fifi

I forgot about the "great bambi experiment" we did for Thanksgiving a couple of years ago. Again, I recall that we had a leg. I think it was the whole thing. Somewhere I had heard about wrapping it with pig skin. Maybe I heard of that here. The nephew seasoned the thing up while I went in search of pig skin. I found it at a Latin butcher shop. We wrapped it all up snug as a bug in a rug in that pig skin, which was in big sheets, and proceeded to roast it low and slow. I don't recall what all he seasoned it with. I will ask if he remembers but it was really really really good. I also think that after we removed it to sort of brown the venison we left it in the oven to crisp up. Pork crack!

We have always had pecan pie, pumpkin pie, mince meat pie (particularly for Christmas) and that is about it. I don't ever recall having cake for the holidays. Well, there was the fruit cake that dad had to try a new recipe every year. And he did make his Scotch Raisin Bread every year that I can remember. But I am sure that the bread isn't a Southern classic. It is a family classic. We do try "inventive riffs" on the classics from time to time. Last weekend, at a smoked pork birthday dinner for a friend, I served some pumpkin ice cream with warm dulce de leche sauce. (Sweetened condensed milk had gone on sale and I had made 10 cans earlier in the week.) It was one of those things that the sum was a lot more than the parts. I was thinking that sugared pecans would have sent it over the top.

snowangel . . . My sister used my Aggie brisket recipe on a leg of venison and it was fabulous. This isn't really a recipe, more of a technique. You put lemon pepper, black pepper and salt on the meat. Put it in a cooking bag with 6 cups of double strong coffee (she used hazelnut cream flavor and thought that added something) and about 4 heads of garlic whacked in half. She started it at 250 F, turned it down to 225 F and went to bed. My nephew reported that it was about the most succulent piece of venison he ever chomped. To make the leg fit in the bag, she had cut off the shank and threw it in the bag. That may have added some gelatin.

I don't know who is manufacturing the crackers but, while in my big HEB last week they had a display of both together on a big table in the deli area. As I remember, the Dr. Kracker brand was in hard plastic containers and the CM brand was in bags. The crackers looked absolutely identical. They had some out for tasting but didn't say which the samples were. Very confusing from a marketing perspective. Maybe they were trying to make the point that they were the same. The crackers were pretty good, except for the sunflower seed. Those tasted a little over the hill.

Let me add a resounding "here! here!" to what theobroma said. The Houston scene has long been dismal compared to a lot of places. Hell . . . The City was even throwing huge monkey wrenches into the fledgling efforts of Monica Pope, et al. (And may they persevere.) But, when I visit my daughter in DC and see the scene that is there on Capitol Hill (I forget the name of the market) I just want to weep. But . . . someone needs to be sure that the providers are providing things that will appeal and get the price they need. I will not pay a huge premium for an organic zucchini anywhere. I will pay a reasonable premium for some heirloom squash that I am curious about. We have a long way to go here in Texas, but I think Austin is in the lead.

Where in Galveston? And how the heck did they come up with "Bronco?"

Well, they have this description of their beef. I thought the dry ageing was interesting. I would like to try a brisket.

In Cooking, we were discussing availability of suet. I am having a hard time finding good pork fat. Our friend jsolomon sent me a link to the Texas A&M Retail meat market. I had no idea that this place existed. I am going to call them and ask about suet and pig fat but it looks like they have some pretty good deals. I am almost curious enough to embark on a road trip. Has anyone bought from them?

I have also had better luck with the butcher shop at the Asian grocery here, Hong Kong Market. That is my next place to check out. Boy, do they have beautiful pork. The other butchers I called are getting the same fat with the meat as I was disappointed in a few months ago at the Latin market, Fiesta Mart. It seems that the big market at butcher shops for the fat is for making venison sausage. The local butcher that ordered 5 pounds for me came up with the same thing, some meat. I am going to go ahead and take it. I am going to try something new that I haven't done. I asked him to do a coarse grind. I am going to see how that works versus the small dice which is a real pain. I will report back. I figure that if I am going to experiment on a new "technique" (technical term for laziness) I will try it out on less than beautiful fat. Over in the suet topic we got to worrying about where to get it. Our friend jsolomon sent me a link to Texas A&M Meat Sales. Who knew? They list pork fat so I am going to call them and see what the deal is. That will require a car trip but may be worth looking into. Perhaps other ag colleges do the same thing.

I have always cut the skin off before rendering if I want some of the mild white fat produced by the stove top technique I described. The presence of meat and skin adds to the porky taste. That is not to say that I will not fry up some sking for chicharrones. I am having a lot of trouble finding good solid white fat. The last 5 pounds that I ordered from the butcher has quite a bit of meat scraps. I will probably just make that up using the oven method. It really isn't suitable for the pure white stuff.

