Introduction: Not So Odd After All 1
One
Get a Head: Challenging 13
Two
At the Front: Comfortingly Reassuring 65
Interlude
A True Snout to Tail Meal 115
Three
Stuck in the Middle: Familiar and Exotic 119
Four
The Back End: Conventional and Beyond Belief
177
Five
Basic Recipes: Odd Stocks 231
Bibliography 235
Acknowledgments 238
Index 240
Jennifer McLagan is a chef and food stylist and writer who has worked in Toronto, London, and Paris as well as her native Australia. Her previous books, Bones (2005) and Fat (2007) were both widely acclaimed and each won Beard and IACP awards. Jennifer is a regular contributor to Fine Cooking and Food & Drink. She has lived in Toronto for more than thirty years with her sculptor husband, Haralds Gaikis, with whom she escapes to Paris as often as possible. On both sides of the Atlantic, Jennifer maintains friendly relations with her butchers, who put aside their best fat, bones, and odd bits for her. Visit www.jennifermclagan.com.
Finalist, IACP Awards 2012, Single Subject Category
New York Times Notable Cookbook of 2011
“Odd Bits is the most informative and enthusiastic book about weird
organs you'll ever encounter.”
—Philadelphia City Paper, 11/17/11
“Readers will be hard-pressed to find a more well researched,
interesting and useful cookbook in 2011. McLagan has triumphantly
capped her trilogy, and regardless of why you buy the book, you
will no longer fear the odd bits, but rather you will be striking
up the grill to savor them with enthusiasm, confidence and
joy.”
—The Gastronomer’s Bookshelf, 9/26/11
“It's all here, from beef cheeks to cow's back and calves' brains.
It is a tribute to Ms. McLagan's talent as a writer that, even when
she is describing the least appealing of her "bits,” her
informative text, good humor and contagious enthusiasm will keep
readers engaged and amused.”
—The Wall Street Journal, 9/24/11
“When the James Beard-winning author of Bones(2005)
and Fat (2007) releases another cookbook, it's wise
to stop for a moment and take a closer look at those Odd
Bits.”
—LA Weekly, Squid Ink blog, Cookbook of the Week, 9/16/11
“This one's a little out there, but stick with me. In the
fresh-off-the-press Odd Bits: How to Cook the Rest of the
Animal, Jennifer McLagan educates us how to use the "more
economical, but less lovable parts of the beast." Plus, the
photography looks stunning.”
—YumSugar, 10 Foodie Books to Crave For Fall, 9/16/11
“It takes a daring author to list a recipe for headcheese as the
first recipe in her cookbook. . . Consider that daring author a bit
of a renegade in the world of cookbooks. Prior to Odd Bits, she
tackled topics unsavory at the time in her cookbooks Fat and Bones
and elevated them into something worth savoring. Her introductory
recipe for headcheese may be intended to snap you out of thinking
that the best parts of the animal are the ones that everyone eats.
. . . [Odd Bits] will challenge your cooking skills as much as it
will your palate.”
—Men's Health, Guy Gourmet, 9/13/11
“Judging from the titles of her past two cookbooks, Bones and FAT,
you might guess that James Beard Award-winning author Jennifer
McLagan has a slightly unconventional approach to cooking. You'd be
right. Her latest cookbook, Odd Bits: How to Cook the Rest of the
Animal, shows you how to tackle tongue, bone marrow, and all those
other strange cuts that you may have tasted in restaurants but
haven't had the guts (no pun intended) to make at home yet. . . .
Use this informed, entertaining book to get in the fall spirit and
make some comforting brisket-vegetable pie or surprisingly not-odd
Peruvian Heart Kebabs.”
—Bon Appétit, BA Daily blog, 9/13/11
“Food writer Jennifer McLagan's single-subject cookbooks,
like Fat and Bones, are always a treat. This time,
she turns her attention to offal with Odd Bits.”
