folo

The Farmer’s Market out on Old 7 (the one that used to be Hollowells, not to be confused with The Oxford Farmer’s Market at Mid-Town Shopping Center, or the not-to-be-mentioned Disneyland cum Snopes affair going on about 7 miles south of town) is a reliable place for very reasonably priced vegetables, spices, dried beans and rice, and etc.

They’ve had a long-term relation with Stan’s Meats, the place where Dan Latham did his pork processing for L&M’s, and which I think has some sort of co-production with the Farmer’s Market and Stan, and is out just across the county line in Panola County on Highway 6.

The Farmer’s Market is selling more variety of meats, cured and otherwise.  Yesterday, they had several kinds of chorizo, pancetta (!), andouille, boudin, and tasso, along with Stan’s wonderful pork– loins, pork chops, and smoked ham hocks.  They’re also adding beef, and at least yesterday, lamb.

I bought a rack of lamb for $13.  You read that right.  Today a rack of equal size was $38 at Krogers.  I had to remove the chine bone (the bone the ribs go into to make a rough L), which was somewhat of an ordeal, but a rack of lamb for $13 is a real deal.  They also had other, quite unusual cuts.  I hope this is not a one-off thing. The butcher is obviously learning his way around a lamb to look at the way it was done, but still it was quite excellent.  Check them out.

The chine bone from that rack of lamb and the ham hocks both went into a stock pot, about which more later.

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The Chow blog on Chowhound reports a trend in “restaurant-style entrées for pets.” The blogger went looking for them, and…

Then I hit major gold with a company called Merrick Pet Care selling doggy turducken in a can that promises to make “even vegetarians reconsider their pledge.” Would that be human vegetarians, hard-core dog vegetarians, or those poor pets that belong to hippies and really don’t want to be vegetarians but are by default? In any case, Merrick also makes reinterpreted classics like Grammy’s Pot Pie and Campfire Trout Feast, all described in high J. Peterman style:

“French Country Café: Whether it’s a corner café on the streets of Paris, a Cottage tucked along the French countryside or a trip up the Eiffel Tower with your significant other, they all spell the romance of France. This savory delight inspired by the many culinary artists from across the pond will have your dog begging for more in a heavy French accent in no time.”

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Dunno whether NMC has something else simmerin’, but my Sunday Dinnah is a folo to a couple of previous ones.

A couple of weeks ago, we learned of Blighty’s new tooth for gray squirrels. Well, maybe the Brits best rev-up their gray-nummin’ because, according to this BBC story that Rodney’s sent in, just as the grays are overwhelming the indigenous (Beatrix Potter) reds, now they’ve got their own nemeses to face — the blacks:

BBC News

“The black squirrel,” explains Auntie Beeb, “was first spotted in the UK 90 years ago in Hitchin, Hertfordshire.”

But it now accounts for almost half of all squirrels in some areas around Cambridgeshire and there are an estimated 25,000 in eastern England. …

Genetic markers were taken and compared with a British black and the result was proof that the squirrels are descendents of American blacks that escaped from zoos.

It seems possible now that the grey squirrel has had its day and that black squirrels could become the dominant species across the UK.

At this rate, wait a couple of weeks and the next news’ll be the black bruisers being run ragged by

blogfordemocracy.org

Anyhow, at the end of that post, wondering what our new Foodie-in-Chief would make of this, I linked to Dr X for a couple of clips from Barack Obama’s debut as restaurant critic on Chicago TV. But this week WTTW visited its 2001 archive to dust off the whole 7:24 segment — thereby doing Dixie Kitchen & Bait Shop a power of good, as you’ll see.

Now as you know, around here we’re actually crazier about bacon — even to the point of Bacon Ice Cream and Bacon Old Fashioneds. So thanks to our ol’ but busy buddy A1A for running in to drop off The Ultimate Bacon Heart- Show-Stopper.

Gotta be careful with this one . . . I’ll just say that it begins with

bbqaddicts.com

and ends up like this:

bbqaddicts.com

N.B.: Since this dish involves two pounds of thick-sliced bacon, two pounds of Italian sausage, a whole gang of BBQ sauce, and a standby cardiologist, think carefully about whether you really want to go there . . .

