Mustard Run

I'm out of mustard.

For our Oktoberfest last fall I asked my brother to send me some. I received six tubes of Löwensenf extra. Needless to say I have become addicted to its strong flavor, it makes Dijon taste like salty paste. I finally squeezed the last bit out of the last tube on some smoked trout. In addition to mustard run(go to the library and pick up The Good Cook's Book of Mustard, by Michele Anna Jordan), my sister(Jolie) just finished her program at Cordon Bleu; so I'm grabbing my chef jacket, some seersucker pants and hoping a flight to the continent. Stay tuned here and on my flickr page for updates.

Cheers.

Carnitas Pibil and a lesson in the ways of BBQ

Pork tacos and a lesson in the ways of BBQ.

I am now positive that my favorite barbeque is pork shoulder rubbed with Achiote and spices. It's a preparation from the Yucatan known as Pibil. I originally started with a recipe from Rick Bayless' One Plate at a Time, but I have done it (and written about it) so many times that now it comes together on it's own. I assure you there are few things finer that a picnic of pork tacos. With fair weather finally forcasted, I decided to make pork tacos over the weekend.



Now you can try following Rick's recipe get some Achiote (annatto) seeds, try grinding them (Like grinding pebbles, very gritty, typically you make a flavored oil with the seeds) OR you can do what everyone else does in Mexico and pick up some paste. I combined garlic, salt, marjoram, thyme and Canela (Cinnamon)with the achiote and added enough olive to make a paste.







I rubbed this mixture on the pork shoulder.



I also started some sliced red onion to pickle in lime juice orange juice sugar ans salt. Overnight in the fridge for both of them.

[
[
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[We interrupt this post to answer the MAC BBQ Hotline]

[PHONE RINGS]

MAC: Hello?

J*$h: (name obscured to protect privacy) Hey, what are you doing?

MAC: Just started marinating some pork for bbq pork tacos, wanna come over?

J*$h: I can't, got company coming, Pork tacos, that's sounds good, do you have a recipe?

MAC: Sure I'll send you Rick's.

[NEXT DAY VIA Email]

J*$H:

Hey you only sent me an ingredient list, how about some pointers?
1. Such as a basic rub I can use?
2. how long on the grill (est.)
3. will I need to add coals/wood as it progresses?
4. what internal temp?

MAC:

Sorry about that. I don't think you will have enough time to do a shoulder roast on the grill today, it takes six hours. Get some pork shoulder steaks and rub them with whatever ingredients you have that closely match rick's recipe. For Achiote seeds use paprika (and maybe a little turmeric if you got it), for the Mexican oregano use dried marjoram, black pepper, cinnamon,salt, garlic, olive oil, mix that together and squeeze in a lime and rub that on the steaks. let em sit for a while, at least while you get the fire ready.

2. You wanna cook these things as long as you can, after an hour they will be safe to eat but chewy. The longer the pork cooks the more they will tenderize, just like working a crock pot. BTW the pork should be in a pan or something so can baste them from time to time.

3. For the fire you want a small fire off to one side. You want the fire to run at 250-350F. Once you get it going you need to check it like every 20 mins. Add briquettes if the fire is going out, add wood for flavor as needed. It doesn't need to smoke like an old Chrysler tho.

Dave at weber_cam has a good dicussion about lighting an indirect fire on a kettle

4. As for internal temp, I'm going for 200F on my roast, but that is going to take forever. You pork steaks need to get to at least 160F but they wont shred until the temp hits maybe 190. You're gonna chop this stuff up for tacos anyway so pull it off when you're ready to eat. Good luck let me know what happens

[MEANWHILE Back at the Ranch]



I got some banana leaves. I Pass them over a hot grill to soften them. They darken slightly. I line a pan with the leaves, nestle the roast then cover with more leaves. Enter the smoker.



I slow cooked the pork for about six hours, I got the internal temp to about 195F. I was busy doing garden work so I shut the vents and let it sit for another couple of hours



Time to pull the pork.





I roasted some habaneros, garlic, blended it with lime juice and salt for a hot sauce.



The pickled onions are done.



It's a beautiful day to eat tacos.

[
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[MEANWHILE J*$H writes another note on the MAC BBQ Hotline]

J*$h:

I Made the tacos - everything went fine, but mostly done in the oven. We had to meet friends at Morton, so we threw it in there for a head start (4.4 lbs bone-in shoulder) at 250. Got back 3 hours later, and it was just about done. Not realizing that, I had started the coals, so I threw it on for 40 minutes or so, just to do it. Not sure if the taste changed much. Rub was lime juice, chili, cumin, ancho chili, lots of garlic and kosher salt. A very positive experience I must say, delicious all around. Also made a corn relish I saw bobby flay make - corn, charred jalapenos, cilantro, red onion and lime juice. Good, too. And of course, autentico tortillas.

Thanks.

