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Foodie Chap With Chef Ryan Farr of 4505 Meats

Chef Ryan Farr
Chef Ryan Farr

 
KCBS radio "Foodie Chap" and CBS 5 television "Eye On The Bay" host Liam Mayclem introduces us to the culinary stars behind the food and wine loved by so many in the Bay Area.

Ryan Farr graduated from Peter Kump's New York Cooking School in New York. In 2007 Farr worked as the interim Executive Chef at the Hotel Paloma's restaurant Fifth Floor. Later that year he was the opening Chef de Cuisine at Orsonin San Francisco. He honed his butchery skills along the way and developed a passion for all things meaty.

"At 4505 Meats we are proud of what we do.
We maintain the integrity of the product, the whole beast."
- Chef Ryan Farr

Chef Ryan Farr founded 4505 Meats in 2009 with his wife Cesalee, naming the restaurant for Chef Davin Autrey, who "influenced many people with his message to keep it real and always follow your stomach," says Farr. The San Francisco restaurant also features an online store. Farr is a big supporter of the Bay Area community and can be found at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.

Ryan Farr authored the book, "Whole Beast Butchery: The Complete Visual Guide to Beef, Lamb, and Pork", and has another one on the way. On Sunday October 14th Ryan will join an army of San Francisco chefs for the CUESA Sunday supper. This annual fundraiser held at the San Francisco Ferry building raises awareness and money for CUESA.

We talked about the upcoming event and Ryan's journey in food during our recent Foodie Chap chat at the Saturday market in San Francisco.

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Five Tasty Questions with Chef Ryan Farr

 
1. What defines you as a chef?
At 4505 Meats we are proud of what we do. We maintain the integrity of the product, the whole beast.

2. Robos des torros, have you ever enjoyed it? Can you explain to folks at home what that's all about?
Bulls balls, I'm sorry "Bulls Testicles." I haven't yet, but I just haven't had the opportunity.

3. Have you ever turned a vegetarian into a meat eater? Who was it and what was on the plate?
We've actually had three employees that work with us that used to be vegetarians. It was chiccarones. We just said close your eyes it's like a potato chip.

4. What was the best meal of your life?
The best meal of my life there have been a lot, but the first one that comes to mind would have to be at Echiberry outside of San Sebastian, Spain. They cook everything on coals there and the flavors they capture are pretty amazing.

5. The Ryan Farr soundtrack; what's on it?
Guns 'n Roses

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Red-Hot Beef Sausage

These sausages are an ode to the famous Texas red hots. They are really rich, with beautiful, full flavor and a lot of heat. These sausages should be hot-smoked until cooked through (to an internal temperature of 148⁰F/64⁰C). If you're not equipped to hot-smoke, the are also fantastic poached or gently grilled. To make the sausages, you will need about 20 feet/ 8 meters of large or medium hog casings, which can be ordered by the hank (about 100 feet/30 meters) from a specialty butcher or on the Internet.

Yield: 4 pounds

Large or medium hog casings about 20 feet/6 meters

DRY INGREDIENTS
1 ½ tbsp Fine sea or kosher salt
1 ½ tbsp Groud cayenne pepper
1 tbsp Sweet paprika
1/3 cup Granulated sugar
1 ½ tbsp Mustard powder
2 tsp Freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp Groud coriander seeds
1 ½ tsp Chile powder

MEAT
3.4 lb Beef chuck and/or trim, very cold

WET INGREDIENTS
1/3 cup Ice water
1 ½ tbsp Yellow mustard

1. The night before: Soak the hog casings in a bowl of cold water; refrigerate overnight.
2. Assemble all the dry ingredients in a container. (This step need not be done the night before, but it's crucial that it be com¬pleted before you start grinding the meat.)
3. The next day: Run cold water through the soaked casings to check for holes, stretch the casings, and begin to open them out to make the stuffing process easier. Hold one end of each piece of casing up to the nozzle of the faucet and support it with your other hand; if there are any holes in the casing, cut out the piece. Refrigerate or hold the cas¬ings in a bowl of ice water until stuffing time.
4. With a sharp boning knife, or your knife of choice, remove the meat and fat from the bones, if necessary. Open-freeze for 30 to 60 minutes, as instructed.
5. Cut all the beef into 1-inch-square cubes or a size slightly smaller than the opening of the meat grinder. Open-freeze for 30 to 60 minutes, as instructed.
6. When you are ready to grind, prepare a perfectly clean and chilled meat grinder for grinding, and fit it with the small plate. Grind the beef: Start the auger and, without using the supplied pusher, let the auger gently grab each cube of meat and bring it forward toward the blade and through the grinding plate. Continue grinding until all the meat has been processed. Place it in a clean, cold, nonreac¬tive bowl or tub and again open-freeze for 30 to 60 minutes, until the surface is crunchy.
7. In a medium nonreactive bowl, combine the dry ingredients with the water and yellow mustard, and whisk together until completely blended and the dry ingredients have dis¬solved. I call this the "slurry."
8. In a large, wide basin or bowl that will allow your arms to move freely, combine the cold meat with the dry and wet ingredients. Roll up your sleeves and, with perfectly clean hands, begin kneading and turning the mixture as you would with a large quantity of bread dough. Eventually, you will begin to notice that the mixture has acquired a somewhat creamy texture. This is caused by the warmth of your hands and is a sign that you have finished mixing. Pull off a few tablespoons of the mixture, and return the remainder to the refrigerator.
9. In a nonstick skillet over medium heat, lightly fry the test portion of sausage mixture until cooked through but not caramelized (which would change the flavor profile). Taste for seasoning. Based on the result, you can adjust the salt in the main portion of sausage, if desired.
10. Prepare a perfectly clean and chilled sausage stuffer and place the water-filled bowl of casings next to it. You will also need a landing surface of clean trays or parchment-lined baking sheets for your finished sausage.
11. Load the sausage mixture into the canister of the sausage stuffer, compacting it very lightly with a spatula to be sure there are no air pockets. Replace the lid.
12. Thread a length of casing all the way onto the stuffing horn and start cranking just enough to move a little sausage into the casing. As soon as you can see the meat poking through the grinder, stop and crank backward slightly to halt the forward movement. Pinch the cas¬ing just where the meat starts to exclude all the air, and tie into a knot. Now start cranking again with one hand while you support the emerging sausage with the other. Move the casing out slowly to allow it to fill fully but not too tightly, so that there will be some give in the sausage when it comes time to tie the links. When you get close to the end, leave 6 inches of casing unstuffed and stop cranking.
13. Go back to the original knot and measure 6 inches of sausage. Pinch the sausage gently to form your first link, and twist forward for about seven rotations. Move another 6 inches down the sausage, and this time, pinch firmly and twist forward. Repeat this process every 6 inches, alternating forward and backward, until you reach the open end of the casing. Twist the open end right at the final surface of the sausage to seal off the whole coil.
14. Ideally, hang the sausage overnight in a refrigerator, or refrigerate on parchment-lined baking sheets covered with plastic wrap, to allow the casing to form fully to the meat. (Or, if desired, you can also cook right away.) The next day, cut between each link and smoke or cook as desired.

*Adapted from Ryan Farr's cookbook: Whole Beast Butchery: The Complete visual Guide to Beef, Lamb, and Pork. Available at Amazon.

ENJOY!

 
(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services may have contributed to this report.)

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