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Pork belly braised in cider, pears served with a pea puree, cucumber pear salad, chicharones and yogurt foam.

If you’ve never made pork belly before – be warned, its a lot of work. When done properly its a three day long labor of love that you’re either going to find so rewarding you’ll be making it all the time, or you’ll never want to see this cut of meat again unless its vacuum sealed and has the work “bacon” on it somewhere. Much like the process of cooking pork belly, this recipe came about after countless batches of pork belly cooked with so many different ingredients – everything from beer and dried chilies to the final recipe that builds if flavors from pears and hard apple cider. If you don’t make this I understand, its a ton of work – but if you do I have faith that you really will enjoy it and the end product with make it worth all your troubles. I put a lot of work into what made this dish come together and I believe you can taste that. Please let me know if you make this and how it came out.

Musical Pairing: Neurosis – Through Silver in Blood. I know its an older album but its a classic – and for good reason. This is one of those albums that was crafted rather than written. Its one of those things where everything that happens does so for a reason and is very important. Its one of those albums that you might not get at first listen but once you do, you’re going to be hooked and there is no turning back. This dish has all that in common plus the heat on this is something of a slow building burn which matches the way this album tends to build intensity before it punches you square in the stomach.

*If your pork belly came with the skin on, please see the note at the end.

Pork:
1/2 C Salt
1/2 C Sugar
3 Fresh Habaneros
1.5 lbs Pork Belly – (I recommend Mosefund Mangalista)
12oz Hard Apple Cider
1/2 lb fresh pears (about 2 medium pears Bartlett or Anjou will work fine)
1/4 lb Red Onion (sliced)
7 Sprigs Cilantro
3 Cloves Garlic (smashed)
1 TSP Salt
1 TBL Tears of the Sun (or other fruit and habanero hot sauce)
1 TBL Fresh Lime Juice
1/3 C Water
(additional cider and lime juice)

Finely mince two of the habaneros, seeds and ribs included and mix with the 1/2 C of salt and Sugar. Rub the pork belly with this mixture, cover and refrigerate for 24-48 hours.

To cook, peel the pears, cut them in half length wise then cut those pieces in half again, also length wise. You’ll now have a quarter of the pear with the seeds and core exposed on the two flat sides. With one flat side down on your cutting board, take your knife and diagonally cut into the pear – the goal is to find the right angle so that you can remove the core and seeds without losing too much of the pear’s meat.

Pre-heat your oven to 300 degrees. Combine everything in pot or casserole dish with a tight fitting lid – I like something that is stovetop and oven safe, I usually use a smaller Dutch oven for this. Put the pot on the stovetop and cook over high heat until the broth comes to a boil, let boil for five minutes then cover it and place it in the oven for 3-3.5 hours turning it after an hour and a half. Start checking for tenderness after 3 hours. The pork should be fork tender – poke the edge of it with a fork and try to pull the meat away – it should tear off with a little resistance. If its still tough put it back in and check again after another half hour.

Once the pork is done, allow it to cool at room temperature for a half hour then cover it loosely with plastic wrap – leave it in all its fat and juices – and put it in the fridge and press it. To do this, put as many heavy things on top of the pork as you can – water bottles, cans, milk cartons etc. If you have a smaller pan or plate you can put on the pork that will allow for even weight distribution that works the best. Once you have the pork weighted in your fridge, let it sit like that for at least 8 hours but over night is ideal.

The next day, all of the rendered fat will have solidified on top of the pork and braising liquid. Use a spatula to remove as much of the fat as you can and set it aside. Reheat the braising liquid until it is just hot, then puree it in a blender – add a TBL of the fat to it while it is blending – do this in two batches. (Note – when blending hot liquids its important to remove the stopper from the top of you blender – cover with a dish towel so you don’t get splattered). Taste the liquid and adjust seasoning as needed with additional salt and lime juice – if it seems too thick you can thin it with some water of more cider just keep tasting so you can adjust as needed).

Cut the pork into 2″ squares and saute over medium high heat – because of the shape its best to sear on all six sides – once you are on the 6th side, spoon some sauce of the pieces and turn the meat to get it good and coated. This is will caramelize some of the sugars in the sauce and give a nice flavorful glaze to the pork – you might have to rinse your pan in-between batches though – the sauce can burn fast and it will ruin the meat.

The Salad:
1/2 lb of Pears (about 2 medium Anjou or Bartlett)
2 oz English Cucumber (about a 3-4″ piece)
1/4 of a Red Onion
1 TBL Fresh Lime Juice
2 TBL Olive Oil
leaves from 4 sprigs cilantro
1 TSP seeded and stemmed habanero
1 TSP Tears of the Sun
Salt to taste

I like to prepare this about an hour before serving, that little time allows the cucumber and pear to soak up some of the dressings juices and become infused with the flavors – this dish can be prepared a day in advance (that means if there is any left over it will be good the next day as well) but you will lose some of the crunch you get from the cucumbers when they are fresher.

Prep the pears as described above. When they are cored you’re going to cut them into matchstick sized pieces. Cut the pears into 1/8″ slices then cut those into 1/8″ sticks. I like to go longways for aesthetic reasons but you can cut them as long or short as you please. Slice the cucumbers into match sticks of similar size to the pears. For the red onion, I find its best to just slice them thin, 1/2 the size of the cucumber and pear and let the natural layers of the onion do the julienne for you. For the cilantro – just stack the leaves into a well organized pile and slice into thin little ribbons. For the habanero, I like to quarter it length wise them remove as many of the seeds and as much of the ribs as I can – thats where the bulk of the heat is – then cut it into a fine a dice.

