tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31313204733142144032024-03-13T12:02:08.153-04:00brains for brunchbrains at every single meal why can't we have some guts?Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17853483137751698695noreply@blogger.comBlogger52125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131320473314214403.post-19254438887692682102013-10-10T09:52:00.002-04:002013-10-28T12:11:59.213-04:00Homemade Apple Butter<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
As relatively recent transplants to New England, we are trying to make conscious efforts to do super New England-y things for a few reasons; one of which being that when February rolls around and we are sick of winter, we can look forward to the fun things that New England has to offer when it's not winter. Fortunately fall in New England is amazing, so it's the perfect time to get out and make good on those little promises. Late September and early October are prime leaf peepin' and apple pickin' season, and we cashed in on both of those this year. We went to a local orchard in Ipswich called <a href="http://russellorchards.com/">Russell Orchards</a>, which is right near one of our favorite places on earth: Crane Beach. Despite crowds, unhinged children, and a bit of a traffic nightmare to get there, once we got into the orchards we had a great time. We had prepared well, to the point of bringing a shopping list of apple varieties for our various applications (apple butter, roast pork with apples, apple pie, plain old eatin apples) so we quickly found our rows and got to work. For the apple butter I chose a mix of McIntosh and Cortland. Coincidentally the McIntosh's were so good that I ended up sneaking a few more in just for eating, they were by far my favorites. Not too sweet, very crisp and not mealy at all. We got home and I immediately got to work on my apple butter (sneaking snacks in along the way, of course).</div>
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Homemade Apple Butter</h3>
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2 tsp butter</div>
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4 pounds apples (McIntosh, Cortland, Jonagold, Granny Smith, almost anything really)</div>
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Roughly ½ gallon apple cider</div>
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1 c sugar</div>
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½ c brown sugar</div>
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2 tsp ground cinnamon</div>
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½ tsp ground cloves</div>
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¼ tsp ground allspice</div>
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Juice of 1 lemon</div>
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Start by peeling and coring the apples. You should end up with roughly 3-3 ½ pounds of cut apples. Heat up a large pot over med/low heat and melt the butter. Add the apples and sprinkle some sugar on top of them in the pot. Stir to mix and cook the apples for 5 minutes, until they start to soften and are fragrant. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7U4jEcRpApy63qUKYiGm0x76OgNzeImq3c0qMd8oF32QU8LsgSzT0oWgqd3pNdi28SDkVY4PUf8PUSnTIPLZ8lUiZXplSWECa4ZR1MgNEMogPRcZFbC6h6iKPMRjpRr318kNHz4MPi-g/s1600/DSC_0515.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7U4jEcRpApy63qUKYiGm0x76OgNzeImq3c0qMd8oF32QU8LsgSzT0oWgqd3pNdi28SDkVY4PUf8PUSnTIPLZ8lUiZXplSWECa4ZR1MgNEMogPRcZFbC6h6iKPMRjpRr318kNHz4MPi-g/s640/DSC_0515.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Pour in enough apple cider to come to the top of the apples. Pay attention as you add the cider, because the apples will float. You want enough cider for the apples to simmer evenly (exact amounts are not super important because this is all going to reduce down anyway).<br />
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Bring the heat up to medium and simmer the apples for approximately 30 minutes, until they are broken down and looking applesaucey.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQEJ8B_-hg8WJqUhdhaibn3wc3nVAfI6jp3o9nsHfK0XVUSxdqAT4az5fLHuLrdGueQmKDEXlCMmFpMCsTesIbSfRYOQpF3XS_xz6iqtoscJ_PkXGuzdeWaEXAIqhFFf_YzRBKBw9obE4/s1600/DSC_0517.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQEJ8B_-hg8WJqUhdhaibn3wc3nVAfI6jp3o9nsHfK0XVUSxdqAT4az5fLHuLrdGueQmKDEXlCMmFpMCsTesIbSfRYOQpF3XS_xz6iqtoscJ_PkXGuzdeWaEXAIqhFFf_YzRBKBw9obE4/s640/DSC_0517.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Pour the mixture into a blender (be careful blending hot liquids, blend in batches if necessary and only fill your blender about halfway up to prevent the lid from blowing off and spraying hot applesauce all over you and your kitchen). Or, if you have an immersion blender, now's a great time to make it feel like it was a solid investment. Blend the apples until they are smooth, then return to the pot.<br />
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Add the rest of the sugar, as well as the spices and lemon juice. Bring to a low simmer and let it reduce for roughly 2 hours. If you have a splatter screen or something similar for frying, place it overtop of the pot. As the butter reduces, it seriously turns into apple lava and it will explode all over the place. Here's are some incremental shots of the butter reducing for me:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0oxBgLLF3ZHi8VsC5tT_oTvk-sNQM8DZ_01iJZoCvAnS4LI59zuVV44ee_MnJ0PW4hcMk2u3W0smBMnIbCWlLBgFEBUoY-4CDW6dMFBc_lkmQg4aOpcQD0LXs8IlwxxUaNTwCD5jJIRk/s1600/DSC_0519.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0oxBgLLF3ZHi8VsC5tT_oTvk-sNQM8DZ_01iJZoCvAnS4LI59zuVV44ee_MnJ0PW4hcMk2u3W0smBMnIbCWlLBgFEBUoY-4CDW6dMFBc_lkmQg4aOpcQD0LXs8IlwxxUaNTwCD5jJIRk/s640/DSC_0519.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSq9kUs42fbpY3Tktyrx6mvAtUsejB5CnqjO3UWgiv7Iyzw1Fj2vMVHVq1e2f2qEq7K-dMDyASvfxTWRNaYh-onJWWzrZ8r9THUiZoO15dGJ_QdQ4_E3WVsrRQ4guR3r_asKdJuyf8fNQ/s1600/DSC_0520.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSq9kUs42fbpY3Tktyrx6mvAtUsejB5CnqjO3UWgiv7Iyzw1Fj2vMVHVq1e2f2qEq7K-dMDyASvfxTWRNaYh-onJWWzrZ8r9THUiZoO15dGJ_QdQ4_E3WVsrRQ4guR3r_asKdJuyf8fNQ/s640/DSC_0520.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq1UHVPBlY78md4aRWVTVr8CdP6kqBuIQ0mQpjqFkm5JSBGFfM_85og88_AiWwaSY1lEJw9rScmCmbGqt84o7V_XP0ShZkxOyV-nhBOy4aNdkHER1SG91iwtnoWLd1qeL6Yf0VRD4cSFc/s1600/DSC_0521.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq1UHVPBlY78md4aRWVTVr8CdP6kqBuIQ0mQpjqFkm5JSBGFfM_85og88_AiWwaSY1lEJw9rScmCmbGqt84o7V_XP0ShZkxOyV-nhBOy4aNdkHER1SG91iwtnoWLd1qeL6Yf0VRD4cSFc/s640/DSC_0521.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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When it is heavily reduced, simply turn off the heat and allow the butter to cool. At this point, you could can it, but I have to say that canning is something that I have not done yet in my time as an amateur food jerk, so I will have to defer to one of the many other internet resources for the best way to store this for the long term. My alternative was to throw it all in mason jars and try to use it all before it goes bad. So far this is working out well for me, and it has forced me to find creative ways to work apple butter into other recipes (like, say, pork roast... or morning yogurt... or oatmeal). This butter is really amazing and totally superior to store-bought stuff, all it requires is some apples and a little patience.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrJb5137X1SxFx34m06YKqcdPEOHKGn0ZwqA1pMGm2a2b3MJWeRGcesZ9FZc4J4gLurHLU-r9ki1n_TMXhUpo1hDLeGF-q88SEGlvY6IrsXFGsnrwcP8hhIJQ_eSXrHMTAZzgWyx6RS-s/s1600/DSC_0526.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrJb5137X1SxFx34m06YKqcdPEOHKGn0ZwqA1pMGm2a2b3MJWeRGcesZ9FZc4J4gLurHLU-r9ki1n_TMXhUpo1hDLeGF-q88SEGlvY6IrsXFGsnrwcP8hhIJQ_eSXrHMTAZzgWyx6RS-s/s640/DSC_0526.jpg" width="426" /></a></div>
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<br />Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17853483137751698695noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131320473314214403.post-79350911109311836072013-09-17T13:18:00.000-04:002013-09-17T13:30:53.934-04:00Pig's Head Terrine<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
So here's the setting for this story: I come into work the day after a company barbecue. One of our employees decided to do a whole hog barbecue for the outing, which by all accounts was a resounding success although I was not present to sample the bounty. I open up my mini fridge behind my desk to put my lunch in for the day, and see a large foil package in there that is obviously out of place. I remember being offered part of a pork belly from this whole hog so I assume that is where this large package came from, although the package is much bigger than a portion of pork belly. I decide to open it up, and lo and behold a pig's head is neatly packed in the layers of foil. I came to find out later that another coworker had requested it but was only really interested in acquiring the skull. I saw an opportunity to do something fun and learn something new, in addition to taking what might otherwise have been waste and turn it into something better, so I offered to do something with the pig's head and just return the skull in a cleaned state, which worked out for all parties involved. A handshake later and I was the temporary owner of a pig's head.</div>
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So now I faced this question: what do you do when you have a pig's head and no idea what to do with it? The answer, for me, was pretty simple - it's time to learn how to make terrines. I had to go to my chef extraordinaire friend, Mike, who gave me a great recipe and was willing to let me share it. It's time consuming - at least a couple days worth of work, but I was able to do it over a couple of weeknights after work.</div>
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After it was all said and done, I brought the head in to work for everyone to try, and it received pretty raving reviews, even from the non-adventurous eaters who knew damn well what they were about to try.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzhYDmYHbRXimXDnOMc6fPozZrCJM3VwfbDyNJXgYyLabXEOfn7FTQZkiKCOCvvHPy0b1ee6kusG-yd13QNIEXxqzhQ-CqUBH36hna5w4k1CaRIUzfLy3ZpxzvzGZJPR8nf0zy5EaoJmA/s1600/DSC_0446.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzhYDmYHbRXimXDnOMc6fPozZrCJM3VwfbDyNJXgYyLabXEOfn7FTQZkiKCOCvvHPy0b1ee6kusG-yd13QNIEXxqzhQ-CqUBH36hna5w4k1CaRIUzfLy3ZpxzvzGZJPR8nf0zy5EaoJmA/s640/DSC_0446.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b><u>For the head:</u></b></div>
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1 pigs head</div>
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Potentially other pig parts (country style ribs, spare ribs, shoulder)</div>
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This is hard to provide a clear cut recipe on. I ended up with what I felt was a smaller head, so I picked up some country style ribs to add to the recipe to make sure I didn't end up with less meat than expected. If you can, make sure that you get a head including the jowls, as they contain a significant amount of meat (they are also delicious). You will see in my photos that the jowls had been removed but I did have them separately, so they did make it into the terrine.</div>
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<b><u>For the brine:</u></b></div>
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2 gallons water</div>
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1 cup salt</div>
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(Ratio = .5c salt to 1g water)</div>
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<u>Aromatics:</u></div>
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1 head garlic</div>
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1 onion</div>
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10 sprigs parsley</div>
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10ish sprigs thyme</div>
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4 bay leaves</div>
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2 tbsp black peppercorns</div>
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The amount of water you use is really dependent on the size of the head. The salt to water ratio is .5 c per gallon of water. One method to figure out how much water to use is add measured amounts of water to a pot (so that you can keep track of how much salt you need to add). Check whether the head is fully covered by the water or not, if not, continue adding measured amounts of water (I used a standard 2 cup measuring cup to add water. For quick reference, there are 4 cups in a quart, and 4 quarts in a gallon. That makes 16 cups in 1 gallon). When you have the head fully covered, remove it from the liquid. Start by heating up the water and adding all of the ingredients. Feel free to add or remove ingredients based on what is available - the only required ingredient is the salt. Bring the brine just to a boil and turn off the heat, allowing it to cool and the ingredients to steep.</div>
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When the brine is cool, add the head and let it sit in the brine overnight - 16 to 24 hours in total. <br />
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<b><u>For the stock:</u></b><br />
Amount of stock equal to the amount of water you used in the brine (I used 2 gallons)<br />
1/2 c white wine<br />
10 sprigs parsley<br />
10 sprigs thyme<br />
2 tbsp black peppercorns<br />
1 head garlic<br />
1 onion<br />
1 square foot cheesecloth<br />
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The plan here is to fortify stock with some flavors, which will then become our cooking liquid for the head. I used the same ingredients that used in the brine, and I used a mix of homemade stock and store-bought stock (confession: I don't often have 2ish gallons of homemade stock on-hand and ready to go). In my mind, fortifying the stock in addition to the fact that the head will add so much flavor and body to the stock means you should feel no shame about using store bought stock here, just use a standard reliable stock (365, Pacific, and begrudgingly, Rachel Ray brands all come to mind for me). Just don't use boullion paste, it's way too salty. <br />
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If you want make your life easier, wrap the ingredients in the cheesecloth and make a little bouquet garni. Drop that into the stock and bring to a boil. Keep the ingredients at a simmer while you prepare the head for cooking. You can see in this photo that I opted not to make my life easier, but somehow I was able to summon the strength to make it all work.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh44JEQ5HTWCStRSU05uia7gGpTLTXgtpbynpI5ASARECnuN5R3IynzgvKX78kHCQ-EWrXgyUM9N3rh_RlptTbL9MeOE06Z0ANpX0uQHAt3F9wGch8sus75Bn_gYhoiQo3Nbm-T9ZVWm5Y/s1600/DSC_0436.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh44JEQ5HTWCStRSU05uia7gGpTLTXgtpbynpI5ASARECnuN5R3IynzgvKX78kHCQ-EWrXgyUM9N3rh_RlptTbL9MeOE06Z0ANpX0uQHAt3F9wGch8sus75Bn_gYhoiQo3Nbm-T9ZVWm5Y/s640/DSC_0436.jpg" width="640" /></a><b><u><br /></u></b>
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<b><u>For the terrine:</u></b><br />
Remove the head from the brine and pat it dry. Discard the brine. Allow the head to sit on a hotel pan or something that can catch liquid, it will continue to drip for a little while after being removed from the brine. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-VwEfzRhBxcR9ZS295u-WGeJSEMplVEjY-9s5nvqVWksl0N6fPwNHrjn2eHu6oYwK4_wbnmxF1Kj03LazcA7paPTnIKxV0Gw4Nb-DBCGfwPpCSubMfd379Se-h6cmCkzNN9R23RMCWuQ/s1600/DSC_0433.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-VwEfzRhBxcR9ZS295u-WGeJSEMplVEjY-9s5nvqVWksl0N6fPwNHrjn2eHu6oYwK4_wbnmxF1Kj03LazcA7paPTnIKxV0Gw4Nb-DBCGfwPpCSubMfd379Se-h6cmCkzNN9R23RMCWuQ/s640/DSC_0433.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Another tip to make your life easier: wrap the head in cheesecloth and tie it down with butcher's twine. This will keep everything together, especially late in cooking when the connective tissue has broken down. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoDuIjeshywEDG5TjoApcvkBacopFIojJLNDa7j-jSWP7VCkpELIGyFIb27druZsTfgGydi8yZnHd6bvScTGXlDsFrk9HXraO8i-FryXS7tBLZthJocu5RkjGZTivDVW0xxkoLP1g_czM/s1600/DSC_0437.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoDuIjeshywEDG5TjoApcvkBacopFIojJLNDa7j-jSWP7VCkpELIGyFIb27druZsTfgGydi8yZnHd6bvScTGXlDsFrk9HXraO8i-FryXS7tBLZthJocu5RkjGZTivDVW0xxkoLP1g_czM/s640/DSC_0437.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Bring your stock to a simmer and add the head. Simmer the head for 2 to 2½ hours, or until the meat pulls away very easily from the head. Something interesting to note while this is happening - take notice of the viscosity of the liquid before you begin braising and how much it thickens over the course of cooking. I swear that by the time the head was fully cooked, my stock looked like it was the thickness of canola oil or something. I realize that is a gross comparison, but it was crazy to watch the gelatin be released from the head and thicken the stock.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiusoWgi0zE1Uy616d3jsNdgzqKkVICtieRpdzEVIa_Xnpj9K_KZuG7Zi1zXUXuTlRfmfTB-a-ntTwFLBNPT6lq9uKFFjZR0t_mB5CJ3Fk2B4BiTqKPKe3qvKyzc5vJgCsx4bKj0aU7YZ4/s1600/DSC_0438.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiusoWgi0zE1Uy616d3jsNdgzqKkVICtieRpdzEVIa_Xnpj9K_KZuG7Zi1zXUXuTlRfmfTB-a-ntTwFLBNPT6lq9uKFFjZR0t_mB5CJ3Fk2B4BiTqKPKe3qvKyzc5vJgCsx4bKj0aU7YZ4/s640/DSC_0438.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Remove the head from the stock and allow to cool. <br />
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<b><u>For the terrine:</u></b><br />
White wine vinegar to taste<br />
Salt and pepper to taste<br />
Gelatin (sheet preferably, otherwise powder)<br />
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<u>Reduce the stock:</u><br />
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You shouldn't need all of the stock for this - I used approximately a quart of stock and reduced it in a separate saucepan. Add a couple of sheets of gelatin, or a packet of powdered gelatin if you are using that. Reduce the stock by half, then season to taste with vinegar, just to brighten it up and cut through the richness a little bit.<br />
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Reserve the rest of the stock and freeze it, it's probably the best stock you will ever have on hand so save it for something special. Like maybe <a href="http://brains4brunch.blogspot.com/2012/05/homemade-ramen.html">ramen</a>.<br />
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<u>Clean the head:</u><br />
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Use your fingers to remove every piece of flesh from the skull. This was a real test of my meddle. It's easy to wax philosophical about 'nose to tail' cooking and believe in whole animal cookery, but until you have picked through an entire pig's head with your bare fingers, you can't really have a grasp of what that entails. I'll leave out the gory details here but be ready for a couple deep breath moments. Try to pick through and separate the meat from the large chunks of fat, glands, and other connective tissue. I discarded most of those things and kept just the meat. Try to keep it in nice sized chunks, you don't want it to be shredded or minced, it should keep some form and texture. Put the meat in a mixing bowl and season to taste with white wine vinegar, salt and pepper.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXNkQsahqw3UpSifZ_oU6Zu6-ICedHwjor6kx5m-G9gAs5a7wpCq63i5pqnC1v0tABR4Jm_i-ZniUhjq81uqUGaE2ay50Te8k1Y5hkhHLSA2i90HDVhoY2yivVsZXnxa8t5jInbNZOasQ/s1600/DSC_0440.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXNkQsahqw3UpSifZ_oU6Zu6-ICedHwjor6kx5m-G9gAs5a7wpCq63i5pqnC1v0tABR4Jm_i-ZniUhjq81uqUGaE2ay50Te8k1Y5hkhHLSA2i90HDVhoY2yivVsZXnxa8t5jInbNZOasQ/s640/DSC_0440.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<u>Make the terrine:</u><br />
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If you are lucky enough to own a terrine mold, this is where you would want to break it out. If not, choose a container that will hold the meat (I used a Pyrex bread pan). You will also need a flat press-like object shaped roughly the same as the pan that you will use to compress the terrine. I sacrificed a takeout tupperware lid to get something roughly the correct size. Line the pan with plastic wrap on all sides, and place it inside of another container that will catch any runoff liquid from the terrine. The plastic wrap lining will make removal much easier after the terrine has been chilled. Layer the meat in the dish and apply some pressure to try to compress it slightly.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjksS-0t5P6Yv8PAoTfD1gHvPX7XVWZmlCFq78hyMmgQvWwuY_XEDQqMUyPWcHiYfmbxV-42WLl1s-pABXDUItcIAwmqiZzb4UCT9V0vMXfqS5RjgTdSV-fzIj0gJoFOgOeEaXjIkphVw/s1600/DSC_0441.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjksS-0t5P6Yv8PAoTfD1gHvPX7XVWZmlCFq78hyMmgQvWwuY_XEDQqMUyPWcHiYfmbxV-42WLl1s-pABXDUItcIAwmqiZzb4UCT9V0vMXfqS5RjgTdSV-fzIj0gJoFOgOeEaXjIkphVw/s640/DSC_0441.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Meat added and compressed</td></tr>
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Pour over the reduced stock until the terrine pan is filled to the top, cover with plastic wrap, then allow the entire thing to cool for 30 minutes. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDJqFTAy72LZ7lCZa7XwxfD0tofpggr740AAuLw8I91mcYzIT_Fl_skwFNG5ssFBKcQ2CWNEMhr3KQTOIU5_iMVAATovXtsiCO8_ohufl608IGkhK8WRQay3ot_00yRnDU7_54UqzvY9A/s1600/DSC_0443.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDJqFTAy72LZ7lCZa7XwxfD0tofpggr740AAuLw8I91mcYzIT_Fl_skwFNG5ssFBKcQ2CWNEMhr3KQTOIU5_iMVAATovXtsiCO8_ohufl608IGkhK8WRQay3ot_00yRnDU7_54UqzvY9A/s640/DSC_0443.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stock added</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCDRE0ntu7WH_tuQou7GsT5813a1QMTuS1dcf24823METUdUsh81FyB_KK-RzPuCvzb7OIK2XcW7JqeEtzVhhJ-aWS8K07OaZVyy_yDE7GfOUNwVsxgKYnqXknmvG4OVBcIabmyQVRvFs/s1600/DSC_0442.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCDRE0ntu7WH_tuQou7GsT5813a1QMTuS1dcf24823METUdUsh81FyB_KK-RzPuCvzb7OIK2XcW7JqeEtzVhhJ-aWS8K07OaZVyy_yDE7GfOUNwVsxgKYnqXknmvG4OVBcIabmyQVRvFs/s640/DSC_0442.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Covered with plastic wrap</td></tr>
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Lay your lid on top of the terrine and add a heavy weight to it - try to evenly distribute the weight as much as possible. Place the terrine in the refrigerator overnight.<br />
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When ready to serve, flip the container upside down and use the plastic wrap to help remove the terrine from the mold. Remove all plastic wrap, slice pretty thinly with your sharpest knife, and allow to come to room temperature before serving. Serve with pretty much anything - but here are some ideas: cornichons, bread, crackers, mustard, aioili, olives, anything else pickled, beer, wine, cider, basically everything.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxfz5DcDyP4srkn0A8gtoPMBRY9d0cvdr90tbivHG2Dgteo-eRwrySDuf_B9krRQEi3QPm1k7m8CikbQeeHybjx491zhnkm1pRE6EVa5Qwyr6iggcWHESWS7Oqv-rO-wGJSZ-HrLVyL7Q/s1600/DSC_0447.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxfz5DcDyP4srkn0A8gtoPMBRY9d0cvdr90tbivHG2Dgteo-eRwrySDuf_B9krRQEi3QPm1k7m8CikbQeeHybjx491zhnkm1pRE6EVa5Qwyr6iggcWHESWS7Oqv-rO-wGJSZ-HrLVyL7Q/s640/DSC_0447.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAW-u-AhJxW2jsL-g3h3bgs4S6cRJMDd0jHt-wLefVTxO7qwu-53lPEWvbVt_8adqjHy9PNIvZh5A1yyTnPCRHy_Af0BL6QX7jdAMXieoHTrOSv805JXwgrKwMuoBK6fws85c_Jd1mO-4/s1600/DSC_0444.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAW-u-AhJxW2jsL-g3h3bgs4S6cRJMDd0jHt-wLefVTxO7qwu-53lPEWvbVt_8adqjHy9PNIvZh5A1yyTnPCRHy_Af0BL6QX7jdAMXieoHTrOSv805JXwgrKwMuoBK6fws85c_Jd1mO-4/s640/DSC_0444.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Although the head seemed super intimidating at first, it ended up being a fun unexpected weeknight experiment that taught me a lot about this whole 'nose to tail' business. It also turned out great, which certainly helps. If you find yourself with the opportunity to try something like this, I highly suggest that you go for it! It's not that hard, although time consuming, and you will definitely learn a lot.</div>
