for all of the work and love that goes into the food we eat.

I’ll be heading through the Bay Area this summer to film, but before you get your own local video, I wanted to share a two-part episode that I made a couple weeks back in my home state. To view the whole series, visit theperennialplate.com

A warning to the squeamish viewer. These videos are about rabbits — not just how cute they are, but how to raise them, how to kill them and how to eat them.

I visited Marshall Farm: a very small family operation that just started its first year of commercial rabbit farming. They are trying to popularize this climate-friendly protein option. As the only rabbit farm in Minnesota, most of their rabbits go to restaurants in the Twin Cities that feature local ingredients and charge a pretty penny.

Will rabbit break out of the fine dining mold and into the mainstream? With its white fur and Easter bunny association, maybe not. Because the rabbits aren’t raised by the thousands, it also isn’t the cheapest meat, and perhaps that’s how it should stay — as something special to be enjoyed from time to time.

WARNING: Includes graphic footage of a rabbit being slaughtered

At Marshall Farm we killed two bunnies. Scott Marshall butchered the first, and I did the second. From this bounty, I created a terrine. This elegant meatloaf is an easy crowd-pleaser, and a good way to make the most of every bit of the rabbit. Here’s the recipe:

Rabbit Terrine Recipe

For this terrine I used rabbit as well as some pork fat, and some pork rillette that I had previously made. The rillette isn’t necessary. I wouldn’t make it just for this terrine, but if you want to give it a try, follow the example from Wrightfood.

Equipment:
Meat Grinder (eg KitchenAid with food grinder attachment)
Terrine mold or loaf pan

Ingredients:

2 rabbits de-boned
3/4 lb pork fat (or 1/3 of the quantity of rabbit)
2 cups pork rillette
1 egg
1 egg yolk
3 slices rye bread without crusts
1/2 cup of whole milk
2 rabbit livers (kidneys and hearts as well)
2 tablespoons of fresh thyme
1 Thai chili, seeds removed
2 tablespoons salt (to taste)
1 cup of dried cranberries
The addition of 2 tablespoons of a liqueur or fortified wine adds depth. I didn’t have anything local, so I opted out
Canola oil to coat inside of terrine mold

Cut the rabbit and pork fat into pieces that will fit into your meat grinder. Combine the rabbit, pork, salt, and spice in a bowl. Mix and refrigerate for 2 hours (or more). Separately, put your meat grinder attachment in the freezer (for at least 1 hour).

Meanwhile, soak the bread in the milk and alcohol. Whisk the eggs until combined.

Remove the grinder from the freezer, and grind the salted-meat mixture as well as the soaked the bread. Add the whisked egg to the ground meat, lightly mix together, and then put the combined forcemeat through the grinder again.

Lightly poach or saute a spoonful of your forcemeat and taste for balanced seasoning. Adjust accordingly.

Lightly cover the inside of your terrine mold with canola oil, then press plastic wrap into the mold with plenty extra hanging over to cover the terrine at a later point.

Pour the cranberries into the bottom of the mold, distributing equally. Follow that with a layer of the forcemeat. If you are just using rabbit loins, place them in the center of the terrine and then fill the rest of the mold up with the remaining force meat. If you have the rillette: flatten the rillette onto plastic wrap, place the rabbit loins in the center and then roll the rillette around the loins, making as tight a cylinder as possible. Lay this tube (without the plastic) in the mold and cover with force meat, making sure some is on the sides as well. Use the excess plastic wrap to cover the forcemeat.

Cover the terrine with tinfoil, crimping at the edges to make a lid.
Fill a pan with hot water and set the mold in the water. Cook the terrine in the oven at 300 for an hour to an hour and a half or until the interior temperature reads 150 degrees.

Uncover the terrine and let sit out for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes create a press that can equally distribute weight onto the terrine (another terrine mold works best). Put the terrine in the fridge with weights on top and let it sit overnight.

I served the terrine with a green tomato vinaigrette and micro greens, but it can be served with anything a little sweet and sour. Pickles, mustard, and jams are all great options along with some crusty bread.

The Perennial Plate
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