Dinner Party: Lazy Friday Night

Friday Night Porky Delight

I attended a butchery demonstration using half of a farm-raised pig about a month ago, whereby the instructor divvied up sizable portions of his handiwork--offal, leaf lard, trotters and all the various cuts of pork--to a curious group of 8 carnivores. I received a total of about 10 pounds of pork, which I stuffed and stored in my freezer. Since then, I've been flipping through cookbooks, navigating the recipe morass online, and enlisted friends to join my army of tasting guinea pigs--all in an attempt to diminish my surplus of pork. 2 pan-seared pork chops, some braised pork belly and a second-degree burn incident involving fried pig skin later, I still had a ample amount of meat left over, which included a shoulder roast. So, last Friday I decided to turn the shoulder roast into dinner for two.

April 3, 2009 Dinner Menu
People: 2

Snacks

• Manchego cheese/charcuterie and papaya
  

I actually cobbled this together, because my pork dish was taking an incredibly long time to cook and knew my guest was hungry. I wanted to serve the papaya with with jamon or prosciutto, but made do with the cured meats I had in the fridge. 

Main

• Maple and mustard glazed pork shoulder roast stuffed with prunes
  

I used this recipe as a guide, but gave it a personal twist by using a shoulder roast, instead of tenderloin, playing with ingredient proportions, and adding prunes and cinnamon to the mix. I think it worked, but I poured a tad too much maple syrup to the pork which spilled on to the pan. During the course of the cooking time, the glaze on the pan started to caramelize, burn and blacken, leaving a helluva crust to chisel out.

• Roasted red potatoes with fresh thyme and rosemary
  

I used the recipe from Mark Bittman's "How To Cook Everything" and deviated a bit to add flair and utilize the ingredients I had at home. I've actually whipped this dish up a million times. Sometimes the potatoes have a nice, crispy crust and sometimes they don't, which drives me bonkers. I decided to cook to the instructions and kept the heat on medium. I proceeded to monitor the potatoes as they browned and patiently flipped over each piece with pair of tongs, instead of moving them around haphazardly with my spatula. The potatoes turned out perfect. Success!

• Mixed Green Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette 
  

I whisked 1/4 of Extra Virgin Olive Oil, 1/4 Balsamic Vinegar, a dollop of grainy, Dijon mustard, salt and black pepper, adding some thyme to the mix. 

Dessert

• Leftover cut up papaya

Drinks

• Agua  

Teetotalers that night.

More Pig News

The butcher featured in this video gave me a helpful and entertaining Pig Primer at The Brooklyn Kitchen about a month ago. I would recommend the class if you are seeking a crash course in cuts of pork, offal, and other piggy bits.

Via: Eat Me Daily

Comment Card: Porchetta - Lunch Review

2009 did not usher in an era of mirth and prosperity for most people. Let's all face it. We are in an economic recession and mental depression! As everything started to head south: expense accounts, office headcount, 401Ks, salaries, personal net-worth--so, too, followed the collective American psyche, spiraling down into the proverbial dumps. But, misery is a pill, so the nation responds by taking pills, consuming scotch, seeing the latest Judd Apatow in droves, and more than ever, by seeking consolation through comfort food. The richness and satisfaction of a heaping platter of macaroni and cheese can compensate for the deficits that we experience financially and psychologically. The sweetness and warmth of a chocolately, fudge brownie have the power to lift the soul. Comfort food has the tranformative ability to placate the mind and engage the senses, which is why I went to Porchetta with a friend on one doozy of a Friday, hoping to get my spirits up and elevate a very rotten mood.

Perhaps due to my exposure to Southern BBQ during my formative years, or my grandmother's Filipino way in the kitchen, to me pork is synonymous with comfort food. Whether its Lechon (Suckling Pig), Pork Tenderloin, Crispy Pork Belly, Chicharones/Pork Rinds, Pulled Pork, BBQ Spareribs, I'm going to feel pretty good after a plate of that stuff.

I had taken a class at The Brooklyn Kitchen and my instructor was the butcher and chef at Porchetta, so I knew the ingredients would be fresh and local, and the menu well thought out. Everything on the menu has pig somehow integrated into the dish, even the vegetables.

This is what we ordered and shared:

The Porchetta Sandwich

Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Crackling, Lemon, Thyme, and Honey

Roasted Potatoes with Burnt Ends

A $5 coke of some kind

Cost: Less than $30

The sides are huge, but the sandwiches are not. What we ordered was adequate for two people (and filling, due to the high fat content of the porchetta), but if you have an appetite, get another sandwich and one side to share. The Porchetta sandwich was simply made of sliced cuts of pork with heavenly hunks of brown crackling on a Ciabatta roll. The pork was succulent and deliciously fatty, and the bread/protein ratio was just about right, not overly starchy at all. My friend thought that the potatoes could have used more seasoning, but I really liked them. They had a nice crisp and the burnt ends of the crispy pork skin provided a savory, counter crunch that was fun. The roasted brussel sprouts were a great accompaniment to the Porchetta, but could have been punched up with a tad more acid. Nevertheless, I gobbled them all up. Overall, I enjoyed the meal, feeling fat, happy, and pleasantly distracted for a brief while .

Food: Porky Delight

Ambiance: Tiny, Clean and Cute

Service: Friendly. Helpful when asked for hot sauce.

Price: Sorta pricey for a take-out place

Verdict: Comforting. I'd go again on a Sunday afternoon.

Porchetta

110 7th Street between Avenue A and 1st Ave

East Village

212-777-2151

Review Links:
New York Magazine/ The Underground Gourmet
Yelp
Serious Eats

A Pig Primer

As fatty fodder for my culinary curiosities, I took a butchery class at The Brooklyn Kitchen in Williamsburg to brush up on the various cuts of pork (i.e. belly, loin, picnic, shoulder, jowl, hock, etc..) and learn the best practices for cooking and integrating offal as well as other extraneous pig morsels into dishes. While the class is not hands-on, it is, nevertheless, extremely engaging and informative. The demonstration is led by a very wry and entertaining instructor by the name of Tom, who is the head-butcher at esteemed restaurants, such as Diner, Marlowe and Sons, and Bonita. The class consisted of about 10 people standing around a huge-ass half pig on a huge-ass steel table, while Tom butchered meat, shared his droll observations about his days in the kitchen, and dealt out educational tidbits, like how skirt is actually the diaphragm of an animal (I did not know that!). After 2-hours and a worthwhile investment of $75 , one leaves with about 8 LBS of amazing pork and all the more wiser about our good, yet fated, friend, Mr.Pig. the brooklyn kitchen
616 Lorimer St.
Brooklyn, NY 11211
Phone
718.389.2982
Hours
Monday to Saturday
10AM-8PM
Sunday
NOON-5PM