Using what you have

In my on going effort to finish up all the winter stores, as late spring brings in its harvest filling my basket, I am actively working to deplete my puttn’ ups. In the refrigerator was the last of the pickled garlic scapes just enough to for a chopped salad - finished. But that brine, it had been sitting in for the last 9 months, was incredibly fragrant, I could not just toss it. So, over a pork butt I poured the brine along with some clove, cinnamon, dried ginger and chilies and star anise, and for about 36 hours the pork soaked up as much flavor as possible. I guess I was feeling a smidge Asian (sorry, Cinco de Mayo I did not mean to forsake you). It has to be that I have been thinking of Chinese bao, and the leftovers I feel might end up being shredded into some steamed buns.

This is not the first time I just could not toss the brine of a pickled vegetable. I have used them in vinaigrettes; soaked grains for a few hours in the salty liquid. I have also embraced the belief that everything has a second or tertiary purpose. The strawberries that are coming home from the farmer’s market right now find their hulls thrown into a bottle of white wine vinegar for a few weeks before being strained out, and add to the compost pile. Ramps bottoms are already pickling away though I did plug a bunch in the earth under the canopy of the maple trees in the hopes that in the coming years I will be able to harvest my own. Of course, herb stems are collected to be wrapped in a perforated foil packet for a little smoke on the grill.

Perhaps, it is a bit less of using up of what needs to be eaten, and making room for a new year’s crop of playthings.

Tonight, we roast

Feeding those we Love

Nightly we set the Table

A crisp day is warmed by their Smiles

Braised Pork Loin with Rice Dumplings – serves 4 to 6

3-pound pork loin

2 large onions – roughly chopped

8-10 whole garlic cloves – carefully peeled

2 celery stalks – sliced thinly

6 stems of thyme

1½-cups cooked rice

2-tablespoons fresh mint leaves – chopped

1-tablespoon thyme leaves – chopped

½-cup chickpea flour

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven 325-degrees.

Heat a 3-quart casserole dish over a high flame, and add the pork loin. Brown the pork on all sides. Remove from the casserole dish, and immediately add in the onions, garlic, celery and thyme. Cook for a few mintues, and return the pork to the dish. Pour over 1-cup of water, and season with salt and pepper. Cover securely, and place in the oven. Cook for 2 hours.

In the meantime, to make the dumpling place the rice, mint, thyme and ½-teaspoon salt in a food process along with ¼-cup of water. Process the rice mixture until particularly smooth. Transfer the rice puree into a bowl, and with a spoon thoroughly mix in the chickpea flour. Form the rice mixture into approximately 14 balls (the size of a walnut – it is easiest if you keep your hands dmapened), and hold on a plate mositened with a thin film of water.

After the pork has cooked for two hours, add in the rice dumplings and replace the cover. Retun to the oven and cook an additional 1-hour. Serve.

My longest relationship

Up until a few years ago I lived my entire adult life alone. I never had a roommate in college, and the only time I shared a dwelling was for an extremely long three months just prior to heading to San Francisco for culinary school. Those 90 days formed my belief that you either crawl at of my bed in the morning, or go home the night before.  That has meant, for me, cooking many meals for one, particularly breakfast.

While I am still a newbie when it comes to cohabitating with another person I have lived with a vital, inanimate object for years – my wok. Purchased in New York’s Chinatown during my college days, it was one of the first pans in my kitchen. I have packed it up numerous times and shipped it around the world with me, this pan I could never let go of. It has decades of seasoning, which now makes maintaining quick and easy. Probably for the first twenty years of our relationship when it was used it would go for stovetop to running water to stovetop when it was being cleaned – it could never air dry. Now, it goes stovetop to running water to drying rack with no fear of it rusting.

Its versatility brings a font of nibbling satisfaction, and that is the reason we can never be parted. I am not sure there is not a dish I could not make in it from soups to steamed puddings it fulfills my needs – morning, noon and night.   

