Closing Out The Year

December 31, 2009

Okay, gang. Once upon a time, work slowed down after about Halloween and really slowed at Thanksgiving, giving me a chance to catch up on all the admin things that never seemed to happen, and catch my breath. No longer; now, the fourth quarter of the year is a mad, screaming dash to complete as [...]

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Pork is the meat of kings!

October 31, 2009

  Here are some of the “after” shots of the rillettes. I got two jars’ worth out of the belly in the previous post. It doesn’t seem like a lot until you realize that because it’s so utterly rich, you only eat a little bit at a time – like, one big spoonful in a [...]

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The rustic spiritualness of pork. (Pork Rillettes)

October 24, 2009

Behold. In this pot, you see magic about to happen. Cubes of pork belly, seasoned with salt, black peppercorns, celery seed, quatre épices, thyme, and crushed garlic. Cover with water, put the pot in a 275 degree Fahrenheit oven, and wait six hours. Rillettes (translated as "plank", thought to refer to how it looks like [...]

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Clearing the air

October 20, 2009

I’ve been in all-day workshops at work for the last copule of weeks. This has the effect of COMPLETELY knocking me off of my cooking rhythm, and I haven’t slowed down enough to get back on the wagon. So, while I was preparing the cure for Homecured Bacon, Round 2 (a gorgeous 3.5lb pork belly [...]

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I’m cured! I’m cured!

October 16, 2009

  Let’s jump straight to the punchline – it was GOOD. Damn good. Very clean, unmasked pork flavor; not surprising since it was unsmoked and the cure didn’t have much in the way of flavorings added, but still outstanding in its simplicity. Because the pork isn’t injected with a wet cure, it isn’t waterlogged, doesn’t [...]

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