[Hotline disconnects, MAC is troubled but then enlightend]

A very positive experience? How can that be? I gave J*$h somewhat explicit instructions on how to BBQ and he ignored them. Maybe the lesson today isn't for J*$h but for me (and any other would be BBQ expert). It reminds me that BBQ isn't taught at culinary school. Sure they have catering classes for feeding 700 but it ain't pulling sugar at Cordon Bleu. As far as I know Careme didn't codify the technique for smoking ribs in the backyard. In fact I can only think of one rule when it comes to BBQ: Don't burn yourself (that's also a culinary school rule too). I heard about a new BBQ book whose tagline is "Everything you Know about BBQ is Wrong." While flogging foodies with funny phases may sell books, It goes against what I pontificate on this blog: If it works then it's right. I don't give two squirts about how you cooked the meat because BBQ is much more than just process. It's also about bringing being people together to eat. Make it good, make it yours. However if you are still having trouble, give me a call I'd be glad to help.

Cheers.

PS If you enjoy reading rants about BBQ (I don't), read my post Pig Pick

Chili Garlic Sauce

Chili Garlic Sauce, A pantry staple. I use it in my Phad Thai, I also like to smear it on sauteed green beans and mushrooms. I remember many years ago when my mom first used it in a recipe for Kung Pao Chicken.

Today's New York Times has a nice article about Huy Fong Foods, the folks who make this sauce and others like Sriracha. Check it out.

A Chili Sauce to Crow About

Cheers.

Postcard from China

John Moses grew up in Clintonville. He is a friend of my brother Eliot. Last time I saw John was a few years ago, he was slinging pies at the pizza joint up on Indianola. He wasn't exactly happy with what he was doing but he didn't know what he wanted to do next. There was a job available where Eliot worked and he convinced John to move to Dusseldorf and take it. After a few months on the job, the company anounced it was closing the D'Dorf operation and gave John a choice: Go unemployed or transfer to China.





Eliot (Karhu) just got back from visiting John, Check out his China pics (all shot on film) on this link to flikr

Cheers.

Pâté Maison

Dear Mom:

I'm sorry we didn't get to make sausage this weekend. But boy did we get a lot of stuff done. Tell Dad thanks for helping finish the wall and for running the gas line. The wall is still standing, I still cannot believe we found all this stone in our yard.



Yesterday I made a pâté out of the chicken livers. Pâté is French for paste, and as a culinary term it could be a dough formula, or meat pie, or as in this case a spreadable paste formed in a terrine.



I had a little over a pound (520g) of chicken livers, along with about 9 ounces (260g) of fat from the smoked ham and a shallot that weighed 2 ounces (60g)

I minced and sauteed the shallot in a little butter then added maybe 2T (30ml) of Fino and cooked it dry (au sec). I chilled the cooked shallots.

Meanwhile I minced the ham fat in the cuisinart added two cold eggs, pulsed, added the chicken livers (rinsed and drained first), pulsed, then added shallots and some seasoning: Salt 1-1/2t (10g), Black pepper 1t (3g), quatre épices 1 1/2t (6g), fresh ground mustard seed 1/2t (2g), and fresh ground coriander 1 t (2g).



I gave that all a quick spin in the food processor then poured it into a muslin lined pan. Topped with fresh bay leaves I cooked the mixture in a water bath in a 325F oven. About forty minutes later the internal temp read 165F, I set it out to cool. I chilled it overnight and had some for breakfast this morning.



Any there you go, a little love on toast. I hope you have nice week thanks and again for coming to visit.

I love you.
Andrew

The Paris Beat: Le Boudin Noir

The Paris Beat is covered by our foreign correspondent Jeanlouise: Jolie

[Dear Macmac]

Here’s an oldie but goodie for the nose to tail crowd: Blood sausage, or as my French friends say, le boudin noir. Blood is pretty high up there on the squeamish scale, but with rich flavors and no funky textures, the adventurous will be rewarded for diving in mouth first. I bought my first blood sausage in March when hosting some traveling eaters from Ann Arbor. When we approached the counter, I only knew we wanted boudin noir. A piece was cut off and wrapped in paper. I asked for guidance on preparation: It was already cooked so it could be eaten cold or even better if you have the time, fry the sausage gently in butter and serve up with some cooked apples. After picking up some apples from the fruit vendor next door, we excitedly headed home and got the frying pan going. I was a bit nervous about trying the sausage. I mean, blood man, gross right? Wrong. After chomping up that sausage, I sat back reassured, satisfied and curious- what was that thing and why was it so tasty?



Answers came last week when master artisanal charcutier Dominique Bignon came to school for a demonstration. Monsieur Bignon has won many awards for his work including the gold medal for boudin noir in 2006 (another reason to love France: it is a country that rewards good work). He runs a shop called Au Cochon Rose (The Pink Pig) in the XVeme. He has about 10 full time workers in an on-site ‘laboratory’ where they make blood sausage every Tuesday and Friday, among many other things (terrines, pates, head cheeses, hams, rilletes, etc).