Combine all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and salt to taste.

Pea Puree:
1/2 lb of Frozen Peas
1 TBL + 1/2 TBL Unsalted Butter (separated)
1 Oz Red Onion (chopped)
1 Clove Garlic (minced)
1/4 C + 2 TBL Half and Half
1/2 TSP Salt

Over high head bring a pot of salted water to a boil and add the peas. Cook until the water just starts boiling again then quickly strain and submerge in ice water to stop the cooking. In a frying pan, melt 1 TBL of the butter over medium heat – once its hot add the onions and cook until they are translucent – add the garlic and cook for another minute. In a blender – combine the onions, garlic and butter from the pan with the peas, salt and half and half – puree until smooth. Through the opening in the top of the blender add the 1/2 TBL butter in two pieces – waiting till the first one is incorporated before adding the second one.

Transfer to small sauce pan and set aside – reheat on low for a few minutes stirring often before serving.

Yogurt Foam:
2 C nonfat yogurt
2 Charges for a whipped cream canister

This is done for two reasons – first it adds a little extra texture to the dish but more importantly it helps dilute the intense flavor of the yogurt – which if served plain would be a little over powering.

If you don’t have a whipped cream canister, which I completely understand, just take a cup of the yogurt and whisk it for a bit a to loosen it up some and incorporate some air.

If you have a canister, add the yogurt to a blender and blend until it is liquified, add it to your canister and hit it with two charges as instructed by the manufacturer.

*Pork Skin Chicharones 
If you got pork belly with the skin on you can make chicharones from the skin but be warned – there’s nothing fun about it. Its messy dangerous and time consuming but at the end you get deep fried crispy pork skins and it all becomes worth it. If you got skinless pork belly, some markets actually sell the pork skin on its own. If you’re so inclined, you can pick some of that up for this – its a dirt cheap product.

Its a two day process, just like the pork belly so its not a terrible undertaking – hey you’re gonna be doing a shitload of cooking all ready so whats a little more right? On the first day – we boil the skin. At a rolling boil for two hours (and yes it will make your house smell funky and porky) – keep it uncovered so it doesn’t spill over and add more water as it evaporates. Drain it and let it cool. Once its cool to the touch use a spoon to scrape off whatever remaining fat there is on the back of the skin, you want to get as much off as you can so you have only skin left.

Next – arrange the skin on drying rack in a single layer and refrigerate uncovered for 24 hours – 48 would be better but 24 is manageable – if you have a dehydrator you could use that here instead.

Now that your pork is dry, cut it into 1/4″ strips and its time to weaponize your stove – we have to deep fry these things and no matter what you did to get them dry this part dangerous as hell. As soon as they hit the oil they are going to pop , splatter, and burn you – I’ve stood back a good five feet and I’ve still gotten hit. I’ve tried covering hte pot with a lid that was just skewed a little so it could still breath and the oil always finds that opening to splash out of so unless you have a home deep fryer with a cover, you’re in for an experience. Set a pot with about 4″ of corn oil in it over medium high heat until it reaches a temperature of 390 degrees – I know its hot for frying but the pork skin needs this. Deep fry in handful sized batched for about 5 minutes per batch – about a minute after they stop popping they’re ready.

As they fry, you’re going to notice that they want to stick together. I’ve tried staggering them on the way in, stirring, poking, prodding, its just a mess so don’t even try to combat it, all you’re going to do is burn your hand. There’re gonna stick together and create this tangled nest like mass and you’re powerless to stop it. After they’ve stopped bubbling and popping for about a minute, take them out with spider and let them drain on a tray lined with paper towels – season generously with salt and paprika – do that while they are hot. Once they are cool enough to handle, you can break apart the nest of fried pork skin you’ve made into bite sized strips.

Assembly:
I don’t like to tell people how to eat but there’s a lot of components on this dish – the actual presentation isn’t important but here’s what is. You want to base of the dish to be the pea puree, that goes down first because its the mildest of flavors, that way when you cut into everything all the flavors from above mix with it. You can put the pork on top of the salad or vice versa – just make sure that you spoon some of the braising liquid directly on the meat, it really wakes it up. You can put the yogurt and the chicharone where ever you like, I like the yogurt foam in a small batch next to the meat and the chicharone on top so that it doesn’t get soggy.

Continue reading »]]> I’ve loved black bean soup since I first had it as a kid. There’s something very comforting about it, the texture, the spices, the heat – to me its real comfort food. I’m giving this recipe with two options, dried or canned black beans. The soup will good no matter which way you go but I urge you to take the time and effort to to the route of the dried beans – you will get a much better product – the beans will taste better and have a much better texture – you will be rewarded for  your extra time and you probably wont want to go back to canned beans at all.

Musical Pairing: Suffocation – Pinnacle of Bedlam. Suffo and black bean soup? I know on the surface it makes no sense but bear with me. I came up with the recipe for a cooking demo at my local winter farmers market and did it there by using as many local products as I could. Locally speaking you cannot bring up metal and Long Island without Suffocation. They’re truly pioneers of the genre, listed as influences by everyone from The Dillinger Escape Plan to The Red Chord and their latest album, Pinnacle of Bedlam is unreal in its precision, creativity and sheer brutality.

