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
Cooking with woodchips and hay (yeah, hay) might seem way weird at first glance. My 8-year old was beyond shocked when I told him that I am buying hay at the pet store (all natural packaged and never used hay that is) to use in cooking at home. He kept asking and double checking that I am not messing
Noma: Pig Belly and Potato Skins, Cep Oil and Wood Chips Read More »
We were in San Antonio this past weekend, so I did not have much time to prepare a full-fledged barbecue spread. San Antonio was a fun close getaway with the family and as usual we had a great meal at Dough Pizzeria Napolitana (might be one of the best of it’s kind in the country) and
Labor Day Bocks and Brats Read More »
Most probably assume that Modernist Cuisine only makes food that looks like foam or spheres or something extra fancy. Well, sure it has all those things, but that is not the point. It’s just modern food, using all the information that was learned over the past few decades. The point is not to make “weird food” but to
Modernist Cuisine Barbecue Read More »
This Alinea dish combines some classic combinations in a more or less classic presentation. It’s basically a pork with polenta dish with a few twists…and grapefruit. Why not though? The grapefruit is tart, sweet and a little bitter. That makes for a great counterpoint to the pork, rich cornbread pudding and the honey that is
Alinea: PORK, Grapefruit, Sage, Honey Read More »
Making terrines is such a satisfying process. I love every aspect of it. I start by selecting the meat, in this case it’s the meat from two pheasants that a friend shot in Kansas. Next is figuring out what kind of terrine this is going to be. It could be very coarsely ground (or hand chopped), homogenous, smooth
At least twice a year I get together with a few friends and we make a bunch of sausage. We make 3 or 4 varieties usually. This time we made the largest batch yet, about 62 lbs of them. It was a two-day fest of grinding, stuffing and feasting. We made four varieties this time
Over 60 lbs of Sausage Read More »
It’s great to have what amounts to about three small wild hogs worth of meat in my freezer at this point. That includes several shoulders, a few hind legs (hams), 3 or 4 loins and some odds and ends. I am planning to use the meat in many recipes that call for good old pork.
Wild Boar Loin with Onions and Raisins Read More »