Monsieur Bignon’s smiley demeanor won me over immediately- here was a man who loved the pig. He set to work demonstrating how to make boudin noir. The ingredients are simple: equal part of onions, jowl and blood, some cream, parsley and seasonings. The onions are chopped and cooked into a confit (softened and sweet). Then the jowl is added and cooked very gently-- or lovingly according to M. Bignon! for about 10-15 minutes, at which time the parsley is added.



Then, then magic happens . . . .off heat, the blood is poured into the onions. Spices (salt, pepper, nutmeg and the royal boudin spice mix) are stirred in followed by the cream, which acts as a biding agent.



At this point, he asked if anyone wanted to try the ‘raw’ blood mixture. My hand shot up. Jokes about me being a pastry student were made. The stuffing was delicious and ready to be funneled into casings. Purists will stop here. But if you wish, you could at this point add to the stuffing cooked apples, chopped chestnuts, fatback, cabbage or what ever else you dream up. . .



Our master charcuiter used a large metal funnel to stuff the casings. He did not knot the end to avoid air pockets, and tied off both ends once the casing was filled.


The tying he said, was the trickiest part. Anyone who has made sausage will agree. You walk the fine line between a nice plump link, and the alternative, a burst casing and blood all over your kitchen (Brown dogs will however, lap up your misfortune).



To finish off, the sausage is poached (80 c) for 15-20 min (or until it does not geyser out when pricked). The poaching water should be green, as this is an indicator of fresh blood with the principle being that the greener the water, the fresher the blood.

The freshly poached boudin was delicious, homey and incredibly rich. There were also other preparations from the Cochon Rose for us to try (a variety of head cheeses, ham, duck liver pate). The one dish that really blew me away was a variation on the boudin noir: a boudin noir terrine.



The terrine is made from packing the base boudin noir stuffing into a greased loaf pan. In order to have a firm, sliceable loaf an additional gelling agent is required. Pig snout is the part of the animal that contains the most gelatin (feet are second). To prepare his terrines, M. Bignon will pre-cook fresh (not brined) snouts, chop them very fine and add them to base. A terrine will need to cook longer—about 1 hour in a water bath in a gentle oven. The internal temperature should reach 72 c, 65c being the magic temperature at which proteins bind properly for a nice solid terrine. The terrine that I tasted also contained pig tongue and cooked apples. Again, I was nervous. . . I mean tongue, gross right? Wrong again, so very wrong.



Très Bien!

Au Cochon Rose
137 RUE SAINT CHARLES
75015 PARIS
01 45 78 03 68

DU MARDI AU VENDREDI DE 9H00 A 13H30
ET DE 15H30 A 19H30

SAMEDI 8H30 A 19H30

DIMANCHE DE 8H30 A 13H00

Springtime In Columbus

We went to Columbus for Easter, and we had a great time. Spring in Columbus always seems about three weeks ahead of cold dreary Chicago, and this past weekend we had nice weather to get out and hit some of our favorite spots.



On Friday we went to Yankee Trader to load up on trinkets for the Easter egg hunt. Plastic bugs, stickers, butterfly erasers, fuzzy gnomes, you just get a paper bag and write down what yer putting in the sack. I hadn't been there in a long time, it seemed a lot less cluttered but still fun. Just don't play with the whistles.





Then Ma took us to Pistacia Vera for cookies.





Once back in Clintonville I made a trip to Wasserstrom where found a wok brush and I also stopped at Giant Eagle for a 25Lb bag of Sapphire flour.



For Dinner we had turkey sandwiches and blue cheese potato chips. The turkey was left over from the Seder dinner my mom had at church.

On Saturday I made my pantry run to Penzeys then ma took me to The Fresh Market and Marcs. She calls them the yin and yang of grocery shopping in one stop.



In the Afternoon we hunted for eggs and had cake.










For dinner Bonne Femme made Blue cheese burgers. She said she gets them like this at Hackney's and they're called the Inside Out Burger.



Could it be a Jucy Lucy?



I fried up some shoulder bacon to top it off. After dinner I took Bonne Femme to Studio 35. She thought it was pretty cool.



Sunday started with a trip to church. I'm not much of a church-going person but I liked walking to Church. Crestview Presbyterian is where my parents got married, I got baptized, and I attended many a mother-son banquets. It was a nice day for a walk. The boys got to ring the tower bell.



For brunch we had a salmon bendict with a sorrel sauce. Sorrel is the first green up in my mom's garden, we got the recipe from the Herbfarm Cookbook. My mom cured the salmon and got the eggs from the coop.



After brunch we walked to grandma's house. We hunted for Easter baskets.



Then for dinner I prepared a leg of lamb on the kettle.









It turned out pretty good. Family and place are made special by what we make of them. Take care to make it good and the memories will flow.

Cheers.