The other day my son said to me, “Mom, it is sad that we kill animals and eat them... But, not birds, because Dinosaurs were their ancestors, so it is ok if we eat them.”  While I don’t quite understand the logic behind the whole Dinosaur thing, it did get me to thinking. At 5 years old, he is already conscious about what he is eating, and the impact that has on the animals in the world around him. I took this as an opportunity to tell him why if we choose to eat meat, it is important that we choose wisely.
In the past few years, there has been a lot of attention brought to CAFO’s, or Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation.  In a CAFO and animal is treated as a product instead of a living breathing animal. Our locally raised animals are not treated this way, yet another reason to buy local! This weekend I picked up a Wild Boar tenderloin, from Northern Unique at the Farmers Market- This richly coloured and flavorful meat is incredibly lean. This is not “the other white meat.”

I made a dish with this that was inspired by Barbara Lynch’s Prune Stuffed Gnocchi, which I cooked last weekend. It is time consuming, but not difficult.  The dish features a number of local items, and Madeira which is definitely not Local. Madeira is a product of Portugal- This sweet wine is heated as it ages from a few months in artificial heat to over 20 years in a sun warmed room. The quality of Maderia can vary greatly.  Generally a dessert or aperitif wine, it really compliments the flavours of this dish. 

Cheese Stuffed Gnocchi with Wild Boar Ragout
1 Northern Unique wild boar tenderloin.
1 onion- diced
2 cups tomato sauce
2 cups tomato (peeled, seeded and chopped)
6 cloves of garlic
1 cup of Madeira wine
Salt and pepper to taste
4 potatoes
Flour
Egg
Thunder oak gouda, sundried tomato 

When you get your tenderloin from the market, it will be frozen, which is actually perfect. For this dish, the boar needs to be cut into very small pieces. Frozen meat makes it easier to cut uniform pieces, but be careful- it is also slippery- Use proper knife skills and keep your fingers curled under, and away from the blade.  Cut the tenderloin this slices about ½ a cm thick. Cut each of those slices into ½ cm cubes. This seems daunting, but it really only takes a few minutes.
Heat some olive oil in a large pan or Dutch oven, when it is hot, add the boar cubes. Stir until they are browned. Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon.
Add a bit more oil to the pan and put the onions in. Cook until they are translucent. Add the garlic- cook 2 minutes more.
Deglaze the pan with the cup of Madeira wine. Scraping the bottom of the pan to get all those flavorful bits. Let the wine reduce a minute or two, then add the tomatoes, sauce and return the boar to the pan. Simmer over low heat for a few hours (or put it in the slow cooker!)

To make the gnocchi, boil the potatoes until tender.   When they are cool enough to handle, peel and mash (or rice them if you have a ricer).
Knead in about a cup of flour. Add an egg, and incorporate that. Knead in more flour until the dough is still a bit sticky, but easy to handle.
On a floured surface, roll the potato dough out thin. Cut out circles with an overturned cup. Put a few pieces of gouda inside, and seal the gnocchi like a pierogi.
A tip I learned from the prune gnocchi, is to freeze the gnocchi after they are formed. This way, they won’t completely disintegrate by the time the cheese is warmed.
To serve.  Boil the gnocchi until they float to the surface, and remove with a slotted spoon.  Top with the ragout, and a little dusting of cheese.
Serve immediately and enjoy immensely. 

Originally Published 3/5/2012 on TBnewswatch.com by..ME! 

Gnocchi with Wild Boar

Lochlan is usually all superheroes and playforts; except when it comes to cooking, and one of his absolute favourites to help out with is gnocchi! I have looked through tons of gnocchi recipes, but I think with this classic italian dish simple is better. My gnocchi has only 3 ingredients. Potatoes, flour and salt.

This is terribly easy to make, but it is time consuming, and you will probably end up with quite a mess- regardless of whether you have a kid helping or not.

Put a few potatoes into the microwave to cook. No need to poke holes in the skins, the steam helps cook the potato faster.

Once they are cooked, remove them from the microwave and cut into 1/4ths. Let them cool a bit on the counter until you can handle them. They need to be very warm while you work them, or else your gnocchi will turn to gunk. Scoop the potatoes out of the skins and into a bowl. Sprinkle with salt.

Now this isn't an exact science, I generally use 1 potato per person, so your recipe will always differ depending on the size of the potatoes, and the amount you are cooking.



Break up the potato pieces with a pastry blender and dump the whole mess on to the counter. Add flour 1/2 cup at a time and start to knead just like bread. you will feel when your dough is ready. It will feel just like pizza dough. Light, yet will still hold together when you pinch it.

to test your gnocchi pick a marble sized piece off and drip into boiling water. If it disintegrates, you need more flour.

Break your dough into pieces, and roll into long "snakes." cut into 1 inch pieces, and roll with a fork. Set on a floured jelly roll pan.

To cook the gnocchi, drop into salted boiling water. They will float to the top when they are done, scoop them out with a slotted spoon, and place in a colander. Repeat with all gnocchi.



A plain marinara sauce, or browned butter sage sauce are wonderful with this. There are endless possibilities. I chose a spicy wild boar ragout.

I am fortunate that there are locally raised wild boar, which I can pick up at the local farmers market. For this recipe I chose some chops.

heat olive oil in a pan

Cut the boar into 1/4 inch cubed- yes, this seems daunting, but just do it :P

Cook in the pan until the outsides are browned about 4 minutes. remove from pan with a slotted spoon

to the pan, now add

1 onion chopped
3 carrots peeled and sliced
spicy italian salami slices, cut into small pieces
garlic minced

Combine these ingredients in the pan, cook until the onion is translucent.

Put the boar back into the pan

Pour red wine (about 1 cup) into deglaze the pan. after about 1 minute, add 1t tomato paste (get the stuff in the tube!)

Add 2c chicken, or veg broth. Bring to a boil then reduce heat, and put lid on the pan.

Cook for 20-90 minutes, depending on your timeline.

Serve gnocchi in a bowl, with wild boar ragout on the top. Shave some reggiano or peccorino on top and enjoy with a nice glass of red wine...or chocolate milk.