Pork and Broccoli Stir Fry – yields 4 servings

1/2-pound pork tenderloin

2” ginger - peeled and sliced thin julienne

2 garlic cloves - diced fine

1/8-teaspoon chili pepper flakes

1/4-cup rice vinegar

3 tablespoons sesame seeds

1/4-cup cornstarch

1-tablespoon canola oil

1-head broccoli – cut into florets

1/2-cup soy sauce

1/2-cup cilantro - leaves only, roughly chopped

6 scallions - sliced on the bias

1-tablespoon sesame oil

Clean the pork of any fat and sinew.  Then slice the pork into thin julienne strips and toss with the ginger, garlic, sesame seeds, chili pepper flakes, vinegar and cornstarch. Allow it to marinate at least one hour, and up to 24 hours in the refrigerator.

Heat a wok or 12-inch sauté pan over a high flame and add the oil.  Place the pork mixture into the hot oil and cook for five minutes, stirring occasionally.  Mix in the broccoli and cook an additional few minutes.  Pour in the soy sauce, and toss along with the cilantro and scallions – bring the soy a boil. Drizzle in sesame oil and serve.

My Blank Canvas

The debauchery of Fat Tuesday is behind us. I am not in pain from too much drink and gyrating until dawn. No, rather, I am in pain (mostly my back) from rising with the dawn and grabbing my shovel to prepare some earth. I have a spot that received a heaping load of aged manure, and now that that pile of nutrients have been dispersed about I am left with an unanticipated garden spot. So, I dug, and shook dirt free from invasive grasses and their roots then dug some more.  This unexpected square of prepared earth is going to be home of future sunflowers – I adored their leggy beauty last season, and the cardinals appreciated the feed. Not to mention the add space I now have where I planted them last year. Seed shopping I will go this weekend.

Part of yesterday’s chores was to sow seeds that where frost tolerant, or preferred a cool soil to germinate in. This was a something I learned last year when I planted English peas in late May, a seedling that I bought from a favorite farmer in Union Square. I flew that nascent plant down south to its new home. They took, started to climb and even sprouted delicate, pale lavender/white flowers. A few of the blooms actually set and become pods filled with snuggling peas – then summer’s heat set in putting the kibosh on this springtime treat. Those peas were the most expensive foods I ever ate – I think I got a total of two-dozen peas. That would have been about $20.00 a pea if I amortized the cost of the flight but I was in NYC on other business as well.  They say, live and learn and hopefully don’t repeat the same mistake.  We know new ones are on their way.

As the country has enjoyed a mild winter, and we had only few days where the temperature did not climb above freezing I am feeling cocky and hopeful that those seeds sprout and climb. Can you give up the possibility of frost for Lent? 

Red Bean and Pork Stew – yields 8 servings

2-cups dried kidney beans  

1-1/2 pound boneless pork shoulder – cut into large chunks

½-pound smoked sausage – such as Andouille or Chorizo – cut into 1-inch pieces

3-leeks – cut into 1-inch pieces

4-stalks celery – cut into 1-inch pieces

1-red pepper – seeds discard; cut into 1-inch pieces

2-poblano peppers – seeds discarded; cut into 1-inch pieces

3-medium carrots – peeled; cut into 1-inch pieces

5-garlic cloves – chopped

1 dried chipotle chili

1-tablespoon coriander seed

3 black cardamom

1-teaspoon annatto seed

1-teaspoon cinnamon

5 whole cloves

2-teaspoons cumin seed

28-ounces canned tomato

1 plantain – peeled; cut into 1-inch pieces

1 butternut squash (1-1/2 pounds) peeled and seeds discarded; cut into 1-inch pieces

2-teaspoons salt

Soak the beans in about six cup of water for 8-hours. Drain the beans, and place in a 2 to 3 quart pot and cover with about 8-cups of water. Bring to the boil, and reduce to a simmer. Simmer the beans for an hour. Drain.

Over a high flame heat an 8 to 10 quart pot and add the pork and sausage. Cook the meat until browned, and then remove from the pot into a work bowl. Into the pot add the leeks, celery, red pepper, poblano pepper and carrot, cooking the mix for about 10 to 15 minutes wilt down and lightly brown.

While the vegetables are wilting crush all the spices together. It is fine if it is not a fine powder.

Once the vegetables have cooked mix the spices and garlic. Then add in the reserved pork sausage and beans, and canned tomato plus one cup of water. Lower the heat to medium low and cover. Cook for about an hour.

After an hour add in the butternut squash, plantain and salt. Replace the lid and lower the heat to low. Cook for an additional two hours.