Charcuterie: Attempt #1

There is one food category that I constantly crave and never get sick of....cured meats. Smoky bacon, spicy coppa and light as a feather bresaola are a few of my favorites, but I am by no means dismissing the rest of them. Charcuterie is an art form that I admire above most. People will literally eat slices of white pork fat when it is cured and titled "lardo". My co-worker and I have thoroughly discussed our love for meat on a regular basis and when she showed up to the office carrying her duck breast prociutto for us to taste, I decided that it was time to get into curing and flavoring our own meats.

We went to the farmer's market and picked out our one of our favorites, pork belly. Later in the week during pre-hot pot dinner time, we decided to forgo the bacon route because of the lack of a smoker and make pancetta. Going through the available spices in N's cabinet, we chose a blend of berbere, schezuan peppercorns and black peppercorns and mixed them in a mortar and pestle. After coating the patted dry meat in a freshly ground garlic paste, we patted on the spice mixture and a lot of kosher salt. The belly sat in the fridge for 7 days where I believe a little more salt was added to ensure curing.

After a week was up, N brought the belly to work wrapped in cheesecloth and we hung it in our office supply storage room for 2 weeks. When it was done, we took it down and our executive chef sliced it in perfect baconesque slices. When he handed it to us, it was like Christmas/Hanukkah/birthday all rolled into one. We were beaming with pride; Our pork belly baby had just graduated to charcuterie status.

Some notes: Next time, more spices and less refriderated curing time for such a small peice of meat. Ours has a really light flavor and a little too much salt. Also, if it would have air cured for a few more days, I truly believe it could be eaten without being cooked. It was almost there.

Crush (My first official restaurant review)

Until I moved into my new house, I ate 95% of my meals out. I have explored hundreds of menus, tasted a lot of cocktails and allowed a thousand different bites to linger on my tongue to find the quintessential dining experience. I would never claim to be a food snob, but I do believe that everything has a time and place. When I am spending $1.99 on my Wendy's value meal, I know what to expect and I feel the same should go for $200 at a fancy dining establishment. I can't tell you how many times I have been disappointed by different restaurants. I think that loving to cook and having a certain level of skill in the kitchen makes this more difficult. I have a hard time justifying a $150 bill on something that I could have easily prepared in my own kitchen, but it won't stop me from trying.

Crush delivered. Our server was friendly and knowledgeable and she didn't bat an eye when I requested that the insanely large amount of food that we ordered come out in a very specific succession. After putting in our request, she came back out saying, "the chefs like how you think and here is a plate of gourgeres to get you started." Bringing more food that I didn't order is the key to my heart, especially when it is delicious. If these puffs of perfect pastry and cheese were a hint of things to come...this place was a good choice. Next was a taster size plate of the tiny beet salad with miner's lettuce, pear, blue cheese and caramelized walnuts. A classic combination done beautifully with red and golden beets.

A plate of seared rare scallops with rhubarb confit on top of a bed of spring onion risotto appeared right on time and was a highlight of the meal with everything cooked exactly the way I want it. Almost raw scallops with a crunch crust on one side and the risotto was so creamy and smooth, I wanted to keep the bite in my mouth as long as possible. This was followed by a plate of crispy fried sweetbreads (they held on to that sweetbread flavor nicely) with a so-so bourbon sauce that tasted like soy sauce. The dish tasted great, but couldn't compete with the preceding scallops. Then came the lobster tail. The menu had it listed in a coral sauce with mascarpone ravioli, tangerine and truffle oil and we had only ordered one....but there were 2 dishes served to us. The chefs had prepared us a special taste of lobster cooked in a curry sauce with carrot gnocchi, tangerine and fresh fava beans. Both dishes were exceptional with the curry dish standing out against its plainer counterpart. I am a stickler for a perfectly cooked gnocchi and these did me right. They held their shape and consistency even though we had begun to slow down and they sat in front of me a little longer than normal.

I was damn near full with another course to go and the house sent us out another surprise treat and my new favorite food of the month, olive oil and lemon sorbet. They paired the bite with an Australian Moscato d'Asti, a sweet sparkling white wine. The sorbet had a clean, sharp tang and a smooth creamy aftertaste brought on by the olive oil flavor that definitely stood out to me. There was a hint of sweet but it was savory enough to sit in my mouth tandem with the wine without over sugaring my tongue. I swear I am buying an ice cream maker. I want to eat a mountain of this sorbet. The foie gras steaks that came out next ( the premier reason for us trying this place) were tasty, but I wanted more sorbet. The brioche and huckleberry sauce was merely an obstacle standing between me and my goal. I ate the carmel-y liver, pushed everything else aside and called out for the dessert menu. The trio of sorbets: rhubarb pinot gris, cucumber mint and olive oil lemon finished the meal in the lightest and freshest of ways and I was satisfied, literally to the point of being sick.

I wanted tortillas, so I made them.

Since living alone, I have been trying to make as much food from scratch as possible. I would like to have the time to make my own bread, but I haven't gotten there yet. So, this weekend when I was craving tacos, I figured I should make my own tortillas. My grandmother used to make tortillas with me whenever I would ask her. She is able to use her hands and slap the dough into perfectly uniform rounds that puff and brown beautifully when cooked on her cast iron skillet. I don't think she has ever even measured the ingredients, she just knows when the dough is right. Paired with her wonderful homemade refried beans, they are one of my favorite comfort foods.


I cut flour, shortening, baking powder and salt using a fork and then added enough water to make a soft dough. I kneaded it on my counter for about 5 minutes and cheated by using my rolling pin to get the tortillas thin enough to not be considered a pita. One tip; keep the pan hot and dry to get the tortillas to cook all the way through. I made some salsa in my mortar and pestle using green zebra heirloom tomatoes and a lot of garlic. Chopped some onions and garlic, sauteed it with some chopped rib eye and hot sauce. I refried some beans and covered them in some cotija. Cut up some of the other normal taco fixins and made my self some tacos.
They were good. Not straight out of Mexico good, but tasty none the less.

1 hour of my time = $4.95

I made Pho. Total low rent Pho. I used bouillon in it. If it would have turned out badly, I would have blamed it all on the stock cube, but luckily there is no blame to place. It turned out perfectly.
Initially, I was going to make a beef salad. I had marinated the steak in black bean chili sauce and sweet soy sauce. When I changed my plan to Pho, I took it out of the marinade and sliced it super thin. For the broth, I put in some chicken stock, water and a beef stock cube. I crushed some garlic and big chunks of onion and threw it in the pot with star anise, cloves and peppercorns (black and white).

I let it reduce by half. Put all of my ingredients into a bowl; the noodles, cilantro, basil, mint (I had it, so why not), onion slices and the beef and strained that wonderful broth on top of it all. It really worked. The flavors were right. The look of it was dead on. Now that I know the right flavors, I am going to try it without the bouillon and with actual bones. Nothing beats a homemade broth.
Not to toot my own anything, but I would much rather have the pho that I made then go sit somewhere on the Ave and have a mediocre dining experience.