Ingredeints:
1/2lb Dried chorizo
1 Small Piece of Star Anise
1 TSP Cumin Seed
2 C Dried Black Beans (or 4 cups canned beans)
2 C Diced White Onions
1 Diced Bell Pepper
4 Cloves Minced Garlic
1 1/2 TSP Very hot Hot Sauce (I recommend High River Hot Sauce’s Rogue)
1 qt Chix Stock
1 qt Water
2 Avocado Leaves*
2 Fresh Bay Leaves
1 Each of the Following
Dried Amarillo Chili
Pasilla Chili
Ancho Chili
1 TSP Salt
5 Fprigs Fresh cilantro
1 Bunch Fresh Kale

I recommend using dried beans for this, they’re a much better product and you will be rewarded for you patience and effort. Give the beans a quick rinse and check them for rocks – seriously I’ve found them, before. Then put the beans in a large bowl and add at least 4 cups of water, cover with plastic wrap and let sit overnight.

If you’re using canned beans start the recipe here.
Place a 6 or 8 qt stock pot over medium high heat and toast the cumin seeds and star anise for about two minutes while stirring. Remove the seeds and star anise, set aside. Remove the stems and seeds from the dried chilies and toast them next, same way as the seeds, then also set aside.

Reduce the heat to medium. Chop the chorizo into 1/4″ cubes and put not the pot, cook while stirring occasionally. We’re looking to render as much fat from the chorizo as possible, this should take about 5 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to remove the chorizo, leaving as much oil as possible. We should have about 2 TBL, you can eyeball this, add more oil if you need to. Increase the heat to medium high, add the onions and pepper and sauté till the onions are translucent about 4 minutes stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and sauté for anther minute.

Strain the soaked beans or rinse the canned beans then add them along with the rest of the ingredients to the pot. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat to medium or medium low depending on your stove. We want to simmer without boiling. Cover and let simmer for an hour and a half, stirring occasionally. After the hour and a half simmer for an additional half hour to 45 minutes or until the beans are tender, you will have to taste them to know this.

Once the beans are fully cooked, take two cups of them and purée in a blender or food processor with the cilantro and any large pieces of the dried chilies you might find floating in the soup. Purée until you have a smooth paste then return paste to the soup.

Cut your kale into ribbons and add to the soup, let it wilt in there for a few minutes.

Stir well, taste and adjust salt if needed. If you’d like it hotter you can add more hot sauce too. Serve with sour cream and sliced scallions.

*A note on the avocado leaves – they are the dried leaves from the avocado tree. They look like very large bay leaves. They’re a little tough to locate but if you can find a latin market they should have them with the dried ingredients – some Wholefoods might have them as well. If you cannot find it, you can use an additional half piece of star anise and 1/4 TSP of cumin seeds to make up for it.

Continue reading »]]> I was lucky enough to get a dehydrator for Christmas this year, sure there are lots of awesome things you can do with them but is there really any better use for it other than homemade beef jerky? You don’t have to think about it, there isn’t – and how can you make this even better? Use a bunch of your favorite hot sauce – duh.

Musical pairing: Iron Maiden – The Final Frontier. I know not really metal right? But its Maiden, its as classic and awesome as beef jerky itself. Plus my buddy Steve who owns High River Hot Sauce is fellow bassist and when it comes to the bass Maiden’s Steve Harris is and always will be king.

Ingredients:
1.5 – 1.75 LBS of Steak (flank or chuck work real well)
1.5 TBL Hellacious Hot Sauce (or other habanero based hot sauce)
1/3 C Cider Vinegar
1 TSP Kosher Salt
1 TSP Black Pepper
1 TSP Smoked Paprika
1 TSP Garlic  Powder

Procedure:
Put steak in the freezer for 30-40 minutes – this will stiffen it up and make it easier to cut it into uniformly thin pieces.

Cut the meat into long strips about 1/8″ – 1/4″ thick (I like them on the thicker side).

Combine the rest of the ingredients in a gallon sized zip too bag and mix well. Add the meat strips and mix well again. Flatten out the meat in the bag in a shin a layer as possible and lay flat on a shelf in your fridge. Let marinate for 24 hours, its best to flip the bag at the half way point to ensure even flavor distribution.

After the 24 hour marinade, pat the meat dry and place in a single layer in your dehydrator. Follow the directions provided with your dehydrator for making jerky.

Continue reading »]]> Beef and broccoli, the old Americanized Chinese food takeout classic. Its never been bad but come on, its never been really good either – until now. We’ve got short ribs, an emulsified broccoli sauce and crispy fried rice to transform these familiar flavors into something that is far too good to be ordered by the pint, quart or reduced to a combination meal number.

Musical Pairing: Converge -All We Love We Leave Behind it was Decibel’s album of the year for 2012 and I think this dish is probably my best of the year as well.

Ingredients

For the Beef:
1.5 lbs Bone in Short Ribs
1 White Onion
1 Apple (peeled and cored)
1/4 C Soy Sauce
1 TBL Fish Sauce
1 C Beef Stock
1/2 TBL Sriracha
1″ Piece of Ginger
3 Cloves Garlic
1 1/2 TBL Rice Wine Vinegar
1/2 TSP Baking Soda
1/4 Piece of Star Anise
1/2 Tsp Coriander Seed
1 TBL Conola or other oil with a high smoke point

Combine all of the ingredients except the meat, oil, star anise and coriander seed in a blender and puree until you have a smooth sauce.

