I’m thinking that Arby’s was a bad move for lunch today. My youngest spawn pointed to my curly fries and asked “what happened to that one?”… It was kinda distorted and I realized that it looked like an Ebola virus. I also realized that there was absolutely no way I could explain Ebola to blossoming teen girl whose only item of fixation was the Jonas Brothers. So I ate it.
That, my friends, is fried spam on a stick. And no, it’s not really better than boobies. For more gut wrenching gastronomy, go here.
Or… it was very close to being alive before Oleg snapped the picture. I’m not quite sure what the roll is composed of, but I’d eat it!
It’s a sausage wrapped pork tenderloin that is served with brussels sprouts. I’ve never been a big fan of those little bitter green balls of bitterness. But this much pig might make me change my mind… Thanks Slashfood!
For the Tenderloin:
2 each pork tenderloin
1/2 lb. fat back
1 1/2 lb. pork butt
1 Pinch of sel rouge (Curing Salt)
1 teaspoon fennel seed, ground
1 teaspoon coriander, ground
1 teaspoon black pepper, ground
3 cloves of garlic
3 sprigs of parsley
1 cup caul fat
For the Farrotto:
2 1/2 cups Farro
1/2 piece of fennel, diced
1/2 piece medium onion, diced
2 quarts of chicken stock
3 sprigs of parsley, chopped
1/2 cup butter, cubed
For the Brussels Sprouts:
1 cup of cleaned brussels sprouts blanched quickly in water
1 1/2 cup of thinly slice bacon
1/4 cup of golden raisins
1 tablespoon grapeseed oil
PREPARATION:
For Pork Tenderloin:
1. Clean the Pork Tenderloin and portion the 2 into 6 portions. Chef Di Meglio prepares this dish at Olana using authentic Berskshire pork from D’Artagnan.
2. Add all other ingredients except for the caul fat. Mix well and grind finely (or, if you’re short on time, D’Artagnan has wonderful pre-made sausage).
3. Lay out the sausage on a piece of plastic wrap and roll it around the pork tenderloin.
4. Wrap it lightly in the caul fat to help its keep shape. Cook on a greased baking sheet in a 400° F oven for 12-15 minutes.
5. Let it rest for 5 minutes and slice.
For Farotto:
1. In a medium sized pan with a little oil to coat the bottom of the pan add the fennel and onions and cook soft.
2. Add the Farro to the pan and toast it lightly.
3. Add the chicken stock. Stir until soft.
4. When the farro is soft, add the herbs and butter. Set aside to plate.
For the Brussels Sprouts:
1. In a pan add the oil and start to render the bacon until golden brown.
2. Add the brussels sprouts and cook until they get a little color and are cooked thoroughly.
3. Finally add the raisins and continue to cook for 3 more minutes.
Plating: Smear farro on center of plate, spoon aside the brussels sprouts. Lay pork on top and enjoy while hot!
Shamelessly reprinted from Slashfood:
Spicy Tuna Cups
5 small Persian or Kirby cucumbers
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 1-inch piece of lemongrass, cut in half
1 scallion, white part only, chopped
1 pound of sushi grade tuna
1/4 cup reduced-fat mayo
1 tablespoon hot chili sauce
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup black or white sesame seeds for garnish
In a small saucepan, heat rice wine vinegar, sugar, salt, lemongrass and scallion. Simmer 2-3 minutes until the sugar and salt dissolves. Set aside.
Peel the cucumbers and slice into 1-inch chunks. With a paring knife or melon baller, prepare your cup by hollowing out one side of the cucumber.
Pour the cooled vinegar mixture into a zipper-lock bag and add the cucumber cups. Marinate for 4-5 minutes.
In a food processor or mini-chopper, pulse the tuna. Mix in the mayo and chili sauce. Season with salt.
Remove cucumber cups from marinade and fill with tuna mixture. Garnish with sesame seeds.