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<br />Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17853483137751698695noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131320473314214403.post-73630291571028015392013-04-25T14:11:00.001-04:002013-04-25T14:11:20.060-04:00Eggsperiment: Slow poached eggs (onsen tamago) in 5 minutes?The other week I was waiting in line at the grocery store and I saw a copy of Cook's Illustrated sitting on display. An article jumped out to me, titled "Perfect soft boiled eggs." My curiosity was piqued so I hurried up and skimmed the article before it was my time to check out. The biggest takeaway from the article was the use of steam to cook eggs to precise doneness - it was kind of a revelation to me, someone who has struggled with getting consistent results with hard boiled eggs. Often, because I am scaling egg amounts, my hard boiled eggs are difficult to get quite right. Adding different amounts of eggs to already-boiling water changes the temperature of the water significantly enough that your assumptions about cook temperature can no longer be trusted. With steam, you know that you are always cooking at 212º (assuming you are relatively close to sea level blah blah) so whether you are cooking 1 egg or a dozen, the times are consistent and the results are predictable. It's a fantastic knowledge tidbit to have tucked away, and a reminder of how great Cook's Illustrated can be when it is on form. Thinking more about the concept of cooking with steam, I eventually settled on a question that I wanted to resolve: <br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I often cook slow poached eggs at home, could I use the steam technique to cook them at a fraction of the time? </blockquote>
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Slow poached eggs are also referred to as 60 minute eggs, or <i>onsen tomago</i> in Japan (<i>onsen </i>being natural hot springs, the story being that eggs are traditionally left by local residents in <i>onsen</i> and, upon being retrieved, are perfectly cooked). Slow poach eggs are cooked in a water bath at a temperature of 145º for 45 minutes to an hour - resulting in a white that is just set (white but still runny) and a yolk that is beginning to thicken but not yet cooked (which would first begin to turn into a fudge-like consistency before hitting what we think of as hard-boiled). Because the water never goes above 145º, the eggs are never done past where they should be. The only downside to the water bath is that it takes a long time and requires a fair amount of planning in advance. Here is a chart depicting the different doneness of eggs. Notice that at 144º we are seeing whites turning white but very much still runny. Also - tangent - it's fucking fascinating that 2 degrees of difference from 146º to 148º causes that much of a change in the yolks. Eggs are amazing things.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.douglasbaldwin.com/EggMatrix136F-152F.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.douglasbaldwin.com/EggMatrix136F-152F.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(photo from <a href="http://www.douglasbaldwin.com/">http://www.douglasbaldwin.com</a>)</td></tr>
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Cook's Illustrated recipe for soft boiled eggs was to place the eggs in a steamer for 6 minutes 30 seconds before immediately transferring to an ice bath. I cut that to 6 minutes 10 seconds because I wanted the yolks to be even runnier (they began setting at 6:30) but otherwise it works like a charm. I wondered if I could cut that cook time in order to just solidify the whites but not cook them to soft boiled, thus rendering me a soft poached egg. I attempted to steam 2 eggs with times of 4 minutes and 5 minutes (I made an assumption that cooking time would follow an exponential curve, taking a while to heat up but then heating incredibly quickly after a few minutes). My results were that the whites on the 4 minute eggs were still mostly clear and uncooked - completely unusable in their current form. The whites on the 5 minute egg were milky and still somewhat runny, and the yolk was thickened. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVoCBRr4KiJcNkHRB7rzvAkvCJNiwRimphVEZJHPAIRU1PHHHQcXtYFd5WnpMTzNke0V3wOgDaw-NMGI145sQh1x2Ac5UxYwL-LOu8XW0uIW6x9jlmQrcSMhMH7YZ1z5HUaUsZRDaDQqE/s1600/DSC_0391.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVoCBRr4KiJcNkHRB7rzvAkvCJNiwRimphVEZJHPAIRU1PHHHQcXtYFd5WnpMTzNke0V3wOgDaw-NMGI145sQh1x2Ac5UxYwL-LOu8XW0uIW6x9jlmQrcSMhMH7YZ1z5HUaUsZRDaDQqE/s640/DSC_0391.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">5 minute egg</td></tr>
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It was a good result, unfortunately I realized that one of my fears had come true. Because I placed the eggs in a 212º heat source, the whites closest to the shell will always completely set (to a rubbery state). I ran head on into the very reason that sous vide cookery exists - providing even cooking throughout a product through consistent temperature application. You can't fake even heating, you can only work around it. My plans were foiled and my question is answered - you <b>cannot </b>make a slow poached egg in 5 minutes using steam. However, I would say that cutting Cook's Illustrated's times down did result in a totally usable egg. For times when I don't want to wait 45 minutes but I want something resembling a slow poached egg, I will be more than happy to quickly steam one to get a similar result. At least I found a perfectly suitable substitute. Next time, I will attempt cutting 5 minutes down to perhaps 4:45 or so, to see if it creates noticeable differences in the amount of set whites. I suspect that it will be difficult to find the precise point where eggs stop being clear and start being whites through steam-based heating though.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicgbcg_xMxfOklqCYBypIZCtgqRzdl1xn-HwIakQsePYl8qE9BFKeu7hGwReW5S4O6KRrK7UUgSD1uU9_qYz2gpJ2lpPfC60-w9u_upY5ayTbi1AfHRyaonRb3aJhwE_curJP8CSomMVk/s1600/DSC_0397.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicgbcg_xMxfOklqCYBypIZCtgqRzdl1xn-HwIakQsePYl8qE9BFKeu7hGwReW5S4O6KRrK7UUgSD1uU9_qYz2gpJ2lpPfC60-w9u_upY5ayTbi1AfHRyaonRb3aJhwE_curJP8CSomMVk/s640/DSC_0397.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Makeshift oyakodon - leftover chicken karaage and tomagoyaki with the 5 minute egg</td></tr>
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Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17853483137751698695noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131320473314214403.post-70022122558702567912013-04-20T18:37:00.001-04:002013-04-20T18:37:03.921-04:00Vietnamese Coffee At Home<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Needless to say, living in Boston this week has been pretty hectic. It has been emotionally draining and exhausting, even to those who were not directly impacted by the week's events. After the week that we have had, a day for rest and creature comforts is a welcome change of pace.</div>
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Ever since our <a href="http://brains4brunch.blogspot.com/2011/05/vietnam.html">trip to Vietnam</a>, I go through periods where I get intense cravings for Vietnamese coffee. Vietnamese coffee is much different than western coffee, it is incredibly strong stuff - jet fuel by way of coffee beans. Often served with condensed milk, both hot or iced, it was a treat for me to have in the afternoons, especially during our motorcycle trip through the mountains, when my ears were numb and I had been huffing 2-cycle exhaust for hours. I had never seen the little drip coffee makers that were ubiquitous throughout Vietnam, so I picked one up in Hanoi before heading home. I also bought a couple of bags of ground coffee to keep my addiction going.</div>
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Of course, upon returning home, I failed miserably at making the small potent servings of coffee, instead getting watery runoff that obviously left most of the coffee flavor in the grounds. I would search the internet for tips or how-to's and found nothing but advice that did nothing - convincing me of everything from the grounds being both too fine and too coarse, needing to tamp the grinds, or needing an entirely new coffee dripper (which I had a hard time believing considering mine was no different than the ones I saw in Vietnam). I attempted and gave up several times over the course of a year and a half, before finally coming across the secret. I hope that sharing this with the blog world will get more westerners into this stuff, because it is absolutely phenomenal.</div>
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The coffee dripper can be found on Amazon for as little as $3. I have seen fancy ones that include clamps and screws for tightening filter plates and all kinds of features, but you don't need anything more than what is pictured above: a perforated saucer, a well for the grinds and water, and a lid. You also will need coffee. You can find coffee beans grown in the central highlands of Vietnam, or some sources say to use coffee with chicory added (Cafe du Monde coffee, based out of New Orleans, is the most widely available source for chicory coffee). The coffee that I bought in Vietnam did not have any chicory added and I will probably try sticking to a dark French roast when my last bag is empty. </div>
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Start by bringing water to a boil on the stovetop. If you would like condensed milk, spoon some into a glass (standard amounts are anywhere from ¼-½ of the amount of coffee). If needed, grind the coffee finely (nearly espresso grind), then add 2-3 tablespoons of coffee to the drip well. Place the drip well into the saucer and place the whole filter on top of your glass. When the water is boiling, add JUST enough water to cover the grinds in the well - probably 2 tablespoons or so. Wait for the grinds to soak up the water, you can check by tapping the side of the well, if the water sloshes then it is not quite ready. When the grounds are soaked but not sloshing, spoon in enough boiling water to fill up the well, and put the lid on. It will take a minute or two for the drip to begin but you should see one part of the filter start to drip. Get ready for liquid gold.</div>
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Start to finish, making a cup of coffee could take upwards of 5 minutes. You can lift the lid to make sure that all of the water has dripped through, and when the coffee is ready, simply take the lid off and flip it upside down. Take off the saucer/well and place them on the inverted lid and you have a safe and no-fuss way of setting aside your used grounds until you want to deal with them. Stir to mix in the condensed milk and enjoy. </div>
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Take baby sips and make it last, it is worth it.</div>
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<br />Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17853483137751698695noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131320473314214403.post-8567830525641389632012-11-18T08:07:00.000-05:002012-11-18T08:33:01.596-05:00Homemade Vinegar - Beer and Red WineAlmost 4 months to the day since my last post. Without a doubt, this has been one of the craziest years of my life. My work schedule has been unrelenting for a long time now, leaving me with little time to do anything else. I have managed to squeeze in some good times cooking here and there, making mental notes along the way of things that I'd like to blog about. At this point I have a backlog of a ton of recipes that I want to put together, so once my work schedule actually does let up, I can get back to this regularly. Working long hours has forced me to find ways to do interesting things in the kitchen that are not incredibly involved, which has been an interesting change of pace. One thing that I absolutely can find time to do is put some shit in a bottle and let it ferment. I stumbled on this <a href="http://www.foodrepublic.com/2012/02/06/happy-sour-sean-brock%E2%80%99s-pbr-vinegar">article</a> about Charleston chef Sean Brock regarding his love for homemade vinegar. It looked so simple - I didn't even need to buy ingredients to make it - so how could I not take a shot at it? I made two kinds; one with a bottle of red wine that had been opened in our fridge for a couple of weeks and was on the downhill slide anyway, and one with a can of Dos Equis that had been left at our house after a summer party. It was pretty safe to say that I wasn't going to drink it, it was surely destined for beer can chicken or something, so those two bases became my source of vinegar goodness.<br />
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Homemade Vinegar</h4>
1 part Bragg Apple Cider Vinegar (with the mother)<br />
3 parts alcohol (red wine, white wine, champagne, beer, cider, whatever)<br />
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Mix the ingredients together and store in an open container. Cover the top of the container with cheesecloth or a coffee filter - make sure your cover allows air to reach the vinegar, since air is actually the key ingredient here. Put your container in a cupboard or garage or basement or something - somewhere dark with a steady temperature. Allow the vinegar to sit for 4-6 weeks. Taste it along the way, when it tastes like vinegar, put a lid on it and it is ready for use. Save the last bit, plus all of the mother, to be your starter for the next batch.<br />
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The core of homemade vinegar comes from the vinegar mother, which you can get in stores by buying Bragg Apple Cider Vinegar (on the label it says "with the mother"). Think of vinegar mother in the same sense as bread starter or something, it's the core, the starting point of the vinegar. It is a weird gunky film that is composed of cellulose and acetic acid bacteria (Brock compares it to a jellyfish, I think that is pretty appropriate). The vinegar creation process is the act of the mother interacting with the air and converting alcohol to acetic acid. What is really interesting about that process is that few things actually consume alcohol, and acetic acid bacteria is one of them. The mother is really gross looking, in fact, at first I thought something was wrong with my vinegar, and my wife and I were both super grossed out by it. It develops as a skin on top of the alcohol where it interacts with air. Every week I would check on my vinegar and smell it, and swirl the jar to get the mother to mix into the vinegar. I don't know if that is good or bad, but I assume that if we want air to be in contact with the vinegar and we want the mother to be the interacting agent with the air, then swirling existing gunk into the vinegar and allowing more gunk to form on the top is probably a good thing. I could be totally wrong though.<br />
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I guess the first disclaimer here is that I have not actually used the vinegar in a recipe yet, but I tasted it on its own and it was quite good. Just look at that red wine vinegar in the photo, it looks like balsamic or something. It's so thick - and it has all of the characteristics of wine. It has the initial tartness that you expect from vinegar, but storebought red wine vinegar is just that one note (and is also translucent, but wine is not translucent.. Hmmm.. makes you wonder). This vinegar is rich, it has body, it still tastes wine-y at the end. Brock tells a story of inheriting his grandmother's 40 year old vinegar starter and keeping it going. I can only hope that this experiment kicks off the beginning of a long-lasting vinegar tradition for my yet-to-exist kids and grand kids.Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17853483137751698695noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131320473314214403.post-70476604536065201072012-07-22T20:59:00.001-04:002012-07-22T21:01:44.882-04:00Carrot Green Pesto Pork Chop w Kale, Carrot and Grilled Corn<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I remember when I first decided that I wanted to learn how to cook. Looking back on it, I had pretty much always been subconsciously interested in food. I was (am) a total freak about eating certain things - for example, I have to eat Kit Kats by biting off the chocolate on the sides of the wafer bar thing first, then bite off each layer of the wafer one at a time. I think that at the time when I decided that was how Kit Kats had to be eaten, I was displaying kind of my own weird little kid passion for food. Fast forward a few years to the summer after my freshman year of college. Most of my friends were going back to their various homes for the summer, but I decided to stay nearby and work full time. I got a small studio apartment for what seemed like an exorbitant price of $385/month. Needless to say, I miss Pittsburgh rent prices. I was vegetarian and looking for ways to cook for myself that didn't involve Yves deli slices or veggie corn dogs. I did cook for myself but mostly it was just using TVP and Bragg's amino acids, so pretty much everything tasted like soy sauce. I wasn't so much interested in having a big recipe book or a ton of cookbooks and having to rely on them for everything, I was far more interested in learning what was needed to cook from scratch. It wasn't until I met my wife that I began really getting into the practice of cooking. As someone who cooks for fun, it's hard to find the time needed to really feel comfortable when faced with a grocery store and no idea what to cook, but after about 10 years of active pursuit with lots of trial and error, I feel like occasionally I actually come up with something decent.</div>
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This weekend i went to the Union Square farmers market with no particular ideas in mind, I just wanted to come away with some cool stuff to cook with. I ended up getting some really great stuff - these amazing purple carrots with their greens, some red Russian kale (which I had never seen before), fresh onions, pork chops, and fresh picked ears of corn. I did a little research on what to do with carrot greens - I didn't want to just throw them out if I could help it - and I saw some other blogs with people doing carrot green pesto. I decided to base the whole dish around that, with some basic sauteed greens and a carrot and corn salad.</div>
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Carrot Green Pesto Pork Chop w Kale, Carrot and Grilled Corn </h3>
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1 bunch carrots, with greens<br />
1 bunch kale<br />
1 small onion<br />
½ tsp red pepper flakes<br />
1 garlic clove
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¼ c pine nuts<br />
¼ c shredded Parmagiano-Reggiano cheese<br />
2 pork chops<br />
2 ears corn<br />
1 tbsp butter<br />
2 tbsp olive oil<br />
1 tsp sherry vinegar<br />
1 shallot<br />
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For the pesto:</h2>
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Carrot green stems can be incredibly fibrous and difficult to chew, so we are just going to use the fronds. Pick the fronds from the greens and wash. Bring a pot of water to boil and blanch the greens for 1-2 minutes. Drain and press excess water out of the greens. Add to food processor with pine nuts, salt, and cheese. Start processing and add a steady stream of olive oil until the pesto starts to come together. Season to taste with more salt and olive oil. Set aside.<br />
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For Carrot and Grilled Corn Salad</h2>
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Peel your carrots and slice them thinly into little coins. Grill the corn until starting to brown on all sides, or if you don't have the means or don't feel like it, just boil the ears for approximately 10 minutes. Heat a small skillet on low and add the butter. Saute the carrots until heated through and softened somewhat but not mushy. Cut the kernels off the corn and add to a mixing bowl. Add the carrots. Mince the shallot and add to the bowl. Season with salt and pepper, add 2 tbsp of olive oil and the sherry vinegar and stir well. Season to taste with salt and pepper.<br />
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For the Kale:</h2>
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This one is easy. Chop the kale into ½ inch strips. Dice the small onion. Heat up a saute pan and add a couple of tablespoons of olive oil. <span style="background-color: white;">Add red pepper flakes. </span><span style="background-color: white;">Saute the onion until softened, 3-4 minutes. Add the kale and saute until wilted, 5-6 minutes. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">For the Pork Chop:</span></h2>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Salt. Pepper. Grill. Or panfry in cast iron, that works too.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">For Plating:</span></h2>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Place a bed of kale in the middle of the plate, place your pork chop on top of that. Top the pork chop with some pesto - maybe 1½ tbsp or so. Spoon the corn and carrot salad around the edges. I am not very good when it comes to presentation, but I thought this came out looking really nice.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">If I had to make a criticism, I would say that this dish was really crunchy. Like, the kale is crunch, the carrots are crunchy, the corn is kind of crunchy poppy. The taste was great all around, the flavors went really well together, but I would have to say that my jaw did get a little tired at the end of this, as weird as that sounds.</span></div>
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<br /></div>Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17853483137751698695noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131320473314214403.post-48932260728133111042012-07-07T18:30:00.002-04:002012-07-07T18:31:53.585-04:00Eastern North Carolina Barbecue<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
My wife and I spent 3 years in North Carolina - the longest that we have been any one place since moving away from Pittsburgh nearly 10 years ago. Of all of the places that we have lived, I feel that North Carolina had the strongest sense of local cuisine. The Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill area was by easily the most diverse area of North Carolina that we experienced, but despite a massive influx of people from other parts of the country, the area maintained strong awareness of its roots, and that was inflected on most of the food options around. Even higher end restaurants still couldn't stray from North Carolina mainstays like pimento cheese and hushpuppies. Without a doubt, one of the things that left the biggest impact on me was the barbecue. </div>
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Usually cooked whole hog, Eastern NC barbecue is hickory smoked for long periods of time and dressed with an extremely simple, extremely vinegary sauce. Barbecue is traditionally served finely chopped, which has a very different texture than normal pulled pork or ribs or other types of pork bbq. Because it traditionally is a whole side of a hog, the chop has a great mix of fat and meat and is insanely good. It can be served on its own with sides like fried okra, baked beans, black eyed peas or collards. It can also be served on sandwiches with regular hamburger buns, cole slaw, and pickle slices. My wife and I miss our favorite barbecue restaurant, called The Pit, with basically weekly regularity, so when we were invited to a 4th of July party this year, I had my heart set from the beginning on some serious fucking barbecue. I stuck to just using a pork shoulder, as I don't have the means to cook a whole hog, nor do I know even a fraction of the people that it takes to have a true pig pickin, but I think that the shoulder was a worthy substitute.</div>