Pressure Cooking Instructions:
In a pressure cooker heat the oil over high heat and sear the ribs on all sides. Add the pureed sauce and scrape the bottom of the cooker to remove the fond, then lock the lid and pressure cook under high pressure for 45 minutes, starting the time as soon as you reach pressure. Check the ribs for tenderness, if they are not so tender that they can be shredded with a fork, bring the pressure cooker back up to high pressure and cook for an additional ten minutes.

Conventional Cooking Instructions:
Preheat your oven to 275 degrees. In a heavy bottomed pan with a tight fitting lid (cast iron dutch ovens work the best), heat the oil over high heat and sear the ribs on all sides. Add the pureed sauce and scrape the bottom of the cooker to remove the fond. Cover and put in the oven on the center rack. Cook them for about 3 hours turing then every half hour – start checking the meat for tenderness at about 2 and half hours they should be tender enough to easily shred with a fork.

Once the ribs are cooked, I find its best to shred the meat with fork, discard the bones and inedible gristle cover in the sauce and let sit for two days in the fridge. You can eat them at once but this extended refrigerated rest time will make for juicier and more succulent meat.

Emulsified Broccoli Sauce
1 lb Broccoli  (stems and crowns)
1/2 a Diced Green Pepper
1/4 of a Diced White Onion
1 TBL Diced ginger
1 Clove Garlic
1 TBL Canola Oil
1 TSP Toasted Sesame Oil
1/2 C Veg Stock
1 TBL Soy Sauce
1 TSP Sriracha
1/4 TSP Cayenne Pepper
1/4 TSP Salt
5 Sprigs Cilantro

Trim the broccoli florets from the stem and set aside – cut about 1 TBL worth of the dark green buds from the florets and set aside – we’ll use these as a garnish. Peel the outer layer of skin from the broccoli stem and cut into 1/4 thick peices – they can be as long as the stem itself, the length isn’t very important. In a small sauce pan arrange the cut broccoli stems in a criss cross pattern on the bottom of the pan and add enough water to almost cover the stems. Add the florets, cover and cook over high heat, start timing 5 minutes as soon as the water starts to boil. Check for tenderness with a fork, the fork should easily pierce the stems of the florets – if they are not cook until they are. Quickly transfer to a bowl of ice water to shock them, the stops the cooking and helps preserve the color.

While the broccoli is steaming, heat the conola oil in a frying pan over medium high heat and add the peppers and onion. Once the onions are translucent add the garlic and ginger and cook for an additional minute.

Strain the broccoli, add it along with the the sauteed vegetables and rest of ingredients EXCEPT the toasted sesame oil to a blender or food processor. Puree on high slowly drizzling the toasted sesame oil to help create an emulsion. Once smooth, taste and adjust salt content as needed (you can fine tune with some soy sauce – if you like it spicier you can add more sriracha).

Set aside.

The Rice
Ingredients:
4″ Piece of Lemon Grass (If you cannot find this, you can skip it or substitute the zest from a 1/4 of a lime)
1/4 C Diced Onion
1 TBL Minced Garlic
2 TBL Canola Oil (divided)
1 TBL Minced Ginger
1 3/4 C Water
1 C Rice
3-4 TBL Corn Starch
2 Eggs

In a heavy pot that has a tight fitting lid, heat the oil over medium high heat. Saute the onion until translucent then add the garlic and ginger and saute for another minute. Take the lemon grass and hit it with the dull side of you knife a few times to help release the oils and it and the rice to the pot and cook for 2 – 3 minutes until the rice is a little toasted. Add the water and bring to a boil. Cover and lower the heat to low. Cook undisturbed for 10 minutes and start checking the rice. It should be tender but not mushy.

Spread the rice out into a tray and allow to cool for a few minutes.

Whisk the eggs and heat the oil in a frying pan over medium high heat.

Combine the eggs, corn starch and cooled rice in a mixing bowl. Grab a handful and flatten it out in a sheet or just get it kind of flat and carefully lay it into the hot oil – be careful not to splash yourself with the oil. Then quickly use a spatula to flatten the rice out even further, you’re looking for 1/4″ – 1/8″ thick. The thinner it is the crispier it will be. Fry on each side for about 3 minutes or until golden and crispy.

To assemble:
Its best to put the cold beef and the braising liquid in a cover sauce pan or pot and heat over low heat while you are steaming your broccoli and making your rice.

To plate, put some of the braising liquid down on the plate then place the fired rice patty down. Layer some of the beef over that and spoon out some of broccoli sauce over the meat and sprinkle with the broccoli buds. Serve immediately so the rice stays crispy!

Continue reading »]]> At every point in a career you have something that you’re most proud of, a website, a song; in this case, a recipe. At one point in time it was my ribs then it was an asian kale salad and now in this moment its this pot pie and its all because of the bone marrow crust. Groundbreaking? Probably not, but I love it because its all mine and it makes me feel pretty damn creative and awesome. The reality is that all I did was sub out the fat of butter and or shortening with the fat of bone marrow, but to me, it seems huge and I’m going to revel in it for a while.  The texture of this crust crisp yet flaky and the flavor is great! Herbal and intense. Are you going to serve this to your guests and have them say “Hey! This crust tastes like meat!” – no but there is a marked difference in flavor between its flavor and a traditional one, savory undertones that you just can’t get with butter or shortening. The filling is also pretty unique  and can be used a great stand alone stew served over rice or wide egg noodles. The mixture of the rich and better flavors from the Guinness are calmed down and balanced by addition of the apple. I know it sounds strange but just trust me on this. Have I let you astray yet?

