We used to raise chickens and then have a butcher day where we would butcher 100 or so to freeze for the coming year. On butcher day, we would clean and skin the chicken feet and fry them. Yes. I have eaten chicken feet. Its mainly to chew on until the rest of the chicken is done. I have also eaten the other parts of the chicken: heart, lungs, gizzard.
I also love kielbasa as I said before and find any excuse I can to put it in recipes. Split pea soup is my favorite.
Re: Confession re: eating weird animal parts
i can't bring myself to try it. so many people want us to come over for menudo, but i'm wigged at the thought of what's in it.
Yuck! : )
When I was little, I loved anything pickled...ANYTHING. I would eat olives, pickles, you name it. Apparently, my grandfather (who was 100% Scottish) always had a few jars of pickled pigs feet (hooves) and he would open a jar, take one for himself, give one to me, and we'd sit side by side and knaw every last piece of meat off those hooves. The thought of that makes me queezy a bit.
Oh, and I also loved pickled herring. This from my Norwegian side of the family...pickled and on top of a Ritz cracker.
Gross.
I like the idea of eating most of the parts of an animal. To kill an animal, and then decide to simply throw away parts because they are "gross" seems wasteful and philosophically wrong to me. In some countries, there is no such luxury.
I agree.
My great grandma loved pickled pig's feet.
My DH is obsessed with fried chicken gizzards. I'll eat them, it's not gross or anything. He thinks they are the most delicious thing ever, though.
I was in the Peace Corps and have tried some funky stuff.
I had totally forgotten until now that I used to LOVE the chickens heart and gizzard! My dad would save it for me every time!! It was so good, now it grosses me out!!
i LOOOOOVE kielbasa. do i wanna know why i shouldn't? or is ignorance bliss on this one?
I was just going to ask the same thing. We have Kielbasa....often.
I'm not opposed to eating the entire animal - feet, organs, etc. - but I haven't eaten a lot of that just because the situation hasn't presented itself. Of course, I eat Scrapple so I probably have eaten everything a pig has to offer.?
Kelly Monaghan's 5K - 5/15/11 - 3rd Place in AG
Walk the Talk 5K - 5/18/11 - 31:12 PR
Ridley Run 3.1 - 4/14/12 - 1st race of the year, 32:45
DH loves scrapple. I don't care that it's made of animal bits but I don't care for the taste. I make it for him though.
Chicken gizzards make great catfish bait.
But on the subject of eating animals. DH hunts, mostly deer, and gets very upset with wasting meat. So we eat most of the edible parts on the deer. Venison is great.
H is from the south and LOVES all kind 'weird' animal parts. Gizzards, turkey necks, neck bones, ox tail, chitlins (yuck-O)...I could go on. In fact, we have a jar of pickled pigs feet in the fridge right now.
While I totally dig the philosphy of eating every part of the animal, I personally am a boneless skinless chicken breast kind of girl.
I don't know that there's anything wrong with kielbasa, I just know a lot of people don't like it. I grew up on a farm (obviously) so we pretty much sustained ourselves with our large garden and hunting and chickens/beef. I have trouble eating store eggs and my baking is DEFINITELY affected.
I also had a cuban neighbor who would roast a whole pig in the ground and then we would squirt lime where we wanted to eat and pick it up and put it on the plate. He had me try head cheese (good!) and the face meat (not bad either)
I also love blood sausage and chorizo. And grilled chicken hearts- yummy!
My grandmother used to love cow's brains, but I couldn't handle the texture.
Kelly Monaghan's 5K - 5/15/11 - 3rd Place in AG
Walk the Talk 5K - 5/18/11 - 31:12 PR
Ridley Run 3.1 - 4/14/12 - 1st race of the year, 32:45
My chicken foot story - My grandparents had a farm, and frequently, there were chickens. And when we killed a lot of chickens, my cousins would take the feet and pull the tendon to make it move and chase the little kids with them. I am freaked out by bird feet to this day. And more than a little piissed that I couldn't figure out how to do it.
I cook necks and backs all the time. They are the best for soups and stews because of all the collagen. They also have a lot more meat on them than they seem to. Chicken, turkey, pork, beef, whatever, I love to cook down the bony pieces.
And my husband will eat anything weird. He adores tripe. I will only touch it with tongs.
OMG. You would seriously get along great with my DH. His favorite gizzards are ones that have been sitting for hours under a heat lamp somewhere. If we go into a gas station with gizzards, I have to drag him away. LOL.