Tuesday, September 3, 2019

Crispy Butcher’s Nuggets – Parts is Parts

While our homemade butcher’s nuggets won’t feature the same diversity of meat parts as the butcher shop, at least they won’t feature the same diversity of meat parts. Seriously, those folks will put anything into a sausage or meatball. All kidding aside, these crispy fried meatballs will have you wondering why non-chicken nuggets aren’t more popular.

I went with a fairly restrained combo of just beef and lamb, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be a little more adventurous. Using pork is an obvious choice, and as I mentioned in the video, I think chicken livers would be amazing in this. Above and beyond the meat choices, you also have lots of artistic freedom when it comes to the shape, and what dipping sauce you pair them with.

At Fern Bar in Sebastopol, where I stole the idea, they’ll switch up the ingredients depending on what’s around, as well as change the sauce underneath, although it’s almost always something a little bit on the sweet side. Of course, our “secret sauce” (shhhhhh) goes with everything, but deciding how to tweak that to match your meats is half the fun. The rest of the fun is eating these butcher’s nuggets, and lots of them, which I hope you do very soon. Enjoy!


Ingredients for 18 to 20 Butcher’s Nuggets:
Note: the scoop I used to portion holds about 1 1/2 tablespoons of mixture.

For the nuggets:
3 tablespoons panko breadcrumbs
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
cayenne to taste
1 teaspoon finely minced rosemary
1 clove crushed garlic
1/4 cup milk
dash of Worcestershire sauce
1/2 pound ground lamb
1/2 pound ground beef

For the breading (amounts as needed):
all-purpose flour
beaten eggs (I used 2 large eggs)
panko breadcrumbs

For the secret sauce:
1/4 cup mayo
1/4 cup mustard
1/4 cup ketchup
1/2 teaspoon ground chipotle

- Fry nuggets at 375 F. for about 3 minutes, then let rest 3 minutes before serving.
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22 comments:

galaxytrash said...

sorry, i can't hear out of one ear and am deaf in the other.
what was said at 6:55? a few chicken....?

Lisa said...

I saw the freakishly small wooden spoon! yay!
The wet hand dry hand method is going to come in handy for me. I learned something today.
So... maybe I'm dense... but Chef what is the major secret project??? I've been waiting all week for you to come back and tell us all.

Unknown said...

My great-grandfather was a butcher with his own shop. He said, "Those who make sausage don't eat sausage." Your way is much better!

Shingas the Terrible said...

I do a backcountry version with the ground venison I get when my deer come back from my butcher, after a successful hunt. I’ll mix with sausage and Parmesan, because deer is so lean.

Evil Otaku said...

So when is the nice and printer friendly version going to be on allrecipes? They make it easy to choose metric measurements as well.

ap said...

chicken livers.

Redcaddy said...

Livers. Sounds to me like he said chicken livers

Daniel Contreras said...

Hey Chef John, I want to try using grinding up some duck for this, what meat do you think will combo well with it? I am thinking Turkey to match the fat of the duck with the lean bird.

Also can these be baked? Oil can be a pain to get rid of

Art of Cooking By Poonam Bindra said...

great and nice blog thanks sharing..I just want to say that all the information you have given here is awesome...Thank you very much for this one.
Easy Chicken Recipes

Unknown said...

He said Chicken Livers.

FMK said...

Aren't these the same as Dutch bitterballen?

Sylvia said...

I will try this with Tzatziki sauce. Years ago, in a tiny restaurant in San Diego, I had artichoke ravioli with basil cream sauce. It was heaven. The basil cream sauce is easy. I can't get the artichoke ravioli right. Would you be so kind and show how it's done?

Karen said...

@galaxytrash "chicken livers"

James Valvis said...

I sure hope Butcher's Nuggets were not the "major, top secret personal project." :)

Mar-One said...

He said "a few chicken livers"

Russell.FL said...

I believe he said "a few Chicken Livers."

ricphil said...

. . . a few chicken livers

Jim D said...

@galaxytrash: chicken livers. It's a bass note of flavor that adds depth; you probably just don't want to use too many of them. I wouldn't go any more than about 1/8th of your total meat mixture by weight.

Unknown said...

I think that he said chicken livers?

Unknown said...

To galixytrash, he says chicken livers

Edward said...

In the medical world a version of the "wet hand - dry hand" technique is used when it is necessary to touch something non-sterile during a sterile procedure. You put sterile gloves on both hands, but one's dominant hand is kept sterile, while the non-dominant hand is allowed to become non-sterile, even soiled. Of course, the two never meet or the sterile area would become contaminated.

pear235 said...

"Few chicken livers"