—Eater National, 9/12/11
“As a follow-up to her books Bones and Fat, chef and
writer Jennifer Mclaghan is now getting into meatier territory,
albeit from the perspective of preparing the "odd bits" (think
snouts, feet, and organs). Her new book, Odd Bits is
aimed at the offal-curious home cook who may want to get into
nose-to-tail cooking, but who may have some trepidation about
getting their hands messy (or bloody) with organ meats. . . . A
recipe for barbecued corned beef is an intriguing and
non-threatening entry point (who ever thought of grilling corned
beef?), but before long you might find yourself whipping up some
chocolate blood ice cream.”
—The Food Section, 9/9/11
“Anyone can slap a bone-in filet on the grill and have it come out
delicious. But it takes a really talented chef to make a gourmet
meal out of goat spleen. A talented chef, or this cookbook. You’ve
always wanted to be a veal cheek expert.”
—Urban Daddy National, 9/8/11
“You can buy organic, grass-fed, conscientiously grown meat all you
want, but if you're only eating one part of that chicken, cow, or
hog, you're wasting a lot of usable protein — and
that's totally un-green of you.”
—Uncrate, 8/31/11
“Jennifer McLagan, award-winning author of Bones and Fat, is on a
crusade to bring the nose-to-tail style of cooking and eating out
of the closet and back onto to our dining tables. Her mission:
restoring our respect for the whole animal, developing a taste for
its lesser known parts, and learning how to approach them in the
kitchen as confidently as we would a steak or a
burger.”
—The Huffington Post, 8/25/11
“unique, informative, and readable”
—Library Journal, 8/15/11
“It is tempting to say that this book is plain offal. But McLagan,
who has authored two kindred collections, Bones and Fat, explores
more than just innards. As the cover hints with its photo of two
severed pig's feet, all sorts of extremities find their way to the
table in this 100-recipe autopsy. It is perhaps the perfect gift
for the host who has dreamt of announcing that the evening's meal
will be ravioli of brains and morels, or heart burgers, or crispy
testicles. McLagan puts the face back in preface with an intriguing
11-page introduction that places the odd bits in historical
perspective and explores our loss of food literacy in the age of
the supermarket. As the chapters progress from head to tail, there
are also fascinating explorations of topics such as the wonders of
tripe and how to choose a great neck. Even the meager duck heart
and the fleshy cockscomb get their due. It's on to dessert: a tub
of chocolate blood ice cream, which employs ginger, Grand Marnier
and a half-cup of pork blood. McLagan earns linguistic points for
exploring the derivation of such terms as sweetbread and head
cheese. (Sept.)”
—Publishers Weekly, 5/16/11
“As an admirer of McLagan’s previous books as well as a cook and
writer increasingly aware of the importance of using more than just
the tender refined parts of animals and avoiding waste, I know of
no other book this season more welcome than this one devoted to
exploring the whole animal. McLagan comes through again. Thank
you.”
—Michael Ruhlman, author of Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the
Craft of Everyday Cooking and Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting,
Smoking, and Curing
“Let Jennifer McLagan take you by the trotter and lead you through
the odd bits. Hang on, surely some mistake: the good bits!”
—Fergus Henderson, author of The Whole Beast: Nose to Tail
Eating
"Enormously interesting and appealing...This is as wonderful an
introduction to "odd bits" as you'll find. McLagan is unabashed in
her exploration of these meats."
—Clifford Wright, thezesterdaily.com
Praise for Fat
McLagan’s book is a smart, sensual celebration of the flavorful
animal fats prized by chefs and shunned by a generation of
lipo-phobes. Her French Fries in Lard may change your life
forever.
—People Magazine
Jennifer McLagan’s cookbooks are joyously contrarian affairs. [Fat]
is a rollicking journey through the kingdom of unrepentant,
glorious, and filthy rich fat.
—T. Susan Chang, The Boston Globe
Persuasively arguing that the never-ending quest for “health” has
gone too far, McLagan’s elegant and informed look at this most
maligned ingredient is appropriately unctuous.
—Publisher’s Weekly (Starred Review)
Ask a Question About this Product More... |