Musical Pairing: Deicide – Stench of Redemption. This album is awesome and inspiring – and lets face it bone marrow? Meat? Yeah Deicide fits well with that. In metal you find that a lot of bands put out their best work very early on in their careers and as an aging metal head, this is outright disappointing. This album proves that even very late in a death metal band’s career they can put out material that is pushes the boundaries of their own art and rivals the classic albums they put out early in their career. To put it simply, it gives me hope even that as I get older, my creativity doesn’t have to suffer.

Filling Ingredients:
1 1/4 – 1 1/2 lbs Stew Meat (you can do boneless short ribs too)
1/4 C Flour
1/2 TSP Kosher Salt
1/4 TSP Black Pepper
Pinch Cayenne
2 TBL Unsalted Butter
2 C plus 1/2 C Guinness or other Stout
1 C Beef Stock
2 Small or 1 Large Carrot(s)
2 Celery Stalks
5 Sprigs Fresh Thyme
6 Fresh Sage Leaves
2 Fresh Bay Leaves
1 Granny Smith Apple
2 Med Onions
4 Cloves Garlic
1 Plum Tomato
4-5 Oz Baby Bella Mushrooms (most come in 8-10oz packages – just eye ball half)
1/2 C Thawed Peas (I like the little ones)

Instructions: Preheat the oven to 250 degrees. Mix the flour salt, pepper and cayenne in a bowl and coat the meat with the flour. Over medium high heat melt 2 TBL of the butter in a dutch oven or other braising vessel. Add the meat and brown on all sides, do this in batches if you have to. Remove the meat, I usually just put it back in the bowl I used for the flower mixture.

In the same pan, add 2C Guinness and 1 C Beef stock. Use a spatula to get all the bits of fond off the bottom of the pan. Bring to a boil.

Peel and chop the carrot(s) into 1/2″ chunks. Cut the celery into 1″ chunks. Peel and core the apple and cut into large pieces. Cut one of the onions into 8ths. Cut the tomato into large peices. Add all these plus the fresh herbs to the liquid and return to a boil. Cover and put in the 250 degree oven for 2 1/2 – 3 hours. Check on this every hour and stir it. After 2 1/2 hours test the meat, it should easily smush apart with the flat side of a fork, cook until you reach this point.

Now that the meat is done, I like to let it rest and I meant really rest. 2 days, yes I said two days, in the fridge will yeild the best tasting stew/pot pit filling you’ve ever had. Will it be good right out of the oven? Yes! Will it be good after a day in the fridge? Hell yes! Will it be even better two days later? Yeah, it will. Two days is the optimal amount of time for braised meat to sit in its own liquids and reabsorb them for the best flavor and moisture (I learned that in Lucky Peach Magazine, you should subscribe to it).

After the stew has rested, the fat will have solidified on the top remove all this fat and set aside. Pick out the meat and carrots, set aside as well. Put the remaining braising liquid (or paste since its cold) and veggies in a pan or a pot over medium head until its is viscous again. Pass this through a fine mesh strainer, using a scraper or spatula force as much of the veggies through for a thicker sauce. Put the sauce back in your pan and reduce by half.

Slice the mushrooms into 1/8″ pieces then slice those in half. In a frying pan over medium high heat add a spoonful of the fat you skimmed off the meat, once its melted add the mushrooms and saute for about 4 minutes. Once almost done add a 1/2 cup of Guinness and stir and cook until the beer has been absorbed and evaporated. Add the mushrooms along with 1/2 a cup of the thawed peas to the meat and stir well.

If you’re just making stew, you’re ready, done, go eat enjoy. If you’re in for the long haul, continue on for the bone marrow crust recipe.

Dough Ingredients:
Marrow from 2 4″ marrow bones
Flour
Ice Water
2 Fresh Sage Leaves
1 Tsp Fresh Thyme
1/2 Tsp Kosher Salt
1/4 Tsp Pepper
Dash of paprika

Dough Topping:
1 Egg
1/2 C Grated Gruyère

Since we can’t know how much marrow you really have, you’re going to need a scale for this. We’re using a 3:2:1 ratio of flour : fat : water for the dough (don’t go adding the water right away though, stay with me).

To remove the marrow from the bones, soak them in hot tap water for 2 or three minutes, this should help loosen the marrow from the bones. Examine the opening of the bones to determine the smaller opening. Using your thumbs, push in on the marrow through the smaller opening. The marrow should go down and start coming out of the other end. If it does not take a thin knife and slide it down between the marrow and the bone in a few spots and try forcing the marrow out again and it should come out easily.

Weigh the extracted marrow, half that number and you have the water you should need, measure the water out and set aside, multiply that number by three and you have the weight of the flour we will need. If you have 6oz of marrow, you’re going to need 3oz of ice water and 9oz of flour.

Cut the marrow into 1/2″ pieces then place in a food processor, with the spices and herbs. Process for about 30 seconds or until the marrow is almost pea sized. Add the flour and process untill it looks like large granular sand. Transfer to a mixing bowl and add half the water, mix with a spatula (after its somewhat combined, I always end up using my hands). Only add enough water to get a regular dough consistency, it might be less than the measured out amount, it might be more. Form the dough into a disk about 2″ thick, it doesn’t have to be pretty, wrap in cling wrap and put in the fridge to rest for at least a half hour.

Pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees. Get the bowls you will be using for your pot pies (I used souffle ramekins) fill them to the top with your stew. Roll out the dough to about an 1/8″ thick. Cut the dough to fit you baking vessels. I recommend making it about 3/4″ larger than needs to you can crimp and fold and keep them from looking like garbage. Place your crusted pies on a backing sheet.

