I’m a true omnivore. Sometimes I want to eat completely vegan, while other days I feel I can’t go on without biting into a rare steak. The cookbooks lining my shelves will tell you I like cooking both meat and veggies, sometimes simply and sometimes by diving into a days-long project. The latter I very much enjoy, when I have the time, so I’ve been really excited about chef Jeremy Fox’s new book On Meat.

Fox has a long list of accolades. He’s been voted Best New Chef by Food & Wine, was awarded the first Michelin star for a vegetarian restaurant (which wasn’t without its stresses), penned the cookbook On Vegetables and is the current chef/owner of Rustic Canyon and Birdie G’s in Santa Monica, California. I always admire a chef with a no-waste philosophy, which Fox has with both vegetables and animal protein. And in On Meat, the reader really gets a first-row look at this ideology and knowledge.

Corned Beef Tongue, Cornichon & Lovage

Jim Sullivan

Yes, there are recipes that straight-up use offal, like the Duck Tongue Fried Farro and Grilled Lamb Heart with Spigarello & Bagna Cauda. But then there are the recipes that got me excited about this book in the first place, those charcuterie-type projects I’ve been longing to get into — homemade lardo, smoked tomato ‘nduja, duck ham, to name a few. I’m really looking forward to trying my hand at the country pâté, though I’ll need to sub the heavy cream for something non-dairy. But that’s okay. As Fox writes in the book’s intro, “When you cook a recipe, I’d love for you to make notes in the margins. What did you love? What would you change? How would you make it yours?”

Award-Winning Chili Recipe to Try This Fall + 6 Tips to Chili Greatness

Plus, an award-winning beef chili recipe that’s perfect for fall

But even if you’re not trying to cure charcuterie in your Brooklyn apartment, On Meat has plenty of ways to improve your carnivorous cooking skills. The first section is all about the basics, from roasting a chicken to searing a duck breast. The recipe for Pork Chops with Sauce Charcutière calls for homemade cornichons, but as Fox says in his intro, store-bought are totally fine. The Larder section is full of easy-to-make sauces and condiments that will take your cooking game up a notch.

I’m most excited to try the Duck Ham, and you can too with the below recipe.

“At the restaurants, we source our ducks from Liberty Ducks in Sonoma County, and I am proud to have been working with them for 20 years now, except for a stretch when I cooked vegetarian,” Fox writes in On Meat. “They raise a Pekin-style duck that is meatier and tastier than other commercially-bred varieties (Pekin is the duck breed). This duck ham pairs well with Skillet Biscuits, salted butter and honey. Or draped across hot cornbread. Duck always pairs well with fruit, so try it with the Two-Ingredient Applesauce.”

Duck Ham

Servings: 4

Ingredients

2 Tbsp. plus 1.5 tsp. black peppercorns
1 Tbsp. coriander seed
1 tsp. whole cloves
2 Tbsp. ground mace
4 tsp. ground cinnamon
.5 cup (80 g) kosher salt
⅓ cup (70 g) granulated sugar
1 tsp. curing salt #1
2 tsp. brown mustard seed
2 tsp. black peppercorns
8 cloves
3 allspice berries
1 cinnamon stick
2 bay leaves
4 duck breasts (2.5 to 3 lbs.)
1 quantity Fox Spice

Directions

For the Fox Spice (makes about .5 cup):
1. In a sauté pan over medium heat, toast the peppercorns, coriander seed and cloves until fragrant, 3 to 4 minutes. Let them cool, then grind finely in a spice grinder. Combine with the mace and cinnamon and store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 months.
For the duck ham:
1. In a large pot over high heat, combine all remaining ingredients, except the duck and Fox Spice, and blend with 2 quarts (1.9 liters) water. Bring to a boil, stirring until the salts and sugar are dissolved. Remove from the heat, transfer to a mixing bowl set in a larger bowl of ice and chill until below 40°F.
2. Trim the duck breasts of any excess fat or bone fragments, if present. Submerge the duck breasts in the cold brine and refrigerate for 3 days.
3. After 3 days, remove the duck breasts and pat dry with paper towels.
4. Preheat your oven to 275°F. Lightly but evenly dust each duck breast with the Fox Spice blend. Place the seasoned duck breasts on a roasting rack. Bake until the duck breasts reach an internal temperature of 145°F.
5. Transfer to a rack-lined sheet tray, let cool to room temperature, then refrigerate until cold (the internal temperature should be below 40°F/4°C).

Meet your guide

Amanda Gabriele

Amanda is InsideHook’s Senior Editor and has been writing about food, drinks, travel and style for 16 years. She’s written for Travel + Leisure, Eater, Gear Patrol and New York Magazine among other outlets.