Finally updating my blog after a year.  Sorry folks, it's been a bit.  The blog is going to change a bit to encompass some of my other past times, most notably my little underground restaurant.  So yes, I will not just be limiting myself to pork any more.  I hope I don't offend too many people but it's time to get back to business.

This meal was last minute, but it turned out ok.  I didn't have much to work with, but spied some arborio rice in the pantry and of course i had some homemade bacon.  So this is what it inspired.  It was a nice twist on classic risotto.  The ancho added some subtle smokey heat which was balanced out by the carmelized dates and the bacon added some savory quality, plus i used the rendered fat for the risotto.

I paired the meal with a rich Pinot Gris from Raptor Ridge.

Buen Provecho

Carl

Ancho Risotto

1/2 Dried Ancho reconstituted in hot water
1 cup Arborio Rice
3 cups heated beef stock (preferably homemade)
2 tablespoons rendered bacon fat
1/2 a Red Onion diced
1 1/2 cup full-bodied white wine
1/2 cup of parmesan-reggiano
lime zest and cotija cheese to garnish
salt and pepper to taste

Puree the reconstituted ancho with the wine

Bring stock to a simmer in a stockpot over medium-low heat; reduce heat to low. Meanwhile, in a heavy bottomed pot, heat the previously rendered pork fat over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until soft and translucent, about 10 minutes.

Add the rice mixture and cook over medium heat for about one minute, stirring to coat. Add the white wine/ chile mixture and stir until the mixture is absorbed, about 30 seconds.

Add the first addition of simmering stock, about 1/2 cup. Stir periodically until most of the liquid is absorbed. Add another addition of stock and stir until most of the liquid is absorbed. Repeat this process until the mixture is creamy and a bit loose; the rice should still have some chew to it. The process will take about 20 minutes.

Add the the butter and cheese and cut the heat. Incorporate until the risotto is creamy.  Taste for salt and pepper.  Garnish with lime zest and cotija (aged mexican cow's-milk cheese)

Finished off with homemade bacon and dates that were quickly carmelized in the broiler.

In honor of Fat Tuesday (yes it was a while ago) we invited over a bunch of friends for a nice rousing evening of drinking.  No beads, no floats, but we did have a big pot of gumbo.  I love gumbo, but so often what is served is a pale form of this rich dish which even allows for modifications.  The biggest issue is that most times peple don't make the roux, the mixture of fat and flower cooked slowly.  Roux is the base to many dishes but requires a bit of patience.  Here's my take on a classic gumbo.

3⁄4 cup vegetable oil
3⁄4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup finely chopped onion
1⁄2 cup finely chopped celery
1 pound smoked sausage, sliced thickly
1/2 lb smoked boar belly (or substitute tasso ham), diced
4 cups hot chicken stock
1 1/2 lb of diced tomatoes (canned is fine)
1 tbsp. salt
1⁄2 tbsp. cayenne
1 lb okra sliced
1 lb. medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
Filé powder
Parsley and scallions for garnish
Louisiana style hot sauce

Make a brown roux with the oil and flour, it should be about the color of caramel. Raise the heat a bit and add onions, and celery; cook until tender vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes. 

Add the sausage and smoked meat,  Then add the tomatoes stirring constantly so as to not separate the roux.  Slowly add the stock and then the salt and cayenne and bring to a simmer, stirring frequently. Reduce heat to low and simmer for half an hour or when the meat seems fork tender.  Add the okra and continue to cook for another 15 minutes.

Add shrimp and cook for 3 to 5 minutes more. Stir in filé powder at the last minute to thicken the gumbo (if needed, the okra and the roux also serve this purpose). Serve with white rice, scallions, parsley and hot sauce.

There are few things I enjoy in the morning more than grits.  It must've been something my mom instilled in me, but sadly most dining establishments north of the mason dixon line never have hide nor hair of it on their menus.  Because of this, it's always something I cook at home.

My buddy Ian was in town from Minneapolis and so I made up a nice hangover cure so we could get ourselves moving and actually enjoy the city instead of sitting around the house regretting the previous night's indiscretions.

Don't ever buy breakfast sausage patties, please I implore you.  All it takes is combining ground pork with spices and forming patties.  You can either buy the pork already ground, or take pork butt (shoulder) and run it through your meat grinder or food processor.

