This little piggy went to market...Well, not really... More like the oven

This little piggy was a butt... a pork butt/shoulder, come on everyone get your mind out of the gutter! How can we achieve a delicious smoked pulled pork in the oven easy? I figured it out! 

Find some good smoked salt to add to your rub and you should get a mild smoke flavor to your porky goodness. I use a good pre-made blend and add some hickory salt. I don't add any sugar but you could I guess. Wrap it in foil put it in a shallow pan and bake at 350 for 4 hours. 

You will know it is done when the bone wiggles out nicely. Shred it up with your hands and pull the fat out. Top with your favorite BBQ sauce. I made the addition of Red Beans and Rice for my side dish, you could make some cornbread too to sop up all the juice.

Fall is fast approaching...

Fall can not get here fast enough! I love summer and warm weather but brother give me a break... I find myself looking at all things slow cooking and stick to your ribs hearty. Break out the crock-pots, pressure cookers, and chili/stock pots. Now what to make? I love a long cooked Ropa Veja, smokey Pork Butt, Chicken and Dumplings, and my grandmothers Chili. Well folks, today we are going to talk Chicken and Dumplings....

Chicken and Dumplings

Adapted from Americas Test Kitchen

Chicken Stew

2 Tbs vegetable oil

4 (~1½ lbs) bone-in, skinless chicken thighs

1 large onion, chopped

2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped

2 celery ribs, chopped

¼ c dry sherry

6 c low-sodium chicken broth

1 tsp minced fresh thyme

1 lb chicken wings (about 4)

¼ c chopped fresh parsley

Dumplings

1 c all-purpose flour

¼ tsp baking soda

½ tsp sugar

½ tsp salt

½ tsp chopped fresh parsley

½ tsp chopped fresh thyme

2 Tbs butter, melted

⅓ c buttermilk

1 large egg white

How to:

• Heat oil in a large dutch oven over medium-high heat. Season chicken thighs with salt and pepper. Brown chicken in the pot, about 5-7 minutes on each side. Transfer chicken to a plate.
• Add onions, carrots, and celery to the pot. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 8 minutes. Add sherry and deglaze any leftover brown bits from the bottom of the pot.
• Add broth, thyme, chicken thighs (with juices), and chicken wings to the pot. Bring to a simmer and cover. Cook on low until thigh meat is cooked through and tender, about 45 minutes.
• Remove pot from the heat. Transfer chicken to a plate. Skim fat from the surface of the pot. Remove chicken from the bones and chop into bite sized pieces. Return meat to the pot, and bring stew back to a simmer. Do not let boil.
• For the dumplings: Whisk together the flour, baking soda, sugar, salt, parsley, and thyme in a medium bowl. Mix the buttermilk, melted butter, and egg white in a separate bowl. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
• Lightly coat an ice cream scoop with non-stick spray. Gently drop dumplings by the scoopful into the stew, leaving an inch or two between them. Cover the top of the pot with a towel (don’t let edges of towel touch the heat source) and cover with the lid. Let simmer until dumplings are cooked through, about 15 minutes.
• Note: The remaining dumplings soak up a lot of the liquid. If you have leftovers, keep some extra chicken broth on hand to add to the stew when reheating.

My identity is in crisis....

Blog name change... I am tired of being cute. I need an inspiration... Pig, luscious fatty, smokey, albeit cute... Pig!  This is a rant.... My mind incapable of calling it anything else. Vacations get you thinking of all the things you let sit on the sideline. I have lost my urge for the finer things in life. I mean shit I can afford.... food! Ok well maybe I can't afford some of it but you don't live for ever, right? I have dropped $50 on charcuterie for myself on a whim..... After culinary school I got into the management side of things, tough but by no means creative. Every dollar counts to the bottom line no matter the concept. I am a stickler for operations but creative food is what brings guests in.Then family and kids came, food was not a luxury it was sustenance. Thankfully my kids have grown up with amazing adventurous palates. Now almost an empty nester, I have lost it.... Passion. How do I get it back? How do I execute it? Where do I find the time? I married a meat and potatoes guy.... Restauranteur, someday maybe. I have to figure it out and soon, or I am going to freak out. I work with venue owners everyday and I see the loss, the loss of soul and passion. I see the passion for success without thinking of the true meaning of making something that is unforgettable and a onetime shot.  Cheaper, better, feed the masses... Fuck that! Give me some slow bacon fat poached sand dabs with softly steamed Spanish garlic, topped with spicy Berkshire pork lardons, and a side of arugula tossed in a light real true apricot/pamplemousse vinaigrette. Or barbecue, that is a whole different bible, but delicious and succulent, spicy and vinegary for some, sweet and hot for others. I am a follower of the smoke, salt and pepper, sauce on the side. I need an amazing blender slaw with a bit of mustard and celery seed. Not a big beef fan but shit I love a good pig.  Don't fake it till you make it, be true to your passion and don't let it get buried in life. Now I know why Hemingway was so good......

