A week with no shopping: Inspiration & Innovation

I have extended this challenge for myself beyond the initial week. I did shop for Thanksgiving, and was successful sticking to a specific list. We have also bought necessary perishables (ie milk), but the bulk of our meals have been clearing out the fridge, freezer and pantry. What a lot of food I have accumulated since we moved in June! This challenge has put me in a frugal, efficient mindset, and the limitations have inspired me.

Last week, we were eating Thanksgiving leftovers like everyone else, but our surplus was pork. On Wednesday, I made an abundant batch of silky pork stock. For dinner, I turned it into Hot & Sour soup accompanied by pork, scallion & ginger potstickers. We do have frozen potstickers from Trader Joe's in the freezer, but I made the filling for these myself, wrapping them wonton wrappers that I've had in the freezer for ages.
I used Barbara Kafka's recipe for Hot & Sour soup, and the first night I was disappointed with the result. I was surprised about this because her book Soup, a way of life is one of my favorites. I was relieved the next day when the leftovers were wonderful. Now I know to make this soup a day ahead.

Thursday, I warmed some shredded pork in a saute pan and added a small tin of green hatch chiles (Trader Joe's). Then I stirred in a tablespoon or two of flour and some milk to make a white sauce, not forgetting plenty of shredded cheese. We had this in corn tortillas as a lovely, light dinner. The next morning, I fried two eggs and ate them with this pork and green chile mixture and a warmed tortilla. Wonderful as well. Sorry, no photos. It's not the most picturesque meal, but it doesn't make it any less tasty.

The success of Thursday's meal and an open package of tortillas unfinished led me to create a variation on Friday. No more green chiles, so I used chipotles in adobo. I always have a couple cans of these smoked jalapeños in my pantry. I love the concentrated flavor kick they give this sort of dish, or to a vegetable soup. Only one pepper is necessary with a spoonful or two of adobo sauce. I chopped up the pepper (maybe I should have deseeded it) and mixed it in with the pork. At this point, I felt the mixture needed more moisture, as well as something to dilute the spice a bit. I wanted to do something different from the previous day's white sauce. The pork was also starting to stick to the pan a bit. When Pat does the dishes, he often teases that I should be a chemist at a glue factory because he doesn't know how I make everything stick so well to the pan. Wanting to avoid further taunting, I searched for something to deglaze the pan. This is when I saw the magnum of Malbec (Marcus James) amongst our stock of everyday wines. This wine is bold enough to stand up to the spicy pepper, and has an earthy character that will complement the smokiness. I couldn't believe how well this combination worked, though the mixture was still too spicy when served in a corn tortilla. Adding sour cream and shredded cheese helped some, as did heating up a can of refried beans to serve plain on the side, but I think it would be best served it over rice.
I want to explore the connection of Malbec and chipotle though. There's something good here. Hooray!

Farm to Table: Suckling Pig

Wednesday morning we went to Autumn's Harvest Farm to pick up the suckling pig for our Thanksgiving feast. I had ordered it a month or so prior, and Tim from Autumn's Harvest was very helpful guiding me in what size pig I needed for our group, etc. It was so nice to finally meet him in person. He explained that the pig had grown a winter coat which was more difficult to take off, but for the most part the skin was hairless and the stray hairs didn't cause any problem in the eating.

We brought Pat's jumbo beer cooler (holds 72 cans) with a bag of ice to transport it, but we didn't really need it. The animal, weighing in at an estimated 13 lbs., was slightly frozen from hanging in the cooler overnight, and wrapped in several large plastic bags. Upon getting it home, I let it sit out to thaw before rubbing the whole thing down with generous amounts of olive oil, coarse salt and freshly ground pepper. I was relieved to see that it was going to fit (just fit) into the aluminum roasting pan I bought for the purpose, although we had to tie the legs together with hemp cord to get them to stay in the pan.