Grits and Sausage

1 pound ground pork
3 teaspoons salt
2 cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons finely diced cilantro
1 tablespoons guajillo chile powder

Combine ingredients and allow to marinate for a bit.  Form the patties this will yield about eight 2in. patties.  Cook over medium high heat until both sides are browned, reduce heat and allow to finish cooking through.

1/3 cup of grits
1 1/3 cups of water
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon hot prapika
2 shallots finely diced
1 cup feta
2 tablespoons butter

Cook the shallots in half the butter over low heat until they are soft and slightly browned.  Bring the water to a boil and then add the salt and grits and stir.  Reduce heat to low and cover, cook for about 3-5 minutes.  After the grits have thickened to the desired consistency mix in the feta, paprika and the shallots.  The remaining butter is for garnish shoudl you want a bit more decadence.  Place in a bowl and top with the sausages.  Pair with a strong cup of coffee.

Cheers

Sunday night found me lonely with no guests to serve, no roommate at home,  no games on the tube, and not a whole lot to do.  So naturally I decided to make an easy French dinner to occupy my time.  The sauce in this recipe should go well with just about any basic production of pork or chicken.  It's loosely based around a Julia Child recipe with some help from a host of other cookbooks and whatever happened to be in my fridge and pantry.

Ingredients:

For the braised pork:

1.5 lbs of pork shoulder cut into 1 inch cubes
1 onion cut into thin crescents
2 cloves garlic minced
1/2 lb mushrooms (your choice) sliced and sauteed in 1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp butter
12 oz lager beer

For the sauce

1/3 cup cider vinegar
Generous portion of ground black pepper (3/4 tbsp)
1 cup heavy cream
2 tsp mustard powder mixed in a bit of water.

Directions:

1. Place pork and butter into dutch oven or other deep cast iron pot and cook on medium for five minutes.

2. Add onions and garlic and cook for a further ten minutes stirring occasionally.

3. Pour beer into pot and raise to a simmer.  Reduce heat and cook covered for 40 minutes.

4. In a separate pan sautee mushrooms with butter for five minutes on medium low heat and add to the pork.  Cook mixture forty more minutes uncovered.

5. To make the sauce pour the vinegar and ground pepper into a small sauce pan and boil rapidly until the vinegar reduces by 2/3

6. Add the cream to the vinegar, raise to a simmer, reduce heat and cook a further five minutes or until the cream is reduced by 1/3.

7. Add mustard to cream sauce and cook a further five minutes on low heat.

8.  Increase heat on pork to boil off excess braising liquid and stir frequently to avoid burning the meat.

9.  Add cream sauce to pork and stir together while raising to a simmer.

10. Cut the heat, garnish with fresh tarragon (or parsley if you don't have the fancy shit.)

11. Serve over plain white rice, or boiled potatoes.

Yesterday I came across one of the NY Times' culture articles lamenting the decline of hipster businesses in a newly trendy neighborhood of the L.A. area.  The stagnant condition of the economy is apparently reducing business at 'retro design shops', 'yarn stores', and some coffee shop that has a play area for the kids with handmade Scandinavian toys made of Norwegian wood.

Although I've never been to City of Angels, I do live in the newly hip neighborhood of Wicker Park/Ukrainian village in Chicago.  Here there is a similar decline in business for the dog grooming parlors, bead shops, and boutiques that seem to keep only ten shirts in stock.  And all I have to say is good riddance!

I realize I'm a part of the young crowd that moved to my neighborhood and warped the local businesses into what they've become.  But this economic downturn has provided an oppurtunity to reverse this trend somewhat.  I propose a converging of interests between the newly arrived hipsters and the entrenched locals may be found in pork.

For example, everyday I see yet another sign of how bacon has become the official meat of hipsters.  Here's one such example.  Seriously take the time to watch that.  It is amazing.  All joking aside, however, many hipsters should be pleased to find that bacon has been eternally hip with majority of the ethnic communities that they are now moving into.  In my neighborhood I live amongst a good mix of Polish, Ukrainian, Puerto Rican, and Mexican.  Culinarily speaking these are all cultures that share a deep respect for pork and cured pork products.  This is why I can't really see myself living anywhere else in this city in the near future. 

Last year one of my favorite old Polish deli's on Division St., Andy's, fell victim to gentrification and closed its doors forever.  This was a great loss to local fans of tasty sausage.  It has been replaced by something called Angels and Mariachis a 'rock cantina' that has battery acid margueritas and lots of dishes with Mexican names and steep prices. 