Thanks for that. That is where I was headed next. If I had a good freezer, I would probably just order a whole big chunk. Just a heads up . . . Don't think you can get by with the stuff for the birds (literally) as it may not have been handled with the proper care. I hope someone has some information or experience with long term storage.

I have just called around to some of our real butchers and they say they can't get it. I am finding that hard to believe. My next try will be some restauranteur in the area that does British cuisine and see if they have a source. As to freezing the suet, I have some questions. I freeze lard all the time. Heck, it keeps in the fridge in a jar forever. I do store all of my fats in canning jars (wide mouth for the freezer) so that they don't pick up off flavors. But, lard has been rendered so there is no enzymatic activity, because of the heat, to cause it to go off. If you freeze suet as it comes from the cow, will there be residual enzymatic activity left in the tissue, even assuming that it is stored in a real freezer at 0 degrees F or lower? I really don't know. I do know that seafood fat, like crawfish fat, doesn't keep worth a damn due to enzymatic activity, even at low temperatures. (Typical boiled crawfish, when done right, doesn't get hot enough to inactivate enzymes. Or, so I am told.) McGee is mute on this subject.

If you want to pursue some chili, don't forget that we have a cook-off going.

What EllenC said about the chili. It can be done quickly. The sausage idea sounds ideal. I was thinking some sort of sausage patties because sausage works so well with the maple. If you have access to other pre-smoked goodies like the pork chops, that is a natural with the maple as well. So . . . I would go with sausage or something smoked and then some sort of fruit based salad, not real sweet, like the one I did for Sunday's smoked pork menu reported here.

The menu story is here. I didn't take pictures but there is plenty of butt discussion otherwise in that topic. I got my blood orange soda at the big HEB at I-45 and 646. I hid the soda and vodka before the folks came. I am a terrible person. But, I needed that after they all left.

Well, versus butter, lard is pure fat, no water. I can't say about versus any other fats. I am not a baker so I don't have a lot of experience with the other fats.

Well, the "Parsons Method" that I posted above only takes about 2 1/2 hours. I don't know about PP's method but the oven thing sounds close, for time anyway. At this point, that is the only technique I know of that could make great red beans in a short time, bag to bowl.

And . . . For lard for pastry, check out this method. The white stuff is what you want to use for sweet recipes. You get that from the stove top method. What i want to know is where one can get good suet. I am not afraid of saturated fat. There is emerging evidence that saturated fat isn't all that bad for us. It is the artificially created trans fats that may be a problem. Granted, my genetics may be to blame for my good cholesterol numbers. But, then, I gave up all trans fats that I could get away from (can't say about restaurant food) several years ago. There is no margarine in my house, only butter. After all, we evolved eating saturated animal fats. A little good beef suet probably never hurt anyone.

I really don't know if any Carolina BBQ place brine their butts. I just don't know. That is a good question. I do it because I like the "just right" salt level that I get in the finished product. I really doubt that there is any kick-up in "juiciness" like there is with brining poultry since a pork butt has enough goodies to make that happen without brining. I did pork butts long before I even heard about brining. They were very good. But I can say that they have improved with brining and temperature management in the smoker and monitoring the meat so that I take it off when the internal temperature starts to flirt with 200 degrees F. Any longer and you start to lose moisture and goodness. I give my remote Redi Chek a gentle kiss and put it gently away after every session.

I can only speak to the Weber bullet. I had already put my side firebox smoker in its foster home when I started getting all scientific. I can confirm that the temperature at the grates on the Weber varies by about 20 degrees F more or less. If I have 250 at the top vent, the grates are around 225 which is what I want. This is probably a result of the geometry of the Weber, with the heat circulating up around the sides. different geometry may make for very different results. The only thng I know to do is to use thermometers to get a good picture of what is going on in your set up. I have also seen the higher temps for the turkey on the Virtual Bullet site and, while it might work, I found lower and slower more easy to control. Like I said back up-thread, cutting up the turkey helps the most. I really don't know if I could get the Weber that hot anyway. I probably could without the water but I have never tried it. I am usually doing more than one kind of meat and I know what is going on at the 225 so I stick with it.

Hi Paula . . . Many thanks for joining us. Your comment above absolutely requires me to ask about the pot on the cover of your book. The first thing that came to mind when I first saw it was how odd the shape is. Then came the inevitable question . . . "why?" And, I don't know whether to thank you or something else for my most recent addiction, clay pots!