Whisk the egg and brush over the top of each pie then sprinkle with the Gruyère. Take a knife and put a few slits in the crust to vent the steam. It doesn’t have to be decorative and pretty, you’ll never see them.

Bake at 400 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until crust is golden brown. If 35 minutes has passed and your crusts still look underdone, press on them with your finger. If they seem too soft still, switch the over to broil for a few minutes to finish them off. If you do this, just keep an eye on them as they can burn quickly.

Continue reading »]]> When you think of collards what do you get? Some brownish green slop that, although delicious, has been cooked to death for hours, has lost all of its textural integrity and is, lets face it, pretty damn ugly.  This recipe is completely different. Because we’re going to remove the stems from the greens, we don’t have to cook them till next Thursday and our greens are going to be crisp and bright – the addition of the heat and citrus is really going to them to life. You can use this to convert all people who think the don’t like greens.

Musical Pairing: OverKill – Iron Bound. I came up with this recipe as a collaboration with High River Hot Sauces and its features their Tears of the Sun habanero hot sauce, I have to pair Over Kill with it because while I was at the High River Hot Sauce paprty I got to spend a good half hour talking cooking with bobby Blitz of Over Kill.

Ingredients:
Collard Greens: 1 1/2 Lbs
Shallot 1/2
Kumquats 5
Cider Vinegar 1TBL
Dark Brown Sugar 1 1/2TBL
Salt 1 TSP
Tears of the Sun Hot Sauce* 2 TSP
Unsalted Butter 2 TBL
Lime or Lemon 1/2
Additional Salt

Method: To prep the greens, remove the stems. Place a collard leaf face down on your cutting board, run your knife along one of the sides of the stem removing that side of the leaf from the stem, repeat this process to completely free the stem leaving you with both halves of the collard leaf. Once they have all been stemmed, stack them and slice about 1 – 1 1/2″ thick ribbons, soak in water to remove any dirt then drain them. You can save the stems for veg stock.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add the juice from half a lime or lemon (this isn’t for flavor, the citric acid will help keep the greens bright green). Once the pot is at a fast heavy rolling boil, add the green and stir them in. Bring the water back up to a boil. Boil the green for two three minutes, tasting the leaves at the two minute mark. You want them to be kinda tender but still have some bite. Once they are done, immediately transfer them to an ice bath to stop the cooking, once cooled place in a strainer to drain.

While your water is coming up to a boil, melt the butter in a sauce pan over medium heat. Dice the half of shallot and and add to the butter, saute for two minutes till onions are translucent. Slice the kumquats as thin as you can and discard the seeds. Add the kumquats to the sauce pan along with the brown sugar and teaspoon of salt. Cook for two minutes until sugar is dissolved and the skins of the kumquat is tender. Add the vinegar and cook for another minute then add the hot sauce and the greens. While stirring, cook until greens are hot. Taste and adjust salt and hot sauce as needed to get a balance you like.

*If you cannot get Tears of the Sun hot sauce, you can substitute it out for a habanero based hot sauce but be careful with the amount you use. If you prefer to use fresh peppers, you can dice up a habanero pepper and add a teaspoon of it (more for real spicy) to the butter when you add the shallot.

Continue reading »]]> This is one of those awesome dishes that enables you to do dam near everything yourself. Aside from milling the four, laying the eggs and growing the produce, this dish will be 100% yours, you will have control over everything. Its going to be a time consuming endeavor and if you’ve never made ravioli or fresh pasta before, cancel all your plans for the day because you’re going to need every hour available. Don’t be scared, at the end it will all be worth it and I promise you will be hooked on both fresh pasta and homemade ravioli. This recipe can be made vegetarian by omitting the prosciutto.

Musical Pairing: Tombs – Paths of Totality. I like Tombs for this because when you listen to this album you can tell it was a labor or love. Nothing was just slapped together; everything is there for a purpose and there are no wasted chords, notes or drum hits. These songs weren’t rushed, they where crafted over time and the result is something great and unique, something all its own.

Pasta Dough Ingredients:
3 Eggs
1 Egg Yolk
2 TSP Olive Oil
2 TSP Kosher Salt
1 1/2 – 2 C Flour
1/2 C Water

Filling Ingredients:
3/4 Lb Asparagus
1/2 White Onion
12 Baby Bella (Crimini) Mushrooms* (White button mushrooms can be used)
1/4 Lb  Prosciutto
1/2 C Grated Parmesan

Sauce Ingredients:
2 TBL Unsalted Butter
1/4 White Onion
Remaining Mushrooms*
2 TBL Vermouth
1 1/2 C Cream
1 C  Milk
1/4 TSP Chopped Fresh Sage
5 Sprigs Thyme
1 Bay Leaf

*Ingredient note: For the filling, get the 12 mushrooms from a 12oz package of mushrooms. Use the remaining mushrooms from that package in the sauce.

