I travel a lot for work typically for a project in one city that could take anywhere from a few weeks to over a year. Travelling every week for a few days to the same city can be weary. The upside to this latest particular engagement is that it is in the lovely city of […]
Pok Pok: Wild Duck Laap, Thai Pork Fried Rice, Cucumber Salad Read More »
Spring is here and even in hot humid Houston it’s…well it’s nice. The weather, at least for now, is not brutal yet and feels like spring with cool evenings and days that are not stiflingly humid. This dish is a good bridge between winter and spring. It combines lovely deep flavored “braised” pork and it’s
Green Pea Agnolotti, Crispy Pork, Consomme Read More »
A week before our much awaited dinner at The French Laundry (I’ll post something about that at some point…hopefully soon) I wanted to make the family a meal from one of my favorite cookbooks. I thought of it as an appetizer of sorts. Of course my meal was not a 10 course 4-hour extravaganza but
Thai curries are one of my favorite south Asian foods that I don’t cook as much as I should. Every time I make it at home from scratch by pounding (actually, usually I use the food processor and then finish the paste in the mortar) together chilies, lemongrass, shallots, galangal and a host of other
Thai Curry Pork, Forbidden Rice and Watermelon Read More »
I will kick this off by saying that this is every bit as delicious and as satisfying as it looks. It’s a great comforting combination of a cured piece of pork belly, a perfect impeccably cooked portion of loin, tart cabbage cooked with onions and bacon, seared marinated mushrooms and a rich flavor-packed pork sauce
The Fat Duck: Pot-Roast Loin of Pork, Braised Belly, Gratin of Truffled Macaroni Read More »
Making pasta at home is nothing new. I’ve been doing fresh egg pasta, flat, stuffed, hand-rolled or on a chitarra for years. However, making “dry” fresh pasta was not something I’ve tackled. I did not want to invest in a pasta extruder and was not sure it will be worth it. Also, most books never bother with
Fresh Extruded Pasta: Rigatoni, Sausage and Ricotta Read More »
This dish belongs in the spring section of the Alinea book. With ramps and green garlic as two of its main components (ramps goes where that scallions is in the heading of the original recipe) it really can only be served on their Spring menu. Ramps are wild leeks that look like a cross between a leek and a green onion. Their
Alinea: Pork Cheek, Pumpernickel, Gruyere, Scallions Read More »
I cured my own ham to serve for Thanksgiving this year. This was one huge piece of pork from Yonder Way Farm. It was cured for a couple of weeks before being smoked, braised, glazed and baked. The ham made for a fantastic meal or more like ten meals including breakfasts and work lunch sandwiches. After
Split Pea Soup with Ham, Fresh Peas and Mint Read More »
A long titled post suitable to a properly labor-intensive and delicious cold-weather meal. Both the Toulouse-style Cassoulet and the Walnut Tart are based on Paula Wolfert’s recipes in her book “The Cooking of Southwest France“. The bread is the Pain de Campagne (country bread) recipe from Peter Reinhart’s “The Bread baker’s Apprentice“. Making a proper Cassoulet is a good bit
I’ve been so enjoying Yonder Way Farm’s pork chops that I had to post something about it. All the pork from them is delicious, but these prime thick cuts are just heavenly and worth every penny. I’ve taken to salting/flavoring them 24 hours before cooking them. I usually use a mixture of thyme, sage and