Because you should never do anything half way…
Traditionally, ensalada Caprese is made of sliced fresh mozzarella, plum tomatoes and basil. It is seasoned with salt, black pepper, and olive oil. Tomatoes and basil are in abundance in my backyard and I just picked up some yummy cheeses from my dealer, er cheese merchant. I’ll be adding a few capers and a splash of balsamic vinegar to mine… and maybe sop up the plate with a shave or two of Prosciutto…
I used to have a rather negative opinion of canned goods. I’m pretty sure that asparagus is the cause of that. You see, most canned asparagus tastes phlegm and has the consistency of white school paste. Canned goods achieved a space in my priority list reserved for things that I was too lazy to do myself: tomato sauce, beans, etc. Then a friend of mine brought back a steamer trunk sized cache of canned goods from a trip to France. Tasty duck! My opinion of canned goods changed. I regularly begged him to bring me back some French canned yumminess whenever he made his vacation. I have to say that the duck and the pate were always amazing. Now, my opinion of canned goods has dropped into the crapper again. From DigYourOwnGrave comes a pictorial documentation of German made cheeseburger in a can.
I believe I’ll avoid this canned delicacy…
I was reading Homesick Texan’s post on dewberries and luscious cobbler. She said “picking dewberries is a wonderful warm-day pastime. When I was young, my friends and I would march out to the wilder parts of my suburban Houston neighborhood—such as the bayou, vacant lots or the rough patch next to the golf course—and brave water moccasins, thorns and poison ivy to score some of these black orbs, warm from the sun and ready to pop in your mouth.” She’s absolutely right and I am beginning to think that we might have lived inthe same Houston neighborhood at around the same time (ish). I love dewberries and I can even put up with having to go through the dental floss event from hell after my profligate consumption. But there is one thing that I have learned to hate about dewberries: birds.
As much as people love dewberries, birds love them more. Black birds, mockingbirds, sparrows, titmice, cardinals, grackles, finches, warblers… They slurp them down with more glee than people. And they have the benefit of an aerial vantage, so they can get *more* dewberries than people. And then they crap. Some would think that pigeon crap is a burden. I’ll swap. For a good month in SouthEast Texas all the bird crap is purple. Not lavender, but that sickening yoghurt purple. And it’s everywhere. On your car, the sidewalk, the mailbox, the porch… Great splats and piles of purple poop. And if you do not wash it off immediately, it begins to assume the destructive/corrosive/quantum properties of red matter (go see the new Star Trek movie). My oldest daughter has actually been splatted on the forehead by a sated black bird as she tried to get into the family car. (Note: the shrieks of a 17 year old after said event can be auditorily challenging.) Purple poop *almost* makes me want to give up blackberries. But not quite. Especially since I’ll be making Homesick Texan’s cobbler recipe tonight…
Dewberry Cobbler
Crust ingredients:
1/2 stick of butter (2 oz.)
1 cup of flour (6 oz.)
1/2 cup sugar (3 oz.)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup of buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon salt
Filling ingredients:
4 cups dewberries or blackberries
1/2 cup sugar (3 oz.)
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Method:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Place the rinsed berries in a large cast-iron skillet or nine-inch round cake pan, and toss the berries with the sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon and lemon juice. Let them macerate for 20 minutes. To make the crust, melt the butter on low in a pan, and then add the other ingredients. Dough will be slightly sticky, moist yet pliable. Pat out the dough and place it over the berries. Bake 40 minutes or until light brown and bubbling.
We’ve all heard about those amazing lawsuits involving fast food chains. They usually involve some wild-ass claim. There’s a guy suing BK for screwing up his order in Virginia. Seems kind of silly, eh? But when you read the actual lawsuit, it would appear that the plaintiff genuinely feels like he has been damaged by BK’s mistake. I get it and am actually gratified to see that somebody actually considered how they were damaged as a basis for the lawsuit. I guess the questions are… Assuming one knew about a severe allergic reaction to a particular substance (presumably, that’s why he specifically ordered his meal without the ingrdient), wouldn’t a reasonable person actually check the item to be consumed before consuming it to avoid such reactions? Or does the sole responsibility for one’s health and welfare, or injury to that health, reside with the provider of substances that affect it? I gotta think that making BK responsible for insuring that you do not have allergic reactions is kind of silly.