Procedure: In the mixing bowl of a stand mixer, combine 2 eggs, 1 egg yolk, olive oil, salt and 1 1/2 C flour. Mix on medium until the dough just starts to come together, about 2 minutes. Still in the bowl, use you hands to form the dough into a ball. It should be slightly tacky and any clumps should stick together easily. If the dough seems very sticky, add more flour a TBL at a time to dry it out, if it seems too dry, do the same with cold water. Replace the paddle with the dough hook and knead on low for 4 minutes. Form into a disk, brush with olive oil and wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

If you don’t have a stand mixer the above can be done by hand. I recommend the well method. On a clean surface or cutting board, make a mound with the 1 1/2C flower, then using your index and middle finger, make a well in the center of the flour. Put the eggs, yolk, salt and oil in the well. Then with your two fingers mix together the wet ingredients with the flour, to do this, put you fingers in the middle and begin making a circular stirring motion working your way to the outer rim of the flour. This will incorporate the flour with the eggs. Once it gets too thick to stir, use our hands and knead the dough by hand for 4 minutes, see above about proper dough consistency to see if you need to add water or flour. Form into a disk, brush with olive oil and wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

While the dough is resting, we will start the filling. Put the onions and asparagus into a food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped, set aside then repeat with the mushrooms and set aside in a different bowl. In a frying pan over medium heat, melt 1 TBL spoon of butter and sauté the onions and asparagus until the the onions are translucent, about 4 minutes, then set aside. Still over medium heat, melt another 1 TBL butter and sauté the chopped mushrooms for about 6 minutes, then add to the sauteed asparagus and onions. Chop the prosciutto into small pieces, think about the texture of the filling when you are chopping the meat. You want pieces that are small enough so they will not have to be chewed, but large enough so you know there is real prosciutto in there. When chopped, combine with the sauteed vegetables, add the cheese, mix well and put in the refrigerator.

To make the sauce, dice the onions and slice the rest of the mushrooms. Over medium heat, melt the butter in a medium sauce pan, then add the onions. Simmer 2 minutes then add mushrooms and sauté three more minutes. Add the vermouth stir and cook for 30 seconds. Add the sage, thyme, bay leaf, cream and milk, stir well. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to low and cover. Let this cook while you make the ravioli, stirring it occasionally. When you are ready to serve, remove the bay leaf and thyme stems.

After an hour in the refrigerator, remove the dough. Make sheets of pasta from them in accordance with your pasta maker’s directions. I make them thin, usually down to the second or third from thinnest setting. Once all of your pasta is in sheets, whisk the remaining egg with the 1/2 cup of water, this is your adhesive. I won’t give you instructions on making the ravioli as it will vary depending on what kind of ravioli maker you have.
 

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All right, so maybe if I live the rest of my life without ever eating, making or seeing tomato soup ever again, I will be perfectly happy; however I do love a good soup. Generally I can’t get enough of them, especially in winter when oil prices are high and thermostats are set low. This is a great soup to warm the frozen bones and hell, its even pretty low fat, cheap as hell, and can even be made vegetarian if need be.

Musical Pairing: Paradise Lost – Draconian Times. There’s something about this old doomy metal album that is perfect for cloudy and cold winter days. Its simple and almost elegant, its melodic without being a nightmare of symphonic metal garbage and its heavy and still catchy without being commercial. A bit dated at this point in time? Well, yeah sure, but I’m making a potato leek soup which isn’t exactly paving any new culinary ground, so who am I to complain?

Ingredients:
3 Lbs Potatoes
3 Leeks
7 Sprigs Thyme
2 Bay Leaves
4 C Water
3 C Chicken or Veggie Broth
1/4 C Vermouth
4 TBL Unsalted Butter
2 TSP Kosher Salt
1 TSP Black Pepper
Optional – 4-5 TBL Creme Fraiche and some fresh dill

Procedure: Remove the green tops from the leeks, cut into 1/2” slices and soak in cold water for  5 minutes, or until clean, then strain. In a pressure cooker or large pot over medium high head melt 2 TBL of the butter then add the leeks. Saute for about 4 minutes. Deglaze with the vermouth.

Peel the potatoes and cut them into 1“ -  1 1/2” pieces. Add the potatoes, thyme, bay leaves, water, broth, salt and pepper to pot. If using a pressure cooker, cover and bring to pressure, let cook pressurized for 10 minutes. If cooking conventionally cook until potatoes are fork tender.

Add as much of the cooked mixture to a blender as you can fit along with a sliver of the reserved butter (most blenders have a removable cap built into the lid, since we are putting hot materials into the blender, you need to remove this cap and cover it with a dish towel or some paper towels so nothing splashes out – it is also through this hole where you will slide the butter slivers while the blender is on), puree for about a minute per batch then strain through a fine mesh strainer. Repeat till you have pureed and strained all your potatoes. Season with additional salt and pepper to taste.

Optional: Now, if you taste the soup now, you’ll notice its pretty damn awesome, but if you’re not too concerned with additional calories or fat we can really push it over the edge of amazing. If we add a few table spoons of creme fraiche to it, we can really make it something even more creamy and decadent. Over medium low head, start by adding three table spoons of the creme fraiche and stir it in until it is all melted and incorporated. Give it a taste and determine if it needs more, if so add to it 1 TBL at a time, stir to incorporate and repeat till you love it even more, if you go this route, finely chopped fresh dill is a very good addition as well.

Garnishes: Parsley, chives, bacon, cheddar cheese, sour cream, creme fraiche, bacon, paprika oil, etc.

Continue reading »]]> Seedless and easy to peel, the satsuma is the mandarin orange equivalent to the clementine. Satsumas will probably be one of the most juicy and flavorful citrus fruit you’ll ever sink your teeth into, so what better to with all that juice than to use it in a vinaigrette and make a kick ass salad, that will not only taste great but will be almost seasonal and fresh in the dead of winter?

Musical pairing: Wolves in the Throne Room – Two Hunters. Americanized black metal, that like fennel and the satsuma is seasonally better in the dead of winter.