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This turned into a bit of a debacle for me, because my smoker died only 4 hours into smoking the shoulder. The meat was still at a temp of 140º - nowhere near the 200º that it needs to be - and I noticed that it was dropping instead of rising. I checked the heating element and realized that it was 100% not on. Which meant that my pork had been sitting there for probably like an hour without any heat on it. I was in full panic mode. I ended up finishing the shoulder in a dutch oven in my regular oven. At first I was really upset, but it ended up being a great coincidence, because the pot ended up collecting a great mix of pork juice and melted fat that helped to season the shredded barbecue.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-BSrkVKmImu94sHVLN8LvmCsrT8LK_KgqpectlO6enllnkVOeWaoLOoE2mR6nzGOKfZOo7w6ctYipMGcHy6qt1RCYoUksX0COP79BJB2YiU7KQEvJHB-HDPDe6sfFBhasuih8IdU1BRc/s1600/DSC_0104.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-BSrkVKmImu94sHVLN8LvmCsrT8LK_KgqpectlO6enllnkVOeWaoLOoE2mR6nzGOKfZOo7w6ctYipMGcHy6qt1RCYoUksX0COP79BJB2YiU7KQEvJHB-HDPDe6sfFBhasuih8IdU1BRc/s640/DSC_0104.jpg" width="426" /></a>
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<h3>
North Carolina Barbecue</h3>
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1 8-9 lb pork shoulder (bone in / skin on)</div>
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¼ c ground black pepper</div>
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¼ c kosher salt</div>
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This is probably the shortest recipe I've ever posted. It is literally just a seasoned pork shoulder. The smoke and the sauce do all of the heavy lifting. This keeps the flavors really simple and straightforward. Rub the salt and pepper on all sides of the shoulder, especially the exposed meat. Season up to 12 hours in advance and let it work its magic. Also, if you can, leave the shoulder out (covered) to come to close to room temperature. It will make the cooking time more effective.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5d_ttuZHUUX4c5-5F4vprYrgWjLSWiM2m2OiHq7Lu5XBi-wxm_Zmc4-Xjkif5QyGJiAb0bFkghutdn8Jezl1LLCx3yXXsNk1MfZx2w3Eneew452N3ImguxhDcGztM8sVbEW_Ak-qsiTc/s1600/DSC_0093.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5d_ttuZHUUX4c5-5F4vprYrgWjLSWiM2m2OiHq7Lu5XBi-wxm_Zmc4-Xjkif5QyGJiAb0bFkghutdn8Jezl1LLCx3yXXsNk1MfZx2w3Eneew452N3ImguxhDcGztM8sVbEW_Ak-qsiTc/s640/DSC_0093.jpg" width="426" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR4smr7NpZ5cEkin7Ny9FjcyvxeqXB4Q33OCyyfqovF_BodnkFPHMRlcCVw8I05eH5UAKRsGvCizBbA_Fpex3n9KBIv76y5p9FAnXK0eO_R6rpAkGxPd6XiIsjKrqSDRVPPE62HrgTzBk/s1600/DSC_0098.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR4smr7NpZ5cEkin7Ny9FjcyvxeqXB4Q33OCyyfqovF_BodnkFPHMRlcCVw8I05eH5UAKRsGvCizBbA_Fpex3n9KBIv76y5p9FAnXK0eO_R6rpAkGxPd6XiIsjKrqSDRVPPE62HrgTzBk/s640/DSC_0098.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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You can smoke the shoulder a couple of different ways. As I mentioned in the intro, I used the soon-to-be-dead electric smoker. You could also do this on charcoal with indirect heat. Either way, you want to soak your wood chips and get the heat up to about 250º in your cooking method. Smoke the shoulder until it hits the internal temp of 200º. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrylPkQoAeDe6bw7pdV78gmzrGrUK1FSohPqtLRZxK7nF6du0dHM7Wbiqo8Bwo5j8E1zrpXrLUhWbwi5d_U6ySszU2jBAaN8i3WXtIrTIosIknmLF7IF1X9aO7Pa3-SiuSFAQHzri_qqY/s1600/DSC_0100.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrylPkQoAeDe6bw7pdV78gmzrGrUK1FSohPqtLRZxK7nF6du0dHM7Wbiqo8Bwo5j8E1zrpXrLUhWbwi5d_U6ySszU2jBAaN8i3WXtIrTIosIknmLF7IF1X9aO7Pa3-SiuSFAQHzri_qqY/s640/DSC_0100.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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This is where things went wrong for me...my smoker ate shit and I had to finish my shoulder in the oven. I have to say though, this was a great accident for me. I got my shoulder finished in time, and I got this great mix of fat and pork juice that I wouldn't have had otherwise. It made things just that much better. In order to finish the shoulder before the 4th of July party, I had to put the heat at 300º for the oven, but I don't think that it had much effect on the shoulder.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsb27YAkwlLKPvjBrnQcCDOYklt4JPeZDgCc-jz_Y5WGp4DPUA4ukydyX1JDkVtKdiDac-pw4-h-dW2MK1qsyWkG-fHNMFlEpUfUE19MuIBcGqT1M8F7r2laJdPUKpo9k9UVr1WpHtB70/s1600/DSC_0102.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsb27YAkwlLKPvjBrnQcCDOYklt4JPeZDgCc-jz_Y5WGp4DPUA4ukydyX1JDkVtKdiDac-pw4-h-dW2MK1qsyWkG-fHNMFlEpUfUE19MuIBcGqT1M8F7r2laJdPUKpo9k9UVr1WpHtB70/s640/DSC_0102.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Notice the skin split after most of the fat had rendered out... mmmm</td></tr>
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When your shoulder is ready, allow it to rest for at least 30 minutes before shredding. Unfortunately I cannot vouch for the "authentic" way to chop barbecue, but I suppose that it goes something like this: <br />
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- Pull off the large chunks of pork from the bone<br />
- Shred each section with 2 forks - hold the chunk with one hand and using the tines of the fork, shred into small bits<br />
- using a knife, chop the shreds into small pieces. In my photos, I intentionally left them large because I wasn't sure if the texture would weird out people, so I erred more on the side of traditional pulled pork.<br />
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Collect all of the meat in a large mixing bowl, season with salt and pepper and some of the pork juice (should you happen to have any). Season lightly with the barbecue sauce. You want it to have tang, but barbecue is always served with sauce at the table so everyone can season to their individual tastes.<br />
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<h3>
Eastern North Carolina Barbecue Sauce</h3>
1 c apple cider vinegar<br />
1/4 c brown sugar<br />
1 tbsp dried red pepper flakes<br />
1 tsp salt<br />
1 tsp ground black pepper<br />
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Heat up the vinegar in a sauce pan, stir in the rest of the ingredients. Stir until sugar and salt are dissolved and then allow to cool to room temperature. I store mine in an old Scott's barbecue sauce bottle because it so perfectly dispenses the sauce.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAY6WvsL1iplOE6W4gVSl9hDEeYRvrVhdCHNYcwDIWzS8BpZSCnmbJxAkCzvEdb6qTYbmwmpxV8DbZAL79F2EGMw25EnKwSyZAlPiRLL-NxGLlFi-JZXXY1cW2kFogFtYHbvFqtVuHSAo/s1600/DSC_0110.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAY6WvsL1iplOE6W4gVSl9hDEeYRvrVhdCHNYcwDIWzS8BpZSCnmbJxAkCzvEdb6qTYbmwmpxV8DbZAL79F2EGMw25EnKwSyZAlPiRLL-NxGLlFi-JZXXY1cW2kFogFtYHbvFqtVuHSAo/s640/DSC_0110.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
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<br />Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17853483137751698695noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131320473314214403.post-3503698327355543622012-05-22T21:22:00.000-04:002013-09-03T13:25:43.203-04:00Homemade Ramen<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I guess that at this point, the regularity by which I write blog posts that somehow relate to the Momofuku cooking might be getting kind of repetitive. It has become quite a reliable source of deliciousness for me, and it has been a great entry for me personally to become more well versed in pseudo Japanese food, especially since I generally stick to the Noodle Bar recipes. Since acquiring the book, I have been eyeing up the idea of attempting to make the ramen totally from scratch - after all, it is the fucking Super Bowl of the Noodle Bar recipes. The one blocking issue for me has always been the noodles. David Chang mentions that the ingredients are hard to find (I know that I have never come across them) so I always kept that one on the back burner. Until now. A coworker of mine was kind enough to lend me the debut issue of Chang's new quarterly called <i>Lucky Peach</i>. In it, I was shocked and excited to find that all that was needed for homemade ramen noodles was simple basic (see what I did there?) baking soda. I could barely wait until the weekend to get this project started. It turned out to be a nearly 2 day task to put all of this together, but I have to say it was absolutely worth it. The weekend of work was summarized by my wife at the dinner table Sunday night with a succinct summary of "dude, you made fucking ramen." </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjEqzXdxwhv5_tT6aPUsms16SGA7KD1cG4pbg0T4abAvuSkAkB8D_T5hJtg78xjoBACdnJ37C-qW4IgxuIGCTDyoQi_crtMw6hgpy49S-fcO44g1PHyT3-mxRM20WLQgOtuScUQnpXgOI/s1600/DSC_0126.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjEqzXdxwhv5_tT6aPUsms16SGA7KD1cG4pbg0T4abAvuSkAkB8D_T5hJtg78xjoBACdnJ37C-qW4IgxuIGCTDyoQi_crtMw6hgpy49S-fcO44g1PHyT3-mxRM20WLQgOtuScUQnpXgOI/s640/DSC_0126.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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The ramen related recipes here are as follows:</div>
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- Stock</div>
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- Stock seasoning (tare)</div>
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- Roasted pork belly (chashu)</div>
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- Stewed bamboo shoots (menma)</div>
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- Noodles</div>
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- Slow poached egg (onsen tamago)</div>
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<h3>
Roasted Pork Belly / Chashu</h3>
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2-3 lb pork belly</div>
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¼ c salt</div>
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¼ c sugar</div>
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If the pork belly is skin on, remove the skin. Mix the salt and sugar together and dredge the pork belly in the cure mix on all sides. Cure in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours but no more than 24. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh06p2sfcqv5psSIS2ArhwswAiUgU7lioQ8_Vhr6vitvAH0o9GciqFRieJIWQRqWdNSl6uEBOjAzcs623grqZVitw48ygZVwDp-ToL3fDhrVEQAJUBQEmA_pMVH98nbSQ6amnoONsIN7Nw/s1600/DSC_0083.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh06p2sfcqv5psSIS2ArhwswAiUgU7lioQ8_Vhr6vitvAH0o9GciqFRieJIWQRqWdNSl6uEBOjAzcs623grqZVitw48ygZVwDp-ToL3fDhrVEQAJUBQEmA_pMVH98nbSQ6amnoONsIN7Nw/s640/DSC_0083.jpg" width="426" /></a></div>
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Preheat the oven to 450º. Rinse the pork and pat dry with a paper towel before roasting. Roast the belly for up to 1 hour, basting occasionally with the fat that is rendered from the belly. You are looking for the belly to brown and take on roasted color during this time. If it starts to look like it's burning, skip straight to lowering the heat. Reduce heat to 250º and roast for another hour. Allow pork belly to cool, then refrigerate until the fat solidifies. Once it is chilled, it will be easier to slice in thin slices.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpeazHKTNq04XKdBhQG5JdYggmeF-v6Q59kvURTiglMceENUj7XeSA__N_RUjq1lm8w7TXrfYgQ27Br1MBF3aS05oABgWUstUzbFcajJCErWfFbAjpvbI-Yjn2RcYX9Zp1jKH0QdFXMJM/s1600/DSC_0104.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpeazHKTNq04XKdBhQG5JdYggmeF-v6Q59kvURTiglMceENUj7XeSA__N_RUjq1lm8w7TXrfYgQ27Br1MBF3aS05oABgWUstUzbFcajJCErWfFbAjpvbI-Yjn2RcYX9Zp1jKH0QdFXMJM/s640/DSC_0104.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<h3>
Tare</h3>
1 c soy sauce<br />
½ c sake<br />
½ c mirin<br />
1 chicken back or equal amount chicken bones<br />
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Roast the bones in a 425º oven for an hour or until the bones are well browned. If you can roast the bones in a saucepan without steaming them instead then do that, otherwise roast in a small open dish and when the bones are roasted, deglaze the pan with the liquid. Simmer for an hour, until the liquid is slightly reduced and thickened.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJFH8ZiMkZbhtnLD6l17mU_poepbVUoJg5-hRa59S-Dgo2fu4SWyKTcKVNGLAc1WVAgoUQ5jsSWNz58BZYKSFZDDr-mvIWV0PEpyk4nGUKhBx4PLa2hWKdlQRkYv2cio-pZTVGMH_zLYE/s1600/DSC_0090.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJFH8ZiMkZbhtnLD6l17mU_poepbVUoJg5-hRa59S-Dgo2fu4SWyKTcKVNGLAc1WVAgoUQ5jsSWNz58BZYKSFZDDr-mvIWV0PEpyk4nGUKhBx4PLa2hWKdlQRkYv2cio-pZTVGMH_zLYE/s640/DSC_0090.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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<h3>
Stock</h3>
So some background on this... The Momofuku cookbook has a ramen recipe, but Lucky Peach featured Momofuku Noodle Bar's "Ramen 2.0" recipe, where the goal was to reduce the cost of the ramen broth by making it just as flavorful without needing as much pork or chicken parts. I ended up kind of shooting from the hip here and combined the two of them because I can't leave well enough alone. I think it turned out pretty great.<br />
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3.5 lb pork necks<br />
3 lb chicken backs or other parts<br />
1 onion or leek roots and ends from 1 bunch leeks, washed<br />
2 c dried shiitakes<br />
6 quarts water<br />
2 pieces konbu<br />
6 oz bacon<br />
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Heat the oven to 400º. Rinse the konbu and set aside.<br />
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Start the stock by heating the water to 160º. Turn off the heat and add the konbu. Cover the pot and let the konbu steep for an hour. According to Lucky Peach this is some crazy Japanese science way to extract the most flavor out of konbu. I am not one to debate this.<br />
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As the konbu is steeping, start roasting the pork necks. Roast them for about an hour, turning as necessary, you want them to be brown but not black. Nicely roasted.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl91bzPOsiRW-GJcJrHLUiWBWIm-zX6bIfeGUhN8vqlTEFLrzKKCEyyLuX7_vQvMoG81yIC9GAColyvh96SgAYwwuufvB2WMo0ercWrM22gK9cl2Sv-2aD4qTWtz5bbfJ_Pe-ixit1p3I/s1600/DSC_0086.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl91bzPOsiRW-GJcJrHLUiWBWIm-zX6bIfeGUhN8vqlTEFLrzKKCEyyLuX7_vQvMoG81yIC9GAColyvh96SgAYwwuufvB2WMo0ercWrM22gK9cl2Sv-2aD4qTWtz5bbfJ_Pe-ixit1p3I/s640/DSC_0086.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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When the konbu is done steeping, remove it and discard or save for another use. Rinse the shiitakes and then add to the stock. Bring the water up to a boil and then turn the heat down until the broth is simmering. Simmer for 30 minutes. </div>
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Remove the mushrooms from the stock and add the chicken bones. Keep the water at a heat of about 180º if you can. Skim the foam and impurities that gather on the surface often. Give the chicken at least an hour (maybe more if you have the time). If you are using smaller parts then you will extract the flavor faster. If you are using whole carcasses then maybe err on the longer side. </div>
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Remove the chicken bones and add the roasted pork bones along with the bacon. Now you are entering the long part of the stock making process. Keep the water at 180º, continuing skimming, for 6-7 hours, or as long as you can feasibly do it. Remove the bacon after an hour and discard it. Add water as necessary, keeping the bones fully covered.</div>
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In the last hour, add your leeks or onions and let them steep and lend their freshness to the broth.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij7CIm5i1kilcMHAlGtfnedGn-NJpvavtoi9_1iqb8tpMktxJ-Bo78t94Lh5RK-zH9FNrMnACAD_EOhrRoTZtyyliAmIju2L62ZVdeXSypyVyUvJgj7yfwCfDRvkuWpLx6tuPB5y1dHio/s1600/DSC_0093.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij7CIm5i1kilcMHAlGtfnedGn-NJpvavtoi9_1iqb8tpMktxJ-Bo78t94Lh5RK-zH9FNrMnACAD_EOhrRoTZtyyliAmIju2L62ZVdeXSypyVyUvJgj7yfwCfDRvkuWpLx6tuPB5y1dHio/s640/DSC_0093.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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Strain out the broth using a cheesecloth lined colander. You may have to remove the bones by hand first if they are too big. <br />
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Here is a picture of the consistency of the stock after it has been chilled. It was seriously like jello, sooo much gelatin. So good.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja21SeiM-eQE1rX1tWwGxq9PjGAc-h4xI_NhjjKjlqJSn5Wxo69swi2rWAwJfs0Tj8oGCkdb8AVoOvPCPwps9-wtM_sSBJuJqLArM2qc7kZzVfJN0vFyCf6rueb3uSa00P70bjGZOq8WA/s1600/DSC_0118.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja21SeiM-eQE1rX1tWwGxq9PjGAc-h4xI_NhjjKjlqJSn5Wxo69swi2rWAwJfs0Tj8oGCkdb8AVoOvPCPwps9-wtM_sSBJuJqLArM2qc7kZzVfJN0vFyCf6rueb3uSa00P70bjGZOq8WA/s640/DSC_0118.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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<h3>
Stewed Bamboo Shoots (Menma)</h3>
1 c canned or prepacked boiled bamboo shoots<br />
1/2 c soy sauce<br />
1 tbsp sesame oil<br />
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I found these neat boiled and packed bamboo shoots at the Japanese grocery store, so I thought it was worth taking a picture of them in their pristine state. If you are using canned bamboo shoots, just drain and mix all the ingredients and bring to a simmer. Stew for 20-30 minutes and let cool.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZAtmFJZbXzLKIABxp8QkhSN4cj7IDkBS5cT-12pIq5KiMWlz5NmU6-iB9bitQOzokc4DUVXpweWJQzjNH14gw31rRYTsJOGlYbG1HthoQMEZKaco14zf5_OBTBaXP4TfH7_J5DoUCE4A/s1600/DSC_0103.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZAtmFJZbXzLKIABxp8QkhSN4cj7IDkBS5cT-12pIq5KiMWlz5NmU6-iB9bitQOzokc4DUVXpweWJQzjNH14gw31rRYTsJOGlYbG1HthoQMEZKaco14zf5_OBTBaXP4TfH7_J5DoUCE4A/s640/DSC_0103.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<h3>
Alkaline Noodles</h3>
I actually ended up making 2 batches of these. <i>Lucky Peach</i>'s recipe called for 3 c AP flour, but I found the dough to be far too stretchy even after 2 kneading sessions. The second time, I used half bread flour and half AP for a more glutenous flour. The resulting dough was perfect - stiff enough to roll out using a pasta machine without tearing, but with enough give to remain malleable. These noodles can also be used for the momofuku ginger scallion noodles which are really awesome.<br />
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1.5 c bread flour<br />
1.5 c all purpose flour<br />
1 c lukewarm water<br />
4 tsp baking soda<br />
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Heat oven to 250º, spread baking soda out on aluminum foil and bake for 1 hour. This will remove the carbon dioxide from the baking soda, leaving you with sodium carbonate - the alkaline salt that makes these noodles hold up to hot soup broth and have that slightly kind of nutty flavor to them.<br />
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Dissolve the baking soda in the lukewarm water and stir until it is fully dissolved. <br />
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In a mixing bowl, add the flour and then the water. Stir with a fork until the dough becomes shaggy, and then begin kneading with your hands. Work dough for 5 minutes, wrap with saran wrap and allow to rest for 20 minutes. Work the dough again for another 5 minutes, rewrap, and refrigerate for 1 hour. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH-XZ6WzY4aKVoObzmGjfsGL2bpl5SxEa4gshpjEJG4XoFFts3YEWL04n6WcDQ5Gs0v744PfqgmfxafoPVcNJQ9_CpyqxLz8PXCAGe-95ilRLube_XCgXNM9rIT5elEM0P74fwRGQne2s/s1600/DSC_0107.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH-XZ6WzY4aKVoObzmGjfsGL2bpl5SxEa4gshpjEJG4XoFFts3YEWL04n6WcDQ5Gs0v744PfqgmfxafoPVcNJQ9_CpyqxLz8PXCAGe-95ilRLube_XCgXNM9rIT5elEM0P74fwRGQne2s/s640/DSC_0107.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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Roll out either with a pasta machine or by hand. I used a pasta machine on the following settings. I rolled the sheets out to a thickness of 3 (that is, 3rd setting from the thinnest possible). <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYm2JMnXlCru62-5l8B6lLnDyMKEMzJWHo0faWdzOnvKqTZMjrjjIIlbadPAtnccE7QHZCmOt1URWJb-_yqN1fS5JalXUvprbMn8he2aqWuYolg8AZEHWw44mXD_37pDtkvp4IGGYtnrM/s1600/DSC_0109.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYm2JMnXlCru62-5l8B6lLnDyMKEMzJWHo0faWdzOnvKqTZMjrjjIIlbadPAtnccE7QHZCmOt1URWJb-_yqN1fS5JalXUvprbMn8he2aqWuYolg8AZEHWw44mXD_37pDtkvp4IGGYtnrM/s640/DSC_0109.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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I then used the thinner of the pasta cutters (linguine? I don't even know - the one that is smaller than fettucine). I found that I had to start the dough through the cutters and then actually grab the end of the cut noodles and pull through as I continued to cut. If i didn't do that, I ended up getting very ratty bunched up noodles. By pulling, the noodles cut sharply and slid right through. A friend also told me that spraying a little Pam or spray canola or whatever on the cutter blades before cutting the noodles also made a world of difference when he made these noodles - I definitely plan on trying that next time.<br />
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<h3>
Onsen Tamago (Slow poached eggs)</h3>
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Check out my old recipe for these awesome and incredibly versatile eggs:</div>
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<a href="http://brains4brunch.blogspot.com/2011/01/perfect-poached-eggs-experiment.html">http://brains4brunch.blogspot.com/2011/01/perfect-poached-eggs-experiment.html</a>
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<h3>
Serving your ramen:</h3>
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<b><u>Ingredients:</u></b></div>
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Stock</div>
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Tare</div>
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Menma</div>
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Eggs</div>
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Thinly sliced green onion</div>
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Sheets of nori (optional)</div>
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Alkaline noodles</div>
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Pork</div>
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Ok holy shit we are almost finally to the point where you can eat. You've done all the hard work, congratulations. Now you just need to put the pieces together. It's really easy now. Boil your noodles and then drain them. Use the tare to season your ramen stock. Add water if necessary if the broth is too strongly flavored.</div>
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Place a serving of noodles in the bowl, slide a piece of nori down along the wall of the bowl. Place a few slices of pork on top of them justified to one side. Ladle hot broth over the noodles. Placed some menma on the other side of the bowl, crack open an egg and let it slide into the middle of the bowl. Top with green onions. You are finally ready to enjoy the fruits of your labor, take a deep breath and then eat the shit out of this awesome ramen.</div>