Into the downstairs fridge he went for the night. Before going to bed, I made the stuffing so it would be ready and cooled for the next day. I was following Fergus Henderson's guidelines for roasting the suckling pig, as well as the advice of this excellent blog, so I made the stuffing Henderson suggested. I sliced two huge red onions that I got from the Amish and softened them in some olive oil (This was supposed to be duck fat, but...don't make me go in to it.) Next I added a healthy amount of red wine and allowed this all to cook down. Then I chopped and added the pig's kidneys to the mixture, as well as chunks of day old bread. This was an ideal use for the leftover crostini I had in the freezer. At the last minute, I added some chopped fresh sage and garlic. This stuffing was tasty, but came out a bit soggy when cooked inside the animal. It definitely benefited from all those delicious, piggy cooking juices though. Maybe stuffing is just one of those things that is always better the next day.

There turned out to be just the right amount of stuffing. My costuming experience came in handy here (and no, I didn't use a glue gun.) On Thanksgiving morn, I filled the cavity and sewed it up with some hemp cord and a needle meant for repairing sails. The needle was straight, but the point was shaped like a talon and sharp, which made it perfect for getting through the flesh.

The recipe recommended covering the trotters and the ears with foil to prevent burning. I was planning on sticking an apple in his mouth, but it wouldn't budge. Then the pig went into the oven set to to 320°F.

He still had trouble sitting up and preferred lying on his side, so after two hours (pictured at right) I had to flip him. At this point, I noticed his snout was getting brown, so I covered it with some foil as well. I also turned the oven down to 300°F, which is where I suspect it should have been all along. The house sure smelled good!

The pig ended up cooking for just under five hours. It was hard to find a place that was not near a bone to take the internal temperature. When I did, it was higher than the desired 160°F, but the meat was still very moist, tender and flavorful.

Carving it proved to be a unique challenge, especially since the usual cuts were so small and close together. Also, Pat said that the bones were so soft that his electric carving knife went right through them, but the skin was a bit tough and crunchy (yum!) We end up with plenty of nice bits to go around.

 

Yes, I would do it again!

Smoked Pork Chops with Fresh Peach Chutney

      Pat and I celebrated the change of seasons with this meal, a serendipitous combination of summer and fall ingredients. Harvest is upon us. The Finger Lakes grapes are being picked and crushed. Our friend, Frankie, had his pig slaughtered, and he shared a couple smoked pork chops and some country bacon with us. I was eager to taste them.

     Despite the change of weather and appetites, my garden is still producing tomatoes, and even provided a couple nasturtiums to brighten the plate. A quick Google gave me ideas on putting together a chutney to smother the chops with, using up the last of the summer's peaches. In a small saucepan on low to medium heat, I melted brown sugar in apple cider vinegar. Then, I added grated ginger and carefully minced hot pepper (courtesy of our friend Fred's garden), tasting all the while to test for balance of flavors. Next, I tossed in half a handful of raisins, which soon plumped up. Lastly, I stirred in chunks of peeled peaches. The chutney was then simmered until it reached the desired consistency, and allowed to cool to room temperature before spooning over the meat.

      Frankie's instructions regarding the pork chops were: put these in a pan with some water and a little butter. They are already cooked (via smoking) so they just have to be warmed through. The truly wonderful thing about this pork is that has no water added. This provides a superior texture and flavor to the meat. It also doesn't hurt to know that the pig was raised down the road, fattened on kitchen scraps and garden refuse.

We paired the meal with one of my favorite wines of the summer, Lamoreaux Landing's 2008 Red Oak Vineyard Riesling. All the grapes in this wine come from a four acre vineyard in southern Seneca County. The vines in this parcel are very young and 2008 was the first harvest from the Red Oak Vineyard. The result was an off dry riesling, which is incredibly fragrant on the nose with nice orchard fruit and honeysuckle notes. (Yes, I have my tasting room speech down. What can I say? I work at Lamoreaux because I love the wine.)
    We are squeezing the last drops out of summer, but welcome the coziness and spice that fall promises.