Ingredients:
2 Satsumas (clementines or mandarin oranges can be substituted)
1 Head Fennel
1/2 Shallot
1 Carrot
2 Stalks Celery
2 TBL Olive Oil
1 TSP Sherry Vinegar
1/2 TSP Kosher Salt
1/2 – 1 TSP Sugar (if needed)
Shaved Parmesan (for garnish)

Procedure: To prepare the fennel trim the stalks (reserve for later), leaving about an inch above the bulb, cut off the bottom root then peel the outer fibrous layer of the bulb with vegetable peeler. Cut the fennel in half vertically then lay the fennel cut side down and using your knife, remove the solid center core with a conical v shaped incision, repeat with the other half. Slice the fennel with the cut side down into 1/8″ slices (so you know you’re cutting it right, the slices should break apart into half circles). If you have a mandolin slicer, dust it off because it will make fast work of this. Once done put the fennel in a salad bowl.

Peel the carrot, then if you have a mandolin, set to a very very thin setting and slice the carrot length wise. We want paper thin ribbons. If you don’t have a mandolin, you can cut the carrots however you choose, just try to make the slices thin. Add the carrot to the salad bowl. Cut the celery into 1/8″ slices and add to the salad bowl. For the shallot, trim the top and bottom then slice in half lengthwise. With the flat side down, slice into paper thin slices, separate with your fingers and add to salad bowl. Make supremes* with out of one of the satsumas and add to the salad bowl.

For the dressing, zest the other satsuma into a separate bowl. Cut the satsuma in half and squeeze the juice into this bowl. Then add the vinegar, olive oil and salt to this bowl and whisk till emulsified. At this point, you will want to taste the dressing. Like all fruit, no satsuma is created equal, you might need to augment the dressing with some sugar if it seems overly tart. Once you have the dressing tasting awesome (I test by dipping a slice of the fennel into it to make sure the balance is right). Add 1/2 the dressing to the salad bowl, mix and add more dressing until the salad is dressed to your liking.

Grab your fennel stalks and remove some of the fronds to use for garnish. Finish off the salad with shaved parmesan, and enjoy.

*Supremes: What the hell are they? A supreme is the meat of a citrus fruit, cut so it retains the crescent moon shape of one of the fruit’s natural segments with no skin and no peel, just straight up 100% fruit, the good stuff. To do this, slice the top and bottom off the fruit, don’t take too much off, about 1/8″ should suffice. Place one of the cut sides down, and using your knife, cut downward between the fruit and the peel, maintaining the spherical shape of the fruit as you go. The end result of this should be a sphere of citrus, with a flat top and bottom. No pith, no peel! Now, to liberate the fruit from its confines, hold it in your hand so that you are looking at the rounded side. We want to get those segments out without the skin that divides them. Take your knife and slice between the skin and the fruit. Slice inward as close to the dividing skin as possible cutting along the skin towards the center of the fruit. Repeat the process on the other side of the segment and it should pop out nicely. Repeat this process for the rest of the fruit.

Continue reading »]]> I know stuffing? Seems so pedestrian, kinda like dirty rice or something. Here’s the way I see it, turkey is turkey, fry it, brine it, rub it, cook it perfectly, but no matter what its still just turkey. Yes when done right, its juicy, tender and very delicious, but I’ll say it again, its still just turkey. Which is why you need some bad ass flavorful stuffing that will help elevate that bird and make it awesome. With this bold and complex combination of flavors, thats just what this stuffing will do.

Musical Pairing: Misery Signals – Controller. Honestly, some people might tear me apart for this, but I think these guys are one of the best bands to come from the, and man do I hate the genre label, “metalcore” scene. This album in particular is their best. Its heavy, its layered and at times even melodic and catchy. I’ve seen these guys a few times live, and every time, without fail, they are support on a tour for a larger band and they’re always much better than the headliner. Kinda like this stuffing is to a turkey.

Ingredients:
1 LB Stuffing or Toasted Bread Cut into Small Cubes
1 lb Ground Pork (if possible fresh ground pork belly)
3/4 C Chopped Celery
1 C Copped White Onion
1/2 TBL Fresh Thyme
1 TBL Fresh Sage
2 TBL Unsalted Butter
3/4 TSP Black Pepper
1 TBL Salt
1 TSP Fennel Seeds
1 C Diced Apple
1/2 TBL Dried Blood Orange Peel or Zest
4 C Turkey Stock (chicken stock will work)

Procedure: Put the broth in a sauce pan and set over medium low heat. Then in a large frying pan over medium high heat toast the fennel seeds for about 1 or 2 minutes until you can smell them and set them aside. Reduce the heat to medium, melt the butter, add the celery, onion, thyme, sage, apple, pepper and 1/2 TBL salt. Saute until the onions are translucent then set aside. Add the pork, toasted fennel seeds and remaining 1/2 TBL salt. Saute until pork is just barely cooked, a little under cooked is fine it will finish cooking when we bake the stuffing.

In a large bowl, combine the stuffing, 3 C of stock, the veggies and the pork. Mix well and let sit for about 30 seconds. Taste one of the larger bread cubes in the mix. It should be wet all the way through but not overly soggy. Add more of the remaining cup to achieve this.

Transfer the stuffing to a casserole dish large enough to hold it all (you might need two). Cover with tin foil and put in an over at 425 degrees. After 35 minutes, remove the foil and cool for another 25-30 minutes. Let rest ten minutes and serve.