The Ugly Dinner was a success! The old Firehall in St. Elmo, home of Syrup and Eggs, was filled with encouraging Market supporters, enthusiastic chefs, and a variety of volunteers. Holly Martin, our market manager, has said this on Facebook, and I’ll repeat it here: thank you to all who participated and made this night possible! First, to Holly for your commitment to the Market and local food, hatching this idea and carrying it through to completion. Shane Stone of High Haute Foods loved the idea of the Ugly Dinner and worked hard to make the menu a reality. I loved watching him and his crew of Meghan Lewis, Chris Babb-Chesule, and Dane Frazier working together in the kitchen. If they weren’t having fun they sure looked like they were!

Chris and Dane

Drinks were creatively prepared from food waste and local ingredients – including Chattanooga Whiskey – by Luke Piggot of Mad Priest Coffee and Kaleena Goldsworthy of The Bitter Bottle. Heaven & Ale generously provided both spent grain for bread – baked by Bread & Butter – and beer for the evening.

Kaleena and her crew

Brian of Heaven & Ale

A dinner needs food, and the farmers of Main St Farmers Market stepped up and provided their uglies: Crabtree Farms of Chattanooga, Possum Bottom Farms, Wheeler’s Orchard and Vineyard, Fall Creek Farms , Feathers & Fruit, Natural Ways Homestead, Dayspring Farm, Sequatchie Cove Farm, Sequatchie Cove Creamery, Hoe Hop Valley Farm, Circle S Farm, and Spring Creek Veggies.

Unusual, but I cannot call them ugly, flowers from Southerly Flower Farm.

We also had a feast for the eyes thanks to Sarah Ervin and her flowers from Southerly Flower Farm. Thank you Ocia Hartley of Syrup and Eggs for providing the space. Thanks to Lydia Williamson and Emily Boyd for making it possible for those who could not be with us to share in the night via photographs and live-stream video. See the Market Facebook page for photos and video.

Thank you also to Hannah Bleasdale and Rachel Sauceman for set up, serving diners with me, and cleanup. I appreciate how you did not mind when I stopped a bit too long to chat and gently brought me back to it when needed.  

And thank you to all of you who came out to support the market by buying a ticket and being adventurous with this unusual meal idea. I knew the market is well loved, but Saturday night I could feel and see it. Folks wanted to be there, wanted to celebrate the market, and it showed in how much they enjoyed their time and their food.

Though there were unusual things on the menu, from drinks to dessert, the main course stands out for most people: Offal Pot Pie. The name is fun, but the star ingredients are the parts of animals that most Americans do not eat: chicken feet, ham hock, pork jowl and liver, cow tongue, and cow heart. Shane said he was (understandably) nervous about how the pot pie would be received, but it was a success! There were, as to be expected, a few diners not up to the challenge, but they were made up for by their tablemates who were ready for another serving once their own was finished! The pot pies’ presentation in coffee mugs made it easier to pass and share as well.

Organ meats and other unfamiliar animal parts tend to have strong flavors, but Shane balanced those well by using a variety of meats (parts of the body and various animals), bold herbs such as rosemary and oregano, a hearty pumpernickel pie crust, and vegetables that would not get lost in the shuffle. At least one diner asked for the recipe and Shane was happy to share. Enjoy!

Offal Pot Pie

By Shane Stone of High Haute Foods

Stock:
10 chicken paws
2 ham hocks
1 gallon water + extra
8 oz butter
8 oz all purpose flour

Filling:
1 cow heart
1 cow tongue
4 pig livers
1 lb pork jowl
8 cloves garlic
2 medium potatoes
2 medium turnips
2 carrots
4 onions
1 bunch parsley
1 handful fresh oregano
6 sprigs rosemary
6 cloves

Pie dough:
3 oz pumpernickel flour
5 oz all purpose flour
3.5 oz butter
¾ t sea salt
enough water to bind

Preparation:

Boil the chicken paws and ham hock with the water for 10 – 14 hours – until the paws have disintegrated, adding water as needed to keep about 1 gallon of liquid. Strain liquid and chill. This can be done days or weeks ahead and frozen until needed. If nothing else I recommend doing this step a day before you want to serve the pie.

Prepping the filling:

Wash the cow tongue well. Place tongue, 2 chopped onions, 4 garlic cloves, 6 cloves, and 3 rosemary sprigs in stock pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil then lower to a simmer for about 3 hours. Remove the tongue from the liquid and rest for about 15-20 minutes, or until cool enough to handle, then remove the skin. You may need a small knife to help the skin along. Once the skin is removed chop the tongue into small pieces and set aside.

Remove any fat and connective tissue from the cow heart, cutting it into small workable pieces. Season generously with salt and pepper and sear to rare. After resting cut into bite size pieces and set aside.

Pat dry the pig livers and season liberally with salt and pepper. Sear to rare and rest. Once rested chop into bite size pieces and set aside.

Cut raw pork jowl into bite size pieces and render the fat like you would cook bacon. Drain the fat and set aside.

Cut the other onions, carrots, turnips, and potatoes into bite size pieces keeping separate. Chop remaining garlic and herbs.

Sauté the onions, garlic, and carrots until just soft. Blanch turnips and potatoes until almost soft. (Pro tip! You will cook everything for the final product so remember to undercook )

Melt the 8 oz butter and whisk in 8 oz all purpose flour then add 1 gallon chicken/hock stock and simmer on low stirring frequently for about ½ hour. Stock should be fairly thick, like gravy. It can be reduced to about ¾ gallon up to ½ gallon to achieve thickness.

Mix all fillings together in gravy and place in your baking dish.

Now to make the pie dough. This can also be done the day before. Measure all dry ingredients into bowl. Cut in butter until you have pea size pieces. Add enough ice water to bring dough together, about 3-6 Tablespoons. Wrap dough and chill at least 1 hour.

Roll dough out to desired thickness and place onto pie filling. Bake at 350° until crust brown and internal temp is 135° – about 15-25 minutes.

Printable recipe here