Crock Pot Porchetta

When cooking is done right, there really isn't a more blissful experience than eating the fruits of that labor. My friend Kate had a party not too long ago for which she made all kinds of delectable food; one dish in particular had me returning for seconds and even thirds (perhaps a bit gluttonous, I agree). She described it as a slow-cooker version of porchetta.

Having visited the famous little nook that is Porchetta in the East Village just today, I can verify that the slow cooker version is exactly like the one I feasted on a few hours ago, but here, with the bones left in. When you experience for yourself just how juicy and flavorsome this tastes, I think you will agree every bit with my assertions. I welcome you to prove me wrong, in fact. You cannot mess this recipe up if you have a crock pot and sustainably sourced, good quality meat. And with the leftovers you will have, the gifts just keep on giving. ;)

I bought a bone-in (more flavor in the cooking with those bones left in) pork loin roast from Ottomanelli & Sons, one of the oldest family-run butchers here in New York. They have offered pastured and local prime meats for over 80 years. Go there. It is a wonderful experience and they are such sweet fellows (and will take great care of you!). After slathering it with the pureed herb-spice mixture (see recipe below), I simply popped the roast in my crock pot for a number of hours and tried to find distractions from being driven crazy by the intensely savory fragrance filling my home.

I had enough leftovers to last a few days (yippeeeee!). So, I made two types of sandwiches to see if either satisfied me more, and really, they both were outstanding. First, I pan fried thick slices of red onion in a cast iron skillet and sandwiched them with the pork between the heavenly signature semolina-golden raisin-fennel rolls from Amy's Bread. For the other, I toasted a seeded bun and slathered the buttery meat with the last of my homemade grain mustard, and served pickled watermelon rind to accompany the sandwich. Their crunchy texture and sour kick complemented the juicy meat quite nicely. If you find new variations for your delicious leftovers, I want to hear about it! So many options. So much flavor.

Satisfying, Simple Eating

I am a big fan of throwing food together in a matter of moments. Sure, I love to go all out with pies, roasts, and other feats in the kitchen, but it is the simple creations that sometimes make time stop in its tracks with their small brilliance. This dish is exactly that. BIG on satisfying flavor, while - after the prepping of the artichokes - taking only a small effort to execute.

Artichokes are one of the esoteric vegetables, right up there with kohlrabi. That isn't to say that I don't enjoy it (because I adore it!), I just mean that I have to prepare with a capital "p" when I want to incorporate it into any dining plans. When I was a child, my mom would make steamed artichokes with an "aioli" for dipping. As part of the new wave of nutrition-minded mothers, she made our aioli out of yogurt, lemon juice, and a touch of store bought mayo. Not bad, actually. I remember relishing the ceremonial aspect of eating this strange & prickly vegetable: layer-after-layer, eating the flesh off the edge of each leaf, and all the discarded leaves piled in square metal saucers my mom would provide. Then came the dramatic finale of digging out the hairy choke so we could indulge in the tender heart. It was certainly eating with deliberateness.

In my recipe I have left the ceremony to the enjoyment of many elements together, like you with your beloveds and some good red wine. I've used baby artichokes (with some modification, you can use regular ones), and after trimming some of the tougher exterior parts and then braising them, you can eat the whole thing....yum!

 

If you like artichokes in any way - from your mother's cooking or recipes of your own - then make this! You will love it. And when all you have left is the braising liquid, use it as a sauce over pasta or add it to your favorite marinara or stew. Every element contributes new bounty - now dig in. :)

Wintertime (yes, still) Indulgences

 

It isn't every day that I eat pizza or pasta. Hardly ever, in fact. I made a deal with myself long ago that because of my love for chocolate (see my Valentine's Day post), I decided not include other delicious things that I cherish in an effort to maintain a healthy physique and "order in the house"... well, ahem... currently, that has been tossed out the window. You might be aware that it has been an unusually bitter and protracted winter here in New York. I keep saying to myself, "when I'm overcome with heat during the city's oppressively humid summer, I'll wish it was cold like this!" But because winter has been so ferocious, I have actively sought out THE MOST comforting comfort foods, and am having quite a lot of fun with the results. 

