it’s the little things…

Posted on July 31, 2011 by

We are in the middle of what has to be one the most brutal heat waves in quite some time.  It has topped over 100 degrees for the better part of July, and of course no one really wants to be outside right now… except for my dad.  He seems to thrive on this heat and lucky for all of us, he loves to putter in the garden.  What a garden he has!

in the garden

Every year since I can remember, in early spring, my dad starts plotting and planning, asking us what he should try.  He plants everything from lettuce to peppers and this year, even tried brussles sprouts for good measure.  *jury is still out on those*   Every garden has to have tomatoes, and let me tell you about my dad’s tomatoes.  He grows the most beautiful heirloom tomatoes.  I’ve never seen so many different varieties.  The best part of my day is stopping by his house for a bag of the best, and today, I did just that.  I love the fact that those tomatoes were attached to the plants this morning and that my dad went out and picked them just for me.  It’s all about the best ingredients, prepared with love and respect, so there is nothing better than those fresh tomatoes, paired with some local fresh mozzarella cheese and a drizzle of balsamic and olive oil.

As we sat around the table this evening, enjoying that beautiful, fresh salad, I couldn’t help but think that if  if summer had a taste, it would be what was on that plate.

the best of summer...

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Anyone that knows me, knows that one of my obsessions is PORK!  I am in love with all things pork – maybe it comes from my days working for a BBQ company, where I could go out to the smokers at any given time and take in the sight of the 3 smokers filled with the most beautiful ribs.. boston butt and even a whole hog.  The smell was intoxicating, and the results, perfection.  I learned so much working for those guys!  I’m glad to see Skip and Mike still doing some of the best BBQ around at Pappy’s and Bogart’s. If you want incredible BBQ, check them out.  I could go on and on about them, stay tuned – they deserve a post all their own!

Every chance I get, I get fresh pork belly.  I love to make fresh bacon.  There is nothing like it in the world and it’s a much easier process than you think. One of my favorite resources is Michael Ruhlman.  I love his website, he writes in an easy to follow way that’s not too technical.  Of course, I can certainly identify with his obsession and love of all things pork.

Fresh Pork Belly...

Here is the basic recipe that I use:

*Note* I play around with the seasonings. I’ve used Nutmeg and Cinnamon and a few cloves. Fresh Rosemary and Thyme – all with fantastic results.

This mixture will cure about 5# of Pork Belly.

1 lb/450 grams kosher salt
8 oz/225 grams sugar
2 oz/50 grams pink salt (instacure no. 1) – *you can order online or find at a local meat market*
1 C brown sugar (this is what it makes it caramelize so nicely)
A couple of tablespoons of cracked pepper
Put all this in a Ziploc and make sure you combine it really well. You want to make sure the pink salt is well distributed.

Spread some of the cure mixture in a sheet pan and set the pork on top of the cure, put more of the cure on top and use your hands to rub it well into and all over the meat. Place the meat in a ziplock. It is good to put set this in another dish.  Put it in your fridge and turn once or twice everyday to redistribute the liquid that accumulates – you want to keep the bacon in contact with the liquid as much as possible. Leave it like this for at least a week. Check to make sure the bacon is not soft anywhere (it should be firm when it has cured enough). If it is soft, let it cure another couple of days. When the curing is done, wash the bacon in cold water and dry very thoroughly with paper towels. Cover/wrap with sac cloth, cheese cloth or something like this and put it back in the fridge for 2-5 days to let it dry out. Then smoke it until it reaches 150F/65C internal temp. I use applewood chips for smoking – it takes about 2-3 hours in my smoker set at 180. Let the bacon cool and then take off the skin (if you have it on). The skin is great for flavoring veggies (greens, especially) or beans. You can fry it for crunchy fatty delicious snacking, too.

curing in the bag

dried and ready for the smoker

just out of the smoker

Once the bacon has been smoked to perfection and cooled, it can be sliced and frozen, but seriously…who can wait??  I slice the bacon nice and thick and put it right into the frying pan.  I take some nice thick artisan bread, toast it in the pan I’ve just fried the bacon in,  slice some heirloom tomatoes, and top the whole thing with a fresh farm egg also fried in the same pan as the bacon. *I’m all about not wasting a THING*

caramelized bacon goodness!

as good as it gets!

It’s such a sense of accomplishment to see it all come together, and better yet, to see the look on someone’s face that says that bacon is just “bacon”!  It doesn’t take long for them to say… “PORK FAT RULES!”

Posted on July 6, 2011 by | Leave a comment

To me, there’s nothing better than being at home with my family, hanging in the kitchen. It reminds me of the days when we’d head over to my grandma’s house every other Sunday.  She lived on the “Hill”, an amazing Italian community.  Shotgun houses with perfectly manicured lawns, peppered with Italian markets and great restaurants. What a place to call home!

Now, I still do my italian shopping *as my mom calls it* here.  It keeps that family connection alive and well.  I always make sure to take some time to drive through the neighborhood remembering the days of taking off with my cousins to explore.  That was back when Sunday was truly a day of rest,  so nothing was open, but it was sure fun to peek in the windows and just be off on our own.

I wanted to do something fun for my son’s birthday dinner – so it was off to Viviano’s Italian Market.  It’s Pizza night!

The store looks like it always has, and being here brings back so many memories.  Just a walk through the front door wakes up all of your senses, all of those familiar sights, sounds and smells haven’t changed in all the years I’ve been coming here.

