Archives for the 'ethical eating' Category
Pork is the word
Peter Kaminsky, “Pig Perfect”
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, “The River Cottage Meat Book”
Stéphane Reynaud, “Pork & Sons”
Fergus Henderson, “The Whole Beast”
Today I begin my stint as the guest writer at Accidental Hedonist. Head over there to see what I’ve cooked up. In the meantime, these are my all time favorite books about pork. They are all engaging, well written, and total advocates for buying local, humanely-raised meat. Also check out what Bill Buford says about The River Cottage Meat Book and Pork and Sons in this article from a December New Yorker. I love this review because I think Buford is an excellent writer himself, plus he absolutely captures the dilemma of reading any of these books…the wanton pork lust that forces you to put down the book, get out the pork, and start cooking.
“There’s nothing like a pork belly to steady the nerves.”
-Fergus Henderson
Here’s a printer-friendly version of the recipe I posted at Accidental Hedonist.
Totally naked, baby, totally nude
Let me clarify my position on potatoes…I adore them! However, I do not love mashed potatoes. I know, I know, you’re shaking your head right now and muttering “what is not to love?”. I can understand that, I get that salt, butter, and cream are an admirable and compelling addition to the common potato. But, when it comes to the potato I’ve been born again baby…I was lost but now I’m found! I like to start with a potato that is totally naked, totally nude. This truth has been revealed to me in stages over the past year.
First there was our trip to London where I ate the classic “Sunday Roast” and discovered a potato, peeled, and cooked whole, but not soggy. Instead it was almost flaky on the outside and waxy in the middle. The taste of the potato was complete potatoey perfection from both the flavor and texture. I’d never had anything like it and it was superb. Then upon my return I tried to replicate this potato and I just couldn’t get it right, the outer layer was always soggy. Then one day I was watching Nigella and she was preparing a potato dish. Her pan choice wasn’t a deep pan or pot but rather a shallow sauce-pan with only the barest minimum of water necessary to get the job done. Then she cooked the potatoes until they were almost done, drained them, and returned them to the heat to “fluff”…and fluff they did. Excellent! I finally had a method to work with.
Lucky for me not all local potatoes were lost in our late summer flood. There were the luscious purple potatoes from Jordandal Farm and then the perfect french fingerling’s and yukons from Vermont Valley. I’ve come to love potatoes cooked with this method and while I’m sure at some point I’ll end up mashing a potato again, I know it won’t be one of these perfect local gems. They are best with coarse, kosher salt and maybe a very slight puddle of butter or meat drippings to skate it through on the way to my mouth.
Last night I served the potatoes alongside braised beef, shallots, and sauteed mushrooms…each bite was a delight. For breakfast this morning I ate the leftover potatoes, heated gently, sprinkled with some seasoning, and topped with a dollop of garlic yogurt (left over from falafel night) and chopped parsley. I wanted more.
Braised beef with naked potatoes, and shitake mushrooms
For the braised beef:
Beef roast, chuck is best
1 cup red wine
1 cup water
handful of peel shallots
2 garlic cloves, peeled and halved
1 carrot, peeled and chunked
salt, pepper, thyme
For the potato and mushrooms:
8 to 10 small potatoes
Shitake mushrooms
butter
Preheat oven to 325°F.
Brown the roast on both sides in a dutch oven. Add everything else, pop a lid on the pan and put it in the oven. Let it cook for 2.5 to 3 hours depending upon the size of the roast.
Then:
Peel your potatoes and place them in a shallow saucepan with about ½ inch of water and a good pinch of salt. Cook these on medium until they are almost done. When you knife them they should be tender but not fall off the knife blade. Drain the pan of water and return it, covered, to the burner on medium low. Remember to give them a shake every so often to keep them from sticking
Remove the roast and shallots from the pan and cover tightly to keep warm. Put the pan on a burner and reduce the remaining beef juices to a nice consistency…adding beef stock, water, or wine if necessary.
Sauté the mushrooms in the butter until tender.
Slice the beef about ¼ inch thick. Serve in a shallow bowl. First add the beef juice, then the beef, the shallots, the mushrooms, and finally the potatoes.
Pot pie of my dreams
When I was a kid growing up in rural Illinois, my mom would occasionally purchase Banquet pot pies at the IGA, they would be on sale for some incredibly low price and us kids would rejoice because we loved them so. I do remember the down side was that they took forever to bake, they are frozen blocks of food, but the crispy brown crust and the salty broth and chunks of chicken always satisfied.
Now, I would never dream of purchasing any Banquet product because they’re owned by ConAgra, a company I despise for it’s heavy hand in the market. But making a pot pie turned out to be easier than I thought. Since we tend to be such carb sluts around here (because we must feed the ever-hungry blog) I decided not to make a bottom crust. I have these lovely Apilco chili bowls and I thought they would make great individual pie servings. For the crust I used my standard galette dough of 1 cup flour, 1/4 cup coarse cornmeal, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 8 tablespoons of butter, and about 1/4 cup or so of cream. I mixed that up in the KitchenAid and stuck it in the fridge to chill.
Earlier in the day I put an old stewing hen on the stove with a couple of spare chicken carcasses from the freezer. I cooked them with some onion, celery, and garlic for 3 hours or so to make a golden chicken stock. It smelled so rich and chickeny…and it turned out just that way too.
I took some of the breast and thigh meat off the old hen and diced it up pretty small…more for flavor and texture than actual meatiness. The crown jewels of the pie were brilliant purple potatoes from Carrie and Eric Johnson’s Jordandal Farm and the sweet, vibrant carrots from Jen Ehr Farm. With incredible ingredients like that I kept it simple; I sauteed an onion and some diced carrots in butter until they softened, then I added flour to thicken the filling. I cooked that until it turned golden and then I add my chicken stock until I had the right consistency. I added my diced par-boiled potatoes, the chicken, and some thyme, salt and pepper and I let that simmer for awhile.
I turned off the heat on the filling and rolled out the pie crust, tipping the bowl upside down to cut the circle out in the right size. I love working with this dough because it’s so easy and tastes so buttery. I spooned the filling into the bowls and topped each with a circle of crust. Since I had extra I made little leaves and berries to decorate the pies and I wrapped a ring of crust around the top. I remember my favorite part of pot pies is the crust and I was about to skimp on a key component.
I was worried that perhaps my filling was too thick, and when I took the pies out after baking them for 30 minutes or so at 400F I could hear the filling sizzling. My chicken stock was still piping hot on the stove so I ladled about 1/3 cup per pie down the side of the bowl into the filling and they quieted right down…whew!
While they didn’t turn out beautiful, they certainly do have a rustic charm and they were savory, tender, and so delicious that Dexter proclaimed it to be the pot pie of his dreams. Obviously these will be made again. GH took one for his lunch the next day and he said it nuked really well.
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