pork cheeks braised in a coconut-tomato-wine sauce with pasta

So I was walking up from a paper supply store and decided to stop by Eataly. At the meat counter they had pork cheeks in the spot I was hoping to find boar sausage, but whatever. Pork cheeks! I didn't know what I wanted to do with them, but I knew that I wanted them. The butcher behind the counter asked me what you do with pork cheeks and I said well... braise mostly.  

So that's what I did.  1.5 pounds of pork cheeks got braised in my le creuset purple dutch oven of awesomness then got smothered with wine, tomato paste, tomato concentrate, coconut milk, berbere spices, salt, pepper and a small can of anchovies. 

This was placed into a 300ish oven for 3ish hours. Then I decided I didn't want to eat them that day because we'd had italian sausage earlier while the cheeks were cooking. So into the fridge they went.  The next day, I got Mike to heat them up (funny how guys can make a big deal out of heating up the food you did all of the prep work for because they might break/drop/set-fire-to something) and cook the fresh pasta from the noodle case at Eataly. 

He was... hesitant... but not everyone can be excited about pork cheeks without trying them! Once he got over that he liked them enough to clean his bowl (win!). 

I had them later that night with some more pasta and a sprinkle or two of Parmesan cheese. The cheeks are so easy and really flavorful. Plus, the meat just falls apart after all that cooking.

recipe

• 1.5-2 lbs pork cheeks
• 1 tube of tomato paste
• 1 small bottle of tomato concentrate
• 1 can of coconut milk (the creamier the better)
• 1/2 a bottle of red wine
• one small can of anchovies
• Berbere spice mix (I get mine from spices and tease)
• few dashes of Worcestershire sauce
• salt and pepper to taste

thanksgiving small plates - fried chicken & collared greens

So Thanksgiving came and went. Since I was too tired to take any pictures (or eat much of the food I cooked) yesterday I will be posting small plates of all the food I made as I get to trying them today.

First up is fried chicken and collared greens. My mom's from South Carolina, originally, and so I already had collared greens on the menu. (Fresh Direct likes to put them on sale during the holidays so I buy 8 bunches of the organic kind and call it a day).

I hate cleaning collared greens, by the way. Really puts a damper on my day having to painstakingly examine every leaf after salting then soaking since I'm a bug-o-phobe. Anyway... Wednesday evening I started the ham hocks in a big pot of water and boiled them till they fell off the bone. Then I added the greens in a lazy chiffonade (because everything I do is lazy :P) and let them cook till they were done. 

Last year I did the greens Ethiopian style with this awesome butter that I didn't have time to make. I like both ways, actually. 

The fried chicken was a last minute request by my mom last weekend so I added it to the menu (we had ham as the main protein). I also tried a new seasoning from Spices and Tease (special poultry) that I'm very on the fence about. I'd brought it for my stuffing, but then realized it wasn't going to work even if I added the metric ton of sage I got from them so I used it on the fried chicken. 

The thighs were fried in lard (from the same place I got the ham) mixed with peanut oil. This yielded super crispy skin that lasted overnight. 

recipes

collared greens and ham hocks

• 7-8 small bunches of collared greens (less if your bunches are larger, mine were about the size of a bunch of spinach)
• 2-3 ham hocks (really depends if you're just using them for the flavor or you actually want to eat some. You can also use salt pork, bacon, ham, smoked turkey necks, seasoned butter with garlic and onion, or whatever you want to give them flavor.)
• red pepper flakes
• sugar (optional) [my mom says you're supposed to add sugar in the winter since winter greens are bitter. I don't like sugar in my greens, ever)
• apple cider vinegar (to taste, or not at all)
•  black pepper & salt to taste ( be careful with the salt if using any of the smoked meats)

Fill a large pot with water and add the ham hocks to it. If using other types of meats you want to brown/cook them first to intensify the flavor before adding water. Cook until water is reduced to 1/4th of its volume. 

While the water is boiling, clean and chop your collared greens. You should aim to start this about an hour or so before the stock is done. 

Add greens to the stock and cover with a lid. If all the greens can't fit in the pot at once just add them and wait a few minutes till they wilt then continue.

Cook until they're done. Basically, I like my greens to be soft so I cook them longer.  If you like them crisper then cook them until they're deep green, but before they turn the darker, less saturated green in my picture. 

