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.

Fired Up

So the Fourth has come and gone, and the official season of the grill is in full swing. I will admit to being right there, at the top of the bell curve rarely utilizing the oven to make dinner this time of year. And yes, many of the sides I make this time of year are raw, from the garden, salads that are “cooked” more likely through exposure to salt and/or vinegar than radiating heat. Soaring temperatures and humidity is showing no signs of easing up, and I am no than glad to cook outdoors.  In my heart I am a wood or charcoal griller, however, when you are in a relationship and have to negotiate the purchase of mutually used items I confess we have a propane-fired number. In order to get the smoky notes that only wood can give I use herb stems, garlic and onion peelings, or any aromatic trimming that might otherwise land in the compost pile to lace so much of what I grill. Placed either underneath the food itself or over the high flame of an indirect set-up I am constantly looking to add that note of cooking al fresco. Because all the caste-offs I use are still “green” they do not catch fire, but rather smoke, which gives my that primal taste I crave.

Though there are times I actually have to turn on a burner to boil water for some grains or blanch, ever so quickly, a vegetable. Still not sure if I made a mistake and did not get the grill with a burner unit – I figured I would constantly be battling with the evening breeze.

I have put us on a once to every two indulgence of b-b-que ribs or butt. And the reason for this is that we both require a slab each (at a minimum) and 5-pounds of butt is gone by lunch the next day. Clearly, we have pork control issues. While I tend to be a dry rub kind of guy once in a while I like it wet, however, I can not imagine using any of the commercial sauces out there for they are too sweet, too ketchup-based and not nearly as complex as I like it. Why don’t I just remember this in May when the temperatures are still kitchen friendly, and just put up a couple of jars?

Spicy Bar-b-que Sauce - yields approx. 3 cup 

2 chipolte chiles

5 black cardamom seeds

1 small onion - diced

3 garlic cloves - chopped

2-tablespoons tomato paste

1/4-cup honey

1/2-cup ketchup manis

1/4-cup pomegranate syrup

1-1/2 pounds tomato – roughly chopped

1/8-cup cider vinegar

2-teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Combine all ingredients in a 1 quart sauce pan and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Fish out the 5 cardamom seeds and discard.  Place the remaining ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth. Store in the refrigerator.