Putting the class back in cocktails

Thinking of the classic cocktail, visions of Frank, Dean, Sammy and Marilyn flood my mind. It was very much like flying back in the day, you got dressed to do it! 

Which brings me to my point.... The Pisco Sour. Served in the champagne coupe or champagne saucer is a shallow, broad-bowled, stemmed glass, commonly used at wedding receptions, often stacked in layers to build a champagne tower. Champagne is continuously poured into the top glass, trickling down to fill every glass below. Legend has it the shape of the glass was modeled on the breast of Marie Antoinette, Joséphine de Beauharnais, Madame de Pompadour, or one of several other French aristocrats, so it is rumored.... 

The Pisco is frothy, sour, bitter, and if you have a fabulous mixologist like I had...a little sparkle. 

Sexy cocktails are abundant in urban hotspots, and you will know you are in the right place if there are carefully selected craft spirits lining the wall of your local speakeasy. Don't be afraid to wiggle up to the bar and order 

Grandpa taught me a few things....

Gene was as refined as you could get for a blue collar worker. I never thought that the things he taught me about food would stick with me as an adult. I guess we could start with the introduction of Offal. Kidneys and Buttermilk Pancakes were the special breakfast treat my grandfather made on Sundays only. The origin I suspect are Pensilvania Dutch but I have never found a printed recipe. He used beef kidneys and they are very hard to locate in the meat section of a regular grocery store. Check with your local butcher if you are lucky enough to have one. The kidneys glistened in a creamy gravy made from a slurry, cooked just right after soaking over night in milk to pull out the impurities. The pancakes were perfectly tart from the thick buttermilk. To assemble place a pancake down and spread with butter, pour some gravy then place another pancake, more butter, gravy, and this time add a few nuggets of kidney on top with a shake or two of salt and pepper.
On camping trips grandpa brought a special treat, and I have to say that as a kid this was a pretty adventurous item to eat. Soft, creamy, calfs brains... Nothing fancy, just a dusting with flour, egg wash, then crushed saltine crackers. Sauté in a bit of bacon fat. Serve with a side of Ketchup. 
At lunch and dinner he always had a cut glass salt cellar and green onions at his plate. My grandmother enjoyed radishes rather than the green onions. This especially came in handy when grandpa got his hands on some bone marrow! I love bone marrow, most of you would think of this item being only at high end fine dining restaurants. Marrow is actually plentiful at the regular grocery, and is fairly inexpensive. I have found a simple recipe that will just make you want to slap yourself. 

Roasted Bone Marrow

Adapted from Fergus Henderson

Time: 20 minutes

8 to 12 center-cut beef or veal marrow bones, 3 inches long, 3 to 4 pounds total

1 cup roughly chopped fresh parsley

2 shallots, thinly sliced

2 teaspoons capers

1 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

Coarse sea salt to taste

At least 4 1/2-inch-thick slices of crusty bread, toasted.

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Put bones, cut side up, on foil-lined baking sheet or in ovenproof skillet. Cook until marrow is soft and has begun to separate from the bone, about 15 minutes. (Stop before marrow begins to drizzle out.)

2. Meanwhile, combine parsley, shallots and capers in small bowl. Just before bones are ready, whisk together olive oil and lemon juice and drizzle dressing over parsley mixture until leaves are just coated. Put roasted bones, parsley salad, salt and toast on a large plate. To serve, scoop out marrow, spread on toast, sprinkle with salt and top with parsley salad.

Yield: 4 servings.

My grandfather probably never knew what an upperclass palate he had!