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The New York Times has a good article about Donald Link’s new place, Cochon Butcher, which brings Cajun-style charcuterie made in house to New Orleans.  Worth reading if you’re interested in Cajun cooking.  I posted about the new business last night and a while back.

Update: Link fixed.

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In the course of an post-full-of-pictures of Donald Link’s new venue, Cochon Butcher (which I’ve mentioned before. I’ve also posted elsewhere about Link, a great New Orleans chef), Appetites New Orleans has a picture of you-know-what-from-the-headline-of-this-post, and opines:  “There are two types of people. People who see this image and think “ew,” and people who see this image and think, “I bet that’s freaking delicious.”" This particular food is familiar ground to our regular readers.  Rather than repeat what we already know, I’ll close with a picture of the Cuban Sandwich at Cochon Butcher, which Appetites New Orleans says is “one of the best Cuban Sandwiches I’ve ever eaten. The roast pork is cochon de lait, and there’s a big piece of roasted poblano in there.”

Something else to add to your list of things to do in the next trip to New Orleans.

Lotus:  Is it time to make “pigs heads” a new Category for this blog?

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Somehow, there’s been a small running theme on this blog about pigs heads.  At some point, Phantom responded to an image of the Piggly Wiggly logo by noting the availability of hogs heads in the meat section of Wal-Mart, and asked “Recipes, NMC?”  I’ve even posted a picture of a pig’s head (warning for squeamish– that’s really what you’ll find at the link!) happily smoking over hickory coals in a post about whole hog bbq (same warning), which I suppose is a partial answer to the question Phantom posed.

The longest thread on the subject was after Lotus posted a recipe for souse.   Phantom commented again:

All I’m saying is the bi-weekly trip to Wal-Mart has become a side show without the ticket taker for my young-uns…”Daddy, Daddy, when can we go see the pig’s head?”

I noted that I suspected that these pigs heads were becoming tacos at a local taqueria.

Today I set out to confirm that theory.  I’ve been eating the occasional lunch at Taqueria Mundo Latina, down a hall in the strip mall behind Oby’s on University Avenue.  They have a big range of taco options (and have recently added cold beer, along with always having had the Mexican cokes made with cane syrup instead of corn), caldo de cameron (shrimp in a tomato broth), caldo de res (beef), majorra frita (marinated deep-fried fish, perhaps tilapia), and menudo.  They’ve also got a decent selection of Mexican groceries.

Between tasting my wife’s and having my own on multiple visits, I’ve now tasted these:  asada (marinated beef), picadillo (ground beef), al pastor (pork marinated goat-style), carnitas (pork cooked down in liquid and then crisped up in the lard rendered from the cooking), chorizo, chicken…

…and cabeza.  Out of a duty to you, the readers of Folo, I decided to check out the pigs head so that information could be added to Folo coverage of pig’s heads.

I’ve not tried lingua (I hate tongue pretty much) or chicharron (I just really don’t want to have fried pork skin tacos take up that dietary fat allotment) and maybe a couple of others; there’s only so far I’ll go to keep you folks informed.

But returning to that cabeza taco.  The meat was pleasantly juicy and tender (they’d obviously simmered it knowing what they were doing).  My problem was that it had a lot of fat in it– the idea is to have a sort of juicy, bacon-y thing going, and it’s a little too faty for my taste.  I’m glad I tried it, and if you go for some of those Asian dishes made with braised pork belly, you’d probably like it.

That said, I can highly recommend the al pastor, picadillo, and chorizo tacos.  The carnitas are good too, but not quite as good as the others.  They all come with tomatillo sauce and limes, garnished with some chopped onion and cilantro on good fresh tortillas.  Very simple, elemental, good, and cheap.

Now, Phantom, you can take your kids on an expedition to learn about the end-product of those pig’s heads.

The three I had are pictured below.  Look them over and see if you can spot the pig’s head one; it’s identified below the fold.

(more…)

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This week’s featured meal isn’t Sunday but Tuesday dinnah — thanks to meta, our friend on Team Obama, who’s passed along this backgrounder on the Inaugural Luncheon, to be served in the cozy National Statuary Hall.