Serve with hot sauce and vinegar or lemon slices. 

last minute fried chicken

• 12 pieces of chicken 
• Seasoning like adobo, berbere, lemon pepper, smoked paprika, garlic powder, etc
• black pepper
• salt
• flour
• lard, peanut oil, or any type of oil except coconut (it foams when you place floured items in it and will bubble all over you stove.  >.<)

ash chicken in a bowl in cold water and a little vinegar. After rinsing for the last time dump all your seasonings into the bowl and work into the chicken meat. Place the chicken and any liquid left in the bottom of the bowl in a ziplock bag and place in the fridge till ready to cook.

Heat the oil of your choice in a heavy, deep pan. I use a Staub cocotte to fry my chicken in because it's got the great heat qualities of cast iron and it's tall enough that the oil won't splash all over the place. 

Place about 4-6 pieces of chicken in at a time depending on their size. Cook until very crispy and golden brown. 

Sometimes I brine my chicken, sometimes I use buttermilk, most times I just season and fry cause it's quicker and takes less forethought. 

cannibal - gotham west market

I went back to Gotham West Market for another food experience. The first day after ramen, Cannibal wasn't going to open till 5pm and I wasn't going to return that day. This time I had another person with me so I could order more things.

We ended up sharing a salami plate, cheese plate, roasted Japanese yam with sea salt and the pigs head terrine (for me).

The yam was glorious. It was buttery and the skin on the outside caramelized like a candied yam. I barely needed to add sea salt as I ended up eating it with everything else we ordered. It went well with everything. I am partial to all yams, however, so this is not surprising. 

The pigs head terrine could have used a bit more pickly-vinegary flavor or a lime on the side, but I love my head cheese so I'd get it again (and again). 

We let our server pick the salumi and cheeses for us. I liked the meat on the far right the best. Our cheese selection was a soft cow's milk, sharp blue and a mild gruyere of which the soft and blue stood out the most for me. 

I had a lime-heavy rum drink which I'd go back for again plus they have negroni and Manhattans on tap! They also had his favorite beer, hobgobiln, which means I can drag him back again without complaint (plus he ate most of the yam). 

ivan ramen slurp shop - gotham west market grand opening

I had to make a trek out to 11th avenue and 45th in order to get my slurp on. It was super cold outside so ramen must be the cure, right? 

 I chose the roasted garlic mazemen with roasted tomato, egg and chili garlic oil as add-ons. The broth was creamy and complimented the chewy rye noodles quite well. There was, as you can see, a metric ton of green onions put on top. Towards the end of the bowl I got a big mouthful and had to fight off nausea (too many onions at once does that to me every time). Since I didn't want to spew all over their opening, nor lose the food I'd just finished consuming, I had an internal battle with my stomach and won. *cue Final Fantasy win music*

The chili garlic oil wasn't spicy at all, which I kinda liked cause I could dump the whole thing in, but kinda didn't because even after dumping the whole thing in there was barely any kick. I did love the garlic flavor though.

Also, and this is a big also, there was one piece of chashu nestled in the entire bowl. I expected two, probably because of Ippudo and Totto spoiling me. I know you can add additional meat to the ramen, but normally when I do that I find that I have too much if the original had more than one piece. Knowing this now, I'd probably get the pork as an add-on and skip the roasted tomato unless they can get it where the tomato is actually room temperature to warm (mine was cold in the middle).

I also had their yuzu lemonade which was quite refreshing and not weirdly lemonadey like some other restaurants seems to make their lemonade. I still haven't found something close to what my mom used to do besides, perhaps, Auntie Annie's pretzels which gets the flavor right if a little too sweet for my liking. 

I'd totally go back and give the other noodles a try plus they have a whitefish rice bowl I'm interested in tasting. Next time, I will not stuff a wad of green onions in my mouth either. 

things I did last year: pig island

Lots of pork, lots of beer, way too much heat in the sun and not enough shade. I spared you the pictures of pig heads/bodies in various states of food prep.  

There was a veritable porksplosion of food on the island that day. Having just been to another pork even that winter (I tried to call it pork-pocalypse, but i think it was porkapalooza or porkducken or something, totally sorry I'm bad with names).

My favorite food of the day was the sausage which was SO FRICKEN GOOD and isn't actually on the menu at Butter or The Darby *sadface*. The chocolate dipped bacon made another appearance (it was at the other pork event, still don't remember). There's a picture above of the slab bacon frying in a well seasoned cast iron pan. <3