I went to San Francisco and left my heart at the Chowder Hut

Have you ever had something to eat when you have been traveling that was so amazing, then got home only to crave and dream about it later. It kind of taunts you.... It is frustrating in a way I cannot explain with out getting graphic. On a recent trip up to SFO, I ate at The Chowder Hut, located right on the other side of the famous San Francisco sign. You know the one from the show The Streets Of San Francisco. I ordered what I thought was going to be an average bowl of Chowder and some garlic shrimp. Well to my surprise these were the shrimp I have been looking for all of my life. Garlicky, spicy, and so finger licking good. After finishing I wanted more, when I got back home I wanted more, I want more now....Luscious juicy and so intoxicating and fragrant are these little bites of love, you would be doing yourself an injustice if you did not make some the next time you found a great deal on some U/15's. 21/25's will do if you want to feed two. Be selfish though and go big. A nice light beer will go nicely and make sure you have some great sourdough to soak up all of the sauce that lingers in the bottom to taunt and tease you that you have no more..... I have found a recipe that I am sure is the best I can do for a replication.

 

Grilled Shrimp In Garlic Chili Sauce

• Time 8 minutes
• Serves 4

Ingredients

---

• 1 1/2 lbs. large shrimp, 21 to 25 count per pound
• 2 tbsp of olive oil
• 3 garlic cloves minced
• 3/4 tsp of salt
• 6 tbsp of melted unsalted butter
• 2 tsp of chili powder
• 2 tsp of fresh ground black pepper
• 4 tsp of Worcestershire sauce
• 1 whole lemon, zested and squeezed
• sliced scallions for garnish

How to make it

---

• The tedious part is prepping the shrimp.
• Use your kitchen shears to snip the back of the shrimp, clean out the digestive tract, but leave the tail and first segment of the shell intact.
• Leave your shells on, it will keep the shrimp from burning on the grill.
• Put the shrimp with oil, garlic, 1/2 tsp of salt and marinate for 15 minutes.
• While they marinate, prep the grill to medium high heat.
• Heat butter, chili powder, pepper and Worcestershire sauce and remaining salt in small sauce pan until warmed through. Add lemon juice and zest.
• Thread shrimp on double wooden skewers (that you have soaked in water for 30 minutes)
• Grill about four minutes per side, five max.
• Push shrimp into a large pasta bowl, pour warmed lemon butter over the top and garnish with scallions.
• Serve.
• Don't forget bread to soak up the extra sauce, finger licking is okay too.

Ho-ho holiday's, tinsle trees, and pink flamingos in santa hats

Memoirs of a tacky Christmas you say? I say not my fine friends. Ugly sweater parties are all the rage these days. Tinsel trees were the wave of the future in the 1950's, and the flamingos... fuggeht about it... an absolute necessity in the trailer hood. Along with these fabulous memories, come some of the finest food marvels that Betty Crocker herself wishes she had really thought of. Let's take for instance the cheese ball... velvety goodness of pungent wine flavored pasteurized yellow stuff, covered in slivers of semi crunchy nuts.

I have found a great updated version and encourage you to try them for your ugly sweater party, these pair wonderfully with a fine Cranberry Martini, 

Adapted from Gourmet Magazine‘s Pecan and Goat-Cheese Marbles

Pecan-Crusted Goat Cheese Balls

1 cup pecans (1/4 lb)

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1 (11-oz) log soft goat cheese

2 teaspoons minced rosemary (I used dried)

1 teaspoon coriander seeds, crushed with side of a large knife, then chopped

About 50 to 60 large flat-leaf parsley leaves

1. Preheat oven to 400°F with rack in upper third. Toss pecans with butter, sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon salt, then toast in a 4-sided sheet pan until fragrant and a shade darker, 8 to 10 minutes. (Watch them very closely. If some happen to get a little burnt/dark, don’t worry- I thought it added a “smokey” taste and we still gobbled them up.) Transfer to a plate and cool completely.

2. Chop pecans rather finely, then transfer to a wide shallow bowl.

3. Stir together goat cheese, rosemary, coriander, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper until combined well. Form teaspoons of cheese mixture into marbles between your palms, then roll in pecans to coat and roll between your palms again briefly. Transfer to a plate.

4. Put a parsley leaf over each cheese marble and spear together with a wooden pick.