That is a good looking Dutch oven. If I didn't have a LC about that size I would be tempted. I am drooling over the lasagna pan. And it comes in white, or cream, or something. I have always wanted a pan like that in cast iron. The LC cast iron roasting pan is $169.99 on Amazon for the 10x14 inch. Mario's is 9x13 but is deeper. I like that it is deeper. It looks like a very useful piece. (Amex card wriggles out of the billfold and is now hiding somewhere in the house.)

Boy is that the truth! We griped about that a lot in the Fried Chicken Cook-Off. I came to the conclusion that one cannot produce good pan fried chicken with a bird any more than 3 pounds. 2.5 is better. The pieces are just too big to get done inside and have a perfect, not overbrowned crust on the outside. Most chickens I see at the market are at least 4 pounds and they still call them fryers!!! Maybe there is some sort of smaller breed that peaks in flavor at about 2.5 pounds.

I had an interesting question put to me and I would like to share and see what others obsessed by food might say. A friend is looking into raising odd birds. He is serious about this, has the property, is going to consult with Texas A&M, etc. etc. etc. He is a very serious guy and goes into a project with all the information he can get. Therefore, the question . . . If I could get any bird that I wanted, what would that be? I am probably a lousy one to ask since I really haven't had a lot of different birds. But there are some I am curious about. This was actually an interesting thought process. Perhaps others would like to play. Quail . . . Not unusual but I would like to reprise some quail that I had out in West Texas. These are big suckers, for quail. I haven't a clue whwat they really are. The French Chicken . . . What the heck is it? Bresse? (or something like that) I have never had one, but I here so much about it here that I am curious. Pheasant . . . I don't think I have ever eaten it which is really odd. Surely, I have. And the feathers are so pretty. I would like to have enough to make a boa, if I knew how to make a boa, or if I had a clue as to where and how to wear it. Heritage turkey of some sort . . . I guess I am curious to see if it is really worth eating without frying its butt. Some sort of duck . . . I have looked for duck as big as the ones Julia worked with way back when. Back far enough that the TV program was in black and white. I think I remember that they were Long Island or something like that. They were as big as a small turkey. Other odd types of duck would be welcome as well. Eggs . . . I really want some of those eggs in the Martha Stewart designer colors. Duck eggs are good, too. My Great Aunt Minnie used to use duck eggs to make her amazing meringues. I will probably never make a meringue but having duck eggs around just seems like a good idea. Has anyone ever eaten a turkey egg? Organically grown or not? I really don't care about the "certified organic" bit but I am sure that a lot of people do so that is a marketing decision. I do want to know that the birds have been running around as nature intended. This is not from any sentimentality on my part. I just think that being raised as they evolved to live has got to make them taste better. Well, there you are. That is my list. What would you ask for if you had your own personal farmer?

Bumping this up because I served a birthday dinner on Sunday for a dear friend. Sorry, no pictures (too tired, too busy), but several things just worked so well with the pork, I have to report it. For appetizers I made the Pickled Shrimp, an heirloom family recipe. I hadn't made it in a long time so it was a nice surprise for all. I did cook the shrimp differently, short brine then steamed, and that was so good that I am going to update the recipe with that variation. For the pork, I decided to depart from my usual . . . brine only . . . and went with this recipe for The Renowned Mr. Brown from the Virtual Weber Bullet web site. We decided that the Southern Succor rub recipe is a winner. We also used some of it to make a vinegar sauce that was used on part of the pork. The favor is well balanced and not so assertive as to overshadow the pork. I made some baked beans that were not remarkable but they rounded everything out. Salad was a chopped salad of mango, jicama, red onion, red bell pepper, and pomegranate seeds. It was lovely. I should have taken pictures. The dressing was a simple vinagrette of olive oil, white wine vinegar and Latin Spice Mix from Epicurious. That spice mixture is just perfect for any salad containing fruit. Since I found it several years ago, I keep a jar of it around for pork roast, salad dressing and just about anything else. Dessert was a surprise. I had some pumpkin ice cream in the freezer that we never got around to eating from a previous dinner. I also had some dulce de leche that I had made last week when the sweetened condensed milk went on sale. I thinned it with a bit of cream and heated it for a sauce. We had all decided that the idea certainly couldn't be bad but we were absolutely surprised at how good the pairing was. It was definitely one of those things where the sum is so much more than the parts. I sent them all home with a package of pork, a can of dulche de leche and a couple of smoked chicken thighs that I had thrown on the bottom shelf of the bullet just because . . . well, why not? We proclaimed the menu an unqualified success. I do need to get a better baked bean recipe, though. I am left with just enough pork for a pot of Barbeque Posole. I am toying with the idea of getting another hunk-o-pig to smoke some for the freezer before I clean up the smoker. But, I have to rest first.