But here’s what meta scored for us that we’re really interested in: not only the menu but the recipes (an especially folo-friendly one included in full below). As to the wines, she advises: “DiFi made sure to choose California winemakers for the meal, but she chose Korbel Champagne, which is not exactly the best that CA has to offer.”

First Course: Seafood Stew
(poached Maine lobster, scallops, shrimp, black cod, and root vegetables mixed with white pepper, vermouth, and cream, and baked under puff pastry)

Duckhorn Vineyards, 2007 Sauvignon Blanc, Napa Valley

~~~~~~~~~

Second Course: A Brace of American Birds
Duck Breast with Cherry Chutney
(classic roast duck with a killah-sounding chutney)

Herb Roasted Pheasant with Wild Rice Stuffing
(birds slathered with rosemary-thyme-&-saged olive oil, stuffed with wild rice, carrots, onions, garlic, and apricots, then roasted and served over sautéed spinach — whoa)

Molasses Whipped Sweet Potatoes *
(no word on whether they’re Vardamans)

Winter Vegetables
(asparagus, carrots, baby Brussels sprouts, and wax beans with some butter, olive oil, and orange zest)

Goldeneye, 2005 Pinot Noir, Anderson Valley

~~~~~~~~~

Third Course: Cinnamon Apple Sponge Cake
(AKA Apple Charlotte: Granny Smith slices caramelized with nutmeg and lemon zest and baked in brioche-lined molds, served with cinnamon sauce and vanilla ice cream)