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<br />Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17853483137751698695noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131320473314214403.post-62820683654883410902012-03-31T10:37:00.000-04:002012-04-07T11:34:56.712-04:00Tasso - Cajun Smoked Ham<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
So lately I have been trying to pick up larger cuts of meat and do various things with them. I use the excuse of economy but the underlying truth is that I enjoy amateur butchery. In addition to that, it is definitely convenient to buy a 3 lb chuck roast, have it sitting in the freezer, and be able to fit many whims with it. Beef stew? Ground beef? Shaved beef for cheesesteaks? I have a wide variety of bases covered. Keeping it locked in vacuum bags extends the freezer life so I have the luxury of using one large cut over a couple months. The downside to this (if you could call it a downside) is that occasionally I find myself wanting to get rid of things so that I can pick up something else, or feeling the need to make something with a certain cut before freezer burn, the inevitable asshole, sets in.</div>
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Last weekend I found myself wanting to get rid of the last of a pork shoulder. I had about 1½ lb of shoulder that I wanted to use. I had a hankering to break out the smoker and do something cured/smoked, because I didn't intend on using the shoulder immediately. The first thing that came to mind was to make tasso - the ubiquitous ham used all throughout Cajun cooking. </div>
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I think tasso often gets a comparison to bacon. They are used in similar ways, primarily as a seasoning ingredient for bigger meals like jambalaya. They are both cured, but tasso is a very quick cure compared to bacon, which can take up to a week. Tasso cures for a matter of hours on much smaller cuts of meat. Tasso uses shoulder, whereas bacon uses belly, and tasso uses a strong spice rub, lending a complex flavor profile after smoking.</div>
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Traditionally, tasso is smoked using pecan wood. I had to settle for a mix of alder and hickory (1:2 ratio), I wanted a smoked flavor but not too strong. Alder is a nice mild wood often used for smoking fish, so I relied mostly on that with a little bit of hickory to give it a little backbone.</div>
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<h4>
<span style="font-weight: normal;">
Tasso - Cajun Smoked Ham</span></h4>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">(recipe adapted from Charcuterie by Michael Ruhlman)</span><br />
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<u>Cure:</u></div>
<div>
1.5-2 lb pork shoulder, cut into roughly 1" thick slabs</div>
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8 oz kosher salt</div>
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4 oz sugar</div>
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<u>Rub:</u></div>
<div>
1½ tbsp ground white pepper</div>
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3/4 tbsp cayenne pepper</div>
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1½ tbsp dried marjoram</div>
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<span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">1½ tbsp ground allspice</span></div>
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Start by combining the salt and sugar for your cure. Dredge your shoulder cuts in the cure, shake off excess, and set them in a container to cure for 4 hours. You could add pink salt to the cure, I opted not to. In this cure you would use 1 oz of pink salt.</div>
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Combine the rub ingredients. I had to use the old fashioned mortar and pestle to grind my white pepper so it is extra chunky. I got tired and my mortar and pestle are small and kind of hard to use.<br />
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Rinse the shoulder slabs and pat them dry with a paper towel. Use your hands to work in the rub on all sides of the shoulder.</div>
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Get your smoker preheated to 180º. Soak the wood chips for at least 30 minutes, add them to the smoker and watch for first whisps of smoke to come out. Add the tasso and smoke to a temperature of 155º. Add woodchips as necessary. Let cool and use as needed or freeze for future use.<br />
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<br />Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17853483137751698695noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131320473314214403.post-41203566883409937572012-03-04T20:01:00.000-05:002012-03-04T20:01:24.428-05:00Brazilian Chicken and Okra StewHas it really been three months since my last post? I wish I could say that I had a reasonable excuse, but I really don't. Life has gotten so crazy since moving to Boston. Crazy in a good way, but crazy nonetheless. My days are long and my job is keeping me busy at all times. My routine from my life in Raleigh is a distant memory, which is obviously affecting the regularity of my posts here. Before moving to Boston, I often found myself creating cooking projects for myself to blog about. Living in Boston has been more of an exercise in practicality. Instead of spending 20-30 minutes commuting each day, I spend 2 hours commuting. The time to come home and pull together an extravagant dinner is no longer there. Instead of stopping at Whole Foods on the way home for a spur of the moment meal, my wife and I have begun planning our meals in advance, and spending most of the weekend prepping for a busy week. For a while, I felt that there was nothing really worth blogging about in that situation, but now I'm realizing that it's not really true. I hope to get back in the groove with regular blog posts, even if the subject matter is not as epic as I wish it could be.<br />
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One of the great things about moving to a new city (or even a new neighborhood) is experiencing a cultural change in your new setting. I had no idea that Boston had a strong Brazilian population, but nearby neighborhoods like Union Square in Somerville show a strong Brazilian population. I have to say that Brazilian food is something that I don't know a lot about, but it has been great to learn about and see the style of food that is in local Brazilian restaurants. I was looking for something to make for lunch for the week, and my wife suggested recreating one of her favorite dishes from the Brazilian restaurant at the end of our street - stewed chicken and okra. A one-pot dish served over rice, travels well and easy to heat up for lunch, I was all in. I can't vouch for the authenticity of this recipe and I decided to compile parts that I liked from several recipes that I found, so it's kind of a menagerie of ideas but I was really happy with the result.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Brazilian Chicken and Okra Stew (Frango con Quiabo)</span></div>
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1 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into cubes<br />
1 medium onion<br />
1 green pepper<br />
1 small handful (1/4 c?) flat leaf parsley<br />
2 tbsp tomato paste<br />
1 lime<br />
3 tbsp white vinegar<br />
3 tbsp vegetable oil<br />
6 cloves garlic<br />
Long grain white rice<br />
1 lb okra (fresh or frozen)<br />
2c chicken stock<br />
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Start by making a marinade for the chicken. Juice the lime, combine with the vinegar and oil, crush 4 of the garlic cloves and add a fair amount of salt and pepper. Whisk to dissolve the salt and marinate the chicken for at least 30 minutes, or as long as overnight. <br />
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After cutting the okra, rinse and salt it and let it sit for 15 minutes or so. This will leech out some of the stickiness.<br />
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While the chicken is marinating and the okra is macerating, roughly chop your onion and green pepper. Add to a food processor with the parsley and the last 2 cloves of garlic. Process until you have a smooth paste. <br />
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Put a saute pan on med-hi heat and add enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Fry the okra for approximately 10 minutes. Let them sit long enough to brown up a bit and then remove them and set aside. Add a little more oil if necessary, and add your chicken. Saute until brown on all sides, then remove and reserve.<br />
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Add the onion/green pepper mixture and the tomato paste and saute for approximately 10 minutes. It took a while for me to get this cooked down, it took longer than I expected for it to not have that sort of raw onion and pepper smell. You will notice that the mixture will start to dry up, then you know it's getting close.<br />
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Add your chicken back to the mixture as well as the chicken stock. Bring to a simmer, turn the heat down to low, and partially cover. Stew the mixture for 45 minutes or so, until the chicken is nice and tender. If your mixture dries out, add more chicken stock or some water to keep it from burning. <br />
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The vinegar on the chicken should bring some brightness to the stew and really make it pop. I love the consistency of okra, and the seed bring a really nice texture to this stew. Cheers to trying new stuff and learning something new along the way!</div>Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17853483137751698695noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131320473314214403.post-5905943268611720732011-11-25T18:47:00.001-05:002011-11-25T20:43:54.820-05:00Homemade Butter<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I guess it's kind of funny that after attending a Thanksgiving dinner with 11 new friends, the thing that I left most excited about was trying to make homemade butter. My wife and I had the pleasure of going to Thanksgiving in Providence, where we met a lot of great new people. There was a ton of food - too much to fit on the dinner table alone - so it spilled over to side tables. Dotted among the dinner plates and platters on the table were small ramekins filled with butter, which I found out was homemade butter from our new friend Cobi - a pastry chef who works in Cambridge. I was immediately intrigued and had to know more about homemade butter. I've heard of people making butter before but I was never quite sure how difficult it was or anything. Cobi's succinct answer convinced me that I needed to try it asap: "you take a bunch of cream and you shake it." It couldn't actually be that easy could it? She gave me a few more instructional points, mostly related to when to salt and how to rinse it, but aside from that, it really is that easy. I hurried to the store today to pick up some heavy cream and see what I could come up with. I didn't even bother to look up a recipe - let's do it live. The resulting butter was really smooth and tasted incredibly rich with a texture better than store bought butter. It was also a relatively quick process, 30 minutes start to finish, including breaks for photos. </div>
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Butter is a natural product of milk and has been a core component of cooking in cultures centered around herding for centuries. Milk is comprised mostly of water, as well as proteins, fat globules, sugar in the form of lactose, and vitamins. The fat globules are contained by a membrane that keeps them separate from the proteins, and when we make butter, we are basically just agitating the fat globules so much that the membranes rupture and the fats can stick to each other, resulting in 2 end products: butter and buttermilk. We use a high fat concentration of milk (cream) to make butter, which has its own interesting production process. Fresh milk (unpasteurized / non-homogenized) separates naturally when sitting at room temperature. Fat rises to the top and can be skimmed off to create higher fat concentrations of milk, like half & half and cream. </div>
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<b><u>Homemade butter:</u></b></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">Yields ~6.5 oz butter</span></div>
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16 oz cold heavy cream</div>
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1/8 tsp salt (optional)</div>
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Pour your cream into a large container with a tight fitting lid (I used a quart mason jar). Shake the shit out of it.</div>
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That's really it. I'll spend the rest of this post talking about the breakdown of the "shaking the shit out of" process.</div>
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Before you really get going, chill a large amount of water - maybe a couple quarts worth. You will use it to rinse your butter, and it has to be cold to keep the butter from melting. Put it in the freezer to get it nice and cold while you shake and get your cardio in.</div>
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Total time to end up with butter: 30 minutes</div>
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At 17 minutes of shaking, I took a quick peek. I found a very thick cream, it looked like overwhipped whipped cream. You can start to see the cream looking kind of granular - I think that is the separation of the fat from the proteins and water.<br />
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It got to the point where I was shaking but felt like nothing was happening - I could no longer hear sloshing or anything inside of the jar but I just kept going. At 22 minutes, the globules broke and the separation began in full force. <br />
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Four minutes later at minute mark 26, I could clearly see butter formed surrounded by the buttermilk. I continued shaking this for a few minutes. <br />
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I poured off the buttermilk through a fine mesh sieve into a separate jar. I did this a few times to make sure that the cream had fully separated and I was no longer getting buttermilk. <br />
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At this point, I added some table salt and continued shaking for a minute or two to make sure that the salt was evenly distributed. If you don't want salted butter you can just leave it out. Pour in enough cold water to cover the butter and shake more. Pour off the water and continue rinsing until the water runs clear. We are removing all of the buttermilk still clinging to the butter. After the water runs clear, go ahead and package your butter. It will keep for a week in the fridge but you are better off freezing unused portions.<br />
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My final yields were 8½ oz buttermilk and 6.4 oz butter.<br />
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Coincidentally (or not), 6.4 (oz butter) /16 (starting oz of cream) = .4 and the concentration of heavy cream is defined as 36-44% fat. So the logical side of me says that if you are targeting a specific yield of butter, multiplying the number of ounces that you are buying by .4 will give you a nice average estimate of how much butter you will end up with. Part of me was hoping that I would find that homemade butter was somehow way cheaper than store-bought mass produced butter. Trying to recall from my last visit to the store, I think that the average organic butter goes for about $4.50 lb. 6.4 oz of organic butter cost me about $3.50, so it is more expensive to make homemade butter, but you do get a better product and a bunch of buttermilk. I'm not one to argue with more reasons to make homemade pancakes or waffles or even buttermilk fried chicken... so I'll take it.<br />
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<br />Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17853483137751698695noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131320473314214403.post-36446835249814322992011-10-10T09:05:00.001-04:002011-10-10T09:05:38.081-04:00Homemade DashiOne of the things that I love about Japanese cooking is the simplicity that pervades every facet of it. Most dishes, at their essence, start with a mix and match of just a handful of ingredients and are built from there. Soy sauce, mirin, sake, dashi. You will find a variation on this theme in most Japanese recipes. I find it fascinating that an entire culture's food history is built on the shoulders of such simple ingredients. The difference between peasant food and fine dining isn't so much in the ingredients but in the pursuit of perfection - honoring the ingredients in a flawless fashion.<br />
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This recipe is part one of two of a Japanese soup called Tonjiru - a hearty cold weather soup with pork and vegetables. It's easy to make and it's perfect for cold nights in the fall. I made the stock but didn't plan on using it immediately, so I froze it until I was ready to use it.<br />
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Dashi is a core ingredient in so many Japanese recipes, and it's a simple stock created from just three ingredients: water, bonito flakes, and konbu seaweed. The stock never boiled, it is treated more like a tea - you steep the ingredients in hot water for a period of time and then strain the stock when most of the flavor has been extracted from the ingredients (prolonged steeping will result in off-flavors). <br />
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To me, the most fascinating thing about this stock is the bonito. Shredded bonito (katsuobushi) goes through a really interesting preservation process. It starts with skipjack tuna, which is boiled in salt water and then smoked every day for a 2 week or longer period. It is then inoculated with a strain of mold and left to ferment for another 2 week period, then sun-dried before mold removal. This fermentation step is performed three or four times, over a several month long period, resulting in meat that is hard and dense and supposedly sounds like wood when struck. When complete, the fish is shredded and bagged and ready for whatever application - be it soup stock or as a topping for okonomiyaki or anything else. Maybe if I can find myself a whole skipjack tuna I'll try the preservation process, but until then I'll probably continue buying nicely packaged bonito flakes. The package that I have pictured here actually is a mix of bonito and mackerel - it was a suggestion of the nice girl helping me at the Japanese market, who said that she preferred the mix to just straight bonito. I'll be honest, I don't know if I would be able to tell the difference in the final stock either way, but I decided to take her advice.<br />
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<b>Homemade Dashi</b><br />
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1 3x6" piece of konbu<br />
2 handfuls katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes)<br />
8 c water<br />
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Start with cold water, and do yourself a favor and start with purified water. With such a simple stock, the quality of the water has significant effect on the final results. I have read that you can score the konbu with a knife prior to placing in the water in order to more quickly penetrate the flavors of the seaweed but I'm not sure how I feel about that - you're basically trying to score something that is as tough as a piece of hardwood and the threshold between pressing hard enough to score and breaking the seaweed is small. <br />
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Place the konbu in the cold water and heat the water over medium heat until it just begins to simmer.<br />
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Turn off the heat and allow the konbu to steep for 12 minutes. Bring the water back to a simmer and turn the heat off again, adding 2 handfuls of the katsuobushi this time. Cover the pot and let the ingredients steep for another 7 minutes. <br />
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Strain your stock and you are done! I portioned mine into plastic containers to be frozen for when I make tonjiru. <br />
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<br />Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17853483137751698695noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131320473314214403.post-45797005696927504882011-09-25T19:36:00.003-04:002011-09-26T08:43:41.684-04:00Corned Beef Tongue<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Finally we are back into what feels like a normal routine. We are mostly unpacked and things feel like they are settling down after what felt like forever in limbo as we transitioned from Raleigh to Boston. In reality, it has only been a month and 2 weeks since we decided to accept the job offer that would move us from the southeast to New England. First post in a new place and I have to say I am excited about it. First, I'd like to tell you a little story about this beef tongue.</div>
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Sometime maybe a couple of months ago, I was at the Raleigh State Farmer's Market, and I saw that one of the farmers who sell meat had whole beef tongues for sale. I love beef tongue. If I see it on a menu, I have a hard time not ordering it. It was first introduced to me by a Guadalajara-born friend in Los Angeles. "You gotta try the lengua man, it melts in your mouth" he would say when we brought up mexican food, but I was timid and didn't work up the guts to try it until I lived in Chicago. For as much as I have come to love it, I had yet to cook it at home, so when I saw it at the farmer's market, my heartrate went up and I felt like I couldn't pass it by. I brought it home and immediately stashed it in the freezer until I could find something to do with it. For one reason or another, I just never got around to cooking it in Raleigh. I was able to get rid of all of my other freezer meat before we moved - either by grinding it or just finding a way to make use of it. Everything except this tongue. So when we started planning our move and what would go with us in the car, I thought I'd make a brilliant suggestion to throw the tongue in the cooler that was going in the car with us. Since it was like 3 pounds and frozen, it almost single handedly kept everything in the cooler cold for the 14+ hour drive from Raleigh to Boston. When we got to Boston, it went straight back into the freezer until I could come up with something to do with it. My first obvious inclination was to make tacos de lengua - my favorite style of taco. But after looking at recipes, I just wasn't all that inspired. I continued to peruse my blogs until I found a posting by 4505 Meats founder Ryan Farr. I first became interested in 4505 as a blog because of the in-depth postings that Ryan would make related to butchery. He offers classes in whole animal butchery, which I would love to take some day. Some of the processes are documented in photo blog format, and Ryan also recently released a <a href="http://www.4505meats.com/bestbyfarr/the-book/">b</a><a href="http://www.4505meats.com/bestbyfarr/the-book/">ook about butchery</a>. I haven't picked the book up, but it looks to be a must have. Largely illustrative, it looks to demystify some of my questions about butchery and how the process works. Ryan's corned beef tongue didn't come with a recipe, so I manufactured my own, but I think that it is largely in the spirit of his corned beef tongue, and it was absolutely amazing.</div>
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Corned Beef Tongue</div>
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(inspired by Ryan Farr, <a href="http://www.4505meats.com/">4505 Meats</a>)</div>
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1 beef tongue</div>
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1 head of garlic</div>