Not too long ago, I decided to make a pizza. Two small ones, in fact. I usually go for red and saucy but this had none, save for a drizzle of olive oil at the end. I had seen it from recipe grazing on the web over a year ago, and saved it for who-knows-when. The ingredients are simple and yet the result is so flavorsome I would make it again in a heartbeat: a crust with just the right bite, oozing cheese, meaty mushrooms, and buttery slivers of potato... What's not to love?  

In my story, there's also a lasagne tale... Scroll down for the juicy bits on that. :)

This recipe is divine! Please let the pictures (and my vigorous encouragement) speak for themselves. :)

My lasagne has a somewhat sad ending, but fear not. There is romance and passion, and it turned out amazing. There's just a wee problem that happened along the way...(notice the absence of my gorgeous, baked and bubbling tray of lasagne?)

What happened I vow will never happen again. So delighted was I with my tray of perfection, I hurredly scurried with oven mitts and hot pasta to the studio from the kitchen. While pulling a board from the shelf to set it upon (not looking at said tray in the other hand), it promptly slid right off my mitt and exploded on the floor. CRASH. I was red, shocked by the calamity in front of me. 
There was no way to repair this defeat and all I could do was scoop the poor thing off the (thank god freshly cleaned) floor... all the lessons we get taught by parents or bosses or teachers or whoever flashed before me and I could have just kicked myself, dammit. Because I am a masochist, I had to know what exactly I had ruined with a little nibble from my trashed masterpiece. It was outrageously tasty...I think this means that somewhere down the road there is a lasagne re-match awaiting me. Hopefully, it won't take another crazy winter to bring me to the stage, so I can indulge in its spicy, cheesy, incredibly savory layers for real.

Thank you for sharing in this little drama, and have a fantastic weekend!

Design and the Modern Kitchen

It's nice to extricate yourself from the routines of the day and actually dip into the awesomeness of what New York City has to offer. I was lucky enough to do so a couple weeks ago, when the hubby and I took on a late-day adventure to MOMA. Design and the Modern Kitchen is why we went, and it lived up to be a pretty great experience. (all photos shot with my iphone)

Irving Penn, David Shrigley

Based on the information I'd gathered from skimming MOMA's website, I thought I'd see more physical kitchen layouts and less art which made reference to the domestic bastion. Instead, I was pleasantly surprised to encounter a range of products, politics, and even old film footage. Included were various examples of the earliest days of marketing, interesting (and graphically beautiful) propaganda pieces, and quirky and famous design objects, spanning 9 decades!

The exhibit explores the kitchen as it enters the glorious industrialized era. This, in the worldwide realm, as much as from the American point-of-view.  I found it semi-ironic (because I love being in my own kitchen cooking up all kinds of crazy & fun things, while also considering myself pretty liberated and cosmopolitan, like most contemporary women) to see the prevalence of women in THEIR element. In many instances, alien or cumbersome contraptions seemed effortlessly - or so the picture stills would have you believe - handled by thin, prim, blond young ladies..... a bit surreal. Anyone in a kitchen ad has always served as the archtype to aspire to, but seeing these photos of past gadget/design promotions, all too consumeristic and a bit too perfect, made me a little prickly inside.

Joe Steinmetz

 
I found the propaganda pieces particularly interesting. The U.S. did at one point widely promote certain virtues (during times of war) like raising your own food, being thrift-minded, and having a vegetable-rich diet.

Jan Lewitt

George Him

L.N. Britton

There was a sense of consciousness in this portion of the exhibit that appealed to me, albeit for different reasons than was urged then. I find that these values speak to a worldwide community, which is increasingly important if we're all to survive on this precious and delicate planet (yes, I'm wrapped up in food politics, but how can you not be in this time of being alive?) These propaganda pieces also threaded into them the contemporary foodie communities cropping up everywhere: that someone who loves truly good food is intrinsically tied to eating local, whole food diets, and embodies an overall principle of frugality and resourcefulness (nose-to-tail eating, anyone?) Never mind that it just tastes better...

Abram Games

There were implements on display from various points in history, whether appropriate to industrial or home kitchens. I had to laugh at seeing my own pots and pans in a glass vitrine - remarkable and humerous....

Funny also to see the first incarnations of tupperware - those clouded and weathered, round plastic shapes, lit by important spotlights. Seeing these juxtaposed with more overtly "beautiful" objects was an indication of where we have been, a testament certainly to design, as well as the utility of *stuff* in the kitchen realm.

I would highly recommend this show to anyone. It is viewable until March 14, 2011.