If hipsters can combine their supposed new found love of pork with their local purchasing habits, we may hopefully be able to prevent further tragic losses of good food and perhaps witness a continued decline in dog grooming and 90 dollar t-shirt profits.

So, as I said in the last post, part of the inspiration for the boar stew was some nebbiolo that I wanted to drink.  Tom and I headed down to my family's house with a bottle of 2000 Produtorri del Barbaresco.  It was from the Pora vineyard and although it probably could've aged a bit more, I had a taste for Piedmont.  The wine worked beautifully with the dish as its relative youthful nature helped it stand up to the potent flavors fo the stew.  The fruit was still very bright showing dark cherries, followed by the classic leather and tobacco notes.  The structure of the wine was a highlight with the finish returning to ripe fruit.

As I have been placed as the steward/ cellar manager of my father's collection I picked out one of his old bottles that was in need of drinking.  I stumbled upon an obscure petit chateau from Bordeaux that was of the '82 vintage.  I wasn't really familiar with the producer, but the vintage certainly warranted giving the bottle a try.  I tried doing some research but couldn't figure anything else about the producer.  I don't know how my dad got his hands on this, but it had peaked my interest.  It was labelled as a Vin de Bordeaux, which didn't provide any help either.  I was sceptical that this wine would've held up well.  Even in a good vintage these are the wines that normally get consumed shortly after release.

Upon opening it, I was at least happy that it wasn't corked and hadn't turned to bordeaux vinegar.  The nose was a bit tired, but it had that wonderful earthy/ dank basement smell of well aged Bordeaux.  All in all the wine still had some life to it.  It probably should've been drunk earlier in its life, but I really enjoyed the slightly oxidized quality and the minerality that was still there.  Not much to say in the way of fruit, but if I want fruit I'll drink juice.  It was a pleasant surprise that shows that you don't always have to buy those damn expensive classed growths to enjoy well aged Bordeaux.

Cheers

Nothing says winter like a nice stew.  We had some wild boar that we purchased from the Chicago Game Market and I had some wonderful nebbiolo that I waned to drink so I decided to make a nice Northern Italian boar stew.  The dish was briefly marinated, something that I would remedy the next time I make this.  It clearly should left over night, but this was done a little bit hurriedly.

3lb of boneless shoulder of wild boar

Marinade Ingredients
2 bay leaves
4 large thyme sprigs 1tablespoon dried
2 rosemary sprigs or about 2 tablespoons of dried rosemary
1 1/2 cup full-bodied red wine
2 medium onions, sliced
6 garlic cloves peeled and crushed
12 black peppercorns
1 tablespoon juniper berries, lightly crushed

4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 lb of semi-dried italian sausage sausage, cut into slices
2 tsp tomato paste
2 tsp plain flour
1 1/2 cup of red wine
2 cups of beef stock
1 1/2 cup dried porcini mushrooms
2 tablespoons butter
salt and freshly ground black pepper
handful parsley, chopped, to garnish

Cut the wild boar into medium chunks and put the pieces of meat into a large bowl and add all the ingredients for the marinade, mix together well, cover and leave to marinate in the fridge at least overnight, stirring it occasionally.

Separate the meat from the rest of the marinade ingredients and set aside. Heat some of the oil in a large flameproof casserole dish and cook the meat in batches until it is browned all over. Season as necessary.

Add all the browned meat to the casserole dish with a little more oil and add the sausage and cook for a minute or two. Stir in the tomato purée and fry for another minute then toss in the flour followed by the wine, both fresh and the reserved wine from the marinade. Add the beef stock, porcini mushrooms, 1 teaspoon salt and pepper to taste. Bring to the boil, cover with a tight-fitting lid and leave to simmer gently for 1½ - 2 hours.

Shortly before the stew is ready, add the butter  and some salt and freshly ground black pepper, sprinkle with the parsley and serve.

The dish was filling, with the meat not quite as tender as I would've wanted.  I really think this would've been remedied had I actually planned ahead and marinated for as long as I put in the recipe.  Wild boar has this rich almost minerally quality.  I made some very simple risotto and cooked up some tasty yellow carrots my dad had picked up at the farmer's market.

The next thing I want to do with wild boar is see if we can successfully make wild boar bacon.  Wish me luck.