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1 large chunk of ginger (3-4 oz), peeled</div>
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10 sprigs thyme</div>
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2 tbsp Sriracha chili sauce</div>
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1 whole onion, peeled and halved</div>
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1 c soy sauce</div>
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1 32 oz box chicken stock (optional)</div>
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1 box kosher salt</div>
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Pink salt (aka Instacure #1 , DQ curing salt) (optional)</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf1dwT4ffoJiRF0rH_9On_ZTTg155KPpPFdTtMyg31daPzuGPXr8IUqulr21HWwxPoAjI6HZnTSP5HpejBN473Dc9wOt6ESreJBUI2srkTCOetPEmlwzuxKb-5SFYZEonEzLybLwRT7qE/s1600/DSC_1343.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf1dwT4ffoJiRF0rH_9On_ZTTg155KPpPFdTtMyg31daPzuGPXr8IUqulr21HWwxPoAjI6HZnTSP5HpejBN473Dc9wOt6ESreJBUI2srkTCOetPEmlwzuxKb-5SFYZEonEzLybLwRT7qE/s640/DSC_1343.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tongue ready to cure</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsslOX1LZopwsz3aD1JBZ3H81m-IILmq-8AXj5X5I_JWt8qMdPNq1fa-NUFSQomaLogk6x54DAbWTm7N4dSPtVYdimsO-Eqxcg6gG7Ggb3Qrwvi6hmOwKrRRlxtV1l88cf-mgzewn1MxQ/s1600/DSC_1344.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsslOX1LZopwsz3aD1JBZ3H81m-IILmq-8AXj5X5I_JWt8qMdPNq1fa-NUFSQomaLogk6x54DAbWTm7N4dSPtVYdimsO-Eqxcg6gG7Ggb3Qrwvi6hmOwKrRRlxtV1l88cf-mgzewn1MxQ/s640/DSC_1344.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I just wanted to show the fatty end. Look at that lovely marbling.</td></tr>
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Start by rinsing your tongue and patting it dry. Place it in a container and cover it with salt. If you would like to use pink salt, feel free. I used it because I wanted the reddish color that pink salt imparts as it cures, but it is certainly not necessary. If you do use it, mix the kosher salt and the pink salt in a separate container before covering the tongue. Cover the tongue in salt and cover the container. Refrigerate for a week. I flipped the tongue every other day to ensure that it cured evenly, and I added more salt halfway through to keep the tongue well salted. </div>
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Remove the tongue from the salt and rinse well. Prep the rest of the ingredients by cutting the garlic head in half, having the onion and removing the outer layer, and peeling and cutting the ginger into large 2" chunks. Place the tongue in a stockpot and add the soy sauce, ginger, garlic, onion, thyme, and Sriracha. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTUsqv0qLtWU1GsOlmzKdl9iHo6H_15fkWnCuaw3-WzIGcr5xefXcmHYtPIrizME9ZC2IY3PTZ-1ZwLS_dBwLzF9S4bE-KkWmsD8_RGFPOasoxRnRNdOFeoTpJa9SBcD1RICMXkUHZFbI/s1600/DSC_1348.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTUsqv0qLtWU1GsOlmzKdl9iHo6H_15fkWnCuaw3-WzIGcr5xefXcmHYtPIrizME9ZC2IY3PTZ-1ZwLS_dBwLzF9S4bE-KkWmsD8_RGFPOasoxRnRNdOFeoTpJa9SBcD1RICMXkUHZFbI/s640/DSC_1348.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Cover the tongue with either water or chicken stock. I had some chicken stock in the fridge, so I used about 16 oz of chicken stock and water for the rest of it. Fill the pot until the tongue is covered and then bring to a simmer on the stove. Cover the pot and simmer the tongue for 3-4 hours.</div>
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When the tongue is cooked through, take the lid off and cool the stock. I wanted to speed up this process because I was hungry, so I set the tongue aside, strained the broth, and set up an ice bath. I cooled the stock rapidly by putting it in a mixing bowl in the ice bath for about 5 minutes. I then put the stock back into the stock pot and put the tongue back into the strained broth. Otherwise you could just let the stock sit on the stove until it cools. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQUBxAQx4tG9f7qEu2AsYRQksew3UOFrNK_l4GKh3FnhcmO0HIw7tGVUNupBaPSmIAAn2eBz50SzQbtNCv6Ylw7NJkF3W1KLFTCMkkoeLUeJqktJ2fAfsl1LiquCzj7atpwwMh8ErJGjM/s1600/DSC_1349.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQUBxAQx4tG9f7qEu2AsYRQksew3UOFrNK_l4GKh3FnhcmO0HIw7tGVUNupBaPSmIAAn2eBz50SzQbtNCv6Ylw7NJkF3W1KLFTCMkkoeLUeJqktJ2fAfsl1LiquCzj7atpwwMh8ErJGjM/s640/DSC_1349.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Braised and ready to clean</td></tr>
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After the tongue has cooled, you have to remove the outer layer. This is maybe a little gross. Make a clean very shallow cut down the center of the tongue. Use your fingers to pull the outer layer of the tongue away from the meat. Do this for the entire outer layer.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHEC9EbppLGiyhz40XV0XY1MKNz-zdQlVgJ6dZ_CCRS6gTDHW4ZOTb_cjouJ-bblbrbbwPzEVnLXBUK-FiZ4nnpIUypW1Gs7Wm_cq9sE0XpwO3OzCorVwaqZgZ1BaNR5IS5AaEZtTXATE/s1600/DSC_1350.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHEC9EbppLGiyhz40XV0XY1MKNz-zdQlVgJ6dZ_CCRS6gTDHW4ZOTb_cjouJ-bblbrbbwPzEVnLXBUK-FiZ4nnpIUypW1Gs7Wm_cq9sE0XpwO3OzCorVwaqZgZ1BaNR5IS5AaEZtTXATE/s640/DSC_1350.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Better idea of how thick the outer layer is</td></tr>
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Slice the tongue into ¼-½" slices. If you do not plan on using the tongue immediately, place it back in the stock in a storage container and refrigerate it until you are ready. <br />
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When you are ready to eat the tongue, simply heat up a frying pan, add a little oil, and sear the tongue until brown on both sides.<br />
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To serve, I made a quick sauce of mayo, sriracha, salt, pepper, worchestershire sauce, and horseradish and made a sandwich of the mayo, corned beef, and greens on italian bread. To be honest, I feel like I maybe wimped out on the sandwich because I had swiss chard in the fridge that I wanted to blanch and dress in a lemon vinaigrette, but when it came down to it, I was hungry and it was time for football so I settled for the mixed greens. It doesn't take anything away from the awesomeness of the tongue though.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigRINNglqi0AFJCeVJA195u1Y68zM2BciOY2xtXA-igFDR4YUnmWX-0Tx3Yq4nLp9-OEtnT5UeDasD0vsdiQQn2oi_W8n3akR3_S5uk7L44oTQe6R_7OykzFdotHe8ID3pWRM3uy56ch0/s1600/DSC_1353.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigRINNglqi0AFJCeVJA195u1Y68zM2BciOY2xtXA-igFDR4YUnmWX-0Tx3Yq4nLp9-OEtnT5UeDasD0vsdiQQn2oi_W8n3akR3_S5uk7L44oTQe6R_7OykzFdotHe8ID3pWRM3uy56ch0/s640/DSC_1353.jpg" width="640" /></a>Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17853483137751698695noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131320473314214403.post-27357588635591229032011-09-06T22:07:00.002-04:002011-09-06T22:07:23.354-04:00To Boston<br />
Another month, another lack of posts from me. Again I have to apologize but once again real life got in the way of blogging. This time it's a big change - I recently accepted a new job and will be moving to Boston! My wife and I have been frantically throwing our lives into boxes, saying goodbye to friends made in North Carolina, and preparing to move to a city that we know next to nothing about. It's exciting and scary all at once, and as with any big life change, it doesn't come without sacrifices. Of course, the good will hopefully outweigh the bad in time, and the prospect of exploring a new city (and its food) is very exciting.<br />
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In Boston, we will be living in the Medford area - our immediate neighborhood seems very Italian, something that I am excited about after living in the Bloomfield area of Pittsburgh for a couple of years. I'm looking forward to the little markets and all the possibilities that lie within. I'm also looking forward to the fall and trips to Maine involving lobster rolls and beer at Allagash brewery. <br />
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I need to keep this short because the computer is the last thing to be packed... so, another city, another exploration, another opportunity for me to learn more about cooking... let's see where this takes us...<br />
Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17853483137751698695noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131320473314214403.post-75253604049506744012011-08-02T08:47:00.001-04:002011-08-02T08:55:17.131-04:00Vacation to Southwest VA: Town House / Riverstead<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">As a personal rule, I have avoided being a restaurant blogger here. I love seeing what restaurants do but I find some more satisfaction in writing about things that I have some control over rather than just consumption. It's a nice rule and all, and I plan to adhere mostly to it for the rest of the life of this blog, but rules are meant to be broken and today is the day that I break that rule. My wife and I celebrated our first anniversary this past weekend and decided to take the opportunity to go to one of the best restaurants in the southeast: Town House, in Chilhowie, Virginia. Started by ex-Alinea and Charlie Trotter's chef John B. Shields and his wife, Karen Urie Shields, Town House took fine dining from Chicago to rural southwest Virginia and turned Chilhowie into a dining destination. In addition to having the restaurant, they have also renovated a two-bedroom house, given the namesake "Riverstead," within 5 miles of the restaurant where diners can stay for the night and enjoy some peace and quiet in the mountains after dinner. My wife and I decided to go for the whole package - we did a 10 course tasting, wine pairings from sommelier Charlie Berg, and stayed at Riverstead for the night, followed up by hiking in the nearby Appalachian Trail thoroughfare park Grayson Highlands State Park. All in all it was an amazing weekend: the food was fantastic, the wine paired perfectly, the staff was friendly, the house was amazing, and the scenery was incredible.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">One quick note: I'm going to mention the pairings but the truth is that I am not too knowledgable about wine so forgive me for my ignorance there.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUD1fuaJTa_IWDAHoTOkubqpWTyEDlgXCvVgpJprE-p76YhaXlhMd5-Qigb1YJeDPZpl3D2g3euhVtJpKcuLhiA_g8V_evOaIE_DPzZOS1VmtrdyPoOqyn_i0Dy8irtedMDCLFndoday8/s1600/dsc_1171.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUD1fuaJTa_IWDAHoTOkubqpWTyEDlgXCvVgpJprE-p76YhaXlhMd5-Qigb1YJeDPZpl3D2g3euhVtJpKcuLhiA_g8V_evOaIE_DPzZOS1VmtrdyPoOqyn_i0Dy8irtedMDCLFndoday8/s640/dsc_1171.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The exterior of Riverstead - a 2 bedroom guest house owned by Town House</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEWvRO3My1Sdafkz4gfSE2XPpeK_rfFc_qDptyEzkh7jv1-q9-_ZFuRQpKsfaSbO4B286V7puVKZc7T8Y2kZIw1GMt62bITy5Mh5Mwm8FwKPLT72k9R-HM8N66lmgwQA82hiwi19lYXS0/s1600/dsc_1143.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEWvRO3My1Sdafkz4gfSE2XPpeK_rfFc_qDptyEzkh7jv1-q9-_ZFuRQpKsfaSbO4B286V7puVKZc7T8Y2kZIw1GMt62bITy5Mh5Mwm8FwKPLT72k9R-HM8N66lmgwQA82hiwi19lYXS0/s640/dsc_1143.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Upon arrival at Riverstead, we were greeted by homemade snacks: local cheeses (front cheese was a soft cow's milk cheese and the back was a harder veined kinda blue cheese), homemade crackers, and a slightly spicy candied nut mix<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhgx7oRkRy9jH3QeH72sDkG41XqJfMwvLLn6a2SxK5Y4yZJoq9viGDFKU5SLhyWNQ4o6gxCMKUFJldWVNiucEfbC3Ep5TCVjGAdLshZllHUcyY4JdNysoUXiTwNG2Nru20gDE3Y_zeK8o/s1600/dsc_1131.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhgx7oRkRy9jH3QeH72sDkG41XqJfMwvLLn6a2SxK5Y4yZJoq9viGDFKU5SLhyWNQ4o6gxCMKUFJldWVNiucEfbC3Ep5TCVjGAdLshZllHUcyY4JdNysoUXiTwNG2Nru20gDE3Y_zeK8o/s640/dsc_1131.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center;">Exterior of the restaurant. When staying at Riverstead, they provide car service in the BMW. High Rollerzzzz!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Menu for the evening: we opted for the 10 course. Go big or go home.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Amuse bouche: Oyster leaves dipped in clam juice<br />
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Paired with a prosecco to wake things up.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguSOrPDDswTzec05IlDMGHz3y6SSlCpw87Ke8ALi6VdgiRYJkA-eSpYoWsFwcLqV6phQMDrAVyVUE1Ee6YKvZq2bSRG1m2KKOKH_MSMbJMaZJud9lDUpW4yeCAkAL6Zz0swqrBhkMnGYI/s1600/dsc_1214.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguSOrPDDswTzec05IlDMGHz3y6SSlCpw87Ke8ALi6VdgiRYJkA-eSpYoWsFwcLqV6phQMDrAVyVUE1Ee6YKvZq2bSRG1m2KKOKH_MSMbJMaZJud9lDUpW4yeCAkAL6Zz0swqrBhkMnGYI/s640/dsc_1214.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Flowers: I took less than desirable notes but I believe that the sauce was an artichoke puree<br />
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This course and the next course were paired with a flower infused sake that was truly amazing and a Chardonnay from Lebanon.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijShHF_7lSpEmfPtGwSs2mCFtb03ivGYtPTeyZAM61HXZPcCKJPfhQ-RQ6uHXmNBbeHfW9YM5xzKBJH_zby4UUzv_eOUS-QFeKYnh7anUrJR0mnaE2ACd_MFVvUopDdsbKnys44dZIHxo/s1600/dsc_1216.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijShHF_7lSpEmfPtGwSs2mCFtb03ivGYtPTeyZAM61HXZPcCKJPfhQ-RQ6uHXmNBbeHfW9YM5xzKBJH_zby4UUzv_eOUS-QFeKYnh7anUrJR0mnaE2ACd_MFVvUopDdsbKnys44dZIHxo/s640/dsc_1216.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Gazpacho" of summers foliage: green tomato on the bottom with pickled coriander seeds, shiso leaves, green bean leaves, zucchini</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk1xcmacEsQJN9SBPK-2JMfjIslLBTnm30HshUzLblF7FLTEKiJODVlqdc2tpl8HnCBoWbq0dR4wt8yT_mdOpc_FBxHQpuKwYl9VNcADWbBdQf1mTLATlaaM9FjCooF3zER6j1kk8Uu9k/s1600/dsc_1217.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk1xcmacEsQJN9SBPK-2JMfjIslLBTnm30HshUzLblF7FLTEKiJODVlqdc2tpl8HnCBoWbq0dR4wt8yT_mdOpc_FBxHQpuKwYl9VNcADWbBdQf1mTLATlaaM9FjCooF3zER6j1kk8Uu9k/s640/dsc_1217.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Barbequed Eggplant: smoked mussel "ash", black garlic, mussels, lemon, and basil. The ash was frozen and then shaved to make almost like mussel 'snow' or something. The sweetness of the black garlic with the smokyness of the mussel ash and the eggplant balanced perfectly.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjczLs6CKxD3aNCijCobLQ8XykhwCP0H2C9NSKD-o5EwUjERvVFVK8Vm9Va_eG1spA6Fz3mFUlqRjRb4IwQvapqNcY-_htQ5FBdbQlld4gVglIO2rJ_qlr4fHOBukrLn4Qj3gJkGHCA180/s1600/dsc_1219.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjczLs6CKxD3aNCijCobLQ8XykhwCP0H2C9NSKD-o5EwUjERvVFVK8Vm9Va_eG1spA6Fz3mFUlqRjRb4IwQvapqNcY-_htQ5FBdbQlld4gVglIO2rJ_qlr4fHOBukrLn4Qj3gJkGHCA180/s640/dsc_1219.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sweet Corn, Chicken, Lovage: corn silk on top, chicken liver on the bottom, crispy chicken skin, sweet corn, lovage puree, and chicken reduction around the edges.<br />
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Paired with a sweet Sauterne</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie1oCWLXMoFvGNXhmi1fU6EyTUmxC1VXYWUsPJv5fvOFmbAeuJTS4OiaxNOI8aNKTCx3cF5pyuQEd1liDnDbAyAd0BLQfTD9yaKP4Ccx6AsWzm4BMCvCac95MeeQybBcBkbOXFOLxoMDo/s1600/dsc_1220.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie1oCWLXMoFvGNXhmi1fU6EyTUmxC1VXYWUsPJv5fvOFmbAeuJTS4OiaxNOI8aNKTCx3cF5pyuQEd1liDnDbAyAd0BLQfTD9yaKP4Ccx6AsWzm4BMCvCac95MeeQybBcBkbOXFOLxoMDo/s640/dsc_1220.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I mentioned that I don't do this restaurant blog thing often right? Well this is my first major fuckup and I'm really upset about it. This WAS Dungeness Crab in Brown Butter and Butter Whey. The picture is awful and I almost didn't want to post it but I want to acknowledge the existence of this awesome dish. Charred onions, shellfish cream, lime, seared bay scallops, and reduced pork stock.<br />
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Paired with a really dry Sherry. I'm going to fuck this up but it was marked with a crosshatch, denoting (I think) a naturally occuring process in the fermentation which results in an incredibly dry Sherry.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIQzX2iN9CtLF2MjNjdzXXZtssuKtKOlbgq0g0kZiXcZO2RcMuMsD8-hg63znEFSZyclr7MZOs_oUgM4VtLXyC9Vl-nBu4uGEUewRUK6LRbeH34ZoZG9S_FQ3sGrZydq-6wfdq__ODBoU/s1600/dsc_1221.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIQzX2iN9CtLF2MjNjdzXXZtssuKtKOlbgq0g0kZiXcZO2RcMuMsD8-hg63znEFSZyclr7MZOs_oUgM4VtLXyC9Vl-nBu4uGEUewRUK6LRbeH34ZoZG9S_FQ3sGrZydq-6wfdq__ODBoU/s640/dsc_1221.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Turbot cooked in its own juice and cream: I loved this dish. Potentially my favorite. Crispy turbot skin on top, crispy pork, shaved bonito, turbot broth infused with geranium.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDxgU7f36941aJLBsPL1NGAsSgLv_3SL6XnQ0udvUS2LAmVArI-00qwHAT2VbORj4b3-KYXqJiQn3DeoAOFaMFtCxFDBY7IvwwIUNYhdQ3Lj8Y4jEqRm-XC3GgmKlWEW4orBYZFFlE_sU/s1600/dsc_1222.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDxgU7f36941aJLBsPL1NGAsSgLv_3SL6XnQ0udvUS2LAmVArI-00qwHAT2VbORj4b3-KYXqJiQn3DeoAOFaMFtCxFDBY7IvwwIUNYhdQ3Lj8Y4jEqRm-XC3GgmKlWEW4orBYZFFlE_sU/s640/dsc_1222.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beef Cheek and Tongue... Pastoral: "essence" of hay and grass broth, beef tongue, milk "skin", horseradish, grasses. This was probably the most interesting dish - the grass broth was notably grassy but not overpowering and it went well with the beef. Interestingly, there was no acid in the dish - the balance came from the milk skin, which had a tangy kind of buttermilk taste to it. This one made me wonder how the hell they came up with it - really amazing.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYItINKmCy3SrFASDvnOAOswNk8XE_uN2Lczz8uzYeDS0JWPdmARVFQEau3SIk2zMeE-Ah41GmkHcAiexC89zcoJxDtU3xlDWUaqaEEsbsH5exmIJao1fd-d0bIyYwxAyRB01Y7vaEwso/s1600/dsc_1223.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYItINKmCy3SrFASDvnOAOswNk8XE_uN2Lczz8uzYeDS0JWPdmARVFQEau3SIk2zMeE-Ah41GmkHcAiexC89zcoJxDtU3xlDWUaqaEEsbsH5exmIJao1fd-d0bIyYwxAyRB01Y7vaEwso/s640/dsc_1223.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lamb Shoulder and Wild Blueberries: licorice glaze, barbecued beets, black malt powder. Served on a black plate and with the patent leather shine on the glaze, this was one of the more visually arresting dishes. Also delicious.<br />
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Paired with a nice Syrah</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH-eKmtooaf2oVJ50tMbCzzVQfmYCJMnzjUEOYyfhGFXY-uLaP5ozLu8eDo77_nrsH5wFgo_eioL9gUVP3py-Zzlgq8ryqAARmKz7n4tCqy0D4Zcdj5VnME_QhaoKE_tEs7FbkK0AR-_0/s1600/dsc_1225.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH-eKmtooaf2oVJ50tMbCzzVQfmYCJMnzjUEOYyfhGFXY-uLaP5ozLu8eDo77_nrsH5wFgo_eioL9gUVP3py-Zzlgq8ryqAARmKz7n4tCqy0D4Zcdj5VnME_QhaoKE_tEs7FbkK0AR-_0/s640/dsc_1225.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Canteloupe and Toasted Farro: Shaved carrots, sassafras ice cream, turmeric root (I think in the broth), tonka beans. This was definitely the most polarizing dish at our table. My wife didn't care for it. I didn't know what to think of it at first, then I hit the canteloupe - which was actually under the ice cream. The farro was very al dente, it provided a lot of crunch. The ice cream was not very sweet, and all the sweetness in the dish came from the ripe canteloupe underneath. At first I didn't think I liked it but once I hit the canteloupe, I became a believer.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAJdMZsNALD8PmYroO7hFCsQXs2b_mKz5-kVHEo7939MUhgSk2nr1N2TPe7nx9aJc2Pfx7bC8shcGX93APgWwz4l7gbhDaNywbSW3rzaJyUqoZUin130oW2OgzDqoIsV4eUxz6IrDySys/s1600/dsc_1227.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAJdMZsNALD8PmYroO7hFCsQXs2b_mKz5-kVHEo7939MUhgSk2nr1N2TPe7nx9aJc2Pfx7bC8shcGX93APgWwz4l7gbhDaNywbSW3rzaJyUqoZUin130oW2OgzDqoIsV4eUxz6IrDySys/s640/dsc_1227.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Broken Marshmallows, Whipped Cream, Green Strawberries, Flowers, Cucumber: this dish was also interesting. The green strawberries almost had a salty note to them in their unripeness. The cucumbers were made into a sorbet which balanced pretty well with the marshmallows. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0D47_WpiOfRWgJ8D9ob5u5PnqsDuF9PsCd4Lv5JAG_3KAbVmhizJDuvNmSGhGla82L6mW14Yi_bRzx51NiDZ5n0jhMfxk8vFnKx54W7KFKmZuz5ewpsNOXKGlAuVSABtGDkSiTEHVsvs/s1600/dsc_1228.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0D47_WpiOfRWgJ8D9ob5u5PnqsDuF9PsCd4Lv5JAG_3KAbVmhizJDuvNmSGhGla82L6mW14Yi_bRzx51NiDZ5n0jhMfxk8vFnKx54W7KFKmZuz5ewpsNOXKGlAuVSABtGDkSiTEHVsvs/s640/dsc_1228.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Closing with some frozen macaroons with kefir lime zest on top. These were pretty amazing. I am pretty sure the macaroons involved sesame in some way, and they were crispy and frozen (presumably with liquid nitrogen). It was fun to eat them and then blow smoke.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfqpQD5mOUeBjPvggeqMIax5OJ0IikeRK7mVwQkpkzzwBqpENRfZ0gefzbw-ECwKWZcyLYBDbK-VWBH7rhyphenhyphenD6DCpuT3x4d6IVYbObF7aeFmeSxx2h69BjskZTVOGTXsVPtb6HcP8ufr48/s1600/dsc_1229.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfqpQD5mOUeBjPvggeqMIax5OJ0IikeRK7mVwQkpkzzwBqpENRfZ0gefzbw-ECwKWZcyLYBDbK-VWBH7rhyphenhyphenD6DCpuT3x4d6IVYbObF7aeFmeSxx2h69BjskZTVOGTXsVPtb6HcP8ufr48/s640/dsc_1229.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Breakfast the following morning: coffee, fresh orange juice, granola, a soft boiled egg (holy fuck I need to get into soft boiled eggs), blueberry corn muffins, fresh fruit and yogurt. It was simple but it really was delicious.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17853483137751698695noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131320473314214403.post-2456950532550670212011-07-23T08:29:00.002-04:002011-07-23T14:31:14.858-04:00Tomato, Mint, Pumpkin Seed and Pea SaladOne of the nice problems to have with my garden is that it is currently producing more tomatoes than I know what to do with. This week alone, I collected probably 2 quarts of tomatoes! Needless to say, I ate tomatoes almost every single day this week and still had so many left this weekend that I didn't know what to do with them. Apparently my plants don't care that it is over 100º outside, they want to ripen and nothing is going to stop them. Ripe on tomatoes. <br />
<div><br />
</div><div>Last night, my wife and I decided to go with one of our favorite dinners, called "snacks for dinner." At its core, it's a fridge cleaning dinner. We usually have some cheese in the fridge, so generally snacks for dinner consists of sliced baguette, cheese, some sort of cured meat, some sort of salad, and maybe a couple other wildcard side dishes, and always wine. It's basically just small plates but we try to put as little effort into dinner as possible. Seeing that we had enough tomatoes to feed a small country, I decided to put together a tomato salad. I complimented it with leftover frozen peas, mint from the garden, leeks, pumpkin seeds for crunch, and a vinaigrette. It turned out great so I wanted to post it here. If you need something nice and bright to keep you going through this abysmal heat, this is it.</div><div><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpqD8SoW-i3BUpzsWVEJH55-Ewq8JC8Q67qT7-GZ2qXq7K1dlikC_Gzint_OJx8og_Xl-Jnj_P9FlSDrgxQj7LRmNaiTUU3jmwj6571vm-o7dQeJRg3lk7ChJNP9EAkHYvWlf8Nsw9wvI/s1600/DSC_1136.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpqD8SoW-i3BUpzsWVEJH55-Ewq8JC8Q67qT7-GZ2qXq7K1dlikC_Gzint_OJx8og_Xl-Jnj_P9FlSDrgxQj7LRmNaiTUU3jmwj6571vm-o7dQeJRg3lk7ChJNP9EAkHYvWlf8Nsw9wvI/s640/DSC_1136.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7pOvaWTHLRs6WqyuslboZYm3YqcdFaKdSZfDotGjcOaVyGa1zMKgeMPPyUm_2BFr4_SPNCY6TUklzlNtlcm3gdjDMMqxByf2MG0BQEi2QH0LTBe0T-BIN2X3e8cCEnSQYqGlYKVEzPQU/s1600/DSC_1129.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7pOvaWTHLRs6WqyuslboZYm3YqcdFaKdSZfDotGjcOaVyGa1zMKgeMPPyUm_2BFr4_SPNCY6TUklzlNtlcm3gdjDMMqxByf2MG0BQEi2QH0LTBe0T-BIN2X3e8cCEnSQYqGlYKVEzPQU/s640/DSC_1129.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Juliet and Cherokee Purple tomatoes</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr-xAWu5pOTfZCRglFE0yKN51HgDq1dMkMtlhptQXs6V0LsMOjzWbCN8hbrhhc8M1l67AtXx6rMibYXQqIucuRjK6CGeifRaLI9mHv0ahklWqgt8Uri4W5GC8ooFGXG4edyw4Rfza2DKI/s1600/DSC_1131.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr-xAWu5pOTfZCRglFE0yKN51HgDq1dMkMtlhptQXs6V0LsMOjzWbCN8hbrhhc8M1l67AtXx6rMibYXQqIucuRjK6CGeifRaLI9mHv0ahklWqgt8Uri4W5GC8ooFGXG4edyw4Rfza2DKI/s640/DSC_1131.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cherokee Purples</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<b><u>Tomato, Mint, and Pea Salad</u></b><br />