They still have all of the great gadgets in the window, everything from pasta machines to beautiful bows and crocks.

the view from inside

They have a counter in the back where all of the fresh meats are sliced, cheeses weighed and packaged and the olives are dipped out of giant bucket with a plastic strainer.  On Saturday afternoons, the line can be 10 people deep.  They still have the big board hanging over the counter with what’s available.  Oh.. the possibilities!

I make my way to the counter and place my order, everything is sliced or packaged exactly the way you want it.  I get just the right thickness of prosciutto and perfect fresh mozzarella along with some fresh parmigiano.

the "board"

so many olives.. so little time!

I love watching them work.   So precise and efficient.    Just like it’s always been! Now I’m ready to cook!

 

 

 

I made the pizza dough earlier in the day – and left it in the refrigerator to slowly rise.  Diced tomatoes were seasoned with garlic, olive oil, basil and oregano.  I sauteed some fresh Italian Sausage and was ready to start building the pizzas.

prelude to a pizza

I love a good cheese pizza, and if one cheese is really good, why not 4?  I used a fresh mozzarella along with some grated mozzarella, parmesan and fresh ricotta ~ heaven on a crust!

ready for the oven

formaggio quattro

italian sausage and fresh mozzarella

 

 

 

 

 

I did a prosciutto as well as a big giant Italian Sausage Pizza.   Pizza is so simple.  You don’t need a recipe for this one,  just use your favorite pizza dough, pizza sauce and then get creative!

Posted on May 29, 2011 by | 2 Comments

stress.. what stress *or butter makes everything better!*

Posted on May 21, 2011 by

When I have that rare downtime,  I love to flex my “culinary muscles” as I call them.  As someone that hasn’t cooked professionally in a few years, spending time in the kitchen keeps me connected to what brought me to this point in my life.  Working in my kitchen reminds me that the fire is still there, sometimes it smolders, other times it’s a raging inferno.

We spent the morning at one of the many local farmers markets that have popped up in STL.  I like wandering through the market.. looking at all of the beautiful products, talking to the people that share my passion, hearing their stories.  It’s so true what they say about food bringing people together.

from the farm...

It was a pretty stressful week, and I could feel my blood pressure dropping as the morning went on.. with all of this wonderful produce, how could it not?

One of my favorite things to do, is take a look at what I have in house, build a menu and run with it.  It’s such a stress relief for me.  I had some scallops in the freezer, and with fresh asparagus from the market and a bag of homegrown lettuce from my dad *his garden is a whole story in itself – more to come*  we were in business.

putting it together

ready for the oven

ready to build the salad

I decided to do a champagne vinaigrette to go with his greens.  I like to put a twist on salad, something a little unexpected,  and one of my favorites is a tiny cheese souffle.  Just about any cheese will work. I had fresh Parmesan Reggiano.  I made a little fresh tomato basil relish to go with it.

drying the scallops

For the main course?  I’ve been experimenting lately with cooking Sous Vide.  I bought a Sous Vide Supreme recently, and it’s perfect for what I do at home.  For those of you that are scratching their heads wondering what in the world that “sooo” thing is..  Sous Vide is French for “under pressure”.  Thomas Keller has really brought focus to the technique although many chefs have been cooking this way for years.  The Cliffs Notes version is that food is cooked in a vacuum sealed bag in a water bath.  There is very little danger in overcooking here, but it’s been done, trust me!  Intrigued?  Google Sous Vide Cooking and see what comes up.  We’ll talk more about it in detail later…

I sealed the scallops in a bag with some butter and fresh lemon zest.  Popped them in a water bath at 140 and poached them for about 30 minutes.  While they were happily swimming in butter, I made a lemon, asparagus risotto.

scallops, lemon and butter

poaching in a 140degree bath

I took the scallops out of their water bath, they were cooked perfectly, with an amazing texture and flavor.  I dried them really well, and put them right in a hot saute pan and seared them to give them some beautiful color.

As I sat at the dinner table with my family, talking… laughing.  The craziness of the past week was just that.. past.

I couldn’t help but think.. stress… what stress?

Seared Scallops withe Lemon Asparagus Risotto and White Truffle Oil

Dad's Garden Greens, Parmesan Cheese Souffle and Tomato Basil Relish

Posted in family, Happiness, passion | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

“The only real stumbling block is fear of failure. In cooking you’ve got to have a what-the-hell attitude.”~ Julia Child

As I start this very public journey, I thought it appropriate to start with Julia.

She my friends,  had the balls.. *yes, I said “balls”* to walk into a most proper culinary institution, Le Cordon Bleu, IN PARIS, and hang with the boys.   Not only did she hang with them, but often times, she simply kicked their ass!  Julia had an all consuming passion, and as a woman in the industry, it’s a passion that I understand.  All she wanted was to find the best products available to her and prepare them respectfully.  She taught me that something as simple as a roast chicken could be far from ordinary.  It’s a lesson that inspired me,  gave me the “balls” to walk into culinary school that first day, and has since stayed with me.  Unlike many women in this industry,  I was blessed to be able to study with a chef that shared those same principles with Julia, in fact, he worked side by side with her.  He, unlike the boys in Paris, inspired me to be who I am today.  He lit the fire that was to become this culinary obsession I have today.

It’s an obsession that I hope to explore here.. one I hope you’ll share with me.

Posted on May 15, 2011 by | 6 Comments

stay tuned!

Posted on May 10, 2011 by

… work in progress

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