39 Comments
Jul 21, 2022Liked by Andrew Zimmern

That didn't disappoint!

Our fridge is mostly weird. We don't even have ketchup. Highlights:

-Rendered wild duck fat in a jar

-Rendered beef fat in a jar

-Pickled shad

-Pickled plums

-Something orange and blended in an artisanal mezcal bottle (undoubtedly a hot sauce)

-3 varieties of tiny chiles picked from the garden this week

-Prickly pears that will get !@#$ glochids all over the house

-Gobo root and about 10 other weird things from Hank's field trip to the Japanese market

-Shad roe on salt (to become bottarga)

-A tub of chanterelles sent by a generous reader in Alabama

-A container with a bit of congealed half-assed chicken stock and meat shreds (because if Imma buy a rotisserie chicken, Imma use it for all it's worth)

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Jul 21, 2022Liked by Andrew Zimmern

That’s s fascinating fridge! And who needs ketchup? I actually don’t like it , so it’s never in the house. You have the door I want to knock on for those “raid the fridge for a random cooking competition shows” & lucky you with the garden chilis…some critter got in my garden and nibbled many of my pepper plants down to nubs! He got almost all my hatch pepper plants 🥲

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Jul 21, 2022Liked by Andrew Zimmern

This is 99% driven by my boyfriend - I'm the food photographer, not the chef. Garden is all his, though we both bring home a lot of fish and game and wild mushrooms. I am spoiled rotten - with this much high-quality and specialized stuff in our fridge and pantry, it makes a big difference in the final flavors of what we cook. What he cooks, rather.

I like ketchup on fries, and that's about it. These days I want it just to put on a hot dog just to get a rise out of Andrew, lol.

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That’s what I immediately thought….all those salty, spicy, fishy bits…makes for some fun cooking! My feeling for ketchup is similar to my feelings for Nutella…😂

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My garden is actually doing great this year after a few years of mediocre harvests. I was supposed to have snow peas but the seeds got mislabeled and I've got flat Italian beans, never had them before. I would much prefer something other than ketchup but the hubs must have it, lol.

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Jul 21, 2022Liked by Andrew Zimmern

Let's see, Sea urchin pate, dried longan, pickled fiddlehead ferns, and that is in the refrigerator! The freezer has duck, pheasant, Wagyu, foie gras, elk tenderloin, and a huge variety of seafood!

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author

You win.

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Jul 21, 2022·edited Jul 21, 2022

Andrew, I also have about a pound of frozen lobster roe! I've searched for recipes using lobster roe, and for the life of me, I cannot find anything. Do you have any recipes with lobster roe as a main ingredient? I've thought of making lobster bisque and adding it in, but that is all I can come up with! I figured I'd ask a professional!

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Sea urchin pate - wow!

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Right! Suddenly I’m craving something I never knew existed.

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Jul 21, 2022Liked by Andrew Zimmern

Not sure weirdest - but Korean ginger honey. I use it to marinate chicken among other things.

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That sounds A M A Z I N G!

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Jul 21, 2022Liked by Andrew Zimmern

It is. Thin strips of ginger in honey. It's a sweet hot combo that is great. Also use it on Salmon, and Aidell's teriyaki pineapple chicken meatballs :)

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Do you make yourself? Sounds delicious!

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We will be adding it to the Weirderator.

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I don't really have any weird to me in my fridge maybe to other people. Like my homemade buttermilk lol. But seriously not a lot of people know about homemade buttermilk.

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Jul 21, 2022Liked by Andrew Zimmern

I guess people would think our Scrapple is weird. LOVE it!!

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Jul 22, 2022Liked by Andrew Zimmern

I’m feeling very boring now! I do Have some strange things we got at the Japanese market for our Japanese exchange student, though…. I have no idea what they are!! Maybe Holly’s boyfriend would know? 😂

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Pig snoots and feet in the freezer

Cooked tendon

Violet jelly

Lots of banchan

Pickled cherries

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Jul 22, 2022Liked by Andrew Zimmern

We also have 2 squirrels in the freezer, plus 2 rabbits. Kind of a Noah's Not-An-Ark thing going on.

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Jul 21, 2022Liked by Andrew Zimmern

Dang!

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Jul 21, 2022Liked by Andrew Zimmern

Nothing really unusual in either the fridge or freezer. I don't keep much on hand. I do keep 2 bottles of hot sauce that I cannot eat - Endorphin Rush and Dave's Insanity. Way too hot for me.

However , being an aquarist , I do store packages of frozen bloodworms (midge larvae) in the freezer.

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Jul 21, 2022·edited Jul 21, 2022Liked by Andrew Zimmern

Home rendered chicken fat, duck fat, tallow, and lard, a partial pork belly (in it's cure), caviar, pickled ramps, and brined grape leaves. The freezer has de-boned rabbit saddles, deer, pork skin, stocks of every kind, and seafood shells. Oh and I can't forget the fresh box of Hatch's chilies that arrived today!

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Jul 21, 2022Liked by Andrew Zimmern

I'll be the disappointing problem child here.....leftover cat food is about as weirdest item I have in my fridge at present. Oh and a tiny jar of pine nuts. Don't judge me (Holly!) - I eat out all the time. ;)

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author

cat food!!!

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Well I DO have two cats, and the unused portion is to be refrigerated! It does resemble pate, and if people come over whom I don't particularly like, I have been know to spread some on a cracker and serve....ha You'll be pleased to know I did make some very good pesto with my pine nuts.

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Jul 21, 2022Liked by Andrew Zimmern

Hi Andrew,

You must have a huge freezer!

My brother-in-law Chef David Tanis was asked what he would want for a last meal, he replied “a good kosher hotdog”

Regards,

Gerry

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I don't consider them too bizarre, yet they're far from "run-of-the mill", so here goes... 2 Bison Filets / 2 Clusters King Crab Legs / 1 Whole Octopus / 4 Squids w/ Tentacles / 3 Homemade Ground Seafood Dogs / 4 Pairs Frog Legs / Anchovy Stuffed Olives / Bluefin Bottarga / Mole Rojo Picoso - Spicy Red / 2 Squares Tomato Pie / 1/2 lbs. 36 Month Aged Parmigiano-Reggiano DOP / 1/4 lbs.Smoked Gouda / 1/3 lbs. Fontina PDO Valle d'Aosta1 / 1 each, small Black & White Truffle (shrooms) / 4 yellow Kiwis / 1 bunch Red Bananas....

well there you have it... what lies in the depths of my frig & freezer, well now you have me pondering dinner options... a Toast to Weird & Bizarre eats... always best regard Andrew & all your subscribers...

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Jul 21, 2022Liked by Andrew Zimmern

A dozen duck eggs from my friend's farm, preserved lemons, aged fish sauce, Branson Pickle and Vienna Beef Neon Picklelili

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Dried morels from the 1970s . . . .

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