1 large leek, washed, halved lengthwise and sliced ¼" thick<br />
1 lb tomatoes (grape or cherry or even roma)<br />
¼ c toasted pumpkin seeds<br />
1 c frozen peas<br />
1 tbsp butter<br />
1/4 c canola oil<br />
2 tbsp white balsamic vinegar<br />
1/2 c mint<br />
1 tbsp kosher salt<br />
1 tsp ground black pepper<br />
<br />
Start by heating up a frying or saute pan over med heat. Clean and slice the leek. Add the butter and the leeks and a pinch of salt and saute, stirring often. Don't let the leeks brown, you want them to kind of melt. If they begin to brown, turn the heat down some.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxBYa1k1WvYTV_Eusfu_AFXd4U3ZlNdGITw_9r1mIQUPRSZGLvg5ffw6hqkprRD0cW4Rh9Ujpg4kiYd18Sbz4LIjekaww5BTo-dXmx0c27Eqh6-hUqQQO6pAwru1m6VZdyV4_Z5bmOWCM/s1600/DSC_1133.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxBYa1k1WvYTV_Eusfu_AFXd4U3ZlNdGITw_9r1mIQUPRSZGLvg5ffw6hqkprRD0cW4Rh9Ujpg4kiYd18Sbz4LIjekaww5BTo-dXmx0c27Eqh6-hUqQQO6pAwru1m6VZdyV4_Z5bmOWCM/s640/DSC_1133.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
While the leeks are sauteeing,slice your tomatoes into ¼" coins, widthwise, and add to a large mixing bowl. Add the salt, pepper, oil, vinegar, and mint. Toss well to mix the ingredients. <br />
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When the leeks are soft and melty looking, turn the heat off but leave the pan on the burner. Add your frozen peas directly to the pan and stir well. Basically we want to thaw the peas but not cook them so we will just use the residual heat in the pan to do the defrosting for us. Adding the peas here also helps cool the leeks quicker - we don't want to add hot leeks straight to our salad, we want them to cool until warm or even room temperature before adding them. When your leek/pea mixture has cooled, add it to the tomato mixture and toss well to combine. Add the pumpkin seeds at the very end for a little toasty nutty crunchiness. They really tie the room together.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCOfboJuJoyQM_nhxbcnpNflxhF5Hfj6y7qNtBuwio1xONhapXtfV9rz6ttDBZdVGHBwuryyk7fYqMPw6991Hu-hqqyEP37TPBqgoKVg4OGS3tcTSv6awWW8kyXl4Yjb53q8EgQh1zJL0/s1600/DSC_1134.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCOfboJuJoyQM_nhxbcnpNflxhF5Hfj6y7qNtBuwio1xONhapXtfV9rz6ttDBZdVGHBwuryyk7fYqMPw6991Hu-hqqyEP37TPBqgoKVg4OGS3tcTSv6awWW8kyXl4Yjb53q8EgQh1zJL0/s640/DSC_1134.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
That's all there is to it! You now have a nice sweetly acidic salad that you can do almost anything with - serve it alone, on toast, garnish some nice halibut, it goes with almost anything.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzg0uP6EGIcX63ZZV-nWbzdAhKJoIqnxJ05Ed2YcCsncmF3GwiZBpkgVzRTu9kTlOTB4fhy2_ycMSJXCWowJrc5jvJuxDNxS2YZz_icOKPbcebvy06g2BE5Vu_QmSdFU7LZxxE4wvdSqI/s1600/DSC_1137.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzg0uP6EGIcX63ZZV-nWbzdAhKJoIqnxJ05Ed2YcCsncmF3GwiZBpkgVzRTu9kTlOTB4fhy2_ycMSJXCWowJrc5jvJuxDNxS2YZz_icOKPbcebvy06g2BE5Vu_QmSdFU7LZxxE4wvdSqI/s640/DSC_1137.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div><br />
</div></div>Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17853483137751698695noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131320473314214403.post-69710242813983850212011-07-09T08:33:00.001-04:002011-07-09T08:38:59.151-04:00Garden Update: Blowing Up<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I'm alive! Sometimes real life gets in the way of this crazy My garden has persisted during my internet vanishing act though, and I have some tales to tell.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">My general treatment of the garden has been simple: fertilize once a month using GardenTone fertilizer: loosen up soil 2-3" from the base of plants and sprinkle fertilizer on top. Work it into the soil and water really well for the first time. Daily treatment involves just weeding, watering when the soil is dry (it's been so hot, I have had to water nearly every day).</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">My tomatoes have easily evolved into the most successful thing in my garden. Despite weeks of 90º+ temperatures and very little rain until just recently, everything has survived, but some things seem happier than others. Garden genius Mike next door told me that my tomato plants would slow down when the temperatures got above 90, but these tomato plants must have been determined. They are now officially taller than me, that's 6' tall. If you recall from my garden setup post, I have a mix of stakes and tomato cages in the garden. Most of the stakes that I had were about 3' tall, as were the cages. A couple of smaller stakes I had to replace with full-size 6' stakes, and I am so glad that I did. The 6' stakes are easily the most effective guiding device in the garden. Next time that I plant tomatoes I am only using them. They are like $2 at the store, they last for years, and they are incredibly stable. The plants have gotten top-heavy in their maturity, which caused multiple cages to start to pull out of the ground. I currently have a crazy ass tying setup in the works: plants which overgrew their small stakes tied to cages which are tied to big stakes. Basically everything is only standing right now because I have 2 tall stakes that everything is tied to!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The Juliet and Cherry tomatoes are producing massive amounts of fruit, they also began to ripen this week. I had my first very ripe Cherry tomato the other day: I was out after a rainstorm cleaning up the garden, making sure everything was in order, and I decided to go ahead and eat it right off the vine. Still wet from the rain, still warm from the sun, actually really ripe instead of ethylene-expedited... you can talk all you want about organic local farm fresh ingredients but it still doesn't compare to doing it yourself.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNQ8X1_YYX2ttoTOKbXUEWhZTcKAGCvieYNBjJ7Xn-K8l1O5MVyaZ_FS7C1FBAuQ_SHLhm6vh837aKbukGz_sbrR8HGLCwFwrsSWPzFvpfUZ9UxllxR_gT9rvkJDvbYXEU3PsdDrY8n_Y/s1600/DSC_1102.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNQ8X1_YYX2ttoTOKbXUEWhZTcKAGCvieYNBjJ7Xn-K8l1O5MVyaZ_FS7C1FBAuQ_SHLhm6vh837aKbukGz_sbrR8HGLCwFwrsSWPzFvpfUZ9UxllxR_gT9rvkJDvbYXEU3PsdDrY8n_Y/s640/DSC_1102.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The tomato forest</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCpeQUUcfgxjt4FPK-eYqc06t5b6GaP7P3dmgPxrSD2typXPBSgOOOvFX4CDWdQcJU3nwe7_bJ7WQ-EWeeyjQK0SY_GFg9u1sY_K4Fo31MmQ31xcy67JwZZfu-SQcNGVyfSBY7FkJH-iE/s1600/DSC_1111.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCpeQUUcfgxjt4FPK-eYqc06t5b6GaP7P3dmgPxrSD2typXPBSgOOOvFX4CDWdQcJU3nwe7_bJ7WQ-EWeeyjQK0SY_GFg9u1sY_K4Fo31MmQ31xcy67JwZZfu-SQcNGVyfSBY7FkJH-iE/s640/DSC_1111.JPG" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Juliet tomatoes - they are like small Roma's in taste and structure</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuruivkkEaN3yvVvTWnRXv-_WCDXRyckwHlLWIKt_tGKnnjM3rFN8-YCnw1ybhG8hjpEsB8SmO9gXEQEnBpiirGfM7OaXTjdGnKzIQsKxj1pTqchRF-GX_8TsMLXk4ab9XpiV5Ano6kBs/s1600/DSC_1110.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuruivkkEaN3yvVvTWnRXv-_WCDXRyckwHlLWIKt_tGKnnjM3rFN8-YCnw1ybhG8hjpEsB8SmO9gXEQEnBpiirGfM7OaXTjdGnKzIQsKxj1pTqchRF-GX_8TsMLXk4ab9XpiV5Ano6kBs/s640/DSC_1110.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Backside of the forest and some ripe Juliets</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivBjLz2pPH_Ef8SIkocnMaxm2ofLrwjqC3vukU7B_FNRpVPHo2_0qB1hD1TM8GDPeERBFtT_dn22ET3ATkWrN5xcAAZbcqSCEvK-zgZpliW42cQ59ApL5KNgHjIp9DmbdPnDFQxCnJ6Fw/s1600/DSC_1105.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivBjLz2pPH_Ef8SIkocnMaxm2ofLrwjqC3vukU7B_FNRpVPHo2_0qB1hD1TM8GDPeERBFtT_dn22ET3ATkWrN5xcAAZbcqSCEvK-zgZpliW42cQ59ApL5KNgHjIp9DmbdPnDFQxCnJ6Fw/s640/DSC_1105.JPG" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Unripened Cherokee Purples</td></tr>
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<br />
Garden genius Mike gave me one tip that I wanted to share about tomato plants: The ability to grow new plants from the currently existing ones. I was going to write up a quick instructional thing but another blog has done it well (with pictures!) so I'm just going to pull a lazy link here. You can see on tomato plants that they eventually split these middle shoots from the main vine. They will eventually blossom, but they can lead to the main steam weakening and also pull nutrients from fruit on the vine, so Mike suggested pruning them. What's neat about the process is that you can plant these shoots into regular soil and they will grow roots and become new plants. Luckily, in North Carolina, we can actually have 2 planting seasons, so when my current plants are done (if ever, just look at those monsters), I can plant these shoots and have a new batch of plants already up and coming. Here are the instructions for pinching shoots:<br />
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<a href="http://simple-green-frugal-co-op.blogspot.com/2011/06/pinching-off-tomato-shoots.html">http://simple-green-frugal-co-op.blogspot.com/2011/06/pinching-off-tomato-shoots.html</a><br />
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In other garden news, the radishes are done already! Neighbor Bruce said they were incredibly spicy - I have not had the privilege of trying them yet, but I suspect that we left them in the ground too long, increasing their spicyness.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuhNVWWfPNL7VjrFEq8tx-6dyoTAGJ7nn102A6GleKy6jnoOraDD8AqAjzjA6GHXk_hDCzf7Evul5sMV6q21jxX0Ytj1Gm4-3PJ2IEwnQDBtvZF17sJtrAv10dKO178LRBWrL8E_SXysM/s1600/DSC_1103.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuhNVWWfPNL7VjrFEq8tx-6dyoTAGJ7nn102A6GleKy6jnoOraDD8AqAjzjA6GHXk_hDCzf7Evul5sMV6q21jxX0Ytj1Gm4-3PJ2IEwnQDBtvZF17sJtrAv10dKO178LRBWrL8E_SXysM/s640/DSC_1103.JPG" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Radish</td></tr>
</tbody></table>The okra seems happy although it has not produced any blossoms yet. It's an incredibly interesting plant: at one point, I thought it was dying because leaves were falling off and the leaves and stem were covered in these small water globules. I assumed they were insect eggs or something, but it turns out it's a natural defense mechanism for the plant that occurs on the stems and undersides of the leaves. Fascinating! Also, while the plant grows, it kind of 'molts' it's smaller leaves, so it's apparently not uncommon for it to continuously lose leaves as it grows. I'm curious to see how it blossoms and how the blossoms differ from the regular growth pattern of the plant. This is my most experimental plant, easily.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: -webkit-auto;">My Black Eyed Peas and Kentucky Blue Pole Beans are moving right along. The pole beans are more aggressive than the Black Eyed Peas and have produced more pods to date. The Black Eyed Peas are more lush though, and they seem overall happier. Both plants seem to have struggled climbing the trellis - the ones on the outside near the support stakes happily climbed the stakes and are the tallest vines in the garden. The ones in the middle seem to have stunted a bit because they couldn't climb the trellis that was there despite me trying daily to help guide them along (even tying them so they stay fixed in place and don't blow off the trellis). I think that perhaps I will have to have more regular rungs in the trellis next time that I build it.. Right now they are spaced at about 6".</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><br />
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</div>Lastly, a quick shot of the rest of the garden: my arugula (middle) is doing great. Beets are ok but seem to be having a more difficult time, perhaps they are getting too much direct sunlight. In the front of this shot is a row of carrots. Considering our raised bed is only about 4" deep, I'm very curious to see how these guys turn out. I hope there's something there to eat!<br />
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</div>Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17853483137751698695noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131320473314214403.post-27051663097360531742011-06-07T08:04:00.001-04:002011-06-07T08:13:42.281-04:00Cha Ca La Vong (Vietnamese Turmeric Fried Fish with Dill and Green Onion)Finally the stars have aligned for me to try making some of the amazing food that we had on our <a href="http://brains4brunch.blogspot.com/2011/05/vietnam.html">Vietnam trip</a> at home. For me, easily the best meal was the trip was the cha ca (pronounced cha ga) that we had in Hanoi at Cha Ca La Vong. At the time, it was a "this is what I've been waiting for" moment to look down on this small dish in front of me filled with rice noodles, fresh herbs, sauteed fish, and fish sauce vinaigrette. <br />
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Cha Ca La Vong has become an institution for Hanoi's famous do-it-yourself turmeric fried fish with dill and green onions, with a history that dates over a century old. In fact, in the Old Quarter where the restaurant is located, it resides at the address of 14 Cha Ca Street and the same restaurant has been at the same address since 1874. Not many restaurants can say they have a street named after them. The restaurant itself was a model of efficiency. The staff is bossy and curt, which has given them a lukewarm reputation in the form of online reviews, but they were more than happy to carefully show us how to prepare a dish (it is pretty overwhelming to sit down and have a half dozen dishes laid out in front of you with different stuff in each one). I did have one small complaint though: it was immediately obvious upon entry that they had one room for Vietnamese customers and another room for everyone else. Part of the charm of being in a place like that is seeing how people eat, how they interact, feeling immersed in this country over 8000 miles away from home. Instead I felt a little sectioned off like I wasn't cool enough to play with the big kids. But really, it was a small price to pay for this classic. It's also very easy to make at home, using ingredients that are generally easy to find, and cooking time is just a matter of minutes.<br />
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Before we get started, here's a quick refresher photo from our trip. This was my reference material. I found several recipes online for cha ca but none of them seemed quite right, so I ended up taking bits and pieces from multiple to put this recipe together. I was so happy with how this turned out - aside from the fact that my Vietnamese cooking experience is slim to none, I feel like the flavors and ingredients nearly perfectly matched what we had at the real restaurant.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg64VPesyZZY9FRPWY7nWsRe2HFuX3mp4a2v4BnDdMAvwrvPp7-HEPu1c6uMP8-uu1ja7hQqyShTeoxjudb_9roQ6TDtFNhRx7wMtnzK3PZfdx9DoNR7fUdwftqSK5Ore8SUkhBun5XukY/s640/dsc_0897.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg64VPesyZZY9FRPWY7nWsRe2HFuX3mp4a2v4BnDdMAvwrvPp7-HEPu1c6uMP8-uu1ja7hQqyShTeoxjudb_9roQ6TDtFNhRx7wMtnzK3PZfdx9DoNR7fUdwftqSK5Ore8SUkhBun5XukY/s640/dsc_0897.jpg" /></a><br />
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<b><u>Cha Ca La Vong (Vietnamese Turmeric Fried Fish with Dill and Green Onion)</u></b><br />
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1 lb catfish (or other firm whitefish)<br />
½ lb green onion<br />
1 large bunch fresh dill - stalks and fronds<br />
1 bunch fresh thai basil<br />
1 bunch fresh cilantro<br />
1 c roasted salted peanuts<br />
<div>1 package dried rice noodles/vermicelli (small)<br />
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<b>Marinade:</b><br />
3 cloves of garlic, very finely minced <br />
2 tsp ground turmeric <br />
1 tbsp fish sauce <br />
1 small medium red chilli, finely chopped <br />
½ tsp sugar<br />
½ tsp salt<br />
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<b>Dipping Sauce (Nuoc Mam Cham):</b><br />
<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">(adapted from Ravenous Couple - <a href="http://www.theravenouscouple.com/2009/06/nuoc-mam-cham-vietnamese-dipping-fish-sauce.html">http://www.theravenouscouple.com/2009/06/nuoc-mam-cham-vietnamese-dipping-fish-sauce.html</a>)</span><br />
<div>1/2 cup lukewarm water<br />
1 tablespoon rice vinegar<br />
2 tablespoon fresh squeezed lime juice (about 2 limes)<br />
2 tablespoons sugar<br />
1 thai chile pepper, seeded and minced<br />
3 clove of garlic, minced<br />
~1/8 cup fish sauce, adjust to taste</div></div></div><div><br />
Begin by making the marinade and preparing the fish. Cut your catfish into small 1-2" sections (think bite size) and place them in a dish. Mince the garlic finely - if you have a microplane grater, now is a great time to pull it out. You can get a nice garlic paste by grating the garlic with it. Add all of the marinade ingredients to the dish with the fish and mix well with your hands. Warning: you will have yellow hands for about 2 days after this if you don't wear gloves! Allow the fish to marinate in the refrigerator for as long as possible - up to overnight.</div><div><br />
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</div><div>Next up make the dipping sauce. Combine all ingredients except for fish sauce and mix or whisk until the sugar dissolves. Since fish sauce can be kind of strong, you can start adding it after the vinaigrette is mostly finished, and season to taste. You want the vinaigrette to be seasoned relatively strongly for this dish. I also added some salt to the vinaigrette just to my own taste - about ½ tsp. This vinaigrette will keep for a week or longer so store the leftovers for another use.<br />
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Prep the dill and green onion by chopping into 2-3" long sections, discarding the root end of the green onions. Tear off the basil and cilantro leaves from their stems and plate them on their own.<br />
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Prepare the rice noodles by boiling a pot of water. When it is boiling, turn off the heat and add the rice noodles. You probably don't need the entire package - for this recipe size, I used about 2/3 of a package. Place the noodles in the hot water and allow them to sit for 5 minutes. Check one of the noodles for doneness. If it is still tough, allow them to sit for a couple more minutes, checking regularly to make sure they don't get mushy. Drain and set aside. I picked up some rice noodles from the local asian grocery store and found this totally sweet engrish that I had to share with everyone:<br />
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Ok back on task. At Cha Ca La Vong, this dish is served tableside on a standalone burner. You are given a bowl of dill and green onions and you add them to the frying fish yourself. I am not quite willing to go out and buy a bunch of sternos to serve this thing tableside, so instead, grab your best heat retaining skillet (cast iron!!) and bring it up to med-hi heat. Add a splash of canola oil and swirl it around. Toss in the fish and allow them to saute for about 3 minutes, until browned on one side. Flip each piece and allow to cook for about 1 minute more. Toss all of the dill and green onions on top and let them saute for about a minute. Start mixing the ingredients, allowing the greens to cook for about 3 minutes. Turn off the heat and bring the hot pan to the table and place on a pot holder or something similar. Your greens will continue to cook down at the table and you still get the sizzling platter ooh's and ahh's effect, like that guy who always orders fajitas at the mexican restaurant and gets that stupid grin on his face when they bring it out. "Yeah. That's mine. I ordered the loud entree."<br />
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The final and fun step is plating. This is all do-it-yourself. Fill your bowl with the rice noodles, top with some dill and green onion and a piece or two of fish. Add some of the herbs and peanuts, and spoon vinaigrette over the whole thing. Cha Ca La Vong gives you small rice bowls, so you end up making 3 or 4 bowls over the course of the meal. It's a nice slow way of eating, it makes the experience more pleasurable and gives you time to talk to the people you are eating with instead of gorging yourself. <br />
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Making this dish at home took me back to a country unlike any I've ever seen before. It's memories like these that really resonate with me and will last a lifetime, and food is such a big trigger for memories that I do not doubt that I will look back and think fondly of my trip every time I make this dish... which will be a lot. Because it was that good.<br />
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</div>Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17853483137751698695noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131320473314214403.post-25341558841977367892011-06-01T07:50:00.001-04:002011-06-01T07:53:16.882-04:00Garden Update<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Well it's been a little while since my last garden update and things are continuing along really well. I'm not really sure what format to do this in so I think I'll just make a list.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><ul><li>I did my first big fertilizer feeding about a week ago. I'm using Garden Tone at the advice of the nursery that I bought all of my seeds and starters from, and it seems to be working really well. Things were growing on their own, but there has been an incredible growth spurt since fertilizing. The general process was to dig up a section of soil a few inches away from the roots of the plants, sprinkle fertilizer on top, and work it back in with a small hand shovel. I let the garden dry a bit so that the soil was easily workable, then I gave it a really good watering afterwards. For the tomatoes, I did a ring around each plant. The tomatoes are probably the easiest growth increase to spot: they have grown 6" or more since getting fertilizer. They have also blossomed already!.</li>
<li>I planted some okra in a box planter. Supposedly okra grows in single stalks that can be 40" or higher, with pods growing off of the main stalk. I didn't have any room in the bed garden so I picked up a little box planter and started seeds in there. I have 2 good stalks coming out, perfectly spaced, so I plan on staking them as they grow upwards and just seeing what happens. They sprouted really quickly and seem to be very happy.</li>
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<ul><li>Radishes are doing really well, definitely the most successful vegetable so far. Here's one of the small rows. </li>