Korbel Natural “Special Inaugural Cuvée,” California Champagne

~~~~~~~~~

* Recipe: Molasses Whipped Sweet Potatoes
Yield: 2 quarts

Ingredients
•3 large sweet potatoes, about 3 pounds
•2 tablespoons unsalted butter
•1 teaspoon kosher salt
•¼ cup orange juice
•½ tablespoon of brown sugar
•1 tablespoon of molasses
•1 teaspoon of ground cumin
•2 tablespoons maple syrup

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Place sweet potatoes on a baking sheet and roast until easily pierced with a fork, about 1 hour.
3. Peel the skin off of the sweet potatoes while still hot. By hand or mixer, smash potatoes until all large chunks are gone. Combine the potatoes, butter, salt, orange juice, brown sugar, ground cumin, molasses and maple syrup in a large bowl. Continue to mix all together until all lumps are gone. Adjust any of the seasonings to your specific tastes. Can be made the day before.

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Mark Bittman had a good column of advice on having your pantry ready for varied cooking in Wednesday’s NY Times Dining section. Food writer Michael Ruhlman responded with an article about what he thinks should be in a freezer pantry. Both are worth reading.

Some of Bittman’s issues are really, really basic (who uses those green cans of fake Parmesan, minute rice, packaged bread crumbs and croutons, bouillon cubes or powder?). I find use of bottled salad dressings and marinades incomprehensible and always have. Doesn’t everyone have a whisk, some oil, vinegar, and mustard?

I’ve equally not understood those aerosol cans of fat. Get two of those pump-spray things, put some of your own olive oil in one, and a neutral oil like canola in the other and throw away the cans of spray oil. You will improve qualify and save money.

Ruhlman freezes things it would never occur to me to freeze (Parmesan, slab bacon, dried chili peppers, and fresh ginger for instance. Why freeze those??). I should be freezing pine nuts and other nuts I’ll occasionally buy in bulk. Unaccountably, he’s against (Bittman is for) tomato paste in a tube. I still don’t get his reasoning in opposition.

Where Bittman would say I fall down is occasionally having to resort to canned stock when I’ve run out in the freezer (I buy those cartons of organic low sodium chicken stock on occasion), and I’m bad about not annually throwing out dried herbs and spices. I’ve seen that advice elsewhere and not fully acted on it. I do sort of keep an eye on things, but am sure I should probably be quicker to restock those.

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A few days ago, NYT ran this appealing double-portrait:

Andrew Parkinson/Getty Images

Chap on the left is a British red squirrel (as Rodney says, SKWEE-rel), and of course you recognize the guy on the right as an American gray SKWURL. Ours are cute, but I can’t blame Blighty for preferring theirs. Now, as Marlena Spieler reports,

… there is a war raging in Squirreltown: invading interlopers (gray squirrels introduced from North America over the past century or more) are crowding out a British icon, the indigenous red squirrel immortalized by Beatrix Potter and cherished by generations since. The grays take over the reds’ habitat, eat voraciously and harbor a virus named squirrel parapox (harmless to humans) that does not harm grays but can devastate reds. (Reports indicate, though, that the reds are developing resistance.) …

Enter the “Save Our Squirrels” campaign begun in 2006 to rescue Britain’s red squirrels by piquing the nation’s appetite for their marauding North American cousins. With a rallying motto of “Save a red, eat a gray!” the campaign created a market for culled squirrel meat.

Seems to have worked, too. Squirrel’s become so the rage, one UK company is even trying its luck peddling (I’m linking this just to prove I’m not making it up) “Cajun squirrel” potato chips (which are called “crisps” where “chips” = French fries).

Fergus Henderson, the chef and co-owner of St. John restaurant in London, offers squirrel on the menu “seasonally.” Though the meat is available all year long, it is in the spring, when hunting season is over, that country folk can focus their attentions on controlling the squirrel population. That’s when squirrel appears on St. John’s menu.

Mr. Henderson, who cooks with both poetry and passion, sometimes prepares his squirrels “to recreate the bosky woods they come from,” braising them with bacon, “pig’s trotter, porcini and whole peeled shallots to recreate the forest floor.” He serves it with wilted watercress “to evoke the treetops.”

Or twee tops, you may want to call that. But as Ms. Spieler discovered,

It’s one thing to know that squirrel is the meat of the moment here in England. It’s another thing to cook one yourself.

I had planned on hunting my own squirrel with a local gamekeeper. But having never killed an animal before, I was hugely relieved when the weather turned miserable and I had to place an order with A. H. Griffiths Butchers.

A manila envelope arrived in the next day’s mail.

“There are squirrels inside,” I told the letter carrier, who did a double-take, then said with evident delight, “In 24 years of delivering the mail, I’ve never delivered squirrel before.”

Spieler doesn’t say, but I assume these two arrived headless, since squirrel brains are known to carry a variant of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, the human form of mad cow disease. And according to her, it’s quite a struggle to skin the little blighters too — best left to the pros. Click through to see what she did with hers and how she enjoyed the results.

I wonder what our new Foodie-in-Chief would make of this. Thanks to Dr X, we can witness his brief career as restaurant critic on Chicago TV.

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Been kinda wondering what kept Miz Gloria so quiet all December, hoping she was just busy with the holidaze. So it’s really good to see her crank up again, fussing about people who don’t vote and sharing this:

I know you have noticed, you just can’t buy good souse anymore….. you have noticed….Right? As we speak I am making a batch of ….I am thinking this might be my best batch yet….I added a bit more vinegar….In a couple of hours it will be set , I can cut off a slice, lay it on a cracker and I will know for sure.

That’s it from here…201 Luster Street….call if you need me.
PS if you have a good souse recipe email it to me, GloriaChristiansen@gmail.com my goal for this winter is to perfect the perfect souse recipe.

Vaguely aware that souse has to do with pig somehow, I had to repair to The Google to find out for sure. And that reminded me that a few days back, Phantom reported,

Now available at Wal-Mart in Oxford: hog’s head…no, not the cheese, the ENTIRE head! Right there in the refrigerated pork section of course.

Recipes, NMC?

Tell ya what, Phantom, if you follow your mouse, you can find such as this at Cooks.com:

Ah, I could use a leetle more info around the “Clean pig head and split open” part — that is, if I actually planned to try this recipe. The “6 pig feets” part is fun, but Miz Gloria could judge the rest better than I (and maybe she knows what a “blade” of mace is; I’ve only ever seen it powdered).

Anyhow, my point is: if we have some souse cognoscenti lazing around here (and I’m sure we have at least one, lazing or not), do y’all have anything to advise Miz Gloria in the spirit of MS-blogging solidarity and hopes of more-’n'-better souse?

While you’re busy with that, I’ll be investigating this Bacon Ice Cream . . .

Obviously, an argument can be made for pigmeat as one of the world’s most creativity-inspiring substances.

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