A bit peckish

Before I dive in here, let me just say that I had a really busy week at work. 10 hour days at work, kids in the evening, just a few hours of shut eye in between. So you can maybe understand why when I got home Thursday night I decided to cook a 2 and a half pound pork chop. This was no ordinary cut of pork however. This is a chop from a heritage breed pig, untouched by any genetic modifications, hormones, or antibiotics. During the last month or so of life, the pig was fed a limitless amount of hazelnuts and goats milk. As a result, the pig gets fat. Really fat. He roams around uncaged and unstressed. The farm that the pig is raised on goes so far as to get the pig drunk on beer right before slaughter. Not cheap beer either. Good Oregon microbrew. Apparently it doesn't take much to get a pig drunk. The thought behind this practice is that by avoiding stress before slaughter you can achieve a more tender animal. Stress equals adrenaline which equals tougher meat. It's also a nice humane way of doing things. I don't feel good that one of God's creatures gave his life for my meal, but knowing the pig was fat and happy and drunk makes it easier. As you can see, the chop has a tremendous amount of fat on it. That is the reason this pork chop is so special. Some of the fat melts during cooking, bathing the meat, keeping it moist, helping to flavor the chop throughout. It also creates a good deal of smoke which penetrates the meat and gives it that "grilled" taste. The fat on and in the chop really differentiate it from store brought pork which is caged, fed a steady diet of hormones to make it big and lean, and then slaughtered completely sober.

Even though the pig was raised humanely, fed a better diet than any other pig, and lubed up before slaughter, he did still give his life so I could eat way too much food and then brag about it on a blog. This pig, or any pig/cow/chicken/lamb/halibut/etc deserves our respect. Don't overcook it, don't under season it, and most importantly, give it a good rest. If you cut into a 3 inch pork chop fresh off the grill, you are going to lose a lot of juice, a lot of flavor, and a lot of enjoyment. Put the chop down and walk away. Go open a bottle of wine.

One benefit of cooking a nice fat laden pork chop is that there is some forgiveness in the meat. Meaning if you over do it by a few degrees, you will still end up with a juicy piece of meat. Just try that with 1.99 a pound pale pink pork from the big box store. Another bonus is that milky white piece of fat. Not chewy at all, it literally melts in your mouth, blending with the pork. Is that a hint of hazelnut that I taste?

I'm no Abe Froman

While most of you were sleeping Tuesday night, a friend and I were up practicing our charcuterie skills. I was not aware at the start of our project that it takes 3 hours to make 5 pounds of sausage. It was time well spent 5 lbs of pork shoulder was diced up into 1 inch cubes then placed in the freezer for 45 minutes. It was then ground through a small dye and placed back in the freezer. 30 minutes later the ground pork was mixed with garlic,salt, pepper, and 1 cup of red wine. Then, back in the freezer.

The toughest part was stuffing the meat into the casings. Definitely a 2 man job. I have a picture in my "DO NOT POST" album that shows what 15 feet of pig intestine looks like. You do not want to see it. Trust me.

If you ask me, that looks like some pretty good sausage. My sausage partner and I were very impressed. (He is going to hate that I called him my sausage partner.)

The sausage was twisted in alternate directions every 6 inches. This prevents the casing from unwinding when the sausages are separated. These must be cooked slowly and gently. If they cook to fast the casing will rupture and many tears will be shed.

There is no photo of the cooked product due to the fact that I blacked out while eating one. My knees buckled and I went down. They were that good. We may one day give Abe Froman a run for his money.

Meat me in the backyard

The smoke you see in this photo is caused by fat from the meat dripping down and vaporizing on the stainless steel infrared heating plate. The smoke rises around the meat, enveloping it in a bear hug of flavor. In three weeks when it is sunny again, you should come on over for one. I'll be ready. I'm always ready. Flip just one time to keep the juices inside the burger as opposed to in the grill.

Donations please

I know you are busy. I am too. Perhaps we should eat more watermelon.... Or strawberries.

The above posting was nothing more then a shameless plug for my new camera. A Canon S90. It's got more bells and whistles on it then, well, something else with a lot of bells and whistles. Sure we won't make our mortgage this month, but look at those friggin berries.

Toast

This photo looks incredibly sexy to me. Glistening strawberry and cherry preserves delicately draped over a thick slice of brioche bread that has been topped with melted Teleme cheese. This is surely the work of a well trained chef. It tasted even better then it looks. But look closely. Closer. Good. This is simply cheesy bread and jelly. Have you seen the "french toast" bread at the grocery store? Got some sharp cheddar or sliced Swiss in the fridge? Great. Put em together and splatter some of that freezer jam that you've been mindlessly smearing on dry toast on top of it. If you get good at it you can charge 7 bucks per order. Worth every penny by the way.

Simplicity

Did you know that you can grill an avocado? Well you can. The next time you halve one, throw it on the grill for about 5 minutes, until there are light char marks on it. Top it with whatever you have on hand. In this case it was some tomato, cucumber, and corn(which also benefited from a short stint on the grill.) Make sure to squeeze plently of lime juice on top along with that pinch of salt.