</ul><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFn18hP8vL827jplAiIgfO-4i3IwKJyJ4XWzR7ZxuLvhcPNujdZIYplGd0h1IqKF5E7C4q9coE8DrqiqLTgHTzE3rZgOB0MYMLSU-nAKJlZOhK_uIYOT4idWFTzUqqZ5nmEyLASneo-yM/s1600/DSC_1077.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFn18hP8vL827jplAiIgfO-4i3IwKJyJ4XWzR7ZxuLvhcPNujdZIYplGd0h1IqKF5E7C4q9coE8DrqiqLTgHTzE3rZgOB0MYMLSU-nAKJlZOhK_uIYOT4idWFTzUqqZ5nmEyLASneo-yM/s640/DSC_1077.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<ul><li>Black eyed peas and Kentucky pole beans continue to be the apples of my eye. They are growing like crazy. I didn't have to thin any, which I'm really happy about. I built a bamboo and twine trellis for them one day with twine lattice for them to climb. I was really pretty proud of it, considering it's my first attempt at anything like that and I don't consider myself much of a builder, but it turned out well. The tensile strength was definitely lacking though, and it became very obvious one night when it was really windy. I could see the trellis sliding from side to side with the wind gusts, so at 11pm, I ran out with a pair of scissors and 2 camping stakes and staked out support runners. Since then, things are much more stable and the vines are actually tall enough to begin attaching to the first lattice rung. Here's how I built the trellis:<br />
<br />
- Start with 6 6' and 2 4' bamboo stakes, a large roll of garden twine, and 2 camping stakes<br />
- Build the supports first by standing them up where they will go, one support (2 stakes) at a time<br />
- Cross the stakes at the top leaving enough gap for the crossbeam support stakes to rest on top<br />
- Tie by wrapping twine around the outside and then interlacing inside/outside wraps to firmly secure the two stakes together<br />
- If you are able to push the stakes into the ground, they can stand on their own. My yard is too rooted, hence the need for support stakes on the outsides<br />
- Repeat for each of the supports<br />
- Lay the crossbeam stakes on top and secure with more twine in the same fashion as before, interlacing and tying well to secure<br />
- You should have a free standing frame now<br />
- If you need support stakes, drive the camping stake into the ground a couple of feet away from the outside supports. Take a very long piece of twine, tie a loop in one end, and run the twine between the stake and the support. You can then run the loose end of twine through the looped end and pull until the line is taut. Tie off the line either on the bamboo stakes or on the twine itself<br />
- Build the lattice by running twine parallel to the ground in regular distances. I used the little knots in the bamboo as supports for the twine so that it didn't slide down the bamboo, it worked out that with that method I had new lines every 6" or so. Keep the line as tight as possible, wrap twine around the middle support stake to keep the line taught if you have to<br />
- Build the vertical lattice support by taking one long piece of twine and tying it to the very bottom horizontal lattice twine. Wrap it around each level of lattice until you get to the top. Tighten the line and adjust each level as necessary so they stay relatively parallel with the ground. Tie off at the top on the crossbeam support. Do this for both sides.<br />
- That's it! You now have a mediocre-to-suitable garden trellis for about $12.</li>
</ul><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh87E92GbimQ6AWAg0JAu4ydsmR-rQFDqksGQ_WtMOZQQRJII9zk7IFM-LXvdMaPrpyyxWPjxk9lXw7oC6mt38G1SV_eJ1k-LHSNDR2aKAxA4ctOCjyW5zaiDq2JfF80_H1BoRoL5V5lug/s1600/DSC_1083.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh87E92GbimQ6AWAg0JAu4ydsmR-rQFDqksGQ_WtMOZQQRJII9zk7IFM-LXvdMaPrpyyxWPjxk9lXw7oC6mt38G1SV_eJ1k-LHSNDR2aKAxA4ctOCjyW5zaiDq2JfF80_H1BoRoL5V5lug/s640/DSC_1083.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">somewhat ghetto trellis</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYTUimFdE9B7HWjMj9zjFsKh8xitak7Tqtv7KaQZ1_NUHf3yDexPkW6hatWrvVYm7PJf8EqMpwUA7FwaWlIWIPUTEZ_dNlryvw7xvcT4HnVyIPPWooJscWc6KNZ6hLUHJqqL16AlFb2LE/s1600/DSC_1078.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYTUimFdE9B7HWjMj9zjFsKh8xitak7Tqtv7KaQZ1_NUHf3yDexPkW6hatWrvVYm7PJf8EqMpwUA7FwaWlIWIPUTEZ_dNlryvw7xvcT4HnVyIPPWooJscWc6KNZ6hLUHJqqL16AlFb2LE/s640/DSC_1078.JPG" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">black eyed peas</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwn8mlx1rrCSuo5ypqENeNcZ89PBfdBtyfxJkZ2sRM23MkX_86rSRFc-46fvK6A4pTHBrdlbPpGnHdClywv7wHL1d67vbz454CPUpLdbKuX4RlkNYS37mybPBsUMJAMhnK7qP6ZvUzhAg/s1600/DSC_1081.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwn8mlx1rrCSuo5ypqENeNcZ89PBfdBtyfxJkZ2sRM23MkX_86rSRFc-46fvK6A4pTHBrdlbPpGnHdClywv7wHL1d67vbz454CPUpLdbKuX4RlkNYS37mybPBsUMJAMhnK7qP6ZvUzhAg/s640/DSC_1081.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kentucky blue pole beans</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><ul><li>The last bit of garden news concerns my peppers. For a long time, I assumed that they were a lost cause. I planted them in the soil despite the package instructions specifically stating to start them indoors. After 2 weeks of nothing, I assumed that conditions weren't right for them to grow outside and that it was a lost cause. But lo and behold, they have proven me wrong. Both Thai chile and poblano have decided to make an appearance, and I am really excited about it. They are not planted in rows or anything, because they own a small corner of the garden. I plan to keep one or two plants after thinning, with the hopes that they will become good sized bushes and keep to their corners.</li>
</ul><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3Tpkkc6DHPm8IvhyyzWjQtqqKHtfFb2Wvi3cQuhMkDcfzf_JKdzIoeeOdnA3cp2rMzAv6cjiWsHmrKh8W9C3hX_VRSdeHTvdloPWXcBYFhKJ_qxfz8BoWxZ_cNR9J2HYOHchYyidqLT8/s1600/DSC_1084.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3Tpkkc6DHPm8IvhyyzWjQtqqKHtfFb2Wvi3cQuhMkDcfzf_JKdzIoeeOdnA3cp2rMzAv6cjiWsHmrKh8W9C3hX_VRSdeHTvdloPWXcBYFhKJ_qxfz8BoWxZ_cNR9J2HYOHchYyidqLT8/s640/DSC_1084.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17853483137751698695noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131320473314214403.post-33202920613056671022011-05-31T18:36:00.001-04:002011-06-01T09:16:08.969-04:00Avec - Bacon Wrapped Chorizo Dates with Piquillo Pepper Sauce<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I have been privileged enough to have a career that has allowed my wife and I to move all around this fine country. We have lived in places we would have never dreamed and it has become a significant factor in shaping us into the people that we are today. It has made us friends everywhere, it has deepened our own relationship, and it has also allowed us both to expand our constantly growing love of food. Nowhere can single handedly be more responsible for this growth than our short year living in Chicago. During that time, my wife worked as a hostess at <a href="http://blackbirdrestaurant.blogspot.com/">Blackbird </a>Restaurant in the West Loop, and we became friends with some of the people in the culinary scene. We ate at amazing restaurants, had memorable meals, and we learned a fucking ton about food through eating and through our new friends. Throughout that whole time, one restaurant still stands at the top as our most reminisced about: Avec. Owned by the same owners as Blackbird, <a href="http://www.avecrestaurant.com/">Avec</a> is the casual next door neighbor. No reservations, no fancy dress code, simple food done incredibly well, a small staff, it fit so well with our interests and we enjoyed going there so much that we still think and talk about it regularly 3 years later. Hands down, one of the most talked about dishes at Avec is the chorizo stuffed dates. To quickly summarize, they are large Medjool dates stuffed with fresh chorizo, wrapped in bacon, and baked until the bacon is crispy. They are topped with a smoky sweet tomato and piquillo pepper sauce. Piquillo peppers are somewhat similar to roasted red peppers, with slightly more peppery bitter flavor, but maintaining the same sweetness as roasted red peppers. If you can't find piquillo peppers, you could easily sub roasted red peppers for them.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">When our Memorial Day rolled around and our plans included a visit to a friend's house in a "bring anything" fashion, these guys were the first thing that popped to mind. They are pretty easy to make and they don't take long to cook. Just hide the roasting pan after they are done baking. The amount of fat rendered between the chorizo and the bacon is a secret that might be better kept to yourself.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><u>Bacon Wrapped Chorizo Dates with Piquillo Pepper Sauce</u></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">(inspired by Avec Restaurant)</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">1 lb large Medjool dates (roughly 24)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">1 medium onion, roughly chopped</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">3 cloves garlic, minced</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">1 15 oz can piquillo peppers (or roasted red peppers)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">1 15 oz can diced tomatoes</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">1 tsp smoked paprika</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">1 lb hickory smoked bacon (or # of dates divided by 2)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">1 lb fresh chorizo</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><u>For the sauce:</u></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><u><br />
</u></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; font-weight: normal;"></span></u></b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC7khENQLwxSqxqqhvBIUbYsYUdauezU11m5NVtdVoKLKwhm_TmeTWn1y4gQOT_oPz2eIcDNb5tjwK7wHOqY1lqeRCPRZ9RH7l-3msFJHBNVxchlcQbvDER-9EfyEodZ1IxwLgP840lcw/s1600/DSC_1089.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC7khENQLwxSqxqqhvBIUbYsYUdauezU11m5NVtdVoKLKwhm_TmeTWn1y4gQOT_oPz2eIcDNb5tjwK7wHOqY1lqeRCPRZ9RH7l-3msFJHBNVxchlcQbvDER-9EfyEodZ1IxwLgP840lcw/s640/DSC_1089.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Begin by sauteeing the onion in a pan with olive oil. Drain the peppers and chop roughly. Saute until onions are translucent but not caramelized. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghq-AwQ2Ex_Zx4uAK5FLHBUH1R3SEKZ6Sr0ICaWATakRP639ROElL2yaKVhcYn_i94SmdRL7tk-WoB4hMkStaUToNL3P1uqpT9RBxz4EOQqzbxsfGV2UQZjnK-b08Wnl8YWv-iTtlp2IU/s1600/DSC_1090.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghq-AwQ2Ex_Zx4uAK5FLHBUH1R3SEKZ6Sr0ICaWATakRP639ROElL2yaKVhcYn_i94SmdRL7tk-WoB4hMkStaUToNL3P1uqpT9RBxz4EOQqzbxsfGV2UQZjnK-b08Wnl8YWv-iTtlp2IU/s640/DSC_1090.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Add the garlic and saute for 1-2 minutes. Dump the peppers and tomatoes into a blender and add the onion mixture. Blend until smooth in consistency, like a tomato sauce. Add the mixture back to the pan that you cooked the onions in and set heat to med-low. Add smoked paprika. I don't think Avec uses smoked paprika, but they also do their final firing of the dates in a wood fired oven, so they get a really nice hint of smoke on them. Smoked paprika is just my attempt to get some of that subtle smoke flavor in. Let sauce simmer for 30 minutes or longer, until sauce is thick and a large amount of water is evaporated. Season to taste with salt and pepper - the sauce should be seasoned pretty aggressively. Set aside.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUI-BJ7KdURLBeN3gQaZ6k0nhsA0JSrXtqAbk40i6CBYPL_nDcPmfWlVVbJDryBYeyCsMmYyuW9NqsuG4GxW0XWl6IJqg8Zy4tFqdX-DYKB4eQPc39BptOQkMCTZhccKVXUDGSHkAsCqM/s1600/DSC_1091.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUI-BJ7KdURLBeN3gQaZ6k0nhsA0JSrXtqAbk40i6CBYPL_nDcPmfWlVVbJDryBYeyCsMmYyuW9NqsuG4GxW0XWl6IJqg8Zy4tFqdX-DYKB4eQPc39BptOQkMCTZhccKVXUDGSHkAsCqM/s640/DSC_1091.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><b><u>For the dates:</u></b><br />
Preheat the oven to 375º. Start by pitting the dates. Lay them flat and use a sharp paring knife to make a slit on the top from one long end to the other. Dig out the pit with the tip of the knife and discard. Cut each slice of bacon in two. Fill the date with about 1 tbsp of chorizo. It should be filled to the top. Make sure that you use fresh chorizo too - the dried salumi style chorizo won't work. After the date is stuffed, wrap one of the half bacon slices over the date, laying the seam side down on the roasting pan / baking sheet. The seams will kind of "glue" together on the bottom, if they are on top, the bacon will cook and unravel itself a bit.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWNY_dfC8T0HadCfmip7YeLE9ryzN1JY3GUAOvXDw77wEwUTD660kRlQmj-XVEvVuLTmfYAQ0OlF5hR4UPj1lnZhaeV7Nbui1B7FqgbT9jKogTZEhl2Cvo__AAHqe2kX0BKA-Vbtpgfmk/s1600/DSC_1094.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWNY_dfC8T0HadCfmip7YeLE9ryzN1JY3GUAOvXDw77wEwUTD660kRlQmj-XVEvVuLTmfYAQ0OlF5hR4UPj1lnZhaeV7Nbui1B7FqgbT9jKogTZEhl2Cvo__AAHqe2kX0BKA-Vbtpgfmk/s640/DSC_1094.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
When the dates are all stuffed, bake them for approximately 30 minutes in the oven. Check the bacon for doneness - if it is not well browned, continue baking until it is. When the dates are done, remove from the oven. To plate, take them off the baking sheet and rest them on a paper towel to absorb some of the fat. Place in a dish, cover with pepper tomato sauce, and sprinkle with some parsley.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFZlxD7TkUyNlrzb6r-37oG8-LjjjJS2yqiYGBW8bFVkBNzwSFE_Bs58eShgemy33Ap7EY-WCE29QkA100C9LxCvk1_yJp8MXc8tvQxeztMNm8WXlnCukKAoouuU9KpXhdxTr63kxQWtA/s1600/DSC_1095.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFZlxD7TkUyNlrzb6r-37oG8-LjjjJS2yqiYGBW8bFVkBNzwSFE_Bs58eShgemy33Ap7EY-WCE29QkA100C9LxCvk1_yJp8MXc8tvQxeztMNm8WXlnCukKAoouuU9KpXhdxTr63kxQWtA/s640/DSC_1095.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">avec i luv uuuuu</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17853483137751698695noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131320473314214403.post-86764677435435904072011-05-21T17:16:00.000-04:002011-05-21T17:16:36.460-04:00Some design changes...I updated some of the design stuff of the blog? I would like to acquire a logo too. Hopefully something cool with zombies and blood and guts and other good stuff... with any luck, I'll have something soon! Is the new color stuff better or worse than what I had before?Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17853483137751698695noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131320473314214403.post-54934294443637580492011-05-21T10:26:00.001-04:002011-05-22T20:52:41.842-04:00Tacos de Papa (Fried Potato Tacos)In late 2009, one of my favorite food related magazines, Gourmet, closed its doors with next to no notice. Publisher Conde Nast cited declining advertising sales and customer interest shifts as their reasoning behind the unexpected closure. I can't argue their financial reasoning for closing the magazine, but from a reader's perspective, the closing of Gourmet left a huge void in magazine publications. Gourmet was great for taking me out of my apartment and putting me somewhere far away. It inspired me to want to travel, it showed me the amazing food that exists in faraway places, provided some of the best recipes that I have, and the photography was the best in the business in my opinion. Instead, Conde Nast kept Bon Appetit alive to cater to boring housewives with 15 minute dinners and their annual burger issue with just enough variation in the recipes to not call it a reissue. But I'm not bitter or anything.<br />
<br />
Stepping up to the global cuisine periodical plate, Saveur magazine has become the next best thing to Gourmet. Perhaps it doesn't bring me to the same daydream state that Gourmet did, but it often comes close. This month's issue (#138) had a great article about the author's visit to his home state of Zacatecas in Mexico with some amazing photography and great looking recipes. Saveur also is very free with its recipes and articles, and despite this issue still being available at newsstands, you can already read the full thing online <a href="http://www.saveur.com/article/Travels/Mexico-Feeds-Me">here</a> (<a href="http://www.saveur.com/article/Travels/Mexico-Feeds-Me">http://www.saveur.com/article/Travels/Mexico-Feeds-Me</a>). In a day and age where people like Christopher Kimball from America's Test Kitchen (and his subscription-only site) openly challenges the quality of food blogs and boldly considered them to be the reasoning for the fall of Gourmet Magazine (<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/08/opinion/08kimball.html?_r=1">http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/08/opinion/08kimball.html?_r=1</a>), I commend James Oseland and the Saveur staff for accepting the open paradigm of the internet and still seemingly finding a way to run a profitable company. In this month's issue, the recipe that immediately stood out to me was a taco stuffed with cumin-spiced potatoes and then pan fried to get a crispy shell, dressed with salsa roja, cabbage, and cotija cheese. Maybe it was the photo on the cover, but we had to try these as soon as possible, so I set out to recreate the magazine's recipe. It's easy to make, it's cheap, it lasts for several days, and it is vegetarian (easily vegan too!). This one will undoubtedly go down as a regular in our house.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKvusgFFc2PTdNZySZJFgtNe9XJX3cwJFbKR3cWuQHhte5x1kCILYSkoo9NXqICEQRErnjvGro0dHV5x7Bw8nInGKPkimkaurwGOBrP4p5irKndwiVsEXWU0-dSIqwQaSZMKcoiHa0Hlo/s1600/DSC_1054.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKvusgFFc2PTdNZySZJFgtNe9XJX3cwJFbKR3cWuQHhte5x1kCILYSkoo9NXqICEQRErnjvGro0dHV5x7Bw8nInGKPkimkaurwGOBrP4p5irKndwiVsEXWU0-dSIqwQaSZMKcoiHa0Hlo/s640/DSC_1054.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
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<b><u>Tacos de Papa</u></b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><b>(Saveur Magazine issue #138, also found <a href="http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Tacos-de-Papa-Potato-Tacos">here</a> but mine is better =D)</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><b><br />
</b></span><br />
1 tbsp finely chopped cilantro<br />
1/2 tsp dried oregano<br />
1/2 tsp sugar<br />
2 ripe tomatoes, cored (+1 for topping)<br />
2 red jalepenos, stemmed<br />
1 clove garlic, smashed, plus 2 cloves, minced<br />
1 tbsp unsalted butter<br />
1 lb russet potatoes, peeled<br />
2 tsp kosher salt<br />
1 tsp fresh ground black pepper<br />
1 tsp ground cumin<br />
1/2 c canola oil<br />
18 corn tortillas<br />
thinly sliced green cabbage and tomatoes and crumbled cotija cheese, for serving<br />
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Puree cilantro, oregano, sugar, tomatoes, jalepenos, smashed garlic, and 2/3 c water in a blender until smooth; set salsa aside. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEnYe_qCnLIhFZROcIulF9aiijhrPcSP463_D1GszugckdBuoTKDu00kROVTcaAL8lWiqI9trs2GFLHJHXjGRyFXA_YMwE5tU_slrmU9JUdzQt2evGbbmdhYUdxXf6Bo5TEMN2YGGYBA4/s1600/DSC_1050.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEnYe_qCnLIhFZROcIulF9aiijhrPcSP463_D1GszugckdBuoTKDu00kROVTcaAL8lWiqI9trs2GFLHJHXjGRyFXA_YMwE5tU_slrmU9JUdzQt2evGbbmdhYUdxXf6Bo5TEMN2YGGYBA4/s640/DSC_1050.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
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Bring a medium saucepan of salted water to a boil, add potatoes, and cook until tender, about 25 minutes. Drain potatoes and transfer to a large bowl. add minced garlic, butter, salt, pepper, and cumin, and mash until smooth. Set potato mixture aside. It should be crumbly, but form-able.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOkUS4ttLQF4XSEZv6kmXtGJPmnV1km4J72JWXfScUNIPuhOXHnrxXsx9YyUayMZzKYSFWhevz3XnLqfAbgDylhhlomOq6oDUA-c2OKfMmVVTs11GFYp9KUYyK5ODn1UrGat8HDLGuhbY/s1600/DSC_1049.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOkUS4ttLQF4XSEZv6kmXtGJPmnV1km4J72JWXfScUNIPuhOXHnrxXsx9YyUayMZzKYSFWhevz3XnLqfAbgDylhhlomOq6oDUA-c2OKfMmVVTs11GFYp9KUYyK5ODn1UrGat8HDLGuhbY/s640/DSC_1049.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
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I found that it was easier to deal with the tacos by heating them up first. Microwave the desired number of tortillas for anywhere from 30 seconds to 1 minute. They should be malleable without cracking. If they are still stiff, microwave for a few seconds more. Heat oil in a 12" skillet over medium-high heat. Using a spoon, spread a layer of potato mixture in the middle of each tortilla. Gently cup tortilla in one hand, press the potato mixture down with the back of a spoon, and fold in half with your hands. Pressing the potato mixture helped it from falling out of the taco during frying. Working in batches, add tacos to oil and fry, turning once, until golden brown and crisp, about 3 minutes.<br />
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Stuff cabbage, tomatoes, and cotija into tacos; drizzle with salsa before serving.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCwUekXW3Tkw-v1ju_LWAhN5xkQJCidGvvmqZLOCLt-LtKz76nnh-OCGyTVT9imZaJ_hadIosBo52WKKHZkj9ddSGC-wcLUZuJ2qS_0ZMvb6YN93rZjIodpHzdgWwHOFhhc6JYGSu_G6c/s1600/DSC_1056.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCwUekXW3Tkw-v1ju_LWAhN5xkQJCidGvvmqZLOCLt-LtKz76nnh-OCGyTVT9imZaJ_hadIosBo52WKKHZkj9ddSGC-wcLUZuJ2qS_0ZMvb6YN93rZjIodpHzdgWwHOFhhc6JYGSu_G6c/s640/DSC_1056.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
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</div>Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17853483137751698695noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131320473314214403.post-78640143796834036052011-05-16T08:17:00.000-04:002011-05-16T08:17:13.742-04:00Garden Update: It Lives!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Ok this post is exciting (for me anyway). North Carolina has had a very mild spring to date - temperatures in the 70's and frequent rain have apparently made nature very happy over the past month or so. Our little garden is no exception. Last week I <a href="http://brains4brunch.blogspot.com/2011/05/summer-garden-season.html">posted</a> about a joint collaboration between ourselves and our duplex neighbors - a little box garden in our front yard. All of our growing hopes and dreams are contained in a small 10'x10' cube of reclaimed wood. We planted last week with the hopes that something, anything, would grow. Our contingency plan was a handful of tomato plants that we felt would at least give us something to be excited about provided that the rest of the garden was an utter failure. Well, it turns out that we must have done something right, because this weekend resulted in the sprouting of several of our seeds! The black eyed peas came first, unraveling themselves and stretching out on a sunny Saturday morning. We also saw the very beginnings of our lettuce coming up, as well as some very small beet greens. Just 24 hours later, the beets were popping up all over and the Kentucky blue pole beans were also coming up for some real sun. As it stands now, the only things that haven't showed a sign of life are the peppers and carrots. I'm hoping that they decide to make an appearance - I really want poblano peppers! Also, I picked up 2 more planters to place next to our box garden because I decided that I need to grow okra this summer. They have been seeded, so hopefully they do as well as everything else thus far. Seeing as this is my first personal garden, I am incredibly excited at all of these developments. It's so exciting to walk outside and actually see hourly changes in the garden - sprouts coming up, beans unraveling and beginning to show leaves, it's amazing to watch unfold. It's going to be a great summer.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYIyz-QogamBmEsLIZ8dl8ybkneIPdVnMTvqQodpWNXOb3vWLVfCMexSHmwkICm1YA0uGGIMjMQCy5prfHlcUZSZxsKbkoGDA26zTkkLzUPM_JkwYLTLvGq0hVjDmAc7jcBiIOHQgwc5s/s1600/DSC_1038.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYIyz-QogamBmEsLIZ8dl8ybkneIPdVnMTvqQodpWNXOb3vWLVfCMexSHmwkICm1YA0uGGIMjMQCy5prfHlcUZSZxsKbkoGDA26zTkkLzUPM_JkwYLTLvGq0hVjDmAc7jcBiIOHQgwc5s/s640/DSC_1038.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Black Eyed Peas</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqDQqJUcCV7D3O3y8P7PIvtNZdKnIPWyiNISruYXmlpQjD1WenkQy39c-64BGfkKTtKTE4Sc196PRKIYCC87MAymO-_l81tC8W3y7GjXCpsmMYsz2DK6WQLe6nP245KwZ3twdmX4mjYKU/s1600/DSC_1044.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqDQqJUcCV7D3O3y8P7PIvtNZdKnIPWyiNISruYXmlpQjD1WenkQy39c-64BGfkKTtKTE4Sc196PRKIYCC87MAymO-_l81tC8W3y7GjXCpsmMYsz2DK6WQLe6nP245KwZ3twdmX4mjYKU/s640/DSC_1044.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kentucky Blue Pole Bean - just waking up</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvSjsPqUkCZFl5nVbrQJ6pwpWcGXcmSkako3wJLY8HwbVXEIMHECXGGAeQtn2BQhN2zoTQg25eFMGcES6TabuH0J8kKKwNeRyPe4KDDkH0dlj6Wj0MNrdvavg_F-3MtodB_lRTk_uyztQ/s1600/DSC_1040.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvSjsPqUkCZFl5nVbrQJ6pwpWcGXcmSkako3wJLY8HwbVXEIMHECXGGAeQtn2BQhN2zoTQg25eFMGcES6TabuH0J8kKKwNeRyPe4KDDkH0dlj6Wj0MNrdvavg_F-3MtodB_lRTk_uyztQ/s640/DSC_1040.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kentucky Blue Pole Bean</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKDTscsaOU2edU8-jY0GgUlxU_GvkbvZt-0b2xVAn6oWwtZRzdN6xujG4-YRflChExv9AdLWn47k7jNzh37r1Gve7s1Dcb1kXzPSwAOxZWrlAMEMxTpOOvUfFaIivi0y5squXjAurazz0/s1600/DSC_1041.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKDTscsaOU2edU8-jY0GgUlxU_GvkbvZt-0b2xVAn6oWwtZRzdN6xujG4-YRflChExv9AdLWn47k7jNzh37r1Gve7s1Dcb1kXzPSwAOxZWrlAMEMxTpOOvUfFaIivi0y5squXjAurazz0/s640/DSC_1041.JPG" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lettuce</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQrTadbRH5xxODFnggF8Pvn7pzV0BXvZ9Ql2WC35W7NiU0vJbeRYsEdIwvyk-Oyd-ANUdgMEikNSN32Jt_2Os4uWDBglTOwzpB6SjUrDNfZ9CMjVCFNMTkJhYGHj67npAHrarr52qWFs4/s1600/DSC_1043.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQrTadbRH5xxODFnggF8Pvn7pzV0BXvZ9Ql2WC35W7NiU0vJbeRYsEdIwvyk-Oyd-ANUdgMEikNSN32Jt_2Os4uWDBglTOwzpB6SjUrDNfZ9CMjVCFNMTkJhYGHj67npAHrarr52qWFs4/s640/DSC_1043.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chiogga Beets</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
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</div>Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17853483137751698695noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131320473314214403.post-53865369052800740112011-05-11T07:58:00.001-04:002011-05-11T07:59:36.847-04:00Summer garden seasonSo spring in the south is in full swing. It has been a really mild spring, lots of rain and lots of 70 degree days, which I am all about. For a couple of summers now, my neighbor Bruce and I have threatened to start a garden in the front yard, but we never got around to it. This year we fell on the same page and decided that we needed to actually get the garden set up. Bruce was able to acquire some 2x6's (and one 2x8) from a friend and we cobbled together a raised bed for our garden. We started by choosing the part of the lawn that gets the most sun throughout the summer, which also is probably the most out-of-the-way spot in the lawn, which is a nice coincidence. We laid out a squarish section about 10'x12' and dug as far down as we could to clear the grass and get some topsoil turned up. Unfortunately we are planting right near a maple tree, so roots were abundant and we weren't able to turn up a lot of previously existing topsoil. We discarded the grass chunks and got a good gauge of how much we needed to fill.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_ipn4umVSr7gO4krtHip4W3JIpyJ45nIi8a30fDoeM_Z2EwaLAIu2uHfKc6HCk0EymwlBNX4mIOKVFN_BFAZvibscdvKkvhDKcXshuuPXwmkLjmqMeyxtui3yAxXYB7K4FrR-vqd4bwY/s1600/DSC_1002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_ipn4umVSr7gO4krtHip4W3JIpyJ45nIi8a30fDoeM_Z2EwaLAIu2uHfKc6HCk0EymwlBNX4mIOKVFN_BFAZvibscdvKkvhDKcXshuuPXwmkLjmqMeyxtui3yAxXYB7K4FrR-vqd4bwY/s640/DSC_1002.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">From there, Bruce was able to borrow a friend's pickup truck to get the majority of our fill. Our neighbor Mike made a great suggestion to check out the city yard waste department, where we got a full pickup truck worth of very fine mulch for only $15. We complimented the mulch with about 150 lb of composted topsoil, some GardenTone fertilizer, and some lime (more suggestions from Mike). We mixed everything in and watered it well and let it sit overnight.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFhoI1Webm4RqaBE2yCks39QxKyXzE9hRkCH0FfrE9w37TjmQa2NjwXwvWsxAiO5QE0cQvABo8v4BIb7Djm0NCd61LpB2eLGSoXXYFJP3PKa_9rh7R9B2BEG8F5i879-fJpPVWTvtZQoU/s1600/DSC_1022.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFhoI1Webm4RqaBE2yCks39QxKyXzE9hRkCH0FfrE9w37TjmQa2NjwXwvWsxAiO5QE0cQvABo8v4BIb7Djm0NCd61LpB2eLGSoXXYFJP3PKa_9rh7R9B2BEG8F5i879-fJpPVWTvtZQoU/s640/DSC_1022.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
Now it was time for planting! Neighbor Mike was kind enough to give us 2 Mater tomato plants, and we picked up some cherry and Cherokee Purple plans as well. In our small space, we managed to plant the following:<br />
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<ul><li>Black eyed peas</li>
<li>Carrots</li>
<li>Lettuce</li>
<li>Thai chile (1 plant probably)</li>
<li>Poblano chile (gotta have them chile rellenos)</li>
<li>Fennel</li>
<li>Kentucky Blue Pole Beans</li>
<li>Chiogga beets</li>
<li>Thai basil</li>
</ul><div>No doubt it is a lot of stuff to grow in a small area but we are not totally convinced that we will succeed on all fronts. Everything's seeded now, so we just wait to see what happens and hope for the best!</div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihe9I3H-Cc3h6llpgzvSLa8Dm_zRei-N4edw8wzXeDzPUaVH4RP2KfMcBijaTlFfiRqrJmKGgzQkiyVUnj0L4ocFmlpxp4-LJggtpS-zi1TKxMuBtZVtpOXTWq0Yta-DckHSfyfY8gbns/s1600/DSC_1029.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihe9I3H-Cc3h6llpgzvSLa8Dm_zRei-N4edw8wzXeDzPUaVH4RP2KfMcBijaTlFfiRqrJmKGgzQkiyVUnj0L4ocFmlpxp4-LJggtpS-zi1TKxMuBtZVtpOXTWq0Yta-DckHSfyfY8gbns/s640/DSC_1029.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMaG2D_MazTz87YethrzlHV5id0bHAn8PnzTkiZK9BQuzrb4r8BeHULJpuioL2JoguL7EPOSDuQPWGhAaf5bVmqJOeQaheMnPyQMgoebmF3-0n2dRiEdJhyP5mQs6B-J1LdTxiuJAFhyphenhyphenI/s1600/DSC_1030.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMaG2D_MazTz87YethrzlHV5id0bHAn8PnzTkiZK9BQuzrb4r8BeHULJpuioL2JoguL7EPOSDuQPWGhAaf5bVmqJOeQaheMnPyQMgoebmF3-0n2dRiEdJhyP5mQs6B-J1LdTxiuJAFhyphenhyphenI/s640/DSC_1030.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17853483137751698695noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131320473314214403.post-81230004380167164342011-05-05T13:54:00.001-04:002011-05-05T13:59:37.103-04:00Vietnam<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Almost 3 weeks since an update but I hope that this post will make up for it! My wife and I had an amazing trip to Vietnam that was full of good food and memorable experiences. Our trip started out in Ho Chi Minh City, where we visited the War Remnants Museum and checked out a large indoor market that was flooded with people. The latter photos were taken from one restaurant that really turned out to be a letdown. I was really happy with the photos but I think that they are a classic case of food photography looking better than it tasted. It certainly had us worried, but after making the flight up to Hoi An, our food fortunes turned for the better. Ho Chi Minh, in general, felt like a newer sprawly city. It very easily could have just been a combination of culture shock and jet lag, but we didn't love Ho Chi Minh City. It was interesting for sure, but after visiting the other spots in our trip, I would have to say that I wouldn't put it at the top of my list of places to return to in Vietnam. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pho in Ho Chi Minh City, first meal of the trip and it was a good one</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ben Thanh Market, Ho Chi Minh City</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ben Thanh Market, Ho Chi Minh City</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifFXvFJ3iSdN3cHpsyeOApXA1Ka7ZRDKD05PQJIzInM6vZyJdRTXkzoAIYikM6vwZHOkzfFiRoD906Xol-qKxyP6ZUimZRGRYe6zg4pBKGu41JAovdM2QcfXHO8mvPEQzHYHmJqvYZhWc/s1600/dsc_0603.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifFXvFJ3iSdN3cHpsyeOApXA1Ka7ZRDKD05PQJIzInM6vZyJdRTXkzoAIYikM6vwZHOkzfFiRoD906Xol-qKxyP6ZUimZRGRYe6zg4pBKGu41JAovdM2QcfXHO8mvPEQzHYHmJqvYZhWc/s640/dsc_0603.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shrimp grilled on sugarcane, Ho Chi Minh City</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJQPyg-sRHw4bgqNooMUwypvzqdN4ggUjBLN3ygFddK7j7Akse-UId9pRTmMAB20EjpPmOAHd5fFEEfe4h5H2Zt7dBdpjrbJ_W856N9sJ2qKdmKJkLlc48m9BJzZbZqO3-R9n2bI_GPME/s1600/dsc_0604.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJQPyg-sRHw4bgqNooMUwypvzqdN4ggUjBLN3ygFddK7j7Akse-UId9pRTmMAB20EjpPmOAHd5fFEEfe4h5H2Zt7dBdpjrbJ_W856N9sJ2qKdmKJkLlc48m9BJzZbZqO3-R9n2bI_GPME/s640/dsc_0604.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Green Papaya and Shrimp Salad, Ho Chi Minh City</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhmxyxWf2fL8VI9IpXeYFC2KBS4ZwqO4ldVTBBzqNozv9F7hGNNJVRDxHu2S3O0WJin5ji86zx3UsUydrLbGGrv-lemsRv4AGYAiMwzr76cGPDk-o8ak58EUxNfYVUYdOUPsitUnEd5a4/s1600/dsc_0605.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhmxyxWf2fL8VI9IpXeYFC2KBS4ZwqO4ldVTBBzqNozv9F7hGNNJVRDxHu2S3O0WJin5ji86zx3UsUydrLbGGrv-lemsRv4AGYAiMwzr76cGPDk-o8ak58EUxNfYVUYdOUPsitUnEd5a4/s640/dsc_0605.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Banh Xeo, rice crepe stuffed with shrimp and bean sprouts, Ho Chi Minh City</td></tr>
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From Ho Chi Minh City, we caught a flight to Hoi An, where we spent the most time of the trip. Hoi An is an amazing little port town dating back to the 15th century. We had some great local specialties including Cau Lau, White Roses, and these little wonton guys with shrimp and tomato sauce on them. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTDd4RnvCd3ztqs_wLbjeCXwUmx6RkAhmOc_Yoi2kT49JbKH8xEug2thosPYHw1Xh64iPWuHqQDU8sc9dCd-0l7A2UlEv2WtvoCmSG3aNBZrtCHrbyskuOwEjiqXTz3RWRPvXugk0lIb0/s1600/dsc_0624.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTDd4RnvCd3ztqs_wLbjeCXwUmx6RkAhmOc_Yoi2kT49JbKH8xEug2thosPYHw1Xh64iPWuHqQDU8sc9dCd-0l7A2UlEv2WtvoCmSG3aNBZrtCHrbyskuOwEjiqXTz3RWRPvXugk0lIb0/s640/dsc_0624.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shrimp and Tomato Sauce on a Fried Wonton, a Hoi An Specialty. Miss Ly's, Hoi An</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3OiwQ1LCzyVNWUTRRg7ALYYHPTu-0eqn1U_FvKI6dSzUZVJ2d4Z0l_uDyqMuAcqZnMGJt1BC0qO0CYw_txegXM-IjgH950032cd_XVBR9szq7dsnKzrrK7cc7uz7PE9nGC-XzPdxCZcA/s1600/dsc_0625.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3OiwQ1LCzyVNWUTRRg7ALYYHPTu-0eqn1U_FvKI6dSzUZVJ2d4Z0l_uDyqMuAcqZnMGJt1BC0qO0CYw_txegXM-IjgH950032cd_XVBR9szq7dsnKzrrK7cc7uz7PE9nGC-XzPdxCZcA/s640/dsc_0625.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"White Roses," rice dumplings stuffed with shrimp and pork, a Hoi An Specialty. Miss Ly's, Hoi An </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQGB8UeCGgKfzqs4NHDwOBwVvW5RnU88Yo3WtB5EUw1m3cWwLzFUgHoVxoiDuV5b4s_G9g7HO8DvK9Oh-H-mf5ibhEghz6s_bVENTBmpbuOTYfLUKkGN0WEG4oB4wJ_YooJWFXDwy3pA0/s1600/dsc_0627.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQGB8UeCGgKfzqs4NHDwOBwVvW5RnU88Yo3WtB5EUw1m3cWwLzFUgHoVxoiDuV5b4s_G9g7HO8DvK9Oh-H-mf5ibhEghz6s_bVENTBmpbuOTYfLUKkGN0WEG4oB4wJ_YooJWFXDwy3pA0/s640/dsc_0627.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Roasted Pork Spring Rolls with Fish Sauce. Miss Ly's, Hoi An</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin4tstd8xolj1hpPNQYgru7h516ZfHOhXJ1kz_iSGCPyPmA2jxxUn65T9R7yKKIbvA65NHU7_h72NMOEeDNt9rHMhd9kq890-NM__ELxbG_CqKIWThLbDCkFIAHB0OO8LjiPpkC-S5xm8/s1600/dsc_0628.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin4tstd8xolj1hpPNQYgru7h516ZfHOhXJ1kz_iSGCPyPmA2jxxUn65T9R7yKKIbvA65NHU7_h72NMOEeDNt9rHMhd9kq890-NM__ELxbG_CqKIWThLbDCkFIAHB0OO8LjiPpkC-S5xm8/s640/dsc_0628.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cau Lau (Noodles with Pork, Wonton Croutons, and fresh herbs), a Hoi An Specialty. Miss Ly's, Hoi An </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Rqv31dyKnq-Drc7pw4pzoZ0GPWOkAl_xnI9er7x8lKydCVuczSNBM_vu3CVSPk0LGZvbt4t6IhGMiE26-q3E8jvZ6cenCfwLZVG80XKFYbP5NqdUGmNcaS1iLfXB7dPRpt4vVOJhu74/s1600/dsc_0669.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Rqv31dyKnq-Drc7pw4pzoZ0GPWOkAl_xnI9er7x8lKydCVuczSNBM_vu3CVSPk0LGZvbt4t6IhGMiE26-q3E8jvZ6cenCfwLZVG80XKFYbP5NqdUGmNcaS1iLfXB7dPRpt4vVOJhu74/s640/dsc_0669.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hoi An Banh Xeo, stuffed with pork and bean sprouts and served with sliced green bananas. Mermaid Restaurant, Hoi An</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi55oX440QLZfXy6129QSCQnUyQSOB6HSFMfaHCZJOiXu7O7lVVfHY6FIhf_rWJXzczs9_NusqAriNyTJkOe8unbYMhoh3_fajrTRbiA7AGPwgjspsRSgli7zQiLt0iwc6BbwADitsI94c/s1600/dsc_0671.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi55oX440QLZfXy6129QSCQnUyQSOB6HSFMfaHCZJOiXu7O7lVVfHY6FIhf_rWJXzczs9_NusqAriNyTJkOe8unbYMhoh3_fajrTRbiA7AGPwgjspsRSgli7zQiLt0iwc6BbwADitsI94c/s640/dsc_0671.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Clay Pot Fish cooked in Caramel Sauce with Pineapple. Mermaid Restaurant, Hoi An</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyApBk0-0o3vOcpp4vKRE-7QAQFYW0It12qsSjV8hWCkhSFZZFqBhyphenhyphen8YE1RSqsKAQdwrWNeVUasv9P2Z3lA83xeVnIBxKVZx_cPO5PM9nSvwnEkJPyi8OpHUs_nRH05f2eyBojIflKyIw/s1600/dsc_0672.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyApBk0-0o3vOcpp4vKRE-7QAQFYW0It12qsSjV8hWCkhSFZZFqBhyphenhyphen8YE1RSqsKAQdwrWNeVUasv9P2Z3lA83xeVnIBxKVZx_cPO5PM9nSvwnEkJPyi8OpHUs_nRH05f2eyBojIflKyIw/s640/dsc_0672.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Squid stuffed with ground pork. Mermaid Restaurant, Hoi An</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6aEShPjMpImbcXH07vA5vJzuMe886uq65o67lo0FaW9TB0a21hDK8HLtqHjb6VTUQtZCdj-2Mzc_bW-wIzXISGrndQwQr98bhWBtxwnQOE_xPw1SKArUHs4ce0dAi1TpdBVhCE6O7wdc/s1600/dsc_0721.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6aEShPjMpImbcXH07vA5vJzuMe886uq65o67lo0FaW9TB0a21hDK8HLtqHjb6VTUQtZCdj-2Mzc_bW-wIzXISGrndQwQr98bhWBtxwnQOE_xPw1SKArUHs4ce0dAi1TpdBVhCE6O7wdc/s640/dsc_0721.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tea fields in the mountains west of Da Nang</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb2qz0YdQSiwp62bU3IeKehz7AtMOxhJSK_UNbkW-fwmugi3PsoIhLr7QN3f45aRL-lnPzxNbboNaQBBJPmxLj-gU8-OEXPu2G5011c7Q15PWOQpyuAJEm-TIlcQMr9utLeqYmjuCNt5o/s1600/dsc_0745.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb2qz0YdQSiwp62bU3IeKehz7AtMOxhJSK_UNbkW-fwmugi3PsoIhLr7QN3f45aRL-lnPzxNbboNaQBBJPmxLj-gU8-OEXPu2G5011c7Q15PWOQpyuAJEm-TIlcQMr9utLeqYmjuCNt5o/s640/dsc_0745.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fresh pineapple growing along a trail that we walked</td></tr>
</tbody></table>From Hoi An we took a two day motorbike trip through a company called Hoi An Motorbike Adventures into the mountains near the Laos border, to a town called Hien (or Prao). We returned to Hoi An and then ventured up to Hanoi before returning home. The cities were busy and the traffic was crazy, but we really got to see the beauty of Vietnam on the motorbike tour. 2 days of winding roads up through the mountains and back; dodging water buffaloes, chickens, dogs, other motorbikes, trucks, giving children high fives as we rode by and stopping often to take photos and get to know our tripmates better. We were accompanied by guides Pete and Emmelie, a local mechanic named Mr. Sao, my wife's driver Mr. Hien, two Aussies named Ant and Ash, and another American named Jarred. The group got along so well and we couldn't have been happier to go with a group of such great people. Probably one of the more ironic things about the trip from this blog's perspective is that we had some of our best food in the cafe attached to the hotel we stayed in. It was a small dingy cafe which was run by a small woman who was very pregnant. We got coffees and a round of what they called "pho" for breakfast, but it was incredibly different than any pho I've ever had, and being that I was hungover, tired, and had low expectations for breakfast, I did not bring my camera. It was a large bowl of rice noodles with a small amount of relatively spicy broth at the bottom, garnished with chicken and ground peanuts and some fresh herbs. It was incredibly simple and it was amazing. So amazing that I ate my entire bowl and half of my wife's as she declared that she was full. I wish that I had taken a picture of it, but in the meantime, it will live on in my head as the pho that got away.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beef, onion, and pineapple and egg omelette. Hien/Prao</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0y2gAkmLnAZxfHqZhJoCjoEr9l6p0_MmTR9GAki9bMT5UIGkyx-mdf2tZrXcuvc9ZaICuJ4QJF0Usq_wscLUCi6VldLaXBXLAriV1sKYy0Mz6nqW1PJj6zQmY6Nz8JnKc7n_Wo22K-Gk/s1600/dsc_0780.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0y2gAkmLnAZxfHqZhJoCjoEr9l6p0_MmTR9GAki9bMT5UIGkyx-mdf2tZrXcuvc9ZaICuJ4QJF0Usq_wscLUCi6VldLaXBXLAriV1sKYy0Mz6nqW1PJj6zQmY6Nz8JnKc7n_Wo22K-Gk/s640/dsc_0780.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fish cooked with tomato sauce. Hien/Prao</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_bjfn6JRqDFtK70P9w5UIXf24spA1678S_5lsBxIy9T-nQ6csDE3wJbE6bcpf6Ace7U-she3dhTPuX4oRIeoKcxpuBrSg7f5VfFmjSpOIP_LJKARUeVCw0OCPy7NCYPBRmCGmpo3AYb8/s1600/dsc_0794.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_bjfn6JRqDFtK70P9w5UIXf24spA1678S_5lsBxIy9T-nQ6csDE3wJbE6bcpf6Ace7U-she3dhTPuX4oRIeoKcxpuBrSg7f5VfFmjSpOIP_LJKARUeVCw0OCPy7NCYPBRmCGmpo3AYb8/s640/dsc_0794.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Small sampling of local brews. The Aquafina bottle is home made rice wine that was similar to sake but with more burning flavor.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfFh8Yfmsju01AbxbpNm91jX9HODzsqFY9EVWpOhyphenhyphenQ5fsYQ7H4MVD9YdPMqTOMRV9inumqmpniv1ykr9bUvJAUsmLqS0B0PB_g2KZueImTazOdsPwBFv97KRifFvrYUEWmFOx4jyhdu5Q/s1600/dsc_0811.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfFh8Yfmsju01AbxbpNm91jX9HODzsqFY9EVWpOhyphenhyphenQ5fsYQ7H4MVD9YdPMqTOMRV9inumqmpniv1ykr9bUvJAUsmLqS0B0PB_g2KZueImTazOdsPwBFv97KRifFvrYUEWmFOx4jyhdu5Q/s640/dsc_0811.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A cafe where we stopped for coffee along the Ho Chi Minh Trail highway, South of Prao</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0fsgaoZZJOD23ohcMr4AzTTgB5Mp6qiQ3kmI-kL3ALyNZLjmlRQCuNxj-AZnu6l8Zs7oU2fHcQfkInLa1lNmM2Hq5w7cJ9wlsz9VD5xHBWbjc-YebZxwAMNMW6iZiXuu8NgNjcVxdpS0/s1600/dsc_0829.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0fsgaoZZJOD23ohcMr4AzTTgB5Mp6qiQ3kmI-kL3ALyNZLjmlRQCuNxj-AZnu6l8Zs7oU2fHcQfkInLa1lNmM2Hq5w7cJ9wlsz9VD5xHBWbjc-YebZxwAMNMW6iZiXuu8NgNjcVxdpS0/s640/dsc_0829.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rice Paddies west of Hoi An</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifjqCMpgbEKQky8EC3qr_C6IRl53vx3yMZogd-HjrLZ7E1xh5buKFYqEQYrKj2hePDR0Ggda-RI9Yo9etkgaGetFfRWhJ197gH0vs0mXm-CHqjKMLKU2tWBvDQXTwD4MH9JNAsLt4B6Lg/s1600/dsc_0875.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifjqCMpgbEKQky8EC3qr_C6IRl53vx3yMZogd-HjrLZ7E1xh5buKFYqEQYrKj2hePDR0Ggda-RI9Yo9etkgaGetFfRWhJ197gH0vs0mXm-CHqjKMLKU2tWBvDQXTwD4MH9JNAsLt4B6Lg/s640/dsc_0875.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fried pork spring rolls with fish sauce, Coco Restaurant, Hoi An</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO7IW6elM1Q4B6jyCDf6qCsO22u-W3NGbGSy-77AxM_XcSNW3jxfpReCS3dSaHWZSM7wDDj3QDWajuYV9UEk79KTVVcOoO4z3cMubfbhbdjQsN3vWx5ijK4RWSWljteHRsxBrVialH5Sc/s1600/dsc_0877.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO7IW6elM1Q4B6jyCDf6qCsO22u-W3NGbGSy-77AxM_XcSNW3jxfpReCS3dSaHWZSM7wDDj3QDWajuYV9UEk79KTVVcOoO4z3cMubfbhbdjQsN3vWx5ijK4RWSWljteHRsxBrVialH5Sc/s640/dsc_0877.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fish grilled in banana leaves. Coco Restaurant, Hoi An</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3Q6VtZ7k2Aa0iFgsjVVrNrmB4_5Kli_J4Axe2lR3etp9KGzALqQJrZsS49xKofinDVB1hvIXDF40sMzI6i7us36CwNbV-gIkR76_OF4ARrXRVrGjO8WM4K9lGt1jAzWBINfiXcD_7SJk/s1600/dsc_0879.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3Q6VtZ7k2Aa0iFgsjVVrNrmB4_5Kli_J4Axe2lR3etp9KGzALqQJrZsS49xKofinDVB1hvIXDF40sMzI6i7us36CwNbV-gIkR76_OF4ARrXRVrGjO8WM4K9lGt1jAzWBINfiXcD_7SJk/s640/dsc_0879.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fried crab in tamarind sauce. Coco Restaurant, Hoi An</td></tr>
</tbody></table> After having a great time in Hoi An, we made our way up to Hanoi before flying home. We stayed in the historic Old Quarter in a hotel that had a clear view of Hoan Kiem Lake. The lake is rumored to be the home of an ancient good luck turtle but we were unable to spot him. The streets in the Old Quarter are very narrow and windy, making walking an adventure and an exercise in 360º awareness. Nearby our hotel, we went to a restaurant specializing in Cha Ca (pronounced cha ga), or fried fish with fresh herbs. When you enter the restaurant, they present you with a single laminated card saying that they only serve one thing and the price is 175,000 vnd. It's a steep price by Vietnam standards, converting to roughly $9 USD per person. Tourists bitch and complain about the price and 'what you get' for your money all over the internet, but the truth is that this was fantastic and worth every penny in my mind. They bring out a hot pan and a burner frying fish in oil and turmeric. Along with the fish, you are given a large bowl of fresh dill and green onions, roasted peanuts, rice noodles, other fresh herbs and fish sauce. You fry the dill and onions at the table with the fish and fix a bowl with all of the other condiments. It is a small bowl of heaven and I will be trying to recreate this one as soon as I can.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRuGLq4vavLSKpP10_O-EWrdiZwK02EEboI38HmljE_uYaXxCRcncNfX5BCjOw9ThhfZxVXe7c4qXWELKKbciYnIQR65zl1-nwKpuC9j_l7TmPm17oO_vlawKNtHCbs_XjaNnYTtnyzks/s1600/dsc_0894.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRuGLq4vavLSKpP10_O-EWrdiZwK02EEboI38HmljE_uYaXxCRcncNfX5BCjOw9ThhfZxVXe7c4qXWELKKbciYnIQR65zl1-nwKpuC9j_l7TmPm17oO_vlawKNtHCbs_XjaNnYTtnyzks/s640/dsc_0894.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Frying at the table</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioVKerpvz1JqfBdn8hCycdeRjNEE_99QarLjDMabRF64MMmTm7C3FZu6Q2jcueHs-8LViooIYR-4Q3870sZYXtfgS5wMh2HnPC4VCJIjsMJ40AjCv9nIL0PRCHPTJK38t8PDdNrg3neLk/s1600/dsc_0895.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioVKerpvz1JqfBdn8hCycdeRjNEE_99QarLjDMabRF64MMmTm7C3FZu6Q2jcueHs-8LViooIYR-4Q3870sZYXtfgS5wMh2HnPC4VCJIjsMJ40AjCv9nIL0PRCHPTJK38t8PDdNrg3neLk/s640/dsc_0895.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Noodles and the bowl of dill and green onions</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg64VPesyZZY9FRPWY7nWsRe2HFuX3mp4a2v4BnDdMAvwrvPp7-HEPu1c6uMP8-uu1ja7hQqyShTeoxjudb_9roQ6TDtFNhRx7wMtnzK3PZfdx9DoNR7fUdwftqSK5Ore8SUkhBun5XukY/s1600/dsc_0897.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg64VPesyZZY9FRPWY7nWsRe2HFuX3mp4a2v4BnDdMAvwrvPp7-HEPu1c6uMP8-uu1ja7hQqyShTeoxjudb_9roQ6TDtFNhRx7wMtnzK3PZfdx9DoNR7fUdwftqSK5Ore8SUkhBun5XukY/s640/dsc_0897.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bowl ready to eat</td></tr>
</tbody></table> Our final meal was a big bowl of pho before heading to the airport - we were let down by this dish but it looked nice so I kept the picture. I got the pho "all" which included beef tendon, tripe, meatballs, brisket, and thinly sliced steak. It wasn't terrible but I have had better, even here in Raleigh. I didn't let it damper our final thoughts of the trip, I only wish that we had finished eating about 30 minutes earlier, because as we were walking back to the hotel I saw a little food stall on the side of the road packed full of locals wrecking bowls of rice noodles with entire pigs feet in small bowls next to them and fish sauce for dipping. I really wanted to try it but we had another crazy cab ride in store for us before the long flight home. I hope we get an opportunity to go back at some point... there was so much food to explore and so little time to fit all of it in!<br />
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</div>Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17853483137751698695noreply@blogger.com1