Pork

Slow Simmered Pork Ragú With Handkerchief Pasta

September 26, 2011

In Southern California summer starts early and ends late. Some people say we have no real “seasons” here, but that’s not really true. We have them, they’re just a little more muted than in other places. That, and we don’t have to suffer things like ice storms or 90% humidity, so really, I can’t complain. Still, as we head into October, I find myself craving those heartier dishes which say “Fall” even if the temperature outside is still hovering near 80 degrees.

Recently I made this slow simmered ragú using one of the last roasts from our pig. I decided to serve it with handkerchief pasta, a cut of pasta I’ve wanted to make ever since I had it at Delfina in San Francisco a couple of years ago. There are a lot of different recipes out there for a “traditional” Italian ragú; some have beef, some pork. Some ragús include sausage …

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Grilled Flatbread with Figs, Goat Cheese, Prosciutto and Arugula

August 22, 2011

There is a saying, “Want to make God laugh? Tell him your plans.”

We had plans for this weekend, oh yes. Big ones which involved flying to another city, a nice hotel room and dinner at a Michelin starred restaurant with friends. We’d been planning it for months. Those four days were going to be the only getaway my husband David and I would have together this summer and we were both looking forward to it.

Then fate intervened.

A few weeks ago we noticed that one of our two cats, our boy named Basil, had a problem with his left eye. Over the next few weeks, David took Basil to see three different vets for tests to only figure out what it was not (an infection, a fungus, a virus, cancer spread to other organs). There was no real diagnosis, only that he had a mass growing behind his left eye, but not what caused it. …

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Slow Cooked Cuban Pork

May 23, 2011

As I’ve mentioned, last year we bought a whole pig from a farm in Oregon. And while I love pork in all its forms, the one thing I could live without is a traditional cured ham. I’m talking about the kind of ham that’s served for Christmas dinner or the kind of ham on a sandwich. This poses a bit of a problem because our pig came with no fewer than 4 pieces of “fresh ham” ranging from about 4 to over 6 lbs each. What to do with the hams?

Basically, the cuts labeled fresh ham are just smaller pieces from the whole leg and can be cooked as a typical pork roast. Fortunately, one is not required to cover it with pineapple slices and cloves, and serve it on a platter while wearing pearls and a frilly apron. No, my ham is going to get down and dirty, cooked low and slow until tender, and be eaten with our hands in little tacos. Ok, I …

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Bucatini all’ Amatriciana, Making Guanciale, and Charcutepalooza!

February 15, 2011

Rome is one of my favorite cities on the planet. Each time I go I’m captivated by the beauty, the thousands of years of history around every turn, and of course by the food. If I had to pick a place outside the US to live, Rome would be in the top three.

One of my favorite dishes to eat in Rome is a pasta called Bucatini all’ Amatriciana. Ironically, this is not technically a “Roman” dish. As the name implies, it’s bucatini pasta in the style of the town of Amatrice, which is about 100 miles from Rome. Still, the Romans have made this dish their own and it can be found on almost every trattoria menu, which isn’t to say it’s common or boring. It may be a simple pasta with few ingredients, but it’s one of the most satisfying and tasty and I find myself ordering again and …

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Soup Swap Party; White Bean Soup with Greens and Homemade Italian Sausage

February 1, 2011

Soup Swap Party? What’s that? Do I have to cook? Does everyone bring soup to eat? That’s gonna be a lot of soup!

Whoa, slow down people.

A Soup Swap is where everyone makes six quarts of soup at home, puts it in 1 quart containers and freezes it. Everyone brings their frozen soup to the party, chats for a while while having drinks and snacks, and hears the “story of the soup.” People then take turns picking different soups to bring home. It’s a fun and easy way to get to try some new things and not get tired of your own cooking.

The Soup Swap party was conceived over a decade ago by Knox Gardner, who while living in Seattle, made big pots of soup but got tired of eating leftovers and decided to share with friends. Since then it has grown into a national movement and this year was the 5th Annual National Soup Swap event. You can read more about …

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Pig Candy (Bacon Peanut Brittle) and the Good Meat Book

November 15, 2010

It seems like everywhere you look in the last couple of years bacon is a key ingredient in everything from savory to sweet, from casseroles to cupcakes, so I guess putting it in candy makes sense in some weird way. I’m not late to the party here, I’ve simply been trying to avoid the bacon frenzy and not buy into the hype. Bacon is trendy, and like all trends it will be replaced by something else soon enough and then we can all go back to having it with our eggs in the morning. I was happy to ignore the trend until I saw the recipe for “Pig Candy” in the book Good Meat: The Complete Guide to Sourcing and Cooking Sustainable Meat and suddenly, my mind was changed.

Good Meat, is a weighty hardcover book filled with over 200 recipes and absolutely stunning photos of both raw primal cuts of meat and some